Grenada (pronounced 'Gri-NAY-da') has been dubbed the 'Spice Island' because of its impressive production of a wide variety of spices, of which nutmeg is the most plentiful. The island is a heady mix of rainforests, fecund valleys, terraced gardens and rivers that fall away to white-sand beaches, bays and craggy cliffs. St George's, the capital, is considered one of the most attractive in the Caribbean, built around a harbor known as the Carnenage. It comprises one main island with a couple of smaller islands, has a population of just over 100,000, and lies at the southern tip of the Windward chain where, apart from Jamaica, it is the closest of the Caribbean islands to Venezuela. We took our first organised excursion here, titled 'Nutmeg and Falls', which had us first driving north up the west coast ... read more

So after the excitement at Ningaloo, it was a more leisurely stay at Margaret River. Our flight from Exmouth back to Perth took a couple of hours and then our drive in a rental car down south to Margaret River took another 4 hours, including a brief stop for dinner. We didn't actually stay in Margaret River itself, but at a very comfortable Airbnb beach house at Gnarabup (I never did find out if the 'G' is silent or not!), which is about a 10 minute drive from the township but very close to the key surfing beach of Prevelly. Margaret River is best known for its craft breweries, boutiques and surrounding wineries. Beaches and surf breaks line the nearby coast, whose waters host migratory whales during the second half of the year, unfortunately too late ... read more

Having been fortunate enough to have visited most of the world's great tourist attractions over the years, Petra had risen right to the top of my 'bucket list'. My concern was whether the expectation had resulted in perhaps my 'lifting the bar' a bit too high. It hadn't! Petra was without a doubt the highlight of my trip. As predicted, the southern border crossing from Eilat in Israel to Aqaba in Jordan (the Wadi Araba crossing) was very pain free, and we were basically through both sides in around half an hour. The drive north to Petra took a couple of hours through pretty desolate country, except when we passed the outskirts of the famed Wadi Rum on our right-hand side, where huge sandstone and granite rocks suddenly sprung up out of the desert, with shapes ... read more

Our inability to secure a timely flight from Muscat to Amman in Jordan meant a reschedule of our itinerary, which in my view became a bonus. It gave us the opportunity to instead spend a few days in Israel and meant that we would cross into Jordan at the hassle-free southern Red Sea border rather than the heavily utilised (and from all accounts often very slow) central border crossing linking Jerusalem/Tel Aviv with Amman. So we had an overnight flight from Muscat to Tel Aviv, transiting for 3 hours in Istanbul of all places in the middle of the night, but once we were settled in Tel Aviv these inconveniences were quickly forgotten. This was destined to be an interesting few days for me as I have actually visited Israel before, as a backpacker in the ... read more

After skirting the eastern coastline of Oman, it was time to head inwards. First up was a drive to Wadi Bani Khalid, an oasis spot in the middle of some dry and barren mountains, and one of the larger wadis in the country, which contains a significant water level all year round. This results in lush plantations on the drive in. The pools contained clear deep blue water and a number of us took the opportunity to take a refreshing dip before taking in a buffet lunch. We got quite a funny sensation during the swim when we stopped on a rock ledge and got bombarded with little fish swimming straight into our feet instead of avoiding humans as they usually do. After lunch, we headed for Wahiba Sands, a vast undulating white sea of sand ... read more