Blogs from New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 11

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales October 22nd 2022

After a really long morning (because we were already packed of course), and after completing half of our safety information on the Celebrity Cruises app, we had an early lunch of a tomato and cheese sandwich before our lovely Jess and little James came to pick us up. We were very lucky to have Jess offer us a lift to Circular Quay, because we found that trains were stopping at Blacktown and then we would have had to trundle all of our luggage over to a bus into Central, then go into the station and get another train to Circular Quay. And it was a rainy day. We were actually supposed to spend Friday night in a 3 star hotel in Liverpool St in the city, that was not handy to any stations, and who told ... read more

FIGHT CLUB...Kangaroos Fighting

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sussex Inlet October 7th 2022

Fight Club

Dancing Dave

FIGHT CLUB...Kangaroos Fighting...never thought I'd see it...but now I have...oh my!!! In 2009 Denise and I returned from Patagonia...driving south in a 4WD from Bariloche in Argentina down gravel dirt Ruta 40 in and out of Chile...through volcanic plug wildernesses... needle peak mountains... iceberg laden glaciers...fresh and soda alpine lakes...rushing rivers...the Most Beautiful Place in the World 'Torres del Paine'...meandering through Tolkien forests one day... "Peligro Peligro" (Danger Danger) roads and lush green or brown dry estancias that stretch forever the next. Patagonia is National Park Heaven...pristine and inviting...sensational. Always nice to return home to our own Heaven...northern Sydney bordering Berowra Valley National Park...views from our deck we have enjoyed for over 30 years...miles & miles of bush with Sydney's deepest gorge...our Garden of Eden... read more

WILDLIFE & WILDFIRES...The Miracle that is Mogo

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Batemans Bay August 22nd 2022

Meerkat

Dancing Dave

The Aussie East Coast bushfires of 2019 and 2020 were not only the most devastating and destructive in documented history with over 5,900 buildings destroyed including over 2,800 homes and 33 lives lost...but the estimation of loss of wildlife was in the billions. The images of blackened singed koalas and wallabies in burnt, scorched, smoking wastelands circled the World in 2019 like the soundwaves from the explosion of the volcano Krakatoa in the 1880s. Coastal towns and extensive areas of bushland in flames from Queensland to Victoria...even Kangaroo Island in South Australia...images of residents cramped on beaches in orange grey smoke consuming the lungs and skies...desperate for rescue from naval ships and fishing vessels. And among the stories at the time were the attempts to save the animals at Mogo Zoo in southern New South Wales ... read more

MIDNIGHT OIL... Beds are Burning One Last Time

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Orange June 26th 2022

No Regrets

Dancing Dave

There we were in a taxi in Buenos Aires looking out the window as we do. Then I started screaming...well not quite screaming...but I was leaning forward begging the driver...louder than he was probably used to. It's not as if one of the front wheels was coming off like that time in Beijing...nor like the taxi overtaking around blind wet mud corners in Zigong. Nor the tone I screamed at the soldier who boarded our bus in Tanzania who demanded my camera at gunpoint, "You are not stealing my camera." This was unbridled excitement...like our guide in Uzbekistan yelling "Luli..Luli" whenever a gypsy cart went by. "Turn it up please...more...more...more"...my pleas getting louder and louder as he turned the radio knob. Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning" belting out in a taxi in Buenos Aires...who'd have thought!!!! ... read more

A smorgasbord of visits within NSW, Victoria, Queensland, across the sea to Tasmania plus overseas visits by the lucky few!

