Quite a few people have asked if we have enjoyed our time in Australia and, after looking back, it does appear that some of our diary entries have been a bit negative. So I thought that before we waded into south east Asia, I would just sum up my thoughts of our time in this vast country.

We started off in Sydney and despite its hugeness (I'm not too fond of London because it is so big and crowded) and complicated roads, I quite liked it. The harbour bridge and opera house are every bit as impressive in real life as they looked in pictures I had seen previously. Although Sydney is a very new city, compared with Bath for instance, I liked it and I'd be very happy to go back again one day.

After Sydney though, I have to say that all of the cities felt the same. Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Cairns all sort of moulded into one and, with only a few exceptions, our days there felt the same too. Outside of Sydney, my favourite days in Australia were the ones in between the cities mentioned above. You'll notice that I haven't mentioned Darwin in the list though. It's a little different to the bigger cities. It's more like a big town in size and it feels different too.

As I said, the bits in between the cities are the bits that make Australia. That they're so far apart from each other detracts from the experience slightly as one bush tree looks quite a lot like the millions of others that you have to pass as you travel hundreds of kilometres to see the sights. At the same time though, you can't help but be impressed by the sheer scale of the place. To drive from Brisbane to Cairns is like driving from Birmingham to Salzburg, it's a long, long way.

Perhaps the worst thing about Australia has been the hostels. If they were as clean and well maintained as some of the places we've stayed in prior to Australia then I wouldn't have minded paying what we have for them. As it is, I felt like we've been ripped off. The other people staying in the hostels haven't been that nice either. Australia seems to be a target for loud, drunken, inconsiderate English backpackers who think that it's someone else's job to clean up after them. If I'd known what the hostels were going to be like here, maybe we would have saved Australia for when we had more of a budget. We certainly won't be staying in hostels next time we come here.

Speaking of which, yes, we will be coming back one day. We haven't been to the west coast yet or Uluru and I'd like to visit Sydney, the Whitsundays, Fraser Island and parts of the Northern Territory again. I have enjoyed Australia, perhaps not as much as I was expecting to but I put that down to the hostels and the people in them. Whenever we've been to national parks or some other tour, the people have always been friendly and helpful. Occasionally there's a bad apple or two among them but mostly they've been great.

So, overall I'd have to give Australia a big thumbs up (or perhaps a good onion) - just stay away from the hostels.