Author: sage

30th June Monday

Today we were up nice and early at 7.30 so we could get ready, make lunch and be out of the apartment by 9.15.

We drove to Malign Canyon as our first stop, which is only a little way out of town, down the Malign road. The canyon is quite cool as it has been eroded by the underground rivers flowing from the lake systems.

We took a walk around the main trail, stopping for plenty of photo opportunities on the way. For the first half its all downhill, but then you have to return, but still easy compared to the walks we had done; the elderly were doing it.

From there we carried on, on the Malign lake road towards the lake, where on the way we had to stop for a photo – though far away it was a moose. We stopped at the Medicine Lake next which already had a few people stopped, taking photos. With the cloud cover the lake looked quite dull, but the mountain backdrops were still quite cool. The lake is not actually a lake, but part of the malign river backing up, so its level changes alot over the year.

Carrying on, with spotting a mouse in the distance as well as another black bear, we got to Malign Lake, driving past the main car parking area where the main facilities are to the part next to the fire road.

The start of the walk is up the old fire road which goes all the way up nearly to the top of the hills. The walking here was a bit so so as there were very large trees to the side of the road obscuring the view, but eventually we came to a side path, going much more vertically up, which we took.

It was much harder going as it was a trail and very steep, but we got to have some brilliant views of the lake and surrounding mountains. There was a lot of cloud drifting past, so often the peaks would be hidden. As we got to the top of the side path, we again joined people who had taken the main road instead.

We had a bit of a rest talking to some people before the final push. The bold hills are a series of peaks and we aimed for one of them, which was the marked finish. We ended up walking around the top of the hill, so that we could climb up without going across too much snow.

At the top we found a bolder (after photos) and had some food before it started drizzling. Another family had come up the top, and recommended going down the big snow drift as they had come up it. Not sure it was great advice; I was ok, but Bhavni bless her slid down (like me also), but stopped her self with her hands so she got cold and suffered most of the way down the trail.

Going down we just took the main road, which was going to be easier than the side road. At the bottom, we went to the Malign lake and had tea at the restaurant there. There was a great model of the area and mountains near the malign lake, so it was nice to put in perspective where we had been and the sights we saw.

Driving back to Jasper, the weather had really improved and we followed the sheer mountain that were really impressive. By the time we got to Medicine lake the sun was starting to come through so we stopped for some more photos. Getting back to town we had a bit of time to unwind and relax before we went for dinner, again to the pasta restaurant, but had to go for a walk as it was busy till 9pm.

1st July – Canada day

Today is Canada day – and as we had no major walks planed, we had a bit of a lie in, however we were still breakfasted and out by 10.30. After taking to the people in the information centre, we decided to abandon the flag raising ceremony and instead head to the Pyramid lake – just a short drive away. Here we had a walk around on the island and then Bhavni decided she wanted to go boating, so we ended up going for 30 minutes of canoing – quite relaxing in the middle of the lake, though Bhavni could not row a lot, so there was a bit of going around in circles.

We managed to get into town, park at the apartment and sit at the kerb for the start go the parade at 1pm. It was an amusing parade with lots of silly things going on, but we did get to see mounties, and gather some sweets.

After the parade, we headed back to the apparent and had some lunch, leaving soon after though. Our next destination was to the Edith Cavel mountain to see the angel falls – it would have been a nice walk to the meadows if they were open, but we were still to early in the season. The angel falls is actually a glacier, that is from the mountain. We were opposite it on an adjacent slope, and below there was a frozen lake with lots of warnings not to go near there because of falling ice – though plenty were down there.

From here we went and did a walk called the valley of 5 lakes, which as the name implies is a walk in a valley with 5 different lakes to go round, each a different hue due to the local conditions and depths. The only downside to this is there were mosquitos….

The walk itself had quite a few gradients and it took a bit before we got to see the first lake, but they were nice and tranquil, especially when we came to some red deck chairs that had been put out overlooking a perfect spot over the 3rd lake. We sat for a while enjoying the view and having an apple each, before continuing (Bhavni kept on getting scared by a chipmunk and a baby chipmunk).

