Category Australia
Scotland Island – Small, Far Away
January 2019 The travel bug started for us when we realised that with both of our birthdays being in January ( a mere 4 days apart) we could get each other stuff for presents or we could spend the money on travel and explore the world together. About a week out from John’s Birthday, Karen […]
Tales of the Gold Coast
October 2018 In this edition of the blog I bring you a tale of adventure, exploration and discovery. Between the metropolis of Brisbane and the New South Wales Border to the south is another city, a hidden city. To the casual observer this area looks like any other, coastal region, miles of beaches punctuated by […]
Stuck in the Middle with Uluru
the world was a featureless place until the 10 ancestors (spirit people) of the Anangu came into being and travelled across the land, creating the features like Uluru that we see today. It represents the physical evidence of their time on the earth and is seen as one of their most dramatic and inspiring creations. […]
rAD-elaide Part 2
July 2018 It had been a number of years since we had been to Adelaide and with some Virgin Australia points to burn we booked ourselves flights down for a weekend. The last time we stayed in Tarndanyangga we had stayed in a random part of town away from all the action and we remember […]
I am the Mountain, I am Mudgee
It was three and a half years since we first arrived in Sydney. In that time we had explored the city we had decided to call home for a while, gallivanted up and down the east coast, popped over to Tasmania, hopped up to Darwin and a few more places in between. But as for […]
Vivid 2018: …and there are lights!
As my wife and I trained in Bradfield Park our eyes were fixed on the familiar sight of the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay, an almost 5 year fixture in our lives. Except tonight it was shining a bit brighter than normlal…oh crap it’s May -> that means Vivid Festival is here. Billed as […]
Harbourside Hamiltons
Not only did we get to spend time in Byron Bay with the Hamiltons, but we also got to show off our neighbourhood, the Lower North Shore and the greater Harbour district to them as well. Purple Rain Spring in the Southern Hemisphere begins in September lasting through to the end of November and the […]
The Way It Should Be
After spending an afternoon snorkeling at Julian Rocks we had earned a drink. Of all the gin joints in all the world we would be walking into one shed in particular. Nestled in a corner of an industrial estate just off one of the main roads out of Byron Bay is the place where a […]
Hamiltons Down Under
2006: After spending a number of weeks on the well trodden backpacker trail south from Cairns, Karen and her pals – Sarah and Lori, made the decision to fly from Brisbane to Sydney. The bold move would cut out a good chunk of the New South Wales coastline but it would allow them to make […]
Sculptures By the Sea 4: Citizens on Patrol
October 2017 Welcome to our 4th annual report from the Eastern Suburbs. It’s October in Sydney and that means one thing. Sculptures by the Sea. We would once again be joined by our fellow Art Critic (and occasional Art purchaser) Adam. As always we would be taking the South to North route starting at Tamarama […]
Brisbane Part Deux: Koalas, Kofte and Art
Sunday morning brought both sunshine and a change of scenery as we departed the urban jungle of the Brisbane CBD for the leafy suburbs. Fig Tree Pocket is the riverfront home to some of Queensland’s most expensive houses but it has another feature we would spend most of that day exploring. We took the boat […]
Brisbane Family Gathering
It took us three years to realise that we had not paid Australia’s ‘third city’ a visit. Karen had passed through Brisbane back in ’06 during her gap year and I guess we just put it on the long finger. So 3 years had just past since we arrived on these Southern shores and with […]
Elton Gong
“Wow. Elton John is playing in New South Wales! Fancy going?” Looking up from his laptop, a silent acceptance formed on John’s face before he could utter the affirmative response. “Aye. Whereabouts is he playing?” Wollongong. Wollongong. Road Trip 82 Kilometres south of Sydney and sandwiched between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean is […]
Top End Book End
…The only shining light ahead was not the fading sun but that we would not be going straight back to the hotel but somewhere else. Find out in the next post… We were dropped off at the wrong side of the road and as our bus and guide pulled away our destination was revealed […]
Florence and the Marines
Another early morning start for J&K with a 6.30AM pickup. As alluded to in our first Darwin post, one of the key attractions to the city is it’s proximity to a heap of National Parks and wildlife. We decided on a Day Trip to Litchfield Park as it was close enough that we would spend […]
