Blogs from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 4

My idea of an adventure up until this point was jumping out of a plane, flying to Sydney, or swinging around a pole (yes folks thats code for pole dancing). So to be now planning an adventure overseas when the furtherest I have been from home previously is Melbourne, is truly starting to re-define my idea of an adventure. Whats the plan you ask? Vietnam - to teach English. Why Vietnam? Why teaching English? Why do this? I don't quite have those answers yet. All my gfs that I have my weekly coffee catch up with right now would be reading this and shaking their heads - so this is for you girls. Maybe I do have the answers but they're lurking in my subconscious and are not yet ready for TravelBlog perusal ;) Right now ... read more

On the day we were packing up the cotton farming house and leaving in search of a new job, the farm owner rang us and asked if we fancied renovating a house for him?! Aswell as the farm, he also owns a number of investment properties which he either rents out or sells on. So we excitedly took the job and moved just an hour down the road to Toowoomba to begin renovating the house. The house is a run down Queenslander house that needed much TLC (and paint!) We've basically done one room at a time as the boss wasn't totally sure how much work he wanted doing / how long it would take. The house has two enclosed veranda rooms, 3 bedrooms, living room, bathroom, kitchen and porch. We started in the veranda rooms ... read more

Hi everyone, I am trying to set up a Travel Blog for our next trip to Vietnam. We will be leaving Australia 16th September and returning home 12th December.....still soo much to do before departure time. We are initially travelling to Vietnam for a 60th birthday party - one of those parties that you agree to attend when one has consumed a few glasses of wine - but this party invitation has opened up a range of opportunities for us on this trip. We will be based in HoiAn for the most part of this trip and I have been accepted to volunteer with Karen Leonard of Lifestart Foundation - Karen comes from Melbourne and travels back and forth to Vietnam to oversee her Foundation and its work (check out the website for more informaiton). While ... read more

Had the best time in Bondi, made lots of friends at the hostel. Ended up there until Tuesday morning, spent Monday night on the beach with friends from the hostel (plus Tom's guitar for some musical entertainment!)...perfect last night. Fiona and I finally got jobs, as apple pickers, so we headed in to Sydney on the 31st of March to get a Greyhound bus. The women at the check-in was a twat though and gave us the wrong instructions so we missed our bus to Wallangarra. Checked-in to a hostel. Camilla flew back in to Sydney that day so met up with her and her boyfriend James for dinner. She decided to come with us to be an apple picker as well, so met up again the next day for the 12 hour bus journey to ... read more

31 Jan 09: Arrived at Brisbane airport 7 ish in the morning. Met Liza and baby Orla at the airport with mother-in-law Anne. Drove a couple hours West of Brisbane to Toowoomba to brother-in-law's for coffee, then the final hour to the farm (near Cecil Plains- middle of nowhere). Met Dave and the dogs, Millie and Max, had lunch, and napped for hours as not slept much in 2 days!!!! Dinner, then early to bed. Sun 1st Feb: Went for a walk on the farm, around Dam 1 and 2 with Orla and Liza. Quick dip in the hot tub- very welcome!! Followed by a bbq lunch. Tour of the farm: (1000 acres, although small in Australian terms) Dave gave us a lesson on Cotton, Sourgum and Soya Beans. Then helped Dave do some irrigation: Pulled ... read more