Author: travurple

Monday (11 March) we left Caye Caulker this morning, our guide reminded us that in Central America we must travel with ‘flexibility and Patience’, today we have to walk to catch the ferry back to Belize City, get taxis across the city to the bus station, then catch a public bus to San Ignacio, with another Intrepid group so a total of 27 of us! It is also a bank holiday (National Hero’s day), so our guides were a little bit stressed out. However it all worked out perfectly, they even managed to talk the bus driver into dropping us right outside our hotel, rather than us having to walk from the bus station.

Tuesday, we did a trip to explore the Actun Tunichil Muknal caves (known as the ATM caves), an amazing day first we had to cross three rivers, the water was reasonably low, but the deepest crossing was chest height. On entering the cave we had to swim 50 metres, as the river flowed out of the cave. We spent most of the next two hours scrambling and climbing in the water, to reach the dry cave which was used by the Maya to honour their gods including with human sacrifice. There was lots of artefacts still in situ in the cave, slowly being calcified by the water. It was an amazing challenging adventure. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside the caves, thanks to previous visitors dropping equipment on some of the precious items!

Wednesday, we visited the national park of Tikal, which includes the largest Maya archeological site in all of Central America, we visited many of the temples and the central plaza with a Maya guide who explained all the history and symbolism of the site. The guide also had an interest in wildlife and managed to spot, and point out, lots of species including spider monkeys, howler monkeys, toucans and brown jays.

Tikal was used in the filming of Star Wars IV A New Hope, the scenes before the rebel alliance attack on the Death Star. Great to see.

Thursday, we left Tikal and drove to Flores the state capital. Flores is on a small island on a lake we crossed the bridge to visit it. They had just opened an exhibition of the local dance costumes which we were invited to visit.

After Flores we drove to Rio Dulce, then took a boat to our hotel. Lovely wooden huts with shared bathrooms. But also a great pool and cocktail list !

Friday we took a boat trip to Livingston, calling at the Spanish Castle of San Felipe of Lara, bird island, the mangroves, hot springs and finally Livingston, a town that can only be reached by Boat. Had an amazing Fish soup for lunch.

Saturday, up at 3:30am to drive to Antigua, via Guatemala City, where the traffic is notoriously bad! We spend most of the day on the road, thankfully our bus driver was doing all the hard work!

We stopped off in Guatemala City to see a large 3D map of the country.

We got to Antigua (not to be mistaken for the Caribbean island) in the afternoon. Antigua is a old Spanish colonial town, a grid layout around a main square.

Given the early start, a nap was required before exploring the town, luckily we still managed to see the end of a parade as towns in Guatemala stage numerous processions in the run up to Easter.

In a couple of days we’ll be back to Antigua for 3 nights, so today was just a short taster!

Sunday, another private minibus first to Chichicastenango to see the market and the church, some murals depicting the ‘civil war’ and visiting a local Maya spiritual leader (‘shaman’) then on to Panajachel on the banks of Lake Atitlán. Unfortunately due to local bushfires the view of the lake and the surrounding volcanos was a little obscured. Panajachal is a nice town, a little bit touristy, but for local Guatemalan tourists. As it was St Patrick’s day, the bar adjacent to the hotel was having a do! Luckily the they closed at 9pm, so no sleep lost!

Monday, our last full day in our Tulum hotel, we headed out to lunch, but the restaurant we wanted to try was not were Google maps said it should be, so we went to a very local taco “restaurant”, the chef Simon was very happy we were there and introduced himself, showed us all the taco options and the meat on the grill. We ordered chicken tacos, they were good. Simon then brought us a shot of local booze, not sure exactly what it was, it was a bit rough!

We filled the car with fuel for the drive back to Cancun tomorrow, at the fuel station the attendants cleaned all the windows, they were getting very dusty. They also wanted to check the oil and water, Rog had to kindly decline – ‘it’s a hire car!’

We had dinner at the hotel sitting by the pool.

Tuesday, we check out of the hotel, and drove the hire car back to Cancun airport. We returned the car which confused the hell out of the car hire staff because it was not the car on their paper work!

At the car hire depot, a couple had returned to try and hire a GPS system, which they couldn’t do, so Rog helped them out and told them how to download “offline” google maps to use.

We then got a transfer back to the airport to catch a bus to Playa del Carmen. It was obviously a quiet day for the taxi firms as they offered US$60 to Playa del Carmen which is at least an hour!

