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| Sunday, 8-May-2005 00:00 |
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She's off again!
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making final preparations for next big trip ... this time to Brazil ... and I am VERY excited. Hopefully, this time I will get the chance to load up photos as we go.
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| Thursday, 19-Feb-2004 00:00 |
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preparations
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only a couple of days to go ... have booked the tickets, checked the route and dusted down the rucksac
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| Friday, 7-Nov-2003 00:00 |
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back home
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autumn in london
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it was an excellent trip, but it is lovely to be back home - the weather in london is beautiful but chilly, and autumn seems to have arrived while i was away!
A big thankyou to Nicola at Travelbag (http://www.travelbag.co.uk) who gave us excellent advice, cheerfully put up with all our queries and changes of plans and booked all the flights, transfers, tours, train journey and car hire and also the accommodation in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Also thanks to Tour East and Destination Asia who provided transfers and tours and were ALWAYS exactly where they said they would be. And to all the people we met, everywhere we went, who were so friendly and welcoming. I can't wait to go back ... but I'll definitely take Tony next time.
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| Thursday, 6-Nov-2003 00:00 |
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the journey home
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after a final swim in the indian ocean, and a tour of the Swan Bells, it was time to pack for the last time, and say goodbye to all my new friends (thanks for the farewell barbeque Julie and Roger) and especially to kate, who is staying on to travel round australia and new zealand.
I broke the return journey with a two night stopover in Singapore and managed to fit in loads of sightseeing in quite a short space of time, visiting Chinatown and the Temple of the Sea Goddess, Little India, the Orchid Gardens, Mount Faber, an night city tour, a cable car ride to Sentosa and an evening trip on a bumboat. To round off a brilliant holiday, even the night flight back to Heathrow was good, as there were so few passengers that I was able to stretch out across three seats and got a whole night's sleep!
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| Monday, 3-Nov-2003 00:00 |
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last days in Western Australia
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We are now back in Perth - after driving round the south west peninsular of Australia. The wineries tour in the Margaret River region was great - thankyou Bushtucker Tours - and we sampled loads of different wines at five different vineyards, as well as visiting a cheese factory and chocolate factory and eating a delicious bushtucker lunch (I especially enjoyed the witchetty grub pate). After leaving Margaret River we went to the beach and watched a lone surfer and saw a huge whale jump right out of the water. Then we drove on down the coast, stopping at several beaches en route to the Beedelup Falls. Our next stop was the Gloucester Tree near Pemberton. This was originally a fire watching lookout, but is now a tourist attraction. It is truly huge (over 200ft high) and neither Kate or I managed to climb very far up it, but we were most impressed watching those who did - especially reading about the man who made the first climb with just spiked boots and a belt. At least we had iron spikes to climb. We then moved on through impressive karri and tingle forests to Walpole where we stayed the night in a cabin by the river at Nornalup. For dinner we had local marron, which are like baby lobsters ... delicious.The next day we walked round the Tree Top Walk in the Valley of the Giants, this is a very impressive suspension walkway that has been constructed right through the canopy of the tingle forest. The walkway sways quite a bit and is VERY high - so we were just a bit worried by the engineers who were preparing to absail down from the highest platform to do some 'essential maintenance work'.
We then drove on to Albany, where we visited the blowholes - and although the sea was not rough enough to spurt water, they still managed to perform a reasonably terrifying roar accompanied by a blast of air from time to time. We had intended to stay overnight in Albany, but it was really quite cold, so we decided to move on up inland towards Mount Barker.
We drove on a fairly minor highway, through the Stirling Range and once we got north of the mountains the weather started to clear, so we stayed at Narrogin for the night before going on to York. York is a very attractive town, with some old buildings which have been very well restored. The town is in quite a hilly area (apparently it reminded the first settlers of Yorkshire) which makes a change from the mainly flat landscapes further south. We spent the day wandering around and went for a last drive through the wheatfields to try to find some kangaroos (still only seen two at a distance, apart from a couple of roadkill specimens). No joy with the kangaroos, but we saw an emu and some very beautiful flocks of parrots swooping along the road in front of the car.
After staying the night in York, we drove on to Perth to stay with Yvette and Troy for a couple of nights before I leave for Singapore.
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| Wednesday, 29-Oct-2003 00:00 |
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touring the south west
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We have now arrived in Margaret River, after driving up to Cervantes, north of Perth, to see the Pinnacles Desert. They were pretty spectacular, although we were unlucky with the weather - apparently for the most dramatic views you need a clear evening at sunset. We then drove back south, through Perth to Rockingham and Bunbury where we saw a dolphin by the beach at the Dolphin Discovery Centre. Then we headed off through Bussellton to the Cape Naturaliste National Park where we swam in the Indian Ocean at beautiful Bunker Bay. At the cape we saw humpback whales, but they were quite a distance out at sea - hopefully we will see some a bit closer to the shore.
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| Saturday, 25-Oct-2003 00:00 |
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Yvette and Troy's wedding
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Today was the big day - congratulations to Mr and Mrs Hogan!
The wedding itself took place in the evening on the paddle steamer Decoy, which cruised up and down the Swan River while we partied. The bride looked gorgeous, and so did baby Storm and the bridesmaids.
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| Friday, 24-Oct-2003 00:00 |
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in and around Perth
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We have had a really good time here in Perth - it is a lovely city, very relaxed and friendly. There is a very efficient free transport system which makes it quick and easy to get anywhere in the central district and it seems that everywhere you go there are expanses of water - either the Swan River itself, or lakes with fountains and lots of parks and trees everywhere. The weather is getting warmer all the time, so we have been to the beach most days, and preparations seem to be finally ready for the big wedding (well, the bridesmaids have at last got something to wear!)
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| Saturday, 18-Oct-2003 00:00 |
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First days in Perth
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we have had a great first week in australia - we have been to the excellent market in Fremantle, cycled 12 km around Rottnest Island, paddled on just about all the beaches up the coast from Perth as far as Hillary's Harbour - where we also went to the Aquarium of Western Australia (aqwa), and seen the koalas and brilliant parakeets at Yanchep National Park. We have climbed up Jacob's Ladder (259 steps ... phew!) to King's Park several times, walked around the city centre and eaten several good meals in Northbridge. We watched England beat South Africa in the Brass Monkey (couldn't get tickets for the game unfortunately). Preparations for Yvette and Troy's wedding on the riverboat on Saturday are moving on and we enjoyed Yvette's Hen Tupperware party on Saturday.
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| Wednesday, 15-Oct-2003 00:00 |
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Singapore to Perth
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Shark Bay from the air
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the city from the swan river bank
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A very early start this morning as we had to be picked up at 6am for our flight to Perth. On arrival, we collected our hire car (which was frighteningly new with only 5km on the clock) and set off to find our apartment in Mounts Bay Village. This turned out to be very conveniently located with a 'blue cat' free bus stop right outside to take us in to the city centre.
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, I'm from the Decoy in South Perth Western Australia, wot a small world! It's my turn for a holiday I think, I'm from uk originally and want to come back and explore! 
