Your posts from Australia have been wonderful. Thank you for the reports and for the reminders of what a wonderful country, and continent, Oz is to visit. Despite all your previous travails and the bugs, you seem to be having a wonderful time. You haven't reported on the "wait-a-while" yet. Looking forward to that. And if you ever find a peacock in your room, rest assured that you are not the first. It's a truly "interesting" experience.

Your most recent post reminded me of our trip because, before we left Canada, we bought vouchers for bus tours and an Oz airpass. We had never done this before - we're backpackers who do our own thing. However, we soon discovered that the tours were worth their weight in gold and the airpass allowed us to travel from place to place without worry. We flew Melbourne-Adelaide-Alice Springs-Yulara-Darwin-Cairns for less than $600. We also had four bus tours for under $300.

Ziners, I'd be interested to hear about bus tours and other travel passes that you have used (local or regional) that are worthwhile.

Has anyone used the Cathay Pacific world pass? We're always on the lookout for new, inexpensive ways to see the world.

Lucy, Toronto