Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania

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Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns May 30th 2023

On Saturday we arrived at our mooring outside Port Douglas. We weren't able to go ashore until after 10am. We went down for the morning quiz, (which we won again) and snaking through the Ocean Bar was a long queue waiting for tender tickets. I waited until it was near the end and then joined. We were still able to go in Group 4. After the quiz we watched as they launched the tenders and then noticed two large ferries coming from the mainland. Then we went into the bar to wait for our group to be called. It was not until about 11am that we got on board one of the larger boats and then it was a short ride to the wharf.It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the sunshine and the fresh ... read more
Port Douglas Marina
Lunch at Hemingway's
The Lady Douglas

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Mermaid Beach May 3rd 2023

Originally booked for 2020, the trigger for this trip is my parents’ 70th birthdays and 50thwedding anniversary. Unfortunately due to restrictions & border uncertainty, the trip was postponed till 2023. A 2020 credit resulted in a 3 week extension for me on our original 6 week trip. The trip is 3 parts. Part 1 is a 3 week overland camping trip visiting Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique before entering South Africa to finish in Jo'burg. Part 2 is meeting Darryl in Jo'burg to transit to Cape Town for a week before a 3 week overland lodges trip visiting Namibia, Botswana, finishing in Victoria Falls. Part 3 is transiting to Jo'burg for the Dillon family holiday visiting Kruger NP, Victoria Falls & Hwange NP. I haven't overland camped for 18 years so there's a bit of trepidation. Pulling my ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Lady Elliot Island March 11th 2023

80 kms off the Queensland coast accessed by 12 seater plane from Bundaberg or Hervey Bay is a tiny coral cay that is 100 percent Eco and 100 percent satisfaction. The southern most island of the Great Barrier Reef and a haven for corals, seabirds, colourful fish, manta rays, turtles & humans...limited to 330 guests who snorkel, scuba dive, bask or otherwise simply enjoy the teeming wildlife. Where else can you find a piece of paradise where there is Nil to complain about? As Jack Johnson sings "In times like these...what will be will be...and so it goes." A last minute plan to spend time with my sister for Christmas in Queensland leads to a few days on a previously booked out tropical island. Who'd have thought? How often do last minute plans lead to serendipity ... read more
Gotta fly
Feeding her chick


As we cruise towards Brisbane I see a small pod of spinner dolphins from the balcony. (They spin around as they break water.) Just then Ian enters the cabin and we watch them for several minutes together. It would have been sad to have gone the entire cruise without seeing dolphins, other have been spotted many times but we always seemed to miss them. In the morning on opening our curtains after mooring during the early hours at the brand new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal we have a pleasing vista of lush green woodland, reeds and a muddy beach. The effect is spoilt slightly when we go out onto the balcony look towards the city and see a series of car parks, an industrial area and the city airport. Ah well. Some facts about Brisbane; Brisbane ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Airlie Beach March 7th 2023

After two days at sea we are tendered at Airlie Beach. During those two days there was a medical emergency on board the ship and a helicopter was sent from Cairns to collect the seriously ill guest. This procedure was carried out efficiently and while the ship was moving. Airlie beach is the gateway to Queensland’s pristine Whitsunday Islands. James Cook named the islands in 1770 as he believed he passed through the area on Whit Sunday. It is now widely accepted that he didn’t actually pass through on that date as he failed to take account the yet to be bought into existence International Date Line. Each year the residents of Airlie beach celebrate the blessing of the fleet on Whit Sunday There are 74 islands in the Whitsundays and they are in the heart ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Gold Coast December 16th 2022

We woke up very early today, partly due to the fact it was so light (the shutters don’t really block the light out!) and also due to the bed dipping in the middle so we were both perched on the very edge most of the night trying (and failing!) to get comfortable! Just goes to show you don’t always get what you pay for….. although the view is great, some parts of this apartment are quite tired. Our bedroom light has given up now too! The good thing about being up early is you can make the most of the day. As we had our Aquaduck tour booked for today we needed to find the check in office so decided to venture out for an early walk. It was a bit chilly out (well it was ... read more
2. Gold Coast Harbour and Skyline
3. View from SkyPoint
3a. Night view from SkyPoint

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Sunshine Coast December 14th 2022

We’ve covered just over 500km’s today, taking around 10 hours door to door! It was a very long day! Back on the Bruce Highway, they were right about it being very long! We set off from Gladstone this morning and drove all the way to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery without any stops, there isn’t really much to see or do on this road! Although we did spot a large crab on the top of a building at Miriam Vale and passed through a place called ‘Gin Gin’ – which sounded like our kind of town! It seemed like we were being chased by grey clouds today, and we even had a few spots of rain on the windscreen. At one point we even had to close the windows! But not for long. It was still pretty ... read more
2. Gin Gin
3. Bundaberg Distillery
4. Bundaberg Distillery

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Gladstone December 13th 2022

We missed our morning beach walk as we were running a bit late and needed to get on the road. What a lovely motel, as we drove out the lady who checked us in, made sure to meet us outside the office to say goodbye and also recommend a couple of places on our route today. It makes such a difference when you find one of these gems to stay at, just a shame we only had one night there. Our aim today was to get to Bundaberg, but it was a long way so realistically, we were going to try to get as far as Rockhampton. It was another scorcher today, 32 degrees with the humidity making it feel more like 36! One of the recommendations we had was to stop at Sabrina Sugar Shack ... read more
2. Capricorn Caves
3. Cathedral Cave, Capricorn
4. Roots in Cave

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Mackay December 12th 2022

The days seem to be going really fast now! With motel hopping you do tend to get quite a mixed bag, take our abode for the night last night in Townsville. While the location was excellent and we had a sea view from our room, the ‘kitchenette’ was basically a tiny fridge, microwave, a kettle and toaster, no sink so washing up would’ve had to be done in the bathroom sink. This would be a pain, but could still work, however the bathroom was so small, the extra narrow door had to be opened right back so you could walk down the narrow room to the shower end in order to close it again! This was £72 worth of room! Compare that to our motel room tonight at Comfort Resort Blue Pacific, just north of MacKay ... read more
2. View from Mt Inkerman
3. Road from Mt Inkerman
4. Airlie Beach Houses

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Port Douglas December 10th 2022

We set off for Cape Tribulation this morning, another lovely sunny (very hot!) day although they were predicting cloud and potential thunder and lightening today. Our accomodation has an underground car park which we thought would be great for keeping the car cool. Apparently, this is an impossible feat in this area and even in the subterranean car park it was 32 degrees! The drive out was once again on the lovely, picturesque road that you essentially have to go back up again once you get out of Port Douglas in order to get up to Cape Tribulation. We passed a few places that we thought would be good to stop off at on our return journey time permitting. We were enjoying the drive and about an hour in, as we were approaching the Daintree Ferry ... read more
2. Ute Advert
3. WWII Bomb Site
4. Wildlife Habitat




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