Braving Indonesian seas in the Rainy Season! Wednesday 4th February 2009 When we left the port of Padangbai in Bali, the sea was blue, the sun was shining and the public ferry, despite being ancient and tatty, didn’t give us too much cause for concern. Once the shelter of this pretty Balinese bay was left behind, however, we knew that we were in for a very rough crossing. These old ferries don’t seem to have stabilisers and she rolled about relentlessly on the grey swell. John was OK but I had to stop myself looking at the horizon, which disappeared from view every time the ship dipped and rose on the swell, to avoid throwing up (pleased to say I didn’t). It wasn’t too bad on deck but when the rain lashed down and one had ... read more

Beautiful Bali Saturday 31st January 2009 Last Saturday we were snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef and now we are sitting in a shady tropical Balinese garden; it requires quite a cultural adjustment. We are staying in a “losman” (small traditional hotel around a courtyard garden) in Seminyak on the south west coast of Bali about 5 kilometres north of the tourist hub of Kuta. It is beautiful, laid back, chilled, hot, humid, and exhausting! The hotel is adorned with stone sculptures, wooden Hindu goddesses covered in gilt, woven bamboo screens and wooden roof tiles. It is old; a little jaded around the edges, cheap and absolutely charming, as are the owners and staff, charming that is, not old and jaded! We are on the second floor with views to the mountains (only seen between the ... read more

G’day Kangaroo! Monday 26th January 2009 Its Australia Day, its Chinese New Year and best of all it’s the day we saw kangaroos! Last night we had a raging thunderstorm and left washed out Mission Beach early at 7.15 a.m. to drive north back to Cairns. Just five minutes after we left the campsite, we saw about thirty kangaroos grazing in a field near the roadside. Some were a bit camera shy and bounded away, but others just eyed us inquisitively and then carried on with their breakfast. What a great start to our last day in Queensland. We are now in Cairns and it is hotter than ever with the humidity at its highest. Tomorrow we’re off to Darwin where it is hotter! Right now its time to have a swim and then later head ... read more

Kangaroo, where are you?: the Atherton Tablelands Friday 23rd January 2009 We’ve been in Australia exactly one month today and we still haven’t seen a Kangaroo! We’ve made our eyes ache looking for them. However, when we zoom in on some of our photos on the computer, we can see some blurry images of small Tree Kangaroos peering at us through the bush on the Atherton Tablelands. Hopefully we’ll get to see some properly in the next few weeks before we leave Australia. We’ve seen some dead ones on the road. We spent a long time stalking quietly through the rainforest yesterday looking for Cassowaries to no avail but we’ll keep looking over the next day or two whilst here on the Cassowary Coast at Mission Beach. On Wednesday we left Port Douglas and headed inland ... read more

Cairns Botanic Gardens and natural rainforest Friday 16th January 2009 Yesterday we took a bus to the Cairns Botanic Gardens. These tropical gardens are the best we’ve seen anywhere. All of the plants, trees and ferns are tropical, both indigenous and from other exotic locations. One exclusive section houses plants used by Aboriginals for medicines, materials and food. After enjoying the gardens we walked through dense natural untouched rainforest to a region that contains a series of creeks and lakes, both saltwater and freshwater. There are notices warning people to watch out for large crocs; we didn’t see any but felt a bit uncomfortable at times, with only one or two other people about, dense foliage and high humidity. We were actually more worried about mosquitoes; there are ten species in the forest, large and small, ... read more