16th March, Perth - Sydney - Los Angeles - Vancouver

I had to go back to Canada to complete some consulting work. Tan and I got up early Sunday morning. It wasn't much fun saying bye to Tan, but the trip is only for three weeks.

In the tranist lounge, Ben Lee was hanging out and he caught the same bus as me. A chance encounter and it was a spin out seeing him again. In Sydney, I hung out in the lounge and took some shots of the CBD. It is amazing, both Tan and I have been to Sydney airport a number of times but never got out and visited it. Overseas, as soon as you say Australia, they say Sydney and then ask what it is like. It looks great (on the TV and magazines). We both agree Sydney is on our travel list for this year.

An overnight long haul flight and like ground hog day it was Sunday again, a function of travelling over the international date line. I arrived in LA, and grateful to see my bag come off the plane. Last time, LA lost my bag which pissed me off. I put my bag through connecting luggage and walked to another terminal to catch the flight to Vancouver. Ben Lee was in front of me in the queue at immigration. In the distance, I could actually see snow capped mountains!!

The flight was nice, seeing the Pacific Coast states of the North-West. Like twice before, I flew over the Cascades and got to see volcanoes. This time covered in a lot of snow and the surrounding lakes were frozen over. Cold! In comparison to the 41 C day in Perth last week this place has a big difference.

On arrival in Vancouver, I sorted out some immigration stuff and then I got that sick feeling. I had arrived in Vancouver but my bags hadn't. Now I'm a fairly relaxed guy but not having a bag of clothes in cold Vancouver made me feel very disappointed.

I have a little word of wisdom for you travellers out there.

STAY THE F*CK AWAY FROM LA AIRPORT AS THEY ALWAYS LOSE YOUR BAGGAGE!!

This is the third time in three months my bag has gone missing and it is the only pitfall in the fun of travelling!

Brendo cooked a great roast with fantastic gravy. Catching up with Leo, Andrea, Brendo and Lesley was awesome. Brendo and I ended up hitting the town until everything closed. I was a little tired.

It took four days for my luggage to turn up and I was mildly f*cked off with Alaskan Airlines and dreading going through LA on the way home.

It wasn't until the weekend, until Leo and I hit the turps. We had beers including the massive 250ml French beer called Boris. A group of ended up at the Copper Tank, which has lots of memories and then back at Jen's place where we played Rock Band on PS3. I am crap at the Playstation Guitar! Another late boozy night.

28th February - 16th March, Melbourne - Perth, Australia

Another day, another flight. Tan and I would love to work out how much time we have wasted on planes. It used to be about the journey, but on planes now it is the destination!!

We got to Perth and the first thing I did on the way back to Tan's mums (Lyn) place was get a pie and coffee milk. I have been hanging out for this for such a long time. Brownes Coffee Chill and a Mrs Mac pie certainly hit the spot.

We hung out at Richard and Lyn place and Tan in a act of spontaneity saw that Ben Lee was playing with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) at Perth's botanic gardens at Kings Park.

Two nights later, we were sipping wine and beer with a picnic on a lovely Perth evening on the grass at Kings Park. First up Mandy Moore, former teeny bopper now credible singer, belted out some tunes. Ben Lee come on later and he did a fine job with all of his hits. The back up of the orchestra in the band added a new dimension to the performance. Overall, A1!

Again, like in Victoria, we spent some time with Tan's family, and again great to see them.

While Tan did chick stuff like shopping with Bek, I hung out with a mate Will and talked shit and kicked the footy in his back yard.

The following weekend, we caught up with Azza and Renae and as a surprise, Pegga and Mel turned up. It was great hanging with these guys and gals.

We looked after Az's place for a while, just like travelling living out a backpack and moving around on a weekly basis. The last Saturday, Tan and I visited her sister, Nicki. Luke and Alana along with Molly, Tiger and George posed for this shot.

Tired, I packed, as I had to head to Canada again.

20 - 28th February - Melbourne - Baxter - Foster - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

We got back to Australia, a little tired with a stop off in Auckland. My eldest brother needed some help after his father in law became quite sick. We were there to help. Typically, we can't be there being on the other side of the country, so it was good we were there. We hung out in Victoria and Tan got to go shopping which made her day. She bought 8 pieces of clothing in 30 minutes. A record!! After travelling out of a back pack for 8 months, she went really well.

After some time in Baxter, Tan and I headed home to Foster to see my mum, Rex the Cat and our cats, Mitchie and Soph.

We had a drive to Fish Creek and had some afternoon tea at the Flying Cow cafe.

I spent some time with my youngest brother at a local motorbike track, complete with kangaroos. Andy is a great rider and battled around the track on a gusty day.

It was great to see my family after eight months! Tan and I love them a lot.

After spending time at home, it was time to go to Perth. We overnighted in Melbourne, staying at a funky hotel with coloured louvres. We visited Chloe at Young and Jacksons and sipped champagne overlooking Flinders St station.

We had a walk through Federation Square and along Southbank, where we had a nice dinner.