Airlie Beach is a chilled out town at the gateway to the Whitsunday islands where backpackers mingle with millionaires in a friendly atmosphere. It boasts a massive lagoon suitable for swimming when it is stinger season. Kieran & Claire came up from Hervey Bay to meet up with us for a few days. We arrived a couple of days before them which gave us time to check us all in for our sailing trip around the Whitsundays. It was good to see them & hear their stories & recommendations from driving South to North. (We are travelling in the opposite direction). [View Full Entry]

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Following the high of our trip to mission beach after our skydive, we thought that we would take the next couple of days more tranquilly. We left Mission and headed north to see Josephine falls once again & visit Paronella Park. Josephine Falls is about 20 km north of Innisfail. It has two main waterfalls and swimming area where you can slide down the rock faces into the pool. The spring water is really refreshing and very cold. It's a real naturally made water park. From here we headed south back to Paronella Park. We were greated warmly in the the [View Full Entry]

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Mission Beach, Queensland - the place Sarah & Mike jumped out of a plane at 14,000 feet. Freefalling for 60 seconds at speeds of up to 140 mph! WOW.......what a feeling! Getting collected from our camp site at 7.15am we were weary the morning of the jump. After a late night sharing some stories with a lovely Dutch couple we met, falling out of a plane didn't seem as appealing as a few extra hours in bed! There was a full bus load from Mission Beach to Tully Airfield where the plane takes off from. The bus was quiet most of [View Full Entry]

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After Port Douglas it was a quick trip down to Cairns. We stopped at Kurunda on the way down. Kurunda is an Aboriginal town on the side of the mountain with a spectacular railway running up to it and a sky rail that runs over the canopy of the rainforest below. We decided to drive up ourselves following a few tips from some people who had done this before. The drive up was beautiful, though when Sarah read the lonely planet's comment of, 'if you want a Boomerang from Korea or a Didgeridoo from China, go to Kurunda!' we expected to [View Full Entry]

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After a few hiccups we collected our campervan from Cairns & headed straight for Port Douglas. This was to be the hub for our activities over the next few days. Being the closest town to the Great Barrier Reef, it is easy to know what Port Douglas is famous for! This pretty little village caters well for the many tourists & campervans. It is located at one end of a four mile beach. On our first night we enjoyed some Cane Toad Racing at 'The Iron Bar' This is a fun family event held every evening at 7.30pm. Six tourists picked [View Full Entry]

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We made the journey from Melbs to Perth to see Colin, my big brother & his georgeous family. Arriving at Perth domestic airport, I was very excited about getting to spend some time with Colin, Jo, Georga & Grace. When we arrived in Rockingham to my disappointment Grace was sleeping & Georga was at school. It wasn't long before we were all playing together & I was learning about my newest neices little personality - definitely a red head! Within a day they had me wrapped around their wee fingers & know all the Auntie buttons to press! We had a [View Full Entry]

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A trip to Melbourne wouldn't be completed without a trip to Ramsey street. Remembering the time when I collected the Neighbours playing cards and completed the full sticker book; quite an effort when I was only nine years old & had to buy 6 packets a day with my lunch money, I just had to make the pilgrimage to Ramsey Street. Imagine my delight when we rocked up to Pin Oak Court (the street's 'real' name) & they are filming! Yep, Stefan Dennis, aka Paul Robinson was out along with a few other of the cast! We were able to watch [View Full Entry]

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We arrived on Phillip Island late on Thursday evening & were welcomed by signs saying there are 'on the spot' fines of $100 for camping or parking a camper overnight. This meant we had to book into a campsite just before crossing the bridge into Phillip Island. Costing $30 for an unpowered site, we had no option but to pay the money. Next morning we were up early to watch pelicans being fed. This happens daily at 11.30am & attracts crowds to watch & around 20 pelicans! It was amazing watching them all congregate on the sand waiting for their lunch! [View Full Entry]

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One of our Melbourne highlights was the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Neither of us had been to a Grand Prix before, but we had a taste of racing action when watching the Moto GP back in Malaysia. Sunday was to be a full day of racing, starting from early. We had collected our tickets a couple of days earlier on the way to Phillip Island, so we were able to head straight for the track when the morning came. We got up early and headed to the place we had chosen from the maps which was at turn 10. We [View Full Entry]

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Arriving in Melbourne from Sydney on the early flight left us pretty tired. We also made the mistake of flying into Avalon airport instead of Melbourne Tullamarine airport. (Avalon is approximately 60kms outside Melbourne so more like a regional airport). Anyway, 3 hours later & $100 worse off from getting a transfer (2 buses & a taxi) to our campervan, we accepted the camper (named Mutlety!). We set off towards the Great Ocean Road west of Melbs. The drive took us to Warrnambool & Port Fairy, small towns at the start of the far end of the Great Ocean Road. This [View Full Entry]

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