Her company was planning a bid for a big advertising account and was to film a pilot commercial in AustraliaThe trip would entail finding suitable backdrops for the product, which was sportswear. We had to complete the job in only three days, two in Sydney and one in Melbourne. On the flight from Singapore to Sydney, she explained the background for the planned campaign. The aim was to project a "fun, yet reliable" image of the range of clothing and footwear.

Australia had been chosen on the basis of a poll which found it was the destination chosen as "most desirable" by the target market. The trick, she explained, would be to combine the traditional settings like the Opera House in Sydney and a surfer at Bondi Beach with “action man” activities. Our job was to find them.

Although I know very little about advertising, I am an avid moviegoer and TV fan, so I was very keen to help her out where I could. Later, we checked into our hotel, the fabulous Four Season Hotel Sydney. Our rooms had stunning views of the harbour. I immediately headed for the streets, leaving Jenny to check her emails.

The Rocks is an amazing area, with a wonderful market selling arts and crafts, many of them uniquely Australian. More than 100 stalls were doing a roaring trade under a huge sail-like canopy. Over home-made lemonade, I chatted with a couple from Birmingham, England, who had just taken a Harley Davidson ride across the Harbour Bridge. They gave me their brochure - that could interest Jenny, I thought. The couple recommended that I take a tour of the bars in the area, but my jet lag was starting to kick in.

Instead, I wandered off down the cobbled streets, admiring the many shops and restaurants. Eateries that caught my fancy were a Japanese restaurant called Nakashima and the charming Gumnut Tea Garden, which is housed within a sandstone cottage built by convicts in 1830. I stopped for a meal before heading back to the hotel.

The next day Jenny had planned a hectic programme. We started off at the Sydney Observatory, which is close to the hotel, and then visited the Opera House, and the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge. We didn't try the bridge climb, but we took pamphlets about the possibility of parasailing from the bridge. In Darling Harbour we stopped in at Sydney Wildlife World to check out the koalas (no hugging allowed) and the kangaroos (which look too fierce to want to hug).

Of our many afternoon activities, the one that impressed me most was the "Shark Dive Extreme" programme at Oceanworld Manly. Here you can get up close and personal with these demons of the deep, plus a few giant stingrays, sea turtles and moray eels. As the sun was setting we were to set out on a harbour cruise, but instead of boarding the ferry, we splashed out and hired a private Venetian-style gondola.

On our last day, we had four missions to accomplish - swim at Bondi Beach, catch the view from the Sydney Tower (and check the logistics of doing a skywalk outside the tower) and visit the Olympic Park at Homebush Bay, the site of the Olympic Games in 2000. The best of all was our final excursion, a grand sunset tour by helicopter. This fantastic 30-minute flight gives you an aerial view of Sydney's beaches up the coast and then the return trip over the harbour. I was sad to say goodbye to this amazing city, but I looked forward to what Melbourne had to offer.

With only one day, we had restricted ourselves to only three activities. The first was particularly thrilling for me - driving a V8 Super Challenger race car. I took on the the Calder Park Raceway like a real pro for eight laps of around 3kms each. Then I swapped seats with an instructor and he showed me how it should be done. Wow! What an amazing treat for a motorsport fanatic like me.

In the afternoon we visited Melbourne Park, the home of the Australian Tennis Open, the country's biggest sporting event. We were allowed to play a few games on the "centre court", known as the 'Rod Laver Arena. I have watched many of the tournaments on television, so it was a real thrill to share a court where the champions play. I rather fancy myself as another Andre Agassi - and for a moment, I believed I was.

Our final excursion, a hot-air balloon flight over the city, meant we had to rouse ourselves before dawn. Luckily, the meeting point was our hotel, the Langham Hotel Melbourne, which lies on the banks of the Yarra River. Within an hour, we were airborne. Flying silently over the city was an awesome experience.

Down below we could pick out landmarks like the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Arts Centre Spire and the Federation Square, but it all looked very different from high in the sky. With the river winding through it, Melbourne is a lovely city. The morning ended with a great breakfast at the hotel, after which we headed for the airport.

On the flight home, Jenny worked on her laptop, finalising her proposal. She used many things we tried out - the shark diving, the helicopter trip and the motor racing - as well as a few we hadn't, like parasailing off the Harbour Bridge and surfing at Bondi Beach. She will only know in a few weeks whether her bid is successful, but our short holiday to Australia was certainly worth every minute.