Well, our cruise to Alaska is now over and we’re off the two more weeks of adventures. We’ve not had Internet on board, way too expensive. So we shall try and catch up over the next few days, although we have a hectic schedule. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments! Friday Aug 17 Westjet flight to Vancouver was great. A bit bouncy leaving the Ottawa area though. Unfortunately our flight ran out of food, we got the last snack and many behind us never got to eat. Marion’s cousin Ken picked us up and let us settle in with some beer and smoked meat. We spent the afternoon walking around Steveston, where the Gulf of Georgia Cannery is located, a Parks Canada National Historic Site, the creation of which Ferdy was involved with. Lots of ... read more

These two days we travel from Perth back to Ottawa. Instead of paying the additional daily rate for another 2 or 3 hours of using our car on Saturday, we decided to turn our car in at 6 pm even though it meant hanging around the airport until flight time at about midnight. Marion did not believe in spending precious holiday time to organize her bags if she were going to spend that much time at the airport. So she did that at the airport. Good thing we were able to find a quiet spot at Terminal 3 which was under construction. Otherwise, airports just aren’t set up for this kind of operation! Our flight from Perth to Melbourne left about midnight and was only 3 1/2 hours, but because of the 3-hour time difference we ... read more

We were very impressed by the Stay Hotel in Margaret River, that was the Quality Inn until two days ago. Very clean and friendly, but what surprised us most was the detail at which the room was presented. Every little bit of comfort, like slippers and plenty of toiletries, FREE mini bar including two beer, six soft drinks, two OJs, jelly beans, chocolate bars, bottled water, nuts, crackers, and off course free coffee and tea. In the morning, we spent a lot of time shopping here, some of "us" like that. We still wanted the fish and chip we missed out on last night, so on our way out of town we stopped in again at the Sea Garden Café for lunch, Ferdy had the shark and Marion the hake. Very nice indeed. Although we took ... read more

So far during this vacation we have experienced many different aspects of this great country. We’ve experienced the urban scene in Melbourne and Adelaide. We’ve been on the bus with locals who may not have showered for a while. We’ve slept under the stars, hiked with young folk 50 years our juniors, we’ve been in the desert and in rough Outback towns, in the tropics where’s felt the 95% humidity, came within a foot or so of killer crocs, been on the beach at 6:30 AM with young and old. And much more. Now we’ve experienced the bush. After stops in Mandurah and Bunbury, we head for Donnelly River, way inland. April told us about this place deep into the karri forests, more than an hour away from civilization and cell phone coverage, and that includes ... read more

Rottnest (Wadjemup to the Aboriginees who were there as early as 20,000 years ago) got its name from the Dutch who called this island off Fremantle “Rottenest” for rats’ nest, although in modern Dutch that would have been spelled “Rattenest”. Small detail. They named it after these really strange-looking marsupials presently known as Quokkas, that have a head and tail like a rat and a body of a kangaroo, including the hind legs. They’re about the size of a cat and they are literally all over the island, and nowhere else in the world (we heard later there are some remote populations elsewhere in Australia), walking between people looking for leftovers or handouts. There’s a $50 fine for feeding them. Rottnest used to be attached to the mainland some 7,000 years ago, before rising ocean levels ... read more