Our second night was spent at King’s Creek. Our dinner tonight was cooked in several camp ovens - wrought iron pots sitting on the campfire coals. We cooked damper bread, potatoes and chicken. It was strange having a campfire when it was over 30 degrees, but it was a good meal. The next morning we got to sleep in until 6:30. Luckily, others on the trip liked their sleep as well, so we pushed Debora to later wake-up times than she initially proposed. At King’s Canyon, we really began to see the spectacular scenery that the Northern Territory’s Red Centre has [View Full Entry]

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After visiting Kata Tjuta, we were taken to view Uluru at sunset. The sight to see really was the number of tourists sitting and watching this big rock in the middle of the desert! The sunset wasn’t all that great due to some low clouds on the horizon (and lack of dust in the air), so we didn’t get the colour changes that are supposedly so beautiful. The sunset itself was quite nice - but it was behind us as we looked on at Uluru. I think the view from the opposite side might have been more spectacular. After sunset we [View Full Entry]

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Our most recent adventure began in the Red Centre with friends from school, Carolyn and Terry. We spent a day in Alice Springs, checking out the aboriginal art stores and tasting the local cuisine. The evening was spent around the pool at our hotel. Daytime temperatures were in the mid 30s but the evenings were uncharactieristically warm (high teens) for the desert. Our 'Outback' experience began with the 6am pickup for our 5 day camping safari with Sahara Adventures. Our tour guide, Debora, was wide awake and cheerful as she picked us up at our hotel - Tom and I were [View Full Entry]

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WARNING. This blog entry is about a school trip with 86 students. It's not really very exciting... The final week of Term 3 took us to Canberra with our school's Year 6 classes. This was a great way to see the main museums, parliment buildings, and other attractions of the Nation's capital but we did pay a heavy price - supervising 86 eleven year olds. After lunch on Monday we loaded up two coaches at school and landed in Canberra around 7:00pm. Our lodging for the week was at the Canberra Motor Lodge - a combination of motel, cabins and campsites. [View Full Entry]

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It was great to have company from Mom and Dad this past week. They arrived on September 1st (the first day of spring down under) looking tremendous considering their 19-hour flight to Hong Kong and a further 9 hours to Sydney! They enjoyed their two days in Hong Kong and wish they had had more time, but were happy to land here and be settled in the same place for a few days. After breakfast on Copacabana beach on Saturday, we had the chance to take Mom and Dad to see the school on the day of the Spring Fair. Lots [View Full Entry]

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We decided to get out of town to celebrate our 9th anniversary. Even though the blue mountains are only a few hours away, we haven't yet had the chance to visit! We found our delightful B&B in Katoomba just a short walk away from the Three Sisters rock formation which draws all sorts of tour busses to Katoomba. It was a rainy evening, but we decided to brave the wet and cold anyway. The entire rock face was beautifully lit for the evening, but since it was only about 5 degrees, we headed back to our B&B to enjoy the central [View Full Entry]

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We checked back into the Chifley for the night before picking up our rental car and heading south to the Gold Coast. Before leaving Brisbane, we took a walking tour around the botanical gardens. We saw many water dragons and all sorts of birds including a dozen Ibis birds roosting in a tree! It was a beautiful spot - right outside the QUT campus. Luckily, getting on the motorway was easy and after a hot chocolate and java stop we were off to Gold Coast. 45 minutes later, we rounded a bend and found a wall of high-rises growing out of [View Full Entry]

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While preparing to head off to Hamilton Island, Sarah decided to read the really fine print on the Qantas e-ticket… and realized that we are supposed to have Australian photo ID or a passport… and we left our passports at home. Major stress the night before heading out… no other airline flies from Cairns to Hamilton Island, and if we’re denied boarding because of improper ID, it’s going to be a very nasty situation. We could possibly fly to Brisbane, then wait a day and get to Hamilton Island with another carrier… but we would lose the $ for the flight [View Full Entry]

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Our flight from Hamilton Island to Brisbane was uneventful, and since we were flying JetStar, there was no fear about proper identification this time! We arrived in Brisbane in the late afternoon, and we took the SkyTrain from the airport. It was easy, and a good walk from Central Station brought us to our hotel - the Chifley. Considering we booked the hotel online, and got quite a good deal for right in the CBD, we weren’t sure what we were getting - but it was perfect! A hotel which caters to business travellers within walking distance to everything! When we [View Full Entry]

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After a tough second term at school with reports and portfolios nagging us right until the end, this holiday was very much needed! We departed on July 1st for north Queensland. Arriving in Cairns in the early evening, we were transported an hour further north to Port Douglas to the Radisson Treetops Resort. Although the resort wasn't directly in downtown Port Douglas, the beautiful setting and quiet environment was just what we wanted! On day 1, we decided what tours we were going to do over the next few days, booked them with the tour companies and headed out to the [View Full Entry]

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