Tony and Carol

Our final big treat of the holiday was The Rock Tour. We spotted it advertised on the YHA site and it looked like a really great way to finish off, well almost. The 6 day tour was organised by Groovy Grape and it would take us nearly 1500km up to Uluru, then another 300km to Kings Canyon, finishing with nearly 500km up to Alice Springs. As the tour name says, the tour focuses on great landscape features. When Caragh picked us up from Adelaide YHA, she was stopping around the city gathering the 18 people who made up the tour group. We were not the oldest, quite, but most were much younger, average age being early 20's. It turned out to be a really good group of people. First stop off, after a couple of hours ... read more

The drive into Sydney was enjoyable, with The Pacific Highway cutting through largely undeveloped forested land right up until the Sydney suburbs. Once we were off the highway it was a case of following satnav very carefully, I didn't fancy having a wander around the city in our big van, which was great going forward, but I'm not convinced I'd be quite as confident having to do u-turns and so on. The route took us right through the city centre and under Sydney Harbour, via the tunnel; it was exciting to see the iconic landmarks for the first time. Big praise goes to the Australian drivers, they seem collectively to be calm, considerate and patient, which is helpful to visitors like us. It was good to return the beast intact ( and get the bond re ... read more

After a short minibus transfer to Cairns we got down to Townsville on Greyhound Australia. Air conditioned coach with comfortable seats and wifi, so the journey went quickly. There were 3 highlights to Townsville. The Strand is a lovely long promenade with a man made lagoon at the end near Kissing Point. Swimming in the lagoon was great, given that the sea is not so safe at this time due to the presence of stingers. It was lovely to see turtles coming up for air, just off the point. The beach by the side of The Strand is one of their habitats, where the females come ashore to lay their eggs. The second highlight was being able to watch the town's remembrance service, which was such a poignant event, interestingly attended by lots of young folk, ... read more

We had enjoyed SE Asia but was time for something different so were quite happy to be heading out to Australia. The flights worked out well. Our long, overnight flight, Bangkok to Sydney was our introduction to Quantas. The jury is out, we might just have caught the cabin crew on a bad night. Sydney airport, at 7.15 am was manic. Queues every where. Guess several big overnight flights hit the customs and transfers sections all at the same time. Anyway, after following the advice of ground staff, i.e. just jump every queue ( didn't come easy being a well conditioned British queuing champion) we did make the flight to Cairns. Again on Quantas and fortunately a totally different experience, with relaxed and smiley crew. Port Douglas is about an hour North of Cairns, on the ... read more

The distance between Vientiane and Luang Prabang is just over 200 miles. Flight time - 30 minutes, by coach 10 - 11 hours, so we flew. With such a short flight the altitude that we peaked at was just 17000 feet, rather than the more normal 35000 feet. Having a window seat, at that height gave good views of the terrain below. It was mountainous jungle pretty much all of the way, which means that whilst most of the road between the two places, Highway 13, is paved, it's still hard going for the coaches. Our base in Luang Prabang, which lies at the confluence of the Mekong and Khan rivers, has been Le Bel Air, a beautiful little place on the banks of the River Khan, just a short walk out of the centre. We ... read more