Gundog,
Neville is correct in legal point that CASA does not differentiate simulated instrument flight time (under hood or blinds etc) from actual IMC instrument flight time when it comes to satisfying recency/currency. The time is all logged as instrument flight time, you may separate them if you so wish.
Do not confuse synthetic trainers with simulators as they are two separate certifications. You can log both visual and instrument ground time in either if facilities permit.
Simulator being a near exact replica of a particular aircraft type both in flight deck and handling.
Synthetic trainer being anything else that simulates flight from basic PC based procedure trainers to replicas of actual flight decks not quite approved to simulator standard.
Both have to be certified by CASA and will have an instrument approving what can be done in the machine (training/recency).