Finishing the walk, we went back to town and freshened up, going to the pizza place again for dinner. After, there was a bit of packing to be had then I microwaved some popcorn and headed back into town for the firework display. It was amusing that we kept on being told to move to a safer location, but we finally settled on a place not far from the main park. It took a while for the display to start, but I was impressed with the fireworks which went on for a while. Nice end to the day.

2nd Wednesday

We were leaving Jasper today, so it was a bright and early start to be out of the Moose haven suite by 9am, after saying bye to our hosts. We tried to take the 93a road, but were blocked by a train going through, so I did a u turn and took the main 93, which becomes the Icefield Parkway highway.

There are plenty of stops on the way, along this spectacular route and our first was the Athabasca falls, which were quite nice, with a few different areas to view from. A really cool bit was descending the stairs to the lower lookout, which was like from a scifi movie in that the walls were water smoothed stone. It was a good place to take some photos and also we had some fun with photos with fake tight squeezes.

After we then drove to Sunwapta falls, which is again nice but its amazing how this one does not look that amazing after seeing some of the ones we had seen. There were plenty of views and stops along the way as we went through this impressive valley with mountains on both sides.

Eventually we got the the icefield parkway at around 11.40am, including Bhavni making me turn around as she thought the lookout bridge they had built was it; buses only. We found parking soon enough, but there was a massive queue when we got in, which took over 20 minutes to get through. Apparently  some of the buses were in for servicing and hence we got the next available tour – 1.15pm.

As we had about an hour wait, we headed to the seating and had some of out packed food with some tea, there we set next to an older couple. They turned out to be American and had come driving from home, Bhavni and the lady had a conversation as she turned out to be a nurse. They were on a tour 15mins earlier than us. Our tour consisted of getting on a normal bus, which went to the entrance way and dropped us off to board the special arctic buses. We were given an amusing commentary by the driver all the way to the glacier. It was definitely a tour for Grandparents, as we just walked on ice which had been compacted by the company, in a safe massive area, but we got much closer to the glaciers that were around here.

Getting back to the main area we got back on the road and drove the short distance to the Parker Ridge car park at around 3pm. This really was a brilliant short (but ok – 250m) walk. As you went up, you could see the road on valley we were driving on, but nearer the top the other side came into view after the trees disappearing. What a view of the Saskatchewan glacier. We took plenty of photos and helped another guy take photos (whos partner eventually made it).

Descending we were back on our way at around 5pm. The views were still amazing all the way. Our last proper stop on the way was to see Bow glacier and Bow lake, which was really nice from high up – though I got hit by a member of the public, trying to get the mosquitos. We got to Lake Louise at around 7pm, where we checked into the Mountaineer lodge. Not that great a place from first impressions. Well we left our stuff and had dinner at the Snow Wolf pizzeria. I had quite a nice Calzone and Bhavni had a pizza. Getting back to the accommodation, I was surprised to see people with doors open, but it became apparent that the reason was to cool the rooms which were way too hot, making sleep really hard.

3rd Thursday

We had breakfast included so after putting the bags in the car we found the food area. The food was continental with a waffle station. I put some bagels in for toasting and bhavni was looking after them, but a old man decided he wanted them, even with Bhavni saying they were hers – cheeky man, made us a bit pissed off. After breakfast we sorted out some food for ourselves for later and meant to check out – I dont think they were interested in my suggestion of opening the windows in the apartments before guests arrive to cool them.

Driving to the Lake Luise car park, we arrived around 10am. I had decieded that today we would do the plain of 6 glaciers walk – which was just over 6km. The first bit was from the Fairmont hotel right around the lake, so there were lots of casual walkers around. This ended when we had to cross some water, marking the start of the real walk. It again went up a valley and we had good views as we got higher and higher, with the trees quickly disappearing and rocky paths the norm.

