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A quick and fairly painless arrival and customs process. It was the first time that I'd used the new chipped passport upon arrival into Australia, and it certainly speeded up the process, although it was actually a two stage process with two separate gates to negotiate, and there weren't any signs explaining it.

After claiming our bags and being sniffed by the customs dog (what a job after an eighteen hour flight), we walked briskly from one end of the international terminal to the other to find the domestic transfer bus terminal. Fine if you know what you are doing, or can read the occasional english signs, but not great if you are an international visitor. They used to have a distinctive transfer logo on your boarding pass that matched the signage, but that seems to have gone bye the bye.

Waited with all the other domestic transferees in the holding pen for the bus. Again no signage telling you how often the bus comes, or any board containing domestic flight details so you can work out the gate you are looking for. Again, it was no big deal, but its that kind of thing that distinguishes the airports that consistently come out on the lists of the best in the world, from those like Sydney.

Once in the domestic terminal we found a board to tell us our gate, and arrived there as they started to board. An uneventful flight in a Qantas 737 in sparkling sunshine. Flew over the Australian Alps which were pretty, but after the Rockies, Jasper, Alaska, McKinley, and Denver it looked so small and so flat.

Arrived on time in Melbourne, and were picked up by Ashley - bless his cotton socks. The end of another great adventure, and probably our last for a while. Even though we now take it for granted, it still boggles my mind that I can sit at a computer in Melbourne, quote a credit card number, and people in some of the remotest parts of the world greet us by name months later when we walk through their door. We can get cash out in almost any currency with rarely a hassle, and have a video chat with those we've left behind.

Free wi-fi is steadily becoming the norm (at long last), and most airports other than Australia seem to have it available throughout their airports. We can watch sports happening on one side of the world on a ship in remote waters via satellite, while chatting to friends about it while it happens. It's all made traveling so achievable, even if occasionally makes it less adventurous and daring. We're so lucky to be able to do it as often as we have.