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We learned the hard way that Australia is a big country. It wouldn't have mattered too much, and in fact, at first, it didn't matter at all, but at the end of our stay we were in a rush to catch a plane from Sydney to London and we drove thousands of miles at what for us was break-neck speed.

Almost nine months to the day after leaving Sydey on January 30, 2007 (for South Africa and points beyond) we used the last segment of our around-the-world ticket to return to Sydney. Compared to our first visit everything was upside down: In October, 2006 we arrived without knowing anything about Sydney and planning to stay there three months. This time around we knew a great deal about Sydney and would only be there as long as it took us to get a car to travel around the island continent.

Wigan Inlet, New South Wales

Kings Canyon, Northern Territories