You could actually do this by horse as there was a specific path for them also. Eventually we got to the Swiss tea house, marked by a sudden appearance of a nice path. We decided to forgo the break for now and continue on the last part of the walk, which got us to the area I had seen in photos – overlooking the the glaciers. The path stopped and became an unofficial scree covered trail, which we followed for a bit, just to get to a nicer lookout position. After a bit of time to take it in, we took the trail back to the tea house, going to the second floor where we got a seat. Ordering tea and coffee, I got tempted by tortilla chips with salsa, which was quite good. It was nice looking out over the forest having the food.

After we started the walk back along the trail, eventually we came across the path the Lake Anges, which we were looking out for. Taking it, we were soon climbing again, hugging the mountain. We could see the original path below now and again, then we were over the end of Lake Luise, with views of the Fairmont.

Wrongly following signs we descended a bit to see the mirror lake, before realising we had to go up again, quite a bit to the lake, including a set of stairs. The tea house there was really busy with no spaces. I had to order tea inside which took a while as they normally only do table service – infact they did not give milk. After being amused by the “Fresh” Indians who were quite noisy, we headed down, via the mirror lake, which definitely was not a mirror. By the time we got down it was 4.30pm, with ominous clouds appearing. We went to the Fairmont hotel and tried to enquire about reserving a place for dinner. I think they chose to play dumb a bit as we must have looked a mess, so we left.

Our next night was at the Paradise Lodge, where we checked in, getting chalet 8. We asked about the dinner, the owner was sceptical about getting a place, but found out that the lounge was turn up and see – plan. We unloaded the bags and Bhavni suggested we visit the Moraine lake. Driving there the heavens opened up, so we got parking close as many were leaving, but we saw the lake in driving blustery rain.

We headed back and getting caught in a bit of a queue to the town, we went to the shops to get our milk – expensive prices. By now the sun had come out again, so it was nice to get back to the chalet and get ready. We headed out at 7.40 and went to the Glacier lounge where we were put on the wait list and give an electronic buzzer. So we went down to the saloon bar and had a cocktail and beer. Our table was ready in 2 minutes, 2nd table in front of the main window with a great view of the lake. For dinner we had soup, quinoa roulade, a vegan burger and a nice desert. While we had dinner, we watched a storm form, the view disappear and torrential rain, then clear and the mountains and glaciers re-appear.

After dinner and a few pictures outside we headed back to the lodge and phoned kenya.

4th – Friday

Waking up in the chalet, it was nice to find the fire on, keeping the chill out. We had another busy day today, so we had breakfast by the window, got ready and checked out, leaving at 9.30am. Joining the main highway (SH1), we drove through Yoho national park. The first stop was just on the side of the road, which was a small area which displayed information about the loop tunnels that were created to allow trains to go through without going up massive gradients.

Next was Takakkaw Falls, another massive waterfall – the second highest in Canada and over 250m, which was a few km off the main highway. Getting there, we parked in the car park and walked the path to the falls, which we could see (at least partially) all the time. Crossing the bridge we went to the end of the path taking photos. Here we did every now and then get sprayed with the falls when the wind direction changed.

Getting back to the car, we were off again, stopping a little down the road to see the falls with the natural bridge. This was where the waterfall had cut under the rock leaving part of it straddling the flow. We saw the falls from a few different lookouts before getting back in the car and driving to the Emerald Lake (a few km off the highway). We had a walk around the area, taking in the view and taking a couple of snaps. The restaurant there seemed to be having a function later the day, so it looked closed. The sights were quite inciting as we read about some of the walks here, to far off glaciers and rugged ranges, especially as we saw a large group of backpackers heading out.

From Emerald lake we drove back to the highway and started our drive out of the park and back into BC, driving past Golden and into Glacier national park, showing our badges. We drove to the Glacier park visitor centre which was recommended in all the guides for the park. There was a museum type of display showing the animals that are around the area and the human influence such as building of the train line. We also got some hints at places to stop and have a lookout along the road (again there was lots of information about some amazing walks that were around to the glaciers). We stopped at a couple of viewpoints to get views of mountains and glaciers, although one im sure was not really a good view point as trees obscured the view.

