AlyandJames

A quick xmas update from the comfort of our room in the Sofitel. We have been in Broadbeach for a couple of days now and have enjoyed the luxury lifestyle. The cocktails have gone down well in the evenings and we are stuffed full of good food. The Sofitel is not very Christmassy. No tree, decorations or festive music. They even ran out of turkey at Christmas dinner! However we have had a great time and have eaten and drunk plenty, making the most of the all you can eat/drink Christmas buffet, Aussie Christmas fare consisting of Seafood (Lobster, Oysters, Prawns, Mussles, Squid, Crab and Moreton Bay Bugs), tradtional roast (beef, pork, ham, fish, chicken, no turkey) and numerous desserts (inluding a gingerbread house with no rats). There were however crackers on the tables (the Aussies ... read more

It was not a fun filled drive to Noosa from Brisbane, apart from the giant pineapple the one and a half hour drive was pretty dull. But we arrived in time for lunch at Noosa Junction and stocked up on some food and drink for our self contained unit at Coles prior to checking in. We are staying at the Noosa Parade Holiday Inn, but not the Holiday Inn that you will all be thinking of! Saying that though it is rather nice, spotlessly clean and comfortable. Blew the budget on lunch, so had a lazy rest of the day, took a walk to Hastings Street in Noosa Heads, one of the main tourist areas and relaxed on the beach, before heading home for some fruit toast and a night of cable tv, the height of ... read more

Took off from a wet Melbourne and landed in an even wetter Cairns, but we have made it with all 80kgs of our belongings! Experienced the repercussions of this years first of many (apparently) cyclones! Now enjoying temperatures consistently in the 30’s. Spent the first couple of nights in the Cairns Central YHA, which was well located although, the resort wide intercom (including in the bedrooms!) was slightly Hi-de-Hi. Then spent four nights up in the Atherton Tablelands whilst on the hunt for somewhere more permanent to live and so that James could visit the school he is going to be working at. Had a whistle stop tour of the tourist sites, including waterfalls and lakes and were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the area. Things have been pretty hectic, since we moved down to ... read more

Port Fairy (2nd - 3rd October) We hit the road early, stopping at Beachport for breakfast and then heading on to Mt Gambier. Mt Gambier is near the South Australia/Victoria border and is famous for its lakes, craters and caves as a result of past volcanic activity in the area. We made a quick stop at the Blue Lake, so called for its brilliant blue colour. Don’t think the winter months do it justice, but it is blue, like most water! Adjusted our watches by half an hour at the border and to help us get over the jet lag made a stop in Portland for lunch. Not much to look at but a welcome stop all the same. The scenery on our drive has varied from vineyards to agricultural land (beef farming in particular), timber ... read more

We have spent 5 nights in the ‘fare city’ of Adelaide and have really enjoyed our time here. Adelaide has the feel of a small town much like Cheltenham, although the population is 1.3 million!! There are lots of bars and restaurants and a good but small shopping precinct. Adelaide is the home of a great Belgian Beer Café, where we spent a nice afternoon drinking 8.9% Leffe Rossa (which kind of blew the dinner budget that day). This has been our first experience of backpacker hostel accommodation. The YHA is very comfortable much like a Travel Lodge although it is very noisy at night and has reminded us both of University accommodation. We need to get used to it though, as we will be staying in the YHA along the Great Ocean Road on our ... read more