However we stuck with the plan and got the bus for 250 pesos each (£11). We arrived too early to check in at the hotel where we were to join our Central American Tour, however we did drop our bags off, and went for a walk into Playa del Carmen. It’s very touristy with souvenir shops and bars everywhere!

We met our fellow travellers at 6pm then all went out for dinner with our guide.

Wednesday, was a ‘free’ day on the tour, so we got up early for a walk around Playa, very different at 8am most of the shops, restaurants and bars were not open. We did do some shopping at the local Walmart, replacing sun cream, bug spray etc.

We walked to the local ruins, they were not very impressive, and were just in the middle of a housing estate. Previous visitors to the sites had built cairns of stones all over the ruins, we did wonder what the Mayans would have made of this !! As we were walking away from the site, through the estate, our eyes were drawn to a group of trees with loads of different birds, about 6 different species, some of which we recognised, others which were new to us, lovely to see.

In the evening we headed to a local eatery famous for Cochinita Pilbil, a local slow roast pork dish served in tacos, yummy with a beer and margarita next door afterwards to wash it down.

On returning to the hotel we were greeted by a raccoon on the stairs!?

Thursday, we headed south to Chetumal, near the Belize border. On route we stopped at Bacalar for lunch and a boat trip on the lagoon. A very shallow lagoon, we swam/stood in the lagoon. There were also stromatolites, our second stromatolites in 3 months, these stromatolites were more impressive than the Australian ones.

In Chetumal, went out for dinner at a local restaurant, our last Mexican dinner, struggled slightly to understand the menu, but managed eventually to communicate with the waiter, and the food was good.

Friday, we met up with another Intrepid group to cross the border together, so a short bus transfer in Chetumal, with time to fill in the paperwork, then another bus to the border.

A quick Mexican security check;

Everyone off the bus to go through Mexico exit, a passport stamp and pay the US$45 exit tax;

Back on the bus and drive across no man’s land to the Belize entry;

Everyone off the bus, with all the luggage this time, and queue up to enter Belize;

Another passport stamp;

Back on the bus, and into Belize.

It all takes time to get a bus load of us through, but thankfully apart from us the border was quiet.

Another 3 hours on the bus to Belize city. We missed our intended ferry to Caye Caulker, so we had time for lunch before the next one! We found a local Chinese/ local restaurant who were mostly serving take food. However we were asked if we wanted to eat in, which meant moving the plastic screen and table blocking the doorway and entering into a darkened room with a couple of tables, a couple of our tour group were already there too! The chicken chow mein was good, it was recommended by a local as we queued outside!

A one hour water taxi ride took us to Caye Caulker, a small island an hour from Belize city, white sands palm trees, no cars a beautiful place.

Saturday, we had a day trip snorkelling on the ‘Miss Moneypenny’ catamaran, 3 snorkelling stops on the reef, some amazing marine life, fish rays, sharks and coral.

Lunch and a few cocktails! A great day!

Sunday, another free day with no organised plans. We were awake early so went for a walk before the heat for the day, walked most of the island. Breakfast was a local delicacy, a fry jack, fried bread stuffed with your choice of filling, we had bacon egg and cheese. We had been warned of the size and decided to share!

Spent the afternoon at ‘Sip & Dip’ a bar on the quay with tables in the water! A nice way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon!

Had dinner at the Happy Lobster, but no lobster, it’s out of season.

A slightly different format to this weeks blog, as we have spent a few days chilling out, relaxing and not doing anything ‘bloggable”.

So these are the highlights, when we did do something interesting:

Tuesday, Visited the Tulum Mayan ruins, they are unusual as they are right on the coast. We got up early to avoid the busier times and the height of the sun.

In true Mexican style first you have to run the Gauntlet of parking, as we were early that was not too bad, there were no guys on the main road trying to flag you in to their ‘official’ parking, according to Google there are about 4 parking lots called ‘official’, we are not sure any of them are actually official.

Ok so we paid our 100 pesos and parked up, now we have to get into the National park, that the ruins are in, a wrist band to buy, but that doesn’t get you in to the actual ruins. Then a 10 minute walk to a dodgy looking portacabin to buy a ticket for the ruins, then another 100 yards and a man checking that ticket!

As we wandered around we noticed that there was lots of building work going on, new paths being laid, new entrances being built. It was nice to see the ticket money being spent.

The ruins themselves are not that big, but interesting all the same, a main temple right on cliff top, a building over the top of a cenote (you couldn’t get in to the cenote, they were rebuilding the path). We did some iguana spotting, as there were plenty of them catching the early sun on top of the ruins.

We were glad that we made an early start, as on our way out of the site there was now a long queue, and loads more people making their way from the parking areas.

