Blogs from Oceania - page 6492

As we landed in Darwin the first thing we noticed about Australia is the size, the country is unbelievably big. Nature illustrated this to us, as in the North there was flooding while bush fires raged in the South but as our luck goes we missed both (5th natural disaster we have just missed in 4 months!) Darwin is called the 'Gateway to Asia' and the 'Gateway to the Northern territory' - that pretty much describes Darwin, two gateways and nothing in between. Actually that’s not true, it would be better off if there was nothing in between, but sadly there is the worst city (I use that term loosely as it doesn't count as a city if you can walk around it in 2 hours) I have ever come across. It's ironic that its named ... read more

This blog somehow got published before we had finished it (none of us has admitted to doing it....) So it had lots of pictures but no explanations, so I've added to it. A big catch up to do on our blog, we are now in Tasmania, but will retrace our steps to leaving Queensland, and the frog in the toilet...to fly from Brisbane to Melborne (flight number 7...!) We were met by a friend of a friend Megan, who was lovely and opened up her home to us, and has since become a friend, one of the great things about travelling is not only meeting up with old friends but making new. We stayed in Megans house in Weribee, between Melbourne and Geelong, and had a great few days, swimming in the Yarra river, visiting an ... read more

Gene and I decided to spend our last night on the Island at a dinner and dance show. The show was absolutely phenomenal with both male and female performers dressed in tribal attire, including coconut bras for the women and straw skirts for the men, dancing the night away to the thrashing and thumping of the various types of handmade drums. The women’s dancing was very similar to belly dancing with their hips whipping from left to right and their straw skirts following their lead. The men performed tribal dances with the balls of their feet pouncing off the ground as though they were dancing on hot coal; their stamina was astonishing. It was truly a site to see. It was not difficult to point out the best of the performers. Surprisingly enough, the majority of ... read more

Was really looking forward to getting to Melbourne as I'd heard glowing reports from so many other travellers and was ready to explore a new place. When my flight landed, I headed down the plane steps and was bombarded with a boiling hot breeze - pretty similar to being blasted with a hairdryer; at first I thought it was just the hot air from the engines but by the time I'd made it half way down the tarmac I realised that that was the air temperature!!I'd arrived in 42 degree heat and the most uncomfortable bit was yet to come when I had to make my way to my hostel via a 10min walk and a 15min tram journey walking/standing all the way with all my stuff. By the time I'd arrived at my hostel all ... read more

Tempting as it was to go and explore the last minute camping spot we tracked down late yesterday evening, it turned out to be a recreational reserve for fishing in particular which, being a vegetarian, is obviously not my thing. Instead we packed up once again and set off in search of a better location. On the way, we passed through Te Anau which was pretty touristy but not in that tacky unpleasant way. I had left my toothbrush at the campsite in Invercargill so we popped into the little supermarket there to pick up a new one. In a neighbouring souvenir shop, we couldn't resist buying a couple of fingerpuppets (as you do) in the shape of a kiwi and a penguin. Did you know that New Zealand is home to several penguin colonies? Alas ... read more