Leaving the park, it was only 10km to Mt Revelstoke national Park, where we went for one of the walks that was recommended by the ranger. We parked and showed our badge to the ranger at the walk entrance. The walk was a along boardwalks around an old ceder forest, it was nice and cool, although we had to keep walking to avoid getting bitten. We walked the “wrong way” as recommended by the ranger. Some of the trees were quite big and impressive.

Finishing the walk we drove the little way to Revelstoke, parking the car at the I centre and walking to the center – just one block away. We ended up eating lunch in a little cafe. We both had some wraps. Bhavni got tempted and had a shake – bad idea as it was overly sweet. My coffee on the other hand was fine.

From Revelstoke we started the rest of he long drive to Kelowna, leaving the large mountains behind and getting back into rugged terrain. Leaving the SH1 at Mara lake, the road became single lane with quite a bit of slow moving traffic. As we were driving we spotted a strange store on the side of the road, so we had to ingestive, which required turning around. The store had mostly touristy stuff in it, but it was the dinosaurs, dragons and other creatures that were interesting. I had to get some chilly popcorn as I hate stopping without buying anything. Well that was awful

In Kelowna, Bhavni guided us to the B&B – the Apple Tree, where we were greeted by our hosts for the next 2 nights, who gave us lots of information on what to do. We freshened up, and chilled for a while before heading out to town. We parked not too far from the center and walked along the main street, going into the restaurant that the guys at the B&B had recommended – RauDz. Well it was very busy so we gave them our name for coming back about and hour later. So we walked to the river front. It had cooled down nicely as the cloud had come in, but it was pleasant. There was live music near the entrance to the city park, but it was not really our music, so we walked a bit taking photos and finally relaxing on a bench just enjoying the view. Soon enough we went back to the restaurant where we were shown to our table. We had some nice dishes – Risotto, holoumi and pasta with a special vegetarian option with quinoa.

After dinner we went back to the B&B and after a bit of tv we retired for the night.

5th – Saturday

Breakfast was ready for us at 9am, after we had got up and ready – continental starter course followed by a courgette pie. We were seated outside on the deck in the morning sun with the other couple who had stayed the night.

After breakfast whilst Bhavni got some packing done, I did some research into activities for the rest of the day and soon enough we were out of the door and in the car. We were off to the Myra Canyon, up about 1000m to get to the kettle train, which involved over 8km of unsealed road. We parked in the car park – here you could hire a bike to do the whole kettle train, but as we were going to do other stuff today we decided to go for a walk. The sun was really out in force, but as we walked our few km, we got a bit of cloud cover which was pleasant. The kettle train tracks, were disused and re-purposed recently for walking and cycling, with the route hugging the canyon, with trestles (bridges) and tunnels. We walked past the first tunnel before turning back and getting back to the car and down back into town.

We drove across the river to West Kelowna – actually a different city with a different mayor, and started on a bit of a wine trail, as this whole valley is very famous for its wines, and it was quite nice as the roads had flags showing the different coloured trails. Our first vineyard – Volcanic Hills – was a winery owned by an indian family, hence they were selling quite a bit of stuff inspired by indian culture also, and we had a talk with one of the sons, who was born in Canada. The problem is that we are spoilt by New Zealand wines so its hard to find anything that beats that for us. After we visited Quails Gate vineyard where we did some more tasting, it was busy but we had fun talking to the person serving us. Finally we went to Mission Hill, which is a lovely vineyard, but it was really really busy, and our idea of having lunch there could not happen. We instead had a try of wine and took some photos.

After which we drove back to our Kelowna and stopped on the way to get a Subway sandwich, which we took to out B&B and had. We then had about an hour to relax before heading back out,

Again we went to the Myra Canyon, but this time up the other side, to the Myra Canyon Ranch, where we were part of a group of 5 plus 2 instructors. I was given a draft horse to ride and after the signing of the usual disclaimers we went for a ride in the forest. My horse would usually open up the gap as he was a draft horse, but as we carried on I stated to get the hang of making him canter a bit to catch up. They took us around some tracks on the mountain, through dense woods, meadows and skeleton forests, with views now and then of Kelowna. We had a bit of rain, but nothing too bad, and it was uneventful apart from once when Bhavni nearly got hit by a horse.

