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I share tips and thoughts on copywriting, communications and campaigns worth learning from, community and how we connect, and my book and travel love. From time to time I raise my head from the trenches of motherhood to write about that too.
Health, environment and well-being specialists share their passion with the peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is well regarded as a hub for eco-philosophies, healthy living and sustainable lifestyles. The Peninsula Health and Wellbeing Expo takes this connection further as it returns for a 4th year on Sunday 26th October from 10am – 4pm, 2014.
Front row seats for the Windjana Gorge show
We’re clocking up some miles today on the Gibb River. It’s only 300km’s or so but it’s full of dust, errant cattle and intriguing Kimberley roadside stops.
Boabs, scones and engineers
It’s an odd time to be in the Kimberley’s. It’s almost the end of the season. Some travellers we meet scratch their head and wonder why we are heading out there in the heat of October. Some places are closed due to fire management programs, or putting staff off in preparation for what they […]
Give me the Gibb River Rd
The East Kimberley covers about 200, 000 square km’s of Western Australia and is one of the most remote areas pf the country. This is rugged ranges and escarpment country. Waterfalls, gorges, river crossings, and somewhere out there is coastline as well. It’s remote stations and hidden aboriginal culture. It’s big sky, and intense heat. And we’re […]
Kununurra – a new kid on the block
Kununura is the gateway to the East Kimberley. It was established as a town only in the 1960’s to serve the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. Today its population has notched up to 5,000 to support the agriculture, mining and tourism industries that have grown up around it.
Australia’s largest in-land sea – Lake Argyle
We are jetlagged and jaundice – it has been 2 hours without fruit! Gasping we arrive in Lake Argyle. It’s Grand Final Day. We don’t follow the footy. But we do follow the crowd. Straight to the pub.
This is the post where the honey pot gets it
Border Crossings. Tricky things. Usually involving passports, declaration forms and sweaty uniformed officers asking about your employment.
Bush camp, bush chores and big boabs
We fuel up on Katherine and travel west towards the Victoria River region. Expecting a boring drive, we find ourselves loving the drive through the Judbarra / Gregory National Park. It’s 13, 000 square km’s of amazing land-forms, towering sandstone pillars and bulging, beautiful boabs. This is spectacular landscape, sporting some impressive sandstone escarpments.
From war time to waterfalls
War time and waterfalls. The two images, and experiences couldn’t be more far apart. And yet here in the Northern Territory we are spending time at both.
Hoo Roo Humpty Doo
Tonight we have one final dinner with family to enjoy, one more frogs in the shower count to complete, and a last minute horse ride for Little Miss Squid who so wants to be a cow girl.
An unexpected insight at Litchfield National Park
Today we are throwing the guide book out the window. We are going with the flow. Up the track a bit, and towards some unexpected insights into Territory living.
Top End Hospitality
On the outskirts of Darwin where the Stuart Highway meets the Arnhem Highway is the town of Humpty Doo. And beyond that Noonamah. It’s all mango farms, buffalo horns on gates and freight containers passing for homes in large paddocks.
Darwin’s history, culture & a woo hoo before sunset
And much of the Top End’s tourist experiences today help tell a fascinating story of Darwin, with it’s history remarkably well preserved.
A spiritual sunset at Kakadu
When you are hanging out in Jabiru – all roads lead to one spiritual moment – a sunset at Ubirr.
Sorry Business in Kakadu
Sorry Business forms a sombre backdrop during our visit in Kakadu, and becomes more prevalent as we cruise into Jabiru for supplies.
Checking out Kakadu from the water
Cooinda is the perfect base to head off on our Yellow Water Cruise. We’ve seen so much of this park from lookouts and at the base of waterfalls, now it’s time to check it out from the water. The picturesque Yellow Water Billabong and tributaries of the South Alligator River are quite simply a wildlife spotting […]
Kakadu’s magic Maguk and Nourlangie
In this nearly 20, 000 square km park there’s quite a few waterfalls and swimming holes to explore. We are so glad that someone tipped us off about Maguk / Barramundi Falls. I’m calling it the unsung hero of Kakadu.
