Our first day on our Outback Spirit Arnhem Land trip began with a Welcome to Country at Wirrwawuy Beach. We were welcomed by the Gurruwiwi family and their spokesperson Allie. Normally Djalu Gurruwiwi, one of the Galpu clan leaders and custodians would lead his family in dance and song but, due to illness, his wife … More Welcome to Country Nhulunbuy style
COVID-19 is reshaping the world as we know it, stopping many of our social interactions around physical exercise, so walking is the one therapy to keep us all sane. I love walking and am happy to do it alone, the rhythm of the footsteps providing a great space to think. In fact, I prefer to … More Walking therapy in Wollumbin
Our last full day on Lord Howe Island dawned clear and calm with a cloudless blue sky. We had decided to do the Chase ‘n’ Thyme tour with Peter Phillipps who collected us outside the Broken Banyan in his little tour bus. Peter had the gift of the gab and told rather bad jokes, including … More Adventures in Paradise 3 – Chase ‘n’ Thyme and playing catch up
Cyclone Uesi, a Category 2 cyclone was scheduled to hit Lord Howe Island at 4pm Thursday. Barbara gave us a Bureau of Meteorology update, showing the path of Uesi passing directly over Lord Howe with wind speeds predicted to reach 150km/hour at 1am, Friday. She recommended having enough provisions for 2 days as we were … More Adventures in Paradise 2 – Cyclone Uesi on Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island is an ancient volcanic plug sitting in the Tasman Sea about 2 hours flight in a Dash-8 aircraft from the New South Wales coast. We had planned our holiday there in February to maximise warm conditions for snorkelling. Even before we arrived, it became an adventure. After our aborted flight on Sunday … More Adventures in Paradise 1 – arriving on Lord Howe Island
Turning 70 is certainly a milestone so I suggested to my adventurous daughter that we hike the 12 Apostles Walk together as a celebration. Revealing this piece of information to some people brought out horrified exclamations of ‘I couldn’t think of anything worse’ – this, after I revealed the weather forecast – or ‘why would … More Hiking with the Twelve Apostles Ladies
Cycling the Lower Rhine was a dream we had after our experience cycling along the Danube in 2015. We arrived bright and bushy tailed at the MS Arkona, moored on the Rhine at Kehl, the German side of the Rhine outside Strasbourg. The river boat hospitality system was very familiar – Theo the hospitality manager … More Cycling the Lower Rhine
Aussies in Alsace – Our journey from Hamburg by train took us through green fields increasingly streaked with rain to Baden Baden. Here we left the relative comfort of the Deutsches Bahn to stand on the wind swept concrete platform and waited for the French SCNF to take us to Strasbourg. My limited French enabled … More Aussies in Alsace
Mount Shkhara, Ushba and Tetnuldi are the highest mountains in the Svaneti Region of the Caucasus Range. Mt Shkhara towers over the remote villages of Ushguli at 5058m. Mt Ushba and Mt Tetnuldi, so the legend goes, were lovers whose families would not agree on their marriage, so Tetnuldi turned into a mountain whose snow … More Mounts Shkhara, Ushba and Tetnuldi in Svaneti
Our last chance to experience the Aurora Borealis was in Sinettä and Rovaniemi. In Sinettä just a few kilometres from the Arctic Circle, we had the wonderful experience of sleeping under the stars. Well, potentially under the stars. As we lay in our glass igloo and inspected our Aurora app, the forecast suggested a good … More Glass igloos, bread making and berry picking in Sinettä
Come wandering 