*THE* hardest thing about travelling to the east coast of the Americas is dealing with the time zone. Last year, due to travel problems, I never had the chance to adjust my sleeping on the flights. This year I've been able to do that.

The big flight from Sydney to Honolulu you can sleep in any way you want, but since you leave at 10am you generally find yourself sleeping near the end of the flight. Which is fine, because it's midnight when you arrive in Honolulu.

Honolulu to Vancouver, you need to sleep as much as possible, because it's morning when you get there. Then Vancouver to Toronto you need to stay awake. Mission successful. When I got to the hotel the only thing I wanted was a steak, a beer to make me a bit more tired and to sleep.

I'd say I've got my clock fairly close this year. Last year I was falling asleep at 4pm on the dot - this year I've woken up this morning and it was 5am. 2 hours off regular wake up sounds pretty good to me.

I just remembered another thing I like about this country. I travel half way around the world and the first bar tending girl I meet loves The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy just as much as I do!