Hey Kakadu, don’t mind if I do!
At a mere two billion years old, the World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park is one of Australia’s most coveted “Must See” destination. It’s an internationally recognised ecological and cultural treasure. Check it out? Don’t mind if I do!
“Oarsome” Katherine Gorge / Nitimuluk NP
The first thing you notice in Katherine Gorge / Nitimiluk NP is the silence. And then our squids arrive. Squabbling over paddles, directions and seat locations.
Top end touring into Katherine
OK class…here’s a little Top End geography and history lesson for the town we know as Katherine.
From Roper Bar to Bitter Springs
Travelling along at 60 – 90 km per hour in a vehicle with air-conditioning, I cannot help but admire the early explorers and pioneers who opened up this route. Leichhardt, Burke and Wills, King … and others. We are merely travelling the next several hundreds of km’s in pursuit of an icy-pole at the Roper […]
A lost city, a butterfly and a ripper swimming hole
It’s a new day…we’ve been serenaded by Barking Owls and watched over by a flirtatious peacock, we’ve rinsed off the red dust in a donkey system shower and we’ve pulled off the last of the shockers. We are on a mission to get out of here – we hold our breaths and hope nothing else […]
The worst road ever – Lorella Springs
Right then. This post goes down in the chapter of our trip as recounting the WORST ROAD EVER.
This is the post where we go to Hell and back
From Adels Grove we drive through stations and mustering action, dust whipped into a frenzy by restless cows as stockhands loaded them onto road trains. Dust, and fires and dry, parched soil. Today we are going straight to lucifer’s patch. Hell’s Gate.
Bones, fossils & beaut fun at Boodjamulla NP
Using Adels Grove as our base we head into Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park its World Heritage Listed Riversleigh treasure chest of fossils. They are two jewels in Australia’s outback crown.
The outback oasis of Adels Grove
Adels Grove – it’s an oasis in the middle of the outback. It’s got outback spunk. And hanging with its residents was quite inspiring.
Blazing a trail to Camp 119 with Burke and Wills
It’s so hot out here even your shadows can’t be bothered standing up. Rock hard ground slams at the souls of your feet, slender trees seem to withhold their shade, and if the watchful crows had lips they’d be licking them overhead. We are standing at a rather ordinary looking tree trunk contemplating two blokes called […]
Aye Karumba!
Karumba, it’s all Outback by the Sea. It’s also at the Norman River mouth, which makes it the centre for prawning and barramundi, and for hordes of Victorian grey nomads obsessed with fishing, and bad karaoke sessions.
Croydon’s golden history
One of the highlights of the long, long Savannah Way is the opportunity you have to journey through history. Milestones and moments in time can creep up on you, and the chance to stop at unassuming towns to stretch your legs can suddenly open up a goldmine. Croydon is a legendary town, a Savannah Way […]
A blast from the past – Undara Lava Tubes
It’s another fine, sunny day. Just one of the many 300 fine, sunny days a year which are enjoyed by Undara Volcanic National Park, 362 metres above sea level.
From Atherton Tablelands to the Savannah Way
Hightailing it out of Cairns we head for the hills … the highlands above Cairns known as the Atherton Tablelands, a lush, green, fertile plateau 600 – 1000 metres above sea level.
Taking the Squids to the Great Barrier Reef
2.2million…that’s the number of eager snorkelers and divers estimated who annually explore the largest reef system in the world (according to 2007 Tourism Research Australia). Today they can add 4 more water-based adventurers to the tally as we take on the Great Barrier Reef.
From Cooktown to Cairns
Not too much to write home about today! We’re hitting the road again, staying on the bitumen and take Mulligans Highway which is mercifully sealed all the way.
Stories that just need telling – Cape York Peninsula
Today we’re up for a ‘day trip’ – from Cooktown to Laura – a mere 300km round trip for the day! (Amazing how one adjusts to the drive time the more remote you get!)