Thursday, a day for Chechin Itza, the most famous and most visited Mayan ruins in Mexico. So after doing lots of online research, we decide that we needed to get there early before all the tour buses arrived, it opens at 8am and it’s 2 1/2 hrs drive, so we were planning a 5:30 start☹️, however an almost throw away comment online mentioned the 1hour time difference between the state of Quintana Roo (Tulum) and Yucatán (Chechin Itzá), Strange but great, an extra hour in bed, so we left at 6:30am and no driving in the dark!

Again the parking, we had vowed to use the actual official parking, however when we got there there was a queue for the official parking, so we parked with some trepidation at an unofficial parking lot, saving the grand total of 20 pesos (£1), and hoped the car would be there when we returned! (Spoiler : it was).

Chechin Itza is an expensive archaeological site in Mexico. The site itself costs 95 pesos (£4.25) however the State Authorities in Yucatan also charge 468 pesos (£21.75) so you need two different tickets, but just for further confusion the 95pesos ticket you can only buy with cash but the 468 pesos ticket you can use a card! but only at different ticket booths!

We were there nice and early, all the stall holders were queuing up to get in with all their wares.

The first thing you get to as you walk into the site is “El Castillo” the largest pyramid, worth the entrance fee, it is an amazing sight.

So, using a lesser known fact, that, in general, the majority of people will always turn right we turned left and managed to get to a number of the other sites with nobody else around! We’ll include more photos than usual and put the details in the captions

All the stallholders were still setting up their stalls, as we wandered around, so they were focused on that rather than trying to encourage us to buy! After 3 hours there, it was starting to get busier, but not too crazy as the size of the site can absorb a lot of people.

Then for the long drive home, Rog is the only named driver on this hire car, as they wanted more than the cost of the original hire car to add an additional driver.

On the return journey we did drive through (rather than around) the town of Valladolid, a nice looking town, we didn’t stop, just drove slowly down the main street.

Got back to the apartment mid afternoon for a well deserved beer!

Saturday, we moved to Rubi Tulum Hotel, the original hotel we’d booked for our 22 day stay in Tulum, but you’ll remember from last weeks blog that there was a mix up with the booking and we were put in an apartment, which actually worked better for us. So we have 3 nights here before returning the hire car to Cancun and joining a 44 day Central American trip through all 8 countries Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama

So stay tuned for hopefully much more “bloggable” adventures

Monday (12 February) following the expensive taxi from the airport to the hotel, this morning we got an Uber about the same distance for less than an eighth of the price!! Ubers are not allowed to pick up at the airport.

So we collected a hire car, surprising the staff with Nic’s exploding water bottle, after she filled it with sparkling water, put the lid on then forgot. As she went to take a drink, the bottle cap flew through the air, missed one of the staff and hit the ceiling, falling to earth in 2 irreparable pieces! Ah well, it had served a Nic well, after we found it lying in a field during a walk when we were spending time on the canals in 2021.

Hire car all organised we then drove south to Tulum, an interesting journey for our first time on Mexican roads. The road was OK, the odd large pothole, armed police visible at checkpoints, lots of huge trucks and beaten up cars, luckily ours was not pristine either! In order to deal with the traffic conditions, we coined the phrase ‘drive like a Mexican’, it is being used frequently now! 5 hrs later the car hire company WhatsApp’d Rog to ask for a photo of the key fob so they knew which car they had given us.

We got to the hotel, who thought that we were due to check in on the 18th (not the 12th! ), and were fully booked, after about 15 mins they had come up with a plan for us to have the owners apartment, for either all of our stay, or until 18th when they will have space for us in an upgraded room.

Our original booking was dirt cheap, so much so that Rog emailed the hotel to check the price of the booking (after we’d booked) they are standing by the price. They admitted that their booking system had had a glitch, lucky for us! And that we were the last of 7 bookings who had got an eye watering reduced price!

As it turns out the apartment probably works better for us as we are here for 3 weeks, a little more space a better kitchen, a large pool in the complex and a small pool on the roof terrace. What’s not to like !

When we finally got into the flat, we went shopping, the ‘roads’ around the accommodation are terrible rutted dirt tracks, as there is not any buildings around at the moment, mostly jungle with a fare few building slights.

Tuesday, given all the recent excitement, we decided to have a relaxing day, a dip in the pool, catch a few rays.

Wednesday, we return to Chedraui supermarket for a big shop! It all takes longer than you think to drive to the supermarket, find everything you need, queued up, remember to get your parking ticket scanned in store, load up the car and drive back.

