Prince Charles has seen first-hand the damage caused by the Asian tsunami on a visit to eastern Sri Lanka.
The prince met aid workers and locals in the Batticaloa district, where one in 10 inhabitants died in the disaster.
He met President Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka in the country's capital, Colombo, before flying to Australia.
The prince touched down in Perth, Western Australia, on a five-day official visit after which he will travel on to New Zealand and Fiji.
Sri Lanka lost 31,000 people to sea surges set off by an underwater earthquake on 26 December last year.
The tsunami killed an estimated 300,000 people along coastlines bordering the Indian Ocean.
'Not a political visit'
The prince was greeted at Colombo airport by the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, before setting off for Batticaloa.
During his visit he talked to volunteers from the Sri Lanka Red Cross and to fishermen who showed him their broken boats.
"I feel awful. All I have done is interrupt their very hard work," the prince said.
"You've got a lot more to do when I'm gone," he told the volunteers, who are helping to clear debris from the area.
The prince, on his first visit to the country since 1998, declined to go to areas held by anti-government Tamil Tiger rebels.
The Tamil Tigers have been embroiled in a civil war with the Sri Lankan government for decades.
A royal aide, Rebecca Packham, said Prince Charles was not making "a political visit".
"It's about meeting local people and relief workers," she said.
The prince is now spending five days in Australia, with visits scheduled to Alice Springs, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra in the coming days.
On touching down in Perth he was greeted by Commodore Richard Shalders, honorary aide-de-camp representing the governor general of the Commonwealth.
Also greeting the prince was environmental heritage minister Senator Ian Campbell, representing Prime Minister John Howard.
The Prince of Wales' two-week tour of the far east will be rounded off by a visit to New Zealand and Fiji.
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