Monday 21 Feb. Today was planned as a ‘hang around the town’ day with no particular plans. Unfortunately Tony developed a problem with his foot which hampered his mobility and so we decided to test out the local medical facilities. Port Douglas has a privately run clinic and people who have Medicare insurance can receive free treatment. Everyone else pays and boy do they pay – AU$110 for a 10 minute consultation plus prescriptions at AU$21. True we can claim most back under reciprocal healthcare arrangements and for really expensive medical treatment then you use your travel insurance. However, following our wonderful excursion into the Daintree Tropical Forest National Park on Tuesday 21, Tony’s condition worsened and he was unable to put any pressure on the foot that night or this morning so it was back ... read more

16 Feb. The big day has arrived for Marina’s big climb over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We took the ferry over to Circular Quay and walked to the office on The Rocks. I got kitted out and had to take a breathalyser! (which I passed easily). The group was led by a great guide called Mike who amazingly remembered everyone’s name. He made the climb interesting and fun. Once we started our ascent which was quite scary in places the views were magnificent all around. We stopped at various points to give the youngsters a rest! There was one lady with her husband who was petrified so Mike put her first and gave her lots of encouragement, at one point near the end her legs were like jelly and she had to sit down. To see ... read more

12 Feb. Today marks the end of our first week and my sleep pattern has just about normalised helped to a large extent by the incredibly large and comfortable bed. Breakfast was magnificent and up to and even exceeding our own standards at Edenhurst. A buffet of various fresh and dried fruits and breakfast cooked to order offering omelettes as well as steak (bacon), mushrooms and (optional) beans. The sausages did not come recommended by our host Pauline who hails from Suffolk so we took heed of here advice. As much juice and coffee/tea that you could possibly wish for and a choice of toast. After breakfast we decided to re-trace our steps from the day before just in case the visibility had improved and the signs were promising as walked the 800 metres or so ... read more

8 Feb 11. Not much sleep so was up dealing with e mail at 4 am. Eventually slept through till 9am. Today was meant to be a trip aboard a junk around Sentosa Island but we ended up at the harbour and guess what – there was only an ocean cruiser and cable car! So it was back aboard the very easy and efficient MRT (their Underground) and off to the Sky Sands Hotel at Marina Bay. This building, you know the one with the three towers and a boat on top, was only completed 12 months ago. After a tip off from an American couple we met at Raffles, we entered Tower 1 and bribed a concierge to give us a pass card giving us access to get to the 57th floor by elevator which ... read more