We then spent a couple of hours back at the hotel around their pool before returning to the flat for dinner.

Spoke to some good friends via FaceTime, who were on a much deserved holiday in the Canary Islands.

Thursday, another lazy day, spent a couple of hours at the hotel pool.

Friday, our first big adventure out, we drove an hour to Cenote Taak Bi Ha, a stunning cave cenote. It was a reasonable price compared to some we had researched. It was also reported to be managed by 7 local families, which appealed to us. It was not too busy, so we spent an hour or so there, Nic had a snorkel mask to get a better view of the underwater stalagmites , and small fish. When there were less people around we also saw some sizeable bats flying round, and were able to see where they were roosting.

Saturday, we drove the Tulum beach road south as far as the entrance to the Sian Ki’an national park. After reading reviews of the drive into the national park we decided not to bother as it is up to a 4 hr drive to the interesting stuff, and the road is even worse than the ones we have already driven.

At the public beach in Tulum (a lot of beaches can only be accessed via hotels and beach clubs, who charge a hefty fee), we watched Brown Pelicans fishing at close quarters, really magical to see.

Sunday, we stayed in the flat, it rained a lot!

Monday (19 February), we braved the puddles in the roads and visited the Mayan ruins at Coba, about an hour’s drive from Tulum. A nice site as it is still surrounded by jungle which gave welcome shade.

At Cobá we heard a surprising number of French voices amongst the tourist visitors.

Tuesday, another shopping day, we tried to go to a different supermarket. But as we pulled in to the small car park which was full, the army arrived and started getting animated with some of the cars blocking the car park, so we quickly drove out again, going back to the Chedraui supermarket instead.

Also did some washing. Rog managed to find poles to fashion washing lines on the sun terrace to dry everything.

Washing and shopping – a truly glamorous day!

Wednesday, we walked to a local restaurant, “Chencho” for lunch, lovely tacos and burritos. Our first Mexican meal out.

Thursday we drove south down the main highway as far as a town called “Felipe Carrillo Puerto”, a local Mexican town, had a walk around, not touristy at all.

Friday, we walked to a hotel with an “Art Walk” in its grounds, with statues, murals and unfortunately a lot of insects resulting in a few bites. Coffee at the Nuud cafe on the walk back to the flat.

Had drinks on our roof terrace and watched loads of Yucatan Jays flying about.

Saturday, went back to see the Pelicans at the local beach.

Sunday, a quiet day at the flat, it is Sunday after all.

Monday (29th January) We planned to go to Fremantle, a suburb of Perth on the coast. We first had to navigate the Perth train system and buy a ticket. After a failed attempt on electronic ticket machine, we spoke to someone at the information desk who informed us we needed to buy a family saver ticket, which gave us all day travel (bus & trains) for up to 7 people for $10 (£5.50). so we managed to buy the correct ticket, the next train in 3 mins, we got that train, everybody else in our carriage asking if the train was going to Fremantle. After a round of “hopefully, that’s where we are trying to go”, it was announced that the train was going to Fremantle.

One of the reasons for visiting Fremantle was Nic wanted to go to a Kathmandu store, as she’d been unable to get the correct size of a new T-shirt in the Perth store. We ended up buying the T-shirt, a pair of shorts each and a rucksack for Nic, an expensive visit (update – we did manage to get a tax rebate at the airport).

We then had a wander around Fremantle, which appeared to be very free spirited. A nice town.

Back in Perth, we decided to celebrate our last night in Perth, by heading out for a couple of early drinks, after a couple of beers/cider/alcoholic ginger beer we ended up in “Neon Palms” a cocktail bar! So had a Margarita and a Vodka Martini respectively! Thankfully it was still early, had dinner at the hotel.

Tuesday, we arranged a late checkout at the hotel, so after breakfast we went for a short walk to get some supplies for our flights. Then we had to pack, managing to get our new purchases in, and ditching a few items (old clothes, a knackered rucksack etc). An Uber to the airport, to start our three flights back to London Heathrow, via Singapore and Munich – the long way but the cheaper way!

The first flight was with Singapore Airlines, which was OK, the second leg was with Lufthansa, a less comfortable flight.

Wednesday morning (UK time) we landed in Heathrow, went to collect our bags, despite the screens telling us that all bags had been delivered, there was no sign of ours, which given our short transfer times in both Singapore and Munich, it was no surprise really. So Rog went off to report it, however finally our bags were delivered, so all good!

Then a train back up to York, luckily not a strike day.

