I can’t believe we have arrived in Sydney, and that tomorrow Paul flies back to Joburg for a couple of weeks! That means it is now nearly five months that we have been on the road, yet it feels just like yesterday we were back in Joburg planning the trip to this point. It is going to feel strange, the next 10 days or so, not being in a caravan, and not having Paul with us. My mother will be joining us for a few days next week from Perth, and then the boys and I will set up to explore Sydney in earnest. Paul’s oldest friend Mark Sandham and his wife Anna have kindly offered to share their home with the Marketos troop for the next five weeks or so, and even better, they live ... read more

Boarding the Spirit of Tasmania this morning, both Paul and I felt a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful part of Australia: the dense magical rain forests, the pristine deserted beaches, the multi-textured, multi-coloured eucalyptus forests, impressive and mysterious old growth forests, the mountains, rivers, the exotic animals…Tasmania is definitely undeserving of the neglect and derision it gets from mainlanders, but then again, being Australia’s best kept secret keeps the island state peaceful. We also had an emotional foreshadowing: imagining what it will be like in nine months’ time boarding the plane to go back home (which for all you doubting Thomases, will be happening, unless Paul decides to become a hippy at Byron Bay!). But then, after another eight months of travelling (the latter of which will be quite hard core, with no ... read more

We are now in Hobart, capital city of Tasmania. It has been way too long since I have written and now trying to remember everything that has happened….We have been in Tasmania for almost two weeks now, and we are loving it, though we do have to keep reminding ourselves that we are still in Australia, and not in Europe. It just feels so different, perhaps aided by the chill in the air, reminiscent of those European autumn days! So, to go back. I mentioned that we had arrived in Tasmania, to torrential rain. As we had been forewarned on the ferry across that Tasmania’s east had been flooded in large areas, we decided to head west first. The ferry docked at 6am, so we drove until about 8am, when we could reasonably expect caravan parks ... read more

Hmmmm, I am not sure what to say about the photos Paul decided to post on the blog! Just to let you know, I am not in jail, and I have also not had a nervous breakdown (though, to be fair, I probably looked a bit like that last night when trying to update the blog prompting Paul to send me to bed!) The photo was indeed taken in a jail, the Old Melbourne Gaol in fact. We were in Melbourne just for the day, waiting to catch our evening ferry to Tasmania, and decided to do something cultural! Anyway, to cut a long story short, as part of the tour, we were all imprisoned in a cell, and then had our photos taken. Sergeant Blanket (our tour guide) was very insistent we make the photo ... read more

Paul was drawn to the Grampians because of its reputation as a climbing mecca. A beautiful range of mountains, covered in forests, with rocks just demanding to be climbed, and glistening in the sunshine (yes, we had the most amazing weather for our Grampian days - yippee!) Just like many areas of Australia though, the Grampians have been seriously affected by the very changeable weather patterns of late. In January this year, quite unexpectedly, heavy rains caused flooding and landslides which damaged a lot of the roads, climbing routes, and hiking trails. We did however manage to find a lovely remote spot to camp, where we were pretty much by ourselves. Close by were some great boulders which kept Paul happy for an afternoon, but unfortunately for him that, plus his morning at Mt Arapiles, was ... read more