Australia 2023

As it was out last day, we tried to cram in everything that we had outstanding on our list. Miller Miller falls was first on the list and getting there felt like driving on the San Bernadino in the Swiss Alps it was so convoluting and clung to the side of the mountain, with very steep drop offs, and very little in the way of protection barriers – although it took us longer than expected (not driving miss Daisy, but always safety first) it was worth it. It is where the herbal

This may be a short blog – there are just no words to describe how lucky we were today. We were picked up at 7am (eek!) to transfer to the harbour and join our boat. Our trip was organised by Sightseeing Tours Australia and they could not have been more helpful, from the time of booking to us being dropped off. We requested prescription goggles for Emily, and they were provided at no extra charge. We also booked the additional Top Deck experience – mainly because this offer

So, a couple of days to catch up on. Before we left Townville we made a visit back to the ferry terminal – why, I hear you ask? Because Emily adored the muffins they sold in the café – the best she has had since coming here, and she wanted one for the road. The coffee was ok too, so I was ok with it. The muffins were a kind of cross between a muffin and a scone – a scoffin as it were, and as she got one for me too, I can testify to their tastiness. The drive up from Townsvill

Yesterday we went to Magnetic Island – and today we went back! The two trips could not have been more different. Day one – we were up and set off to the ferry terminal, but somehow we found ourselves at an electrical store that was having a huge ‘end of year sale’ (yep, the Oz financial year ends at the end of June) and a Go Pro, magically ended up in my hands and I was at the check-out – how did that happen!? Anyway, we got to the ferry terminal and duly bought our tickets (

Wow, what an adventure we have had! No wifi for a couple of days so I have not blogged, so grab a cuppa and catch up! First of all, we stayed in a cave in a rainforest for two nights! Yep, a cave. Admittedly it was a man-made cave, but oh my goodness it was special. (What3words inciting.flaunts.retrieve) We only slept inside, everything else was outside. This was the view from the loo; This was the view from my shower; And this was the view from the ‘kitchen’ area; We sho

I wasn’t planning on blogging tonight as I did not think I would have anything to say – but that was until we got lost in the bush and went in the wrong direction for over an hour! We left our hotel by 8 am this morning as we had a 5 hour drive to the next resting place of Rockhampton. We have used Apple maps since we got here, mainly because the instructions are clearer, and it has not let us down yet. Today we chose the ‘fastest route’, and although it was the fastest, it d

What an adventure we have had today! We took a bus out to the Noosa Everglades. There are only two everglades in the world – one in Florida, and one here, so we felt very honoured to be making the trip there. We took a flat-bottomed boat upriver to the base camp, and we canoed from there – only about 5k, but it was glorious! It was incredibly quiet apart from the birds chirping, and it was really pretty – I took millions of pictures as Emily paddled up front – don’t get me

Today we got up at 5.30 am to watch the sunrise at Byron Bay Lighthouse (what3words;railings.tucked.trolleys). If we thought that being winter and the off season here would mean we were the only ones there, we were mistaken. The actual final section of the road to the lighthouse was closed off, and the last little car park was chocca, but people were parking as and where they could fit, regardless of if it was in a designated space. We copied and tucked our car out of the

Blog 12; Chased by a native beach creature… We were up and out by 7 this morning as we had a 6 hour drive and wanted to give ourselves a chance to explore. It was a bit early to have our first embarrassing moment, but, none the less, we had it at MacDonalds of all places. Not being familiar with what Maccas (affectionately known over here) had to offer, we pulled up at the drive through and when asked what we wanted, Emily (driver, so in charge of ordering) explained we wer

This is going to be a very short blog, as all we did today was drive the almost 6 hours it took us to get from Jervis Bay to Newcastle. To be fair, we only picked this place because of its name, so we did not have high hopes, but I am jumping ahead and should start with breakfast. Huskisson/Jervis Bay is by far the nicest place we have been to date, it is quaint, friendly and a little niche. I was confused by the ‘no gang tats to be on show’ sign at the entry to the bar las