Thursday to Tuesday – we spent time getting over jet lag, visiting friends & family, including visit to York, watching local rugby, and the obvious eating and drinking.

Wednesday, a little bit random but we ended up buying a car, which we had wanted to do in a couple of months time when we return to the UK, but we couldn’t pass up the deal. Luckily the dealer has agreed to store the car until we get back.

Thursday, we’d been packing and repacking all week for our next trip, 11 weeks in Central America, with hand luggage only!

Friday, a busy train back to London, checked into a Premier Inn, then met Nic’s cousin for Coffee and cake in Coal Drops Yard near Kings Cross station.

That morning we had managed to get last minute ‘rush’ tickets to see ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ (on TodayTix app – £25 for a £90 ticket). A classic Agatha Christie play, set in a courtroom and hosted in the old London Bough Council chamber in County Hall. Some great performances in an interesting venue.

Saturday, we wandered around London, managing to avoid the showers. We visited the National Portrait Gallery, which was very busy. After a quick walk around some of the famous Tudor Galleries, we found the ‘lunch room’, which as we discovered later is being newly trialled to give a space to sit and eat your own packed lunch. It was empty! We gave it a thumbs up when we were asked for feedback on our way out. Thanks to Nic’s mum for providing the makings of the picnic which lasted us 2 days !

Then a guided tour are the Palace of Westminster, a really interesting tour of the UK Parliament. All the interior is extremely ornate, and more spectacular close up.

We then met more family to watch the 2nd half of the England v Wales rugby. A lucky win for England.

Out for a couple of drinks and dinner, then collected our bags from the King’s Cross hotel then headed out to another Premier Inn at Heathrow Terminal 4.

Sunday, headed to Terminal 2 in good time as we couldn’t check in online, we couldn’t check in at the self check in either, so had to speak to someone. Despite AirCanada emailing a booking confirmation, we were informed that changes to the ‘ticket’, being different from a ‘booking’, had not been re-confirmed by the travel agent ??? Anyway after waiting for a call to be made to AirCanada head office, all was OK and we could check in.

Whilst waiting at the AirCanada desk, Nic was the saviour for someone who had left their phone in the car which had just dropped them off. Lending her phone so contact could be made and the car turned around to return the phone!

Got to the departure gate and our seats were changed.

Our flight was to Cancun via Toronto, we had a boarding cards for Toronto to Cancun, but they did not show seat numbers, so had to wait until Toronto to confirm seats.

So all in all an interesting process!

Arriving in Cancun we were met by a raft of taxi operatives. We had been trying to book an airport transfer with the hotel, unsuccessfully as it turned out! Which then led us to have to negotiate with the taxi operatives ( it is now about 2am in our body clocks!!). After a lot of discussion we got a 10 minute taxi ride for $50 (US). We leave you to imagine how impressed we were with this outcome !!!

Ok, so we missed another weekly blog, no excuse really other than been busy enjoying Australia, so this one covers two weeks

Monday (15 January) checked out of our hotel and spend most of the day wandering around Launceston, Tasmania we re-visited the city park and saw the macaque monkeys being fed.

We had a flight to Perth, thankfully a direct flight, Australia is such a massive country we have flown for 4hrs 40mins and not left the country, and Perth is 3 hrs behind Melbourne/Tasmania time.

Got an Uber from the airport to the Great Southern Hotel in central Perth, pleasantly surprised by the hotel, it was the cheapest ‘ok looking’ accommodation in Perth by a long way, however it is a good clean hotel.

Tuesday, after a good breakfast in the hotel, we walked to the Bell Tower at Elizabeth Quay, a very hot day at 40 c, so we headed back to the hotel over the hottest part the day!

Wednesday, walked around King’s Park, but by the time we had found the Botanical Garden section it was hot, and we’d had enough so headed back to the hotel.

Thursday, we went back to the Botanical Gardens, which includes a skywalk, a DNA tower which Rog climbed while Nic watched from the ground.

For dinner we went to the Western Australian Italian social club, which was just that, there was a large family party and a darts league match, which Rog ended up being the photographer for, also pool tables, it was all going on ! And good pizza too.

Friday, we had booked a group tour up the western Australian coast to Exmouth. Western Australia is vast, Exmouth is 1,250km north of Perth, so an early start as we had to walk to the collection point for the tour. We met our first fellow traveller at the pick up point, thankfully she had an Australian mobile and was able to receive the text letting us know the pick up was delayed slightly.