Captain Cook chased a chook all the way to Cooktown
Cooktown is a hybrid of frontier living, and pilgrimage destination for travellers connecting the Australian history dots. It’s also the launching pad for many heading off yonder towards Cape York, ”Ya going to the tip?” being the constant question to travellers. Sadly for us this is about as far up as we’ll go, as we […]
Those silly buggers on the Bloomfield Track
The sign says it all. “The Bloomfield track is for experienced 4WD drivers only”. OK then off we go. Ladies and Gentle-drivers, start your engines, and strap yourself in!
50 shades of green at Cape Tribulation
There’s a Thesaurus brimming with platitudes to describe Cape Tribulation. I’ll pluck out a few to get us started. Lush. Tranquil. Remote. Tropical. Prehistoric. I confess, I don’t know what I’m looking at in this World Heritage Rainforest half the time – it’s just so cloaked in lush vegetation. It’s a mesmerising 50 shades […]
Soaring high on the Cairns Skyrail
It was just as the Skyrail gondolier doors were closing that I remembered I used to have a rather loose fear of heights. Nothing big, just the odd sweaty palm and hammering heart that has me imaging all the worst scenarios.
Do the locomotion with me – Kuranda Scenic Train
The last time I rode the Kuranda Scenic Railway I was 4. It’s 40 years later and I’m still just as excited to be choo-chooing my way up the hill through a World Heritage listed rainforest.
Magnificent Mossman Gorge
We toodled up the track a bit from Cairns today and popped into Port Douglas and Palm Cove. Palm Cove has been names on of Australia’s Top 10 beaches – not sure what the prerequisite was cause I reckon I’ve seen better. But maybe I caught it on an off-day!
Keeping up with the kids in Cairns
Traveling with young children is not the easiest thing to do. You’d think it would be.
Confessions of a loose leaf at Nerada Tea
I’m a tea lady. A true-blue brew girl. A leaf lover. I’m a little teapot short and stout. I simply do not get out of bed for less than a 2 cup pot of black leaf tea, well steeped and ready to pour.
Cane Cutter Way to Cairns
Everyone waves in small towns in Queensland. At least everyone on The Cane Cutter Way does. It’d be hard for them not to…as tourists drive idly past their front doors, jumping out to pose for pictures by narrow-gauge cane train tracks and hang off rusty farm utes by banana crops.
The Great Green Way
The Great Green Way is a scenic route which winds itself through World Heritage forest, past banana plantations, endless For Sale signs in small towns and up into the hills.
Imagining more at Mission Beach
The Mission Beach brochure suggests: “Imagine More”. OK, so I did. I imagined there’d be sightings of Cassowaries; there wasn’t. I imagined there’d be more sun; struck out there too. I imagined there’d be more balmy sunsets as I strolled along the beach, gazing out to Dunk Island. Nada, zip, rien!
Daydream Believer
From time to time the camper trailer gets a little too cosy, a little too much like hard-work and a little too relentless! The cure? An escape to Daydream Island.
Turning Pages in Airlie Beach
Airlie Beach seems like a small, easy-to-find-your-way-around-kind-of-town on the map, but in all reality it’s a humming tourist mecca selling suncream, island trips, over-priced surfwear and backpacker drink ‘n’ dine deals.
Sweet secrets of a sugar cane factory
When I was a kid I had a book called “Tiger’s Milk”. Can’t recall what the junior novel was about but I do recall that Tiger’s Milk was the name for molasses and milk that the young hero in the book craved. Somewhere along the way, I had the chance to try Tiger’s Milk for […]
1770 – Cap’n Cook was here and so were we
When you are on the road ‘Would you kids please clean your room’ is easily swapped for “Would you please write in your diary?” And after comparing notes with others, I’m not alone in this fish-wife nagging.
Get off the grid on Fraser Island
Don’t come to Fraser Island expecting good mobile reception, or a leisurely Sunday drive. Do come however, for a total wilderness sand island experience, where you get off the grid and off the beaten track!