AL50
campervan man Joined: March 27th 2009
Logged in: February 9th 2012
Logged in: February 9th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Duck billed Platypus - Bombala river
Final leg of the Oz. trip Following the Murray River from Echuca we went to Tallangatta and camped at their showground next to the lake which replaced the submerged original Tallangatta in the 1950’s. The showground was not a campground as such but is available when not in use. It was another small town with excellent outdoor facilities. The showground had a cricket oval (decided not to park on that), a Ménage where a chap turned up with two horses and rode western style (Liz said so) and was complete with a decent toilet block and showers. Not the horseman the showground. We had to share all this with 4 other fellow travellers all for the princely sum of 10 Aussie dollars, not bad value. From Tallangatta we took the Alpine road to Bright, overMountBeautyand stayed ... read more
Paddle Steamer Emmylou - Murray
Happy New Year from Oz. Christmas in Melbourne was a quiet affair with a good lunch in the warm sunshine at the waterfront followed by a free bus-ride back to the campsite to watch an almighty thunderstorm with bullet like hailstones. The small shiny surfaced caravan pitched next to us was covered with dents, making it resemble beaten copper. The roof of our van is too high to get a decent look at so hopefully it’s made of stronger stuff or part of my excess has just disappeared. Boxing Day saw us at the cinema watching of all things Mission Impossible, partly as a result of the other shows all pre-booked and sold out. In the film the Americans in the form of Tom Cruise predictably saved the world (again) but it was entertaining stuff all ... read more
Koala Sanctuary
Cockroach Reg. has been evicted. For anyone out there with too much time on their hands who actually reads our blog, then you may remember when Liz brought a stowaway onboard in the form of a very large Cockroach. Upon entry it shot under our fridge and there it stayed for the best part of the last three weeks only occasionally being heard scuttling about in the middle of the night. Whilst watching TV the other night Reg. was spotted by Liz on the sofa, some frantic shouting, a quick lift of the cushion, open the door and Hasta La Vista Reggie. After leaving Hervey bay we headed south toBrisbanefor a few days hoping for some Aussie cultural experiences as recommended in our lonely planet guidebook. Sadly we were thwarted as the museum was closed for ... read more
Whitehaven beach - Whitsunday's
Moving south to avoid the wet season we ventured into the outback on single track roads trying to avoid being mown down by the road trains, which at over 50 metres long travelling at 100kmph own the road and delight in terrifying the unwary tourist van. Kangaroos, Kookaburras, huge insects, baking heat,dust and humidity told us that this was the real Australia, so we headed straight back to the comfort of a beach resort at Airlie. Liz had talked up the Whitsunday islands as a once in a lifetime experience and to be honest it was. The weather was great, sailing on the racing yacht with a small group, snorkelling on the barrier reef, walking through the rainforest was worth the whole trip alone. There was the downside of sleeping on a 2 foot wide bed ... read more
Cassowary - etty beach
And then there was three……. We started our Australian jaunt in Sydney and did the usual tourist stuff, Harbour Bridge, Opera house, open top tour bus etc. Although a big city it has a good feel with lots of green parks and ocean views, the ferry to Manly was a great way to see the harbour and as a bonus we spent a few hours lying on the beach watching surfers do their stuff. As an added bonus Liz gets to watch fit young men close up at no cost. Our plan was to head north to tropical Cairns as quick as we could to avoid the worst of the summer heat and humidity. This was to take about a week to drive and then we will slowly travel back south over the next 2-3 months. ... read more
Haka
Real Kiwi’s are not easy to see, ask any New Zealander and chances are they haven’t. So we gave up wandering through dark forests and went to the Kiwi breeding sanctuary in Rotorua. It was a smart choice as they had eggs, day old chicks, adults and all sizes in-between. Liz went a bit goey-eyed at them and implored me to smuggle a little one out, but I said “they probably just taste like chicken, why bother”? As you drive round Rotorua steam spirals up from vents all over the town, pools of boiling mud are all around and minor earthquakes a common event. The locals are oblivious and are very happy to take your silver coins and show you round their homesteads, some of which they accept fall into the smoking earth when hopefully they ... read more
Giant Kauri tree
The Tumbleweed is blowing through the empty camps of the home nations teams and a second rate France team is on their way to getting stuffed in the Final game. The referee for the Wales/France game is hiring Salmon Rushdie’s bodyguard team and the Kiwi’s are all smiles now. Anyway Roy, Orbison will soon be singing “its over” and we can all go home, or in our case head north to Oz. Earlier, on the road up from Wellington on our way to Auckland we stopped at Whangeria where the minor road that follows the river is constantly being washed out due to the rain leeching away the sandy soil taking the road with it. There is a permanent team who work at keeping the route clear, with part of the road being a gravel track ... read more
Waxy O'Shea pub
Having A Whale of a time. Dunedin is a very favoured spot, sat at the top end of a long sheltered bay. It is also very hilly and out of the sun was pretty cold. I need to say in praise of the local New Zealanders that they are a hardy bunch, many of them wearing shorts 52 weeks a year, rain/snow or shine, seems that you are classed as a wimp if you have to revert to long trousers (puts me firmly in the wimpy class). At the end of the bay in which Dunedin lies is the Otago peninsula where at the tip of the headland is the world’s only mainland nesting colony of Albatrosses. Coughing up the £20 charge we took the guided tour which was conducted by a large Maori woman complete ... read more
Bungy
Crikey! -Liz does a bungy Jump!!! Near Queenstown is the birthplace of bungy. We went out just for a look and what do you know but next moment the Sheila’s only gone and leapt 43m into the void. Well actually we watched some other much younger folk do the real deal and good on them, but not for us thanks. Queenstown was good fun good to socialise with some of the locals, or tourists. Somebody tell Andy Dempster he should get his svelte torso over here and up some of these mountains. The Remarkables are remarkable. We camped at a place called Te Anau where Alan got excited by the sight of some tree ferns on a walk which was part of the famous Kepler track. Apparently the larger ones are very old. Really Alan, how ... read more
Mt. Cook
God it’s a long way to Bangkok never mind New Zealand. Bangkok was worth the stopover though, partly to rest and also enjoy/endure the 36 degree heat. We met some incredibly helpful and friendly Thai’s and some others who would sell their own Grannies to get you into their taxi or buy just about anything you can think of and loads of stuff you haven’t. Another 14hrs of fun in the air and we landed in Christchurch minus our bags which followed us in on a later flight. ‘Welcome to New Zealand’, they all said at the airport, followed by patronising sympathy that we were coming to watch Scotland in the rugby world cup. It was all in good fun, but I still felt like going back there after the All Blacks were beaten a couple ... read more