Our transport arrived, a 24 seater minibus with a trailer. Our first main stop was at the ‘Pinnacles’ strange stone ‘pinnacles’, then journeyed up the Indian Ocean Drive, stopping in Geraldton, the Pink lake (which was not actually that pink) and our accommodation (a hostel) in Kalbarri.

Saturday, an early start to drive into the Kalbarri National Park. An early start to get to Nature’s window as the sun was coming up. Then onto the Z bend trail, where some of our group abseiled down a cliff face, we watched and took photos for the group photo app. It was a bit of a scramble down, then back up the Murchison Gorge in very hot conditions, but well worth it! We were all glad to get back on the air conditioned bus to head to Monkey Mia. After we checked in we headed for a dip in the sea. The local dolphins came to see what we were doing, causing us great excitement.

Sunday, we went back to the beach to watch the official dolphin experience with the team of marine biologists, 2 of the ‘crooked fin’ family of dolphins are hand fed from the beach. The family consisted of the matriarch, her two daughters, one of which was pregnant and their young.

Then back on the bus to visit Eagle Bluff to see sharks from a distance, then Shell Beach, we were told it is one of only two beaches in the world made of only shells. Specifically the fragum cockle.

We then visited stromatolites, one of the oldest living organisms on earth (thousands of years old), but not very interesting to look at, they just look like rocks.

Back in the bus we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.

Our accommodation was at Coral Bay, a very strange hostel, a nice place if a little rigid about its rules on what and where you could drink alcohol.

Monday (22 January), we had planned to snorkel with manta rays, unfortunately the wind was too strong for the boats to go out, so the snorkelling was cancelled. Instead we went to the Shark nursery, closer to the shore, saw sharks and rays.

As we got to our next accommodation in Exmouth early, we headed out in the evening looking for turtles at Mauritius Beach. We sat on the beach and waited, then slowly 12 turtles came out of the water and headed up the beach towards us to nest. The turtles got so close to us that we had to move out of their way. It was an amazing evening, even our guide said he had not seen that many turtles nesting. We also saw some baby turtles coming out of their nests and heading for the water, running the risk of being a meal for the local sea birds.

Tuesday We headed out to do a hike in Yardie creek to look for black faced rock wallabies. Fantastic views again.

This evening we headed to the Vlamingh head lighthouse for sunset, then back to the beach for another hour of turtle spotting. As we needed to get an early night we spent less time there, but still saw half a dozen turtles arrive to start digging their nests.

Wednesday we said goodbye to some of our group, who had opted to take a different onward journey. We then started the long drive back south, our driver/ guide did a great job at the wheel for 900km. Stopped in Geraldton tonight, and went out for a meal together for our last night.

Thursday Another long day in the bus, a couple of comfort stops for short walks and refreshments at 3 Bays and again in Lancelin.

Finishing our tour back in Perth! (3,000km /1,900 mile in a week) A really enjoyable week with a new group of friends.

Friday, was Australia Day, but we began the day with the glamour of the local laundrette, as we waited for the washing, one of our tour mates walked past, so we had a chat.

Heading out later in the day to soak up some of the atmosphere, we met up with another one of our friends from the tour. We started in the park with the Aboriginal/ indigenous stage with some modern and traditional performances. Then we moved on to Langley park to get a spot for the fireworks and drone show. An amazing show, it was the first time we have seen a drone show in person.

Saturday, we headed for some retail therapy, as it is still summer here, and we needed some summer gear for our next trip (watch this space), and the chances of getting summer gear in the UK in February are slim.

Despite googling ‘what’s on’ in Perth we did not find out that the World Rugby 7’s was on 10mins walk from our hotel, we turned up and managed to get some tickets. It was a very Aussie festival atmosphere, no body appear to be sitting in their ticketed seat, everyone just moved around ( mainly to dodge the full sun!). We enjoyed an afternoon of 8 games of rubgy 7s.

Sunday, an early start, we booked a ferry to Rottnest Island, an 1 1/2 hr cruise down the Swan river then out into the Indian Ocean to the island, a beautiful place with no cars, we got the hop on hop off bus around the island, we walked to the World War II gun emplacements, saw dolphins and Osprey, snorkelled at Little Parakeet Bay, saw a Quokka, had an ice cream, then caught the ferry back! A lovely day!

Monday (8th January) we arrived in Launceston, Tasmania, collected a hire car from the airport, ‘our friends’ at Bargain Car Rentals again, cheap and an easy pick up process. We had a short drive to Deloraine and stayed at the Empire Hotel in the Platypus room. We enjoyed a meal in the hotel bar while chatting with a couple of fellas from Colorado, who were planning a hike to Cradle Mountain the next day, and compared travel stories.

