The arrival in Sydney was a culture shock after the sparsely populated wide expanse of the west coast. The train came to a halt after what seemed like ages, crawling through suburbia. The city was ‘tall’ and ‘noisy’. Hustles and bustles were mixed with sadness and goodbyes as the new friends we just made travelled on in various directions. After collecting the mountain of luggage…thank goodness for extra Lizzie hands! should take a leaf out of her book and cram our lives into one bag!! AS IF !! Our transfer from train to taxi went well, we had to wait for [View Full Entry]

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We left Monkey Mia about 11am and drove to a place called Hamelin Pool where there were Stromatolites or Strombolites as the road sign calls them they were discovered by scientists in 1956 and were the first living examples of structures built by cyanobacteria. They are similar to 3,500 million year old stromatolite fossils. Stromatolites are an example of the earliest record of life on earth. It was very hot and when we asked for directions at the local shop (there is only one shop and two other buildings in this remote location), a long bearded local, termed “inbreed” was annoyin [View Full Entry]

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Monkey Mia This is a collection of notes and not as well written as the last blog, however it gives a flavour of this part of the trip. We are having problems finding internet connections, so the blogs will be updated as internet connections become available. Its written by Judi and me at odd times, so that it appears odd at times as to who is writing this. But that’s ok. The countryside is red and dramatic - lots of red dirt, white and sand coloured sand. After a 6 hour drive we arrived at the Monkey Mia gate with Temp [View Full Entry]

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Blog travelling start here JUDI The day before our holidays begun we were pleased that the final onslaughts of preparations were almost completed. Packing took till 2.00 am and we were shattered when retiring for bed but happy. We went through a check list to make sure we had not forgotten anything. All that was left to do was to sleep, get up early, wash and dress, clean the house, change the bed, label the suitcases and GO..! I woke up one and half hours early with a chilling thought that I had not turned off the electric fire in my [View Full Entry]

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We flew from Glasgow ..... an hour and a half late on takeoff. Then left Heathrow half and hour or so late..... arrived in Bangcock and had a quick stop for fuel then off to Sydney. Arrived and although we had good flying we are a bit jaded... we are now waiting for a connecting flight to Perth... will leave here (Sydney) at 10am local time and arrive in Perth 5 hours later. Will update this with a proper blog and some photos when we get settled in "Miss Mauds Sweedish" hotel!! ooh err. [View Full Entry]

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Just added a pic of the Arcadia - now on the first leg of her world tour - I have managed to obtain some photos that were taken by the helicopter that did a fly by in the Gulf of Aden from HMS Portland. Also shown where we will be staying on our cruise - The stern. [View Full Entry]

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