After the 2 hours, we said bye to the horses and went back to the b&b, where we freshened up, said hello to our hosts, then headed back into town, where we went to the Thai restaurant that we had seen last night – which also had good reviews, where we had a nice meal. After we had a walk, which included getting a scoop of ice cream. Then it was off to the B&B for the night.

6th – Sunday

Waking up we had breakfast on the deck again which was continental with some fruit pancake. Some guests from Mexico were staying, who turned out to be doctors, so the conversation was steered in that direction. We finished gathering our stuff and left by 10.30am. We drove back over the bridge to West Kelowna and just near the end of town we stopped at an I centre. The guide suggested doing the more scenic route down the 97 nearer the border, but as it was going to take longer, we decided against it and took the 97c to Merit, which is the newer road, built high on some of the ranges. The weather was mostly nice on the way to Merrit, but from there it gradually got cloudier as we carried on (Bhavni had her usual rest). We drove past Hope, where it was raining with lots of clouds – a pity as we had been told there was a gliding club there. I stopped in Chiliwack, at a little restaurant (Younies) for lunch where I had a sandwich with plenty of cheese and Bhavni had spring rolls.

Rejoining the SH1 we got stuck in traffic for a while until past the Langley junction. Now just for avoiding the toll bridge we went the long way through Surrey and Richmond. However we drove past the VanDousen Botanical gardens. So we turned around and visited, spending a couple of hours there taking a few pictures.

After, we drove to the hotel and checked in – I parked the car across the road at a multistory car park for $6 as the street parking was expensive and I did not want to pay for the hotel parking. We then did a full unpack of all our bags and got ready. We took the car back out and drove to Acorn – the restaurant that Milans cousin recommended. It was not too far by car. When we got there it was totally packed, but we only had to wait 20mins for a table. I had beer battered holoumi, whilst Bhavni had raw courgette pasta. We followed this by a nice shared desert.

Driving back we filled up petrol and as we did not need the car, returned it to the Avis car park. The instructions to do this leave a bit to be desired – and even putting the keys in the deposit box was hard. It was not just us as others returning the car were confused.

Just 5 minutes walk back to the hotel and we were soon packing before retiring for our last night.

7th Monday

Our last few hours in Canada. We got up and had a few croissants with coffee and tea at a cafe just a few doors down from the hotel, Bhavni got an normal tea, but wanted a ice one – big mistake as it was too sweet. We then had a quick final walk before returning to the hotel and checking out. We took our bags to the central station and took the train to the airport.

We check in and then after spent a while looking at the shops for some decent Ice wine. Eventually we did buy some. Soon enough it was time to board the flight. Bhavni got some sleep, but as it was a day flight, I ended up watching quite a few movies.

Monday 23rd June

A early start today as we had to get ready for our taxi pickup at 5.45am. We manged to get out the house without much trouble, but we forgot our toasted bagels on the kitchen counter. The traffic was manageable and we arrived at Gatwick south terminal just after 7am, where we unloaded the bags and let the taxi go. We had to proceed to zone 2, which seemed to be in the “basement”. I had checked in online, but almost wished I had not as the queue was really slow, mostly people seeming to be complaining and staff taking their time. Eventually we got to a counter – we had to weigh our hand luggage – all under 5kg no probs, then we had to weigh the bags – 16.x and 18.x. Well I could have taken that extra pair…

After checking in we went through security and got some breakfast – Cinnamon Swirl for Bhavni and a Croissant for me with coffee and tea before a final boots shop and then boarded the plane. It was a 9.25am flight around 11 hours long. So we got to watch some movies and tried to sleep for a bit.

We arrived in Vancouver at 11.30am (Monday) . Going to security I was asked what we were intending to do for the next 2 weeks, and I excitedly started reciting our itinerary – quickly being ushered on. