Sarah P

On our first evening we gained an immediate sense of the chaotic frenzy that is Bangkok day and night. The streets around our hotel were teeming with activity, with the colourful street vendors & market stalls, zigzagging tuk-tuks, pink taxis, ear-splitting traffic, and a throng of tourists. The word ‘cacophony’ springs to mind. There are so many cars, motorbikes with whole families clinging to them and taxis – far too many cars for the roads and it amazed me how willing people were to sit endlessly in jams getting nowhere! Motor-bikes weaving in and out – they certainly must have the highest number of scooters per capita of anywhere. The smells overall are pretty bad, with a stench of decaying vegetable matter and ripe sewage all a bit overpowering in the humid heat. It’s notoriously a ... read more

This was a drive in a motor home through an area of the most outstanding coastal wilderness, of ancient temperate rainforests and staggeringly beautiful beaches... However, whilst still within bounds of civilisation we camped first at Healesville, not far from Melbourne, to familiarise ourselves with the motor home we named Daphne. It’s a BIG motor home, 6 berth, and fills the lanes on the road. We got a good view from the driver’s cabin but unfortunately for the children strapped in the back the vista was not so good, partly due to the coarse black insect mesh on the side windows. This was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to, but the novelty sort of wore off when you have to 'make' your bed every evening and to find we had limited ... read more

As the plane approached Uluru there was eager excitement all round to spot the great rock from the air and luckily the plane circled for landing and so all got a birds-eye view of the infamous monolith as we approached the runway. It is really peculiar and amazing the way the massive rock protrudes from the never-ending flat landscape like a loaf of bread on a bread board (Ellen laughed at this description but that’s what it looks like!). It is actually a mass of sedimentary rock laid down in an alluvial plain from the erosion of a great mountain-scape, only to then be turned 90 degrees on its side – hence the striations that we see in the rock. Uluru draws people like a moth to a flame and it does not disappoint. It is ... read more

Off we hopped, back up to Perth for Australia Day with the Perth-Aussie Farnham’s. A national holiday celebrated on 26thJanuary this date commemorates the arrival of the British first fleet to establish a colony at Sydney Cove in 1788. The date is controversial to some Australians, particularly those indigenous aborigines, leading to it being called various alternatives, such as Invasion Day and Survival Day- as we saw with the protests on the day at a function attended by the Australian prime minister (not sure if you got the on the news back home). The conflict between the two groups seems to be a hard one to solve and is a considerable national challenge. Anyway, moving on ... For Australia Day, we ventured out to the Darling Range of Hills, inland of Perth, to an idyllic small ... read more

First impressions of Perth when we landed were the vastness of the sky, its blueness and the brightness of the light. Artists come here to seek out this crisp dazzling light I gather, it is quite startling. The other shocker was the heat – it was only 7am in the morning but we certainly felt out of place in our fleeces and jeans in the 25 degree heat – not as bad as others who had ugg boots on though! Having not slept on either flight and therefore meaning we had not slept for three days we have been catching up on some of that – quite tricky in this heat (it has been 41 degrees today). But that has not stopped us enjoying the differences; the beautiful exotic birds such as galahs, kookaburras & rosellas ... read more