Tuesday, we headed towards Liffey falls for a walk, we ended up at the campsite end of the falls walk, rather than the car park closer to the falls, so we had a longer walk than originally planned. It was a great walk through the shady forest, with very few people until we got closer to the falls, similarly the return journey walk just as peaceful.

That night, after a scenic drive, we stayed at Great Lakes Hotel in Miena, we had a fisherman’s cabin which was nicely appointed in a camping style. We had shared bathroom facilities, and the cabin was equipped with a kettle, toaster and supplies for a light breakfast.

Wednesday, we visited ‘The Wall in the Wilderness” a long wooden carved wall, which we visited on our last time in Tasmania, it is now 100 metres long, it depicts the history of Tasmania and is very realistic, it looks like you could lift items off the wall, the people and animals are amazingly lifelike. Sections of the wall are left as carving in progress, from the drawing of the image to the chisel work and final sanded image. This makes it more impressive when you see the amount of work that goes into each section.

We then had a long drive, with spectacular views, around the Cradle Mountain national park to Ulverstone on the north coast. Where we stayed for 2 nights.

That evening we had a walk around the town, followed by a takeaway a pizza from Herby’s, then a ride on the swings at the local park on the way back to the hotel! It did say adults and kids allowed!

Thursday, we drove west along the north coast towards Stanley, sticking as close to the coast as the roads would allow, ranging from the National Highway 1 to unmade tracks, a scenic drive. Stanley is an old town and has featured in a couple of films, including “the Light Between Oceans”. We shared a seafood lunch in the park, as recommended by friends, watched by a crowd of gulls! They watched in vain!

On the drive back we stopped at Boat Harbour Beach, had a walk along the beach and a dip in the sea, beautiful blue clear waters. we also stopped off in Penguin. Obviously named after the visiting penguins, but we didn’t see any as they come ashore at dusk.

Friday, we headed back towards Launceston, via Frankford, Exeter and the Tamar Valley conservation area. We had to return the hire car back to the airport by 4.30pm, however we were making good time, so we actually drove past Launceston to the Woolmar Estate, a world heritage site for its connection with ‘transported convicts’. The house had been lived in by 6 generations of Thomas Archers, until the death of the 6th one, with no heir, in 1994, when the Estate passed into a trust.

Rog then dropped Nic, and all the luggage, at the ‘Balmoral on York’ hotel, before returning the car to the airport and getting the bus back to town.

We started the birthday celebrations early, Nic had booked a table at Pachinko, a Japanese fusion restaurant. On the menu they had an item called “Feed Me” which was a selection of things on the menu, and a couple of specials, a lovely way to try lots of different dishes, we also had Sake ! All very yummy.

Saturday, we walked into Cataract Gorge on the edge of Launceston up the ‘zig zag’ path, an enjoyable walk, with a bit of wildlife, birds, lizards and a wallaby, who sat on the path just ahead of us. At the end of the Gorge there is a suspension bridge, a swimming pool, a cafe and the longest single span chair lift in the world (we didn’t use it). Unfortunately one of the paths was closed due to a landslide, so after a circular walk around the gorge, and seeing one of the resident Peacocks, we retraced our steps along the zig zag path.

In the evening we had drinks at Bar Two, then dinner at Bistro on Brisbane, a French inspired Australian restaurant, we had a lovely meal to celebrate Rog’s birthday.

Sunday, after a slow start, we walked around the port area and the River Esk, had lunch and sampled the beers at Du Cane brewery.

Finished the day off with a burger at ‘Burger got Soul’ Rog had a chicken and peanut butter burger, very interesting.

Monday, we welcomed the new year in, on the balcony of our friend’s flat, watching the Melbourne fireworks! Then walked back to our motel.

Tuesday, Nic returned to the art gallery, to see the aboriginal artwork, Rog went for a wander around the New Year sales!

Wednesday, we did some washing at our friend’s flat, then headed to the Museum of Moving Image in Federal Square and interesting museum despite us not knowing some of the Australian film and TV references.

At dinner that evening, we manage a small tribute to the annual “cold table”, but with vodka rather than traditional schnapps, to go with some herring in mustard sauce.

Thursday, we collected a hire car from near the airport for the weekend, we managed to get a good deal on a large 4×4, as 4 of us were going to the high country for the weekend, it was massive! As we had the car we drove west of Melbourne to Melton, had a walk around the Park and the Botanical Gardens, did some shopping for provisions for the weekend!