It was the final day of bagpipes with breakfast – and today we were treated to vocals too. Despite its quirks the Mariner Court Hotel was good value and in a super location. Before we left the Sydney area, we took a trip to Bondi Beach baby! (What3words:hooked.hope.cropped) The sand was powder soft and the beach was lovely but much smaller than I expected. We parked in the middle section, and I suspect if we were at either end, the perspective would have made it seem longer,

Quite a short blog tonight as we have not had so many mis-adventures today. Let’s start with clearing something up – the Scottish bagpipe music at breakfast yesterday was not a fluke – we had the same today. I love the pipes as much as the next man, but starting your day with a mournful wail is not the way to do things… We took off for the Blue Mountains today – it is a vast area, and there is so much to see that we could only see a tiny bit of it. We sat down and picked al

After a great sleep Emily felt much better this morning, and we got up to partake of the ‘breakfast included’ option – honestly, I don’t know why it happens to us, but we just seem drawn to oddly surreal places... breakfast was accompanied by Scottish music – including renditions of Auld Lang Syne! I am not sure if they have a large Scottish clientele, or perhaps the staff just like bagpipes… We met some ladies at breakfast that we also met in the taxi queue after the Opera

We did not blog yesterday – not because we were locked in the hotel room room (we found the key) or that we were stuck in a car with a broken key (I fixed it), we were poorly ☹. Well, I was off colour, but Emily was proper poorly. We should have given everyone we were camping with a wide berth when they said they had all had a 24 hour bug…. Anyway, the day still happened, even if Em was pretty out of it. When I spoke to the car hire folks about the car and the key, they said

This will be a bit longer of a tale as we have been in the outback for a few days, so lots to catch up on – grab a cuppa. As we left Brisbane to go to the wedding venue, we took the chance to visit Mount Coot-tha lookout point for a great view over the city and surrounding area (what3words: bleat.chip.woes) As we left the lookout point we saw signs for Slaughter Falls (what3words:notes.putty.advice) so we thought we would check them out – we didn’t use the Sat nav, we just fo

Blimey, not sure what you will get in the blog tonight mainly based on the title, I am a little bit squiffy – but more of that later. Firstly, lets address the elephant in the room…. I know back home there is a big debate about should salt and vinegar crisps be in blue or green packets – well take a look at this Pink! Madness!!! We had a chilled morning, Em got up and went for a swim in the hotel pool, and I just chillaxed and worked out a route for our day. We really neede

We started the day early, so we could make it to the beach to watch the sun come up. The clouds had the same idea and effectively masked the majority of the actual sunrise, but it was still worth getting up at 5.30 to be on the Surfers Paradise beach and see the first surfers of the day going in – I managed to get my feet wet (on purpose, and barefoot) although the waves were a bit too energetic for me to be persuaded in for a full on swim. We called in at a lovely independe

This morning we picked up my friend Joanne from the outskirts of Brisbane and she acted as out tour guide all day. Having not seen her for 20 years, the day has gone in a blur of catching up and laughter. We headed down to the iconic Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, stopping on the way at a big shopping mall for some well-earned retail therapy (what3words: voting.storm.gear) and we picked up those essentials we had forgotten, such as sun screen and sunglasses! We carried

Wow, waking up in Brisbane – what a view. It feels like such a young city, and is really fresh. The forecast for today was not great, and we had planned on getting to know the South Bank a little better with a mooch to the Art Gallery and Museum, along with a trip on the Brisbane Wheel, but the thought of doing that in the rain was not appealing, so we changed tack and ticked off one of my major bucket list items, a trip to Australia Zoo (What3words: participated.stance.soon

This may turn out to be a longer than normal blog, but it does cover 2 days of travel and one day of mooching.... We started with a mishap - an email from the car rental company asking how the pick up went for the car....I was still in bed in the UK, I had only booked it for the wrong day :(. Quick call and rearranged things - disaster averted, but I did feel like it was an omen... Thanks to the rail strikes, we had to get to Manchester Airport mega early (we really apprecia