bertrams

After an all too brief visit to Cairns to celebrate the boy's birthday, we headed once again toward Kuranda. This time by car rather than tourist train or Skyrail. As you pass over the Kuranda Range, rainforest changes quickly to dry eucalypts, grass trees and bigger ant hills. Davies Creek was our first stop. Massive granite outcrops with cool clear water making its way to the Barron River. The 850m circuit was a nice walk with some scrambles over rock face and pretty creek spots as well as a good view of the falls that would no doubt be very different in wet season. Next stop was Emerald Creek Icecreamery. The chocolate ginger was exceptional. We visited Meerba to grab a couple of things from the IGA. Kust past there Mount Uncle distillery had 4 gins, ... read more

After another excellent breakfast we headed to Muizenberg Beach. Hugely popular even on this grey Friday. The colourful bathing boxes and white sand with long rolling waves are probably more impressive on a better day (and to someone who hasn't always lived near the world's greatest beaches). Heading back around False Bay we stopped at Kalk Bay where we enjoyed a Devonshire Tea by the train line in an old carriage - Expresso 73. Strolled along the foreshore to the harbour where the fish market encourages a couple of seals to hang about. There is also a mini light house. Lots of little shops to explore if you're into that and Ice Cafe has a huge assortment of flavors and the steamy heat meant a double scoop didn't seem ott. Fishoek and St James are also ... read more

South African airlines was comfortable and efficient. I watched some movies I hadn't seen and Wayne didn't snore too loud. Arrived in Johannesburg around 5am. Transfer to domestic no problem. Wayne had a chat to a guy from Perth while I grabbed a coffee, momentarily taken aback at the 28 on the till until i remembered that the exchange means that was a $2.80 coffee and it was good. Got to Cape Town about 9. So glad I grabbed a sim card at the airport cheap and easy (MTN) and allowed me to get a blog started, make calls and use GPS. Probably won't do that in other countries but we are in SA for over a week and I need to ease in to not being as "connected" as I'm used to. Once we finally ... read more

Up super early to jump on the free shuttle to the GC visitor centre to see the sunrise over Mather Point and hike an hour or so back along the rim. Brilliant! We watched a black abyss transform into colourful ribbons of rock. I always love a good sunrise but watching the outcrops glow and change as the sunlight moved over them was pretty magical. The walk along the rim was great. Perfect to take loads of photos, learn about the geology if that’s your thing and build up an appetite for delicious breakfast at El Tovar overlooking the canyon. The Maswik Lodge where we stayed was only a couple hundred metres walk to the rim so we strolled back and packed up. On our way to Page we stopped at a bunch of lookouts including ... read more

We walked across a footbridge to the free shuttle at the bottom of the hill. Nic had to run back to the room because he forgot his ID and didn't want to miss the opportunity to have a Duff beer in Duff Gardens (turns out he did want to miss it - Duff beer is not at all delicious) so he and Wayne ran up the hill instead. We were in the gates by around 8.30. First up (against advice to head to the lower rides and work our way up) we headed straight to Harry Potter world. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade looked amazing and there . Nic and I got straight on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. Probably the best ride I've ever been on. Even being in the line (which was quick) ... read more