Friday, we checked out of our motel, collected our friends and drove to Mount Beauty. We decided to avoid the main highway and drive cross country, we stopped at the Yarck hotel in Yarck for lunch. Then continued the drive, following a Google maps route, which included about 20kms on unmade dirty roads, glad we had the 4×4.

Our accommodation in Mount Beauty was lovely and it had a hot tub, so spent some time in there before dinner.

Saturday, we decided it was a little hot for a walk, so instead went for a drive into the hills, before returning to Mt Beauty for lunch at the Annaperna estate vineyard. A really good meal and some wine! Starting the celebrations for Rog’s ‘big’ birthday. Back to the accommodation for some more hot tub action. We were given a complimentary half bottle of late harvest Pinot Gris by the winery, it went very nicely with some cheese and charcuterie!

Sunday, we checked out of our accommodation and headed to Seymour, via road to Bright, and lunch at a Chinese in Benalla, a really good freshly cooked Chinese meal! Some of the best prawn toast we’ve ever had.

We checked in to the New Crossing Motel in Seymour, a two bedroom apartment, the only problem when we got to the room was it only had one single bed in the second bedroom and there are four of us, then the manager turned up at the room and he’d worked out he had given us the wrong room, however instead of moving us, he just gave us a second room!

Overnight was an amazing storm, lots and lots of rain, so much so that in the middle of the night our friend received an amber alert via text, so they monitored the situation but the alert level was not raised.

We usually finish our blogs on Sunday evenings, however this week we need to complete the weather story, so Monday morning we rose to even more heavy rains, we left Seymour to drive back to Melbourne, a horrible drive, heavy rain, lots of standing water, lanes closed on the freeway. We managed to get back to Melbourne in time to drop the hire car back at the airport, we then heard that a full civilian evacuation of Seymour had been ordered, due to the risk to life from increasing flood waters, a lucky escape for us!

Happy New Year everyone.

We had a quiet Christmas, it rained most of Christmas Day here in Melbourne, and as the UK was experiencing it’s warmest Christmas ever, the temperatures were more similar than you’d expect.

No, we didn’t do the traditional UK, Turkey and all the trimmings for lunch, we had coronation chicken and salads.

We can’t believe another year is ending ! Technically our year will have been 10 hours shorter than normal, as we started the year in Geneva, Switzerland (GMT + 1hr) and finishing the year in Melbourne (GMT + 11hrs)

We thought we’d do the cheesy round up of the year with a photo for each month, but trying to pick a single photo for each month is really difficult, but here goes!

Monday (11 December), we went to the National Gallery of Victoria to an exhibition ‘watercolour country, a 100 works from Hermannsburg’. An inspiring collection of paintings by Albert Namatjira, his family and those of his Art school.

Tuesday, walked through the Alexander Gardens and the Kings Domain to the Shrine of Remembrance, which includes a very well done exhibition on wars, obviously from a Australian point of view, a sombre and respectful commemoration of the victims of war.

We moved on to the Royal Botanical Gardens, it’s a large site, so we only managed to stroll around half of it before we’d had enough and headed back home.

Wednesday, we managed to get ‘rush’ cheap tickets for the matinee performance of Miss Saigon by Australia Opera. A really good performance, but Miss Saigon is not cheery!

Thursday, walk locally to the supermarket, very boring detail, but we don’t spend all our time enjoying ourselves, having said that Nic does like a supermarket.

Friday, another local walk, this time to the local wine retailer ‘Dan Murphy’s’ a much more interesting shopping experience, luckily we walked there so couldn’t carry that much back. The bargain buy was a bottle of white wine for $5, about £2.60, Update – we opened this wine on Saturday night and it was very drinkable.

In the evening we got the tram in to central Melbourne to soak up some Christmas spirit, there was a choir in federal square, which turned out to be a traditional Serbian choir signing a programme of Serbian folk music, who were then joined by the choir from the Serbian Orthodox Church. An interesting hour! They had clearly worked hard on their performance, so it was interesting to see a larger crowd being attracted to the dancing inflatable Christmas characters, just round the corner.

We then walked around the city to the town hall which was lit with a moving light show for Christmas, and then walked along the Yarra River to see some more festive lights.

It was all very busy with families and/or works Christmas do’s. The people watching was plentiful!

Thankfully we must have left early as the tram home was not too busy.

Saturday, back to the Botanical Gardens to cover the other half. It was great to see so many family groups meeting up with a picnic.

Sunday, a lazy day at the flat, Nic went to the local health food shop, Rog went for a very short run!