Blogs from Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania

Starting to get excited now (or more excited!!).. 5 sleeps!! 5 BLOODY Sleeps!! Still so much to do but getting there.. I have packed for the boys (we're only doing carry on luggage).. and for me.. only the hubby to go and we're out of here.. I have just had my first peek at our Big Island accommodation and I must say, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE R&R!! With kidlets we always try to book something with a kitchen so that we can at least do breakfast and snacks via the local grocers.. and having been to Hawaii before, the ABC shops are cheap, the roadside fruit stalls are plentiful and having your own fridge certainly helps.. This is where we will be spending our first 5 nights on the big island : http://www.homeaway.com.au/holiday-rental/p174496?utm_campaign=HAAU_TRV_RES_HASC_replied_PPS&utm_content=propid_text_o_lprop&utm_term=20151127&utm_source=SYS&utm_medium=email Got our ... read more

We seem to have the fortune—sometimes good and sometimes bad--to happen upon extreme weather situations in our travels. This is true for us at the moment in Australia. We just experienced the warmest day ever recorded in this country. There are also a record number of bush fires, especially in New South Wales, which is the state where Sydney is located. The fire danger is listed as catastrophic and it is taxing all the resources available for fighting the fires. The heat wave has been dubbed "The Big Scorch." We left Sydney and headed north for the eastern beaches which seems like a good place to be given the weather and the fires. The coast is a mixture of interconnecting islands, lakes and beaches so it makes for gorgeous driving. This being summer, the kids are ... read more

On leaving Tamworth, we decided we'd once more head for the coast and turned off the New England Highway onto the Oxley Highway and over the Great Dividing Range. There were many big hills to climb up and travel down. We discovered the Apsley Falls .. well, originally they were discovered by that intrepid explorer, John Oxley, but we hadn't known they existed till we followed a sign to them. The main fall drops 65 metres down a steep slate-edge gorge and then down several more hundred metres to the bottom of the gorge. The hills got steeper .. we were travelling down to Mt. Seaview where Jason had been to a school camp many years ago. I don't think the camp is there anymore, perhaps taken over and the name changed. We drove into Wauchope ... read more

Sunday, January 23rd I was ready and waiting at the Tree House when Jake arrived with some friends. Daph and I said our goodbyes earlier, as she was going off to the field for BBQ breakfast, is that an Australian honeymoon breakfast I wondered? Jake was planning on a last surf whilst at Byron, I was happy to stay around the Tree House, (already packed up) I could have a leisurely breakfast and read my book. Kerin stayed with me and talked about her forthcoming 6 month working trip, to Cambodia, with husband Dan. It sounded exciting, I couldn’t help feeling that people seem to live life, outside the box, in this part of the world. Limits, what are they? Jake and Dan returned from their surf, and after a light lunch and visit to the ... read more

We woke to a cold and frosty but quite beautiful morning at Nundle - hose frozen, chilly, chilly! We finally got ourselves out of bed and once more on the road. Rather than go back to Tamworth, we found a minor but sealed road that went over hills and back to the highway. It was a lovely drive, through healthy looking farmland with healthy looking animals and many colourful rosellas and king parrots flitting between the trees and across the front of the motor home. We came to the town of Scone where we visited an Aunt in a nursing home. Scone is one of the main equestrian centres and Emerites own many hectares of horse studs. The horses we could see in paddocks were quite beautiful as were the now quite smart shops to be ... read more