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney June 24th 2022

Gerringong Cottage

michelleandkev

Despite the fact that Covid seems to have dampened my spirits for documenting my travels a little bit, looking back to what's been happening since my last travelblog entry - penned in 2020 - I've really got nothing to complain about. Kev and I certainly haven't let the grass grow under our feet even though we've not had any overseas visits ourselves since late 2019. So fast forwarding to December 2021, we drove to Gerringong on the NSW South Coast, a distance of around 130 kms where we stayed at the Station Masters Cottage courtesy of Carol and Jack. The name Gerringong derives from the Aboriginal word meaning "a fearful place" or "a place of peril". Originally occupied by the Wodi Wodi Aborigines, they may have seen Captain James Cook when he sailed past in 1770. ... read more

UNFINISHED BUSINESS...Icehouse Red Hot Summer Tour

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Cockatoo Island June 5th 2022

Unfinished Business

Dancing Dave

Every Sunday morning he'd come in and I'd give him a Vincent's Powder and a glass of water to wash it down...marveling he could consume the pink powder...the foulest elixir known to man...the painkiller for housewives and rock stars...a muso seeking path to the latter...both then youths...ultimately attaining the pinnacle of rock stardom he did. Left his heart and sweat on stage the previous evening...needed 'a mother's little helper' to reenergise his soul...so at his request I helped him along. His name is Iva Davies...then of the band 'Flowers'...better known as the lead and inspiration of 'Icehouse'...one of our favourite bands. Their song "Great Southern Land" featured every Australia Day for decades now. Ride on. Jump to 2022...Covid had killed the live music scene for the last two years...our bums on seats to help musos survive ... read more

Road Trip to Mackay

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Broken Hill June 4th 2022

Line of Lode

MrsMac

This year, the Oceania Area Aths Championships are in Mackay from June 7th-11th. We decided to see a bit more of Outback Australia so we set out on Friday to drive to Mackay. We had booked ahead on Booking.com to ensure we had accommodation along the way. Our first aim was to get to Broken Hill. We left a grey Adelaide about 8-30 and drove via the North/South Expressway to Gawler, stopping at Roseworthy to top up the petrol tank and buy some unappetizing pastries for breakfast. There was very little traffic going our way so it was a relatively easy drive.Once we made the Barrier Highway and lost our radio station, it was on with the audio of Dr No which we had started on our trip to Canberra. The main hassles were road works, ... read more

European Contiki Adventure 2nd June - 4th July 2022

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney June 2nd 2022

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Jordy Romy Travels

Day 1: 2nd June, 2022 Sydney – Darwin: The Beginning of an adventure of a life time Day 1 of my 1-month adventure in Europe began at 11:30am when I arrived at Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport, 4 hours be my 3:45pm flight to Darwin on a Qantas 787 Dreamliner. The reason why I arrived at the airport so early because I was at advised by Qantas that there would be extensive delays due to staff shortages. However, when I got to the flight check-in area, I noticed that me and a few other people were the only ones in the terminal, so checking in, dropping my bags off, going through customs and a security was only a 10 min process. After I made my way past security, I thought to myself, “now what” as I ... read more

Cold then Wet & Cold

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales May 30th 2022

Lake Mulwala

MikeV

Sunday Leaving Goulburn early it was cold – the phone said it was 4 degrees but it felt less. We had so many layers on that we both looked like Michelin Men – if we had fallen off we would have bounced all the way to our next destination! Heading South-West, firstly on the M31 which we soon got sick of, we turned off, leaving the motorway into a small town for a breakfast and to warm up. After our stop we took a convoluted route that headed us toward Queanbeyan (near Canberra) on narrow sealed roads. Eventually into Wagga Wagga a decent sized rural city for a McCafe lunch. Onwards on more sealed country roads we had an interesting, albeit cold ride to our destination of Oaklands. On our arrival we had done 470kms and ... read more

A Change in Circumstances

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Broulee May 30th 2022

South Broulee Beach, stretching for 5 km

Nomad Old Farts

Some of you who have been my regular subscribers through the years might be wondering why you haven’t seen any contributions from me for around 3 years. Yes, covid has been a significant factor (fortunately neither of us has succumbed to it yet), but there has been a more significant reason. My wife, Joan, suffers from Stargardt’s Disease (or AMD – age-related macular degeneration) which means she is rapidly losing her sight and sadly there is currently no cure or even part cure for it. It is not as though it has taken her by surprise, as it is hereditary and a number of her family members had/have it also, so she knew it was coming. I guess that ‘age-related’ is the key word as it was manageable up until about 5 years ago. The first ... read more