My Dad – My Travel Hero
My parents are travellers. Not the strange hippy kind but the curious-about-the-world type. Travelling is something that always interested Dad especially. From a young age he was curious, taking part in his school exchange to Germany as a gawky teenager and later spending his gap year in Swaziland (in the 1960s when gap years were far less common than they are now). My parents met and I was born in Luxembourg, while they were both expats there. I blame them both for my nomadic streak! From a young age, my brother and I were taken abroad as our parents explored the world. Thanks to them I have fond childhood memories…
Kuranda -The Rainforest Village
Kuranda, also known as the health resort of far North Queensland, is a village in the rainforest behind Cairns, on the way up to the Atherton Tablelands. It has long been home to the Tjapukai aboriginal people. But since the completion of the rail link to Cairns in 1891 and the hippy invasion of the 1960s it is a thriving market and holiday town, while still retaining a strong sense of aboriginal culture. The Journey or the Destination? A trip to Kuranda is as much about the journey as the destination. It is possible to take the Scenic Kuranda Railway or the Skyrail both to and from Kuranda. A popular…
The Aussie Way
I have been in Australia a few months now. What have I noticed that’s different from other places? The Land Downunder is unique in several ways. Here are some I have noticed. The colourful Australian use of English Jokes about speaking ‘straylian aside, English is the official language of Australia, but not as we know it. It is not only the Aussie accent that confuses non Aussies, but the use of different words. The news reports that someone was ‘bashed’. The cheddar cheese in the supermarket is defined as either being ‘mild’ or ‘tasty’. Then there are phrases like “I was flat out like a lizard drinking” which once you’ve…
Making Friends on the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven Natural wonders of the world and the only one visible from space. There is a lot of hype about it and visitors have seriously high expectations. We went out and made some bubbles. I’m not sure if it was our fault for being overexcited, but our first dive, was not all we had hoped it would be. The site was not uninteresting but it was a bit sparse. It was made worse because we spent a long time waiting around underwater before the dive itself began. That’s right, our dive suffered an attack of the muppets. Once our dive guide had…
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns, the ‘gateway to the Great Barrier Reef’, is a great place. In winter it is about 28 degrees centigrade most days, which is great (my kind of winter!) By day, the sounds of birds and geckos fill your ears and as dusk settles over the Esplanade bats hurry about the darkening sky. Cairns City The town itself is pretty much a two-storey place, especially in the centre. It is an easy town to walk around and laid out simply. It is difficult to get lost. A few historical buildings have survived the cyclones and can be seen around town. There is a museum too, proudly explaining Cairns’ history. Cairns…
Lights, Camera, Location!
It is all too easy to find yourself stuck in a routine and to slowly come to recognise that maybe there is more to life. If there are reasons that you can’t escape the routine just yet, then sit back and enjoy some armchair travel. Be inspired and plan your own adventure. These are some of the movies that have inspired me to travel. The Beach – Thailand This story follows a young backpacker who leaves Bangkok for Thailand’s beaches and discovers an island community where he realises he has a lot to learn. This is probably one of the first travel movies that ‘spoke’ to me. As an impressionable…
Queensland Roadtrip
It took five days, but we eventually arrived in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. Roadtrips are a great way to see large countries like Australia. I feel that you see and understand more exploring by road, than you ever will flying. We basically stuck to the M1, of the ‘Bruce Highway’ as it is known here, for most of the 1400km. It is one lane in each direction, which seems incredible to anyone with any familiarity of the UK’s M1, but works out here, since there is so much less traffic. We drove north up to Rockhampton which still has a huge bull in the centre of the roundabout where…
Magnetic Island
Magnetic Island, or ‘Maggie’ as it is affectionately known by locals, is one of the many islands that make up the Great Barrier Reef. It boasts many beautiful but quiet beaches and is an undisturbed home to lots of wildlife. It lies 8km offshore from Townsville and is a magical escape from the mainland, accessible on a 20 minute ferry ride. We thought it would make a fantastic spot to take a day off from the days of driving on our roadtrip. Car and passenger ferries operate between Townsville and Magnetic Island and should be booked ahead of travel, to ensure you can get on. The ferries arrive into Nelly…
Platypus and Possums at Eungella
Eun-what? I’m told it is pronounced ‘young-gala’ but all the Australians I’ve mentioned it to recently have put up with me calling it all sorts of other things. Eungella means ‘the long cloud’ and nestles at the top of the Clarkes mountain range in the Mackay hinterland. It is about 90km West of Mackay, on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef coastline, making it accessible from the coast in a daytrip. Eungella It is most famous these days as the home of the world’s most reliably seen platypus colony and that is precisely why we broke up our roadtrip with a detour here. The drive itself is beautiful as you wind up…
Aussie Roadtrip
I arrived in Australia two weeks ago and have spent time with friends in Brisbane and my boyfriend’s family on the Gold Coast and in Bundaberg. But now I have got a job and it is in Cairns, so we are off on a roadtrip. How Big is Australia? When you get out a map and look to see where Bundaberg and Cairns are you’ll probably think I misled you with the phrase ‘roadtrip’ as it implies weeks on the road, covering huge distances. Well look again and this time, check the scale. It took just over four hours to drive from Northern Brisbane to Bundaberg last week. It would…
