Over the course of the week, many members of the party succumbed to various ailments. They were dropping like flies and I, the forward thinking person that I am, felt confident that I could escape the bugs in my self-imposed quarantine on the verandah. Dean and Obie, both not quite a 100%, soldiered on to eventually complete their PADI course (with a healthy Eleanor in tow). Seeing sharks, moray eels, thousands of fish in formation and lots of other marvellous sights will forever be captured on Obie's 'GoPro'. Stayed tuned for viewing times at your nearest loungeroom. The Stitt's man-cave may provide the best atmosphere, so the footage probably won't have to go on tour. The heat didn't let up for the entire week. I spent much of the time hiding in the shade and ducking ... read more

The first day passed quietly with a bit of swimming, snorkelling and snoozing. It was a glorious day, weather-wise, literally the calm before a storm. Around dinner time (yes, early for you Europeans, Asians and, well, any country not influenced by those hungry British settlers), the atmosphere was stifling with not a breath of wind. Then, as soon as we'd eaten and retreated to our room for the evening, the wind whipped up and the rain came pouring down. Wonderful. The next morning we went for a stroll down to the 'point'. Passing beaches polluted by rubbish, it wasn't a nice walk by any stretch of the imagination. However, the cove at the end was beautiful. No litter and pristine water. Eleanor wasn't impressed and stormed back by herself. Teenage mutant ninja tantrum! The O'Briens arrived ... read more

Or how what should have been a simple walk in the forest turned into a five hour ordeal involving snakes, leeches and a call to 000. But I digress. Let's start from the beginning... Sadly there are no visual images to accompany this crazy story but this link will put you in the picture: http://www.grandstrzeleckitrack.org.au/ The tranquil camping spot in the Tarra Bulga National Park located in the Tarra Valley is beautiful. Lots of bush, wildlife and very few people. A great place to relax and catch up on some reading. The boys (Obie and Dean) were keen on doing a walk in the morning but I didn't think it sounded like a pleasant Sunday stroll. Details were sketchy, there was mention of leeches and it might involve some steep climbing and/or descending. So I drove ... read more

This time last week we were preparing ourselves for the flight home. As I sit here in the kitchen drinking a long black (no more buckets of Americanos), contemplating whether we should turn the heater on (!!!!), or just suck it up and wear a jumper, I realise the enormity of the task ahead. I am going to return to the beginning of our blogs, fix them up and then add some photos so we can publish them to remind us of our wonderful adventure. So, I'll be revisiting our travels and putting them through the editing process. To those people who need a fix of the andrewfamily life on a regular basis (Obie, that's you!), I'll make sure we blog our experience over the Labour Day long weekend. Until then, I'll leave these thoughts to ... read more

Advised by a helpful lady at the front desk not to drive the old road because it is dangerous provided us with a dilemma. Should we follow her advice or that of Trip Advisor, which didn't mention any danger? Dean reasoned that it couldn't be worse than the Black Spur, so we opted for the old road. The drive started with Eleanor improving her vocabulary (most noticeably the skill of using 'chap' as an adjective) as we admired the scenery and little old wooden stalls clinging to the side of the road selling fruit and vegetables. For the first part of the trip, the road was fine and although the bends were quite spew-worthy, we weren't able to go so fast to make Eleanor feel sick. Once we crossed the border into the next 'state', the ... read more