Richard Clutterbuck, rainmaker

For nearly five weeks I passed through the Pacific islands accompanied by nearly constant rain. Deluge, flood and storm in quick succession. I'm now in Australia, staying with long-term friends Leigh and Corina. They live in Queanbeyan, near Canberra, but picked me up from Sydney and have now taken me to their holiday home on the coast. At first Australia seemed the opposite of the islands, even though it's approaching winter: full sun with cold nights and warm days. On Sunday that all changed. I preached in the Uniting Church in Queanbeyan (my third gig there over the last 12 years) before we headed for the coast. Cue for the end of a long,  dry spell, with rain lashing the mountains as we drove through them. Parts of Australia have been in the grip of terrible drought, but in some areas the last 24 hours have seen the heaviest rain in decades. Is it me bringing the rain or the fact that a general election campaign has just started? 

 Evidence of a successful morning's fishing.

  Looking to Broulee Island from Mossy Point

The emphasis this week has been on relaxation before the long flight back to the UK. 35 years ago I was best man at Leigh and Corina's wedding in the Catholic basilica in Tonga. Leigh's father was a Methodist minister missionary in Tonga in the 50s and Corina's family moved to Tonga in the 60s. Leigh's a retired economist who, even before the last recession, was telling us that the world's economies were built on unsustainable debt. Corina, among many other gifts, is a superb gardener. She has a growing bonzai tree collection, an orchard full of citrus trees and several raised beds for vegetables. As a couple they're wonderfully hospitable. Oh, and they have world's best-behaved Labrador, Benji. Conversation ranges over the three cultures - Philippino. Tongan and Australian - embraced in their household. 

Broulee is about 200 miles south of Sydney, right on the coast, with miles of pristine beach backed by forest. Wombats and kangaroos (both bigger than you might think) roam the roadside after dark, a strong incentive for daylight travel. Leigh took me fishing, with enough success to avoid embarrassment but not so much as to make us boast. 

I know human beings have been in Australia for 50,000 years +, but they don't seem to have had the same impact as their European counterparts. Almost anywhere in Europe - including Ireland - you can see how humans have shaped the landscape: cutting down forest, draining bogs, growing crops, building monuments of one kind or another. Here, the landscape feels more elemental. Add to that the completely different flora and fauna of Australia - marsupials on the ground, gum trees instead of oak and beech, raucous flocks of cockatoos flying above you - and this does feel very alien. More so, in some ways, than the Pacific islands. This is a wonderful and awe-inspiring world. 

 Corina's new wicking bed for growing veg in a dry climate.