Oct 21, 2019 - Goodbye Adelaide hello Perth

Soooooo we only have a few hours left in this beautiful city so we get up early check out and go to a cute little cafe just around the corner. We then jump on the free bus and head towards the Botanical gardens. It is such a gorgeous morning so we have a lovely stroll around here the gardens are stunning and so well maintained. After our stroll we jump back on the free bus and go around North Adelaide. Now this area appears to have money some of the places here are massive and very well maintained. There are also some gorgeous cottages...

Aug 14, 2019 - Day 1 - Wednesday. 14/8/19. Brisbane to Perth via Kalgoorlie

Day 1....an eventful day. We had an aborted takeoff from Brisbane.....40k overloaded with fuel due to head winds and having to fly north to Longreach before turning west, which added extra kilometres to the flight, and always need some in reserve. Second time was successful. Good flight until about an hour out of Perth when Captain announced that Perth was being buffeted by winds and rain from the west and we wouldn’t have enough fuel to possibly circle before landing - so we landed at Kalgoorlie to refuel. That only took about 30 mins. and...

Aug 13, 2019 - Our last day in Australia

We made the most of our last day in Australia, exploring Fremantle. We walked to the old harbour, visiting the small art galleries along the way and stopped at the Esplanade for a wander round the park. After some lunch we walked to the old Fremantle Prison, originally built for the convicts from the UK. We had a fascinating guided tour of the prison before heading back to our apartment for tea (bread, cheeses and finishing off our wines from our various vineyard tours over the last week).

Aug 12, 2019 - Perth Beaches

Today we headed to the beaches of Western Australia, stopping at Scarborough Beach, Sorrento Beach and Cottisloe Beach. We then drove to Kings Park in the city, a huge park with great views of the city. Here we walked the city walkway, nature trail and the “DNA Tower” which Gabby and Charlie pointed out to us was shaped like the double helix!!

Aug 11, 2019 - Perth & Swan Valley

Today we took the train from Fremantle to Perth to explore the city. We then took a coach trip in to the Swan Valley, passing through the historic town of Guildford. At the Swan Valley we visited two wineries for wine And cheese tasting and a chocolate factory to taste a variety of chocolates and chocolate liqueurs. We then boarded a river boat to travel back to Perth city centre via the water (cake, fruit and wines included!). The sun was shining and was a lovely day out.

Aug 10, 2019 - Perth Hills

Had a fun packed day today venturing out in our hire car. After an early start we drove to Perth Parkrun around lake. Kevin did a good run time and Michelle and the children walked the route around the lake. Next stop was a lovely Aussie breakfast at a local bake house. We then went to Cahunu Koala Park with kangaroos, donkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, ponies, birds and koalas. We all enjoyed feeding all the animals and cuddling some lovely koalas. We then stopped off at a cider house and a vineyard before driving back to Fremantle. Had a...

Jul 3, 2019 - Home again - trip over!!

Well, here we are, back home again after our fortnight away in the warmth, rain and crowds of Thailand. We spent the first 8 days about 1.5 hours north of Phuket, up in the mountains, on the coast at a little village Khao Lak, staying at The Sands, right on the edge of the beach. No swimming though, as stingers present at this time of the year. We had one fine day then 6 of Monsoonal rains - between showers, we paddled to breakfast, lunch or dinner!! Was very humid but we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there, as it fulfilled my hopes for a...

Apr 19, 2019 - Easter in Perth

19 April – Good Friday Happy Easter, and an early morning wake up call from the bank. The bastards call Tony on the NZ number, and it comes up as “private”, so he abuses them and shuts the call down without answering it. They try twice more, same abuse, same response. We are wondering who the hell is calling, and the phone rings again, this time on the Aussie number. Private number again, but Tony wonders if it is something important, so he answers it. The woman asks for Anthony, and Tony asks who wants to know. It is the bank, ringing...

Apr 18, 2019 - Quewt Quokkas

We are lucky to have another fine sunny day for our trip to Rottnest Is, or Wadjemup as it is now preferred to be known. The island got its’ name from Dutch explorers who saw the wee quokkas, and thought they were rats, Rotte is Dutch for rat. We catch the free bus to town, but the service stops at the bus station instead of the wharf (another will along in a few minutes, we are told). We are not sure how few these minutes will be, nor do we know if we will get to the wharf with the next one. So we decide to continue on foot, but it is peak...

Apr 17, 2019 - Deserts and Dunes

Jeff and Karen pick us up for the two hour drive north to the Pinnacles Desert, in Nambung National Park, near Cervantes (yay, now we have seen this we won’t have to spend days on an expensive train through the other desert). AU$13 entry fee for the car (up to twelve people, is you can get that many in). It is a day pass, valid at a couple of other sites. The material for these structures can from sea shells at a time when this was under water. The shells broke down into lime rich sand, and the sand was blown inland. Still some debate as to...

Apr 16, 2019 - Perth in W.A.

Tony was awake about an hour before the alarm went off (woken by the bladder alarm that has not adjusted to leaving NZ). It seemed to take forever to get off to sleep again, and no sooner that happened than the alarm went off. We take our gear into the hallway to finish packing, and have a quick breakfast. Uber is on time, and it takes about half an hour to drive to Tullamarine airport. We are surprised that there is a lot of traffic at this early hour, but we are still at check-in an hour before we need to be (which we generally always...

Mar 26, 2019 - Broome, Australia

Arrived in Broome around 2:30am because of the 10+ meter tidal change which is 36 ft+/-. We leave at 4:30pm today. Hot, hot, hot today. Felt like 103 degrees with the heat and hummidity. Rode the Hop on Hop off bus around the circuit. Got off at Cable Beach. Famous beach. A lot of red dirt here. Reminded us of South Alabama Weather and red dirt. LOL!!!