17 October 2018 - 9 November 2018 After so many days of long drives we decided to stop in Hawker, to the north east of Port Augusta, and on the edge of the Flinders Ranges so that we could do a short tour into the Flinders. It is an area that is arid bush with ranges of relatively small mountains of varying shape and composition. The older hills are worn down to rounded mounds whereas younger mountains (in geological terms) are more precipitous with jagged cliffs. It is a popular 'upmarket' tourist destination offering luxurious hideaway spa retreats on traditional stations, plenty of five star 4x4 safaris including personalised flights across particular sights and of course off road 4x4 adventures. Because it is relatively close to centres of population including Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney there is ... read more

Had to send the photo to prove I was not hallucinating.... read more

London, Hong Kong and South West Australia 10 September - 3 October 2018 4 October Hyden, Western Australia After a very good flight to Hong Kong during which we had plenty of free seats around us which made the journey more relaxing we took the airport express train and a bus to reach Nathan Road. This is a busy area near the Tsim Sha Tsui underground station, full of shops and restaurants on the ground floor of big 'mansions' or apartment blocks built around a courtyard. We could have booked an international style hotel of which there are many in the area where they have been built to replace some of the apartment blocks but in an effort to save money and gain insight into how ordinary people live in Hong Kong we checked in to ... read more

Puerto Vallarta 19 January - 18 February 2018 I have been so relaxed in PV that I totally messed up the blogs. I forgot to write about the first month because I put a few photographs of PV in the blog about Loreto and then swanned off to Morelia and became obsessed with butterflies. So that is why two blogs are coming along at once. We continued to enjoy Posada de Roger and it's eclectic mix of residents. As we were going to stay for another month after going to Morelia we decided to spend more time relaxing and go sightseeing after our return. I think I explained on our previous visit that the plumbing in Mexico is dodgy to say the least and in fact last time we resorted to carrying a plunger around with ... read more

Loreto, Baja Sur 31st December - 16th January 2018 After the traditional city resort of La Paz, the tourist madness and mayhem of Cabo San Lucas and the remote rural retreats of Mulege and San Ignacio our tour of Baja California Sur terminated in Loreto. Like La Paz, Loreto is positioned on a bay within the Sea of Cortes, protected by numerous small islands. Arriving here reminded me of Goldilocks and the three bears. Whereas La Paz and Cabo are too big for a lengthy stay, Mulege and San Ignacio too small, Loreto is perfect. Because of it's isolated situation, the couple of small neighbouring towns one in each direction on the road are at least an hour and a half away, Loreto is very peaceful but has everything necessary for comfort. However before saying more ... read more