Well this has to be the best city yet! We booked into a fabulous hotel in West Perth, and it was amazing, as we were straightaway upgraded to a one bedroom apartment. It had it's own kitchen with all mod cons, two bathrooms and a separate bedroom from the lounge/diner/kitchen! We were well treated here as we pushed the boat out for some luxury before we come home.. The hotel was well placed as the free bus was just on the corner of the road but was quiet and away from the rabble! On the first day we went into the [View Full Entry]

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And so we set off on the Indian Pacific.... the train will take us from Sydney all the way to Perth, which is closer to Singapore than it is to Sydney!!! Three nights, a few stops here and there. When we stopped at Adelaide we decided to pop into the city to get Nick's hat that we'd bought earlier, reshaped and cleaned... it had some red centre dirt on it and some oily insect repellent (well used)! Also Jean bought a little black fascinator for Nick's brother's wedding at the same shop. We returned to the station for the longest part [View Full Entry]

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Felt great to be in Sydney, Darling Harbour is a great area to be in and we took the first opportunity that evening to go to the Red Chilli just around the corner from our hotel, which is a fabulous Szechuan Chinese restaurant... abosolutely great food, the best Chinese meal we've ever had. The next day, we took a water taxi to circular quay which gave us amazing views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. We also saw the Sydney Aquarium, where we saw sea dragons, sea horses, sharks, rays and dugongs (sea cow, related to the elephant!)! [View Full Entry]

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Yeah!! Finally we're out of the nightmare that was Cairns.... We flew to Brisbane after Jean's spots had dried up, but she still covered up with a tasteful scarf (neck spots hideous!!). Nick's cousin Beth welcomed us to her home and what a fab place it is.. on an acre plot in suburban area of Brisbane called Pullenvale, that she shares with her husband Steve and son Sam and of course their Jack Russel cross, Oscar (loved him!!). The house is large with a hot tub and pool.... so, this is by far the best hotel we've stayed at on this [View Full Entry]

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Well our venture into Queensland wasn't quite what we wanted! First day there, the weather forcast a cyclone out to the sea heading southwards... therefore diving was definitely going to be out for a few days.... then on the second evening Jean starts breaking out in spots... at first we thought it was only mosquito spots but on the Monday morning it was clearly not... so off to the docs to find out it was chicken pox!!! 37 years old, and she gets Chicken pox downunder... nightmare, so that's all travel, diving and going out completely off for a week... so [View Full Entry]

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Wow it's hot here!! The air is so dry and it's beating down....40 deg.C or more.. The train journey on The Ghan from Adelaide was pretty slow actually, but apparently that's because it's a very long train and a single track railway, so the danger is derailment in an isolated place...nasty. We had a Red sleeper cabin, which is basically like a wardrobe with pull down bunk beds! Nick slept ok but I had trouble with the constant movement. Still it was a great way to meet other travellers and the staff we pretty friendly. (I wouldn't recommend the food on [View Full Entry]

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Well the flight over from Singapore was pretty awful really.. cattle class but we had the same crew that came with us from London... we'd arrived pretty early here so we just left our bags at the hotel and ventured out into the city to find breakfast... we stumbled on the botanical gardens in the centre and had a lovely walk through... After that we wandered around the shops and came upon a hat shop that sells the famous Aussie hat, Akubra hats. Nick bought one of course!! He now strutts around just like an Aussie and even putting on a [View Full Entry]

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Hi Folks! This is the first of many entries on our 'Big Trip Downunder'! Been in Singapore now for a couple of nights although the jet lag has disorientated our sleeping pattern quite a bit! We have had a couple of great nights at the hotel - The Scarlet and been out in Chinatown at Fatty Wengs Restaurant in Smith Street. The food was great so we did both nights there. Singapore seems to be such a well organised country, so clean, sensible taxis, friendly people and an efficient airport! [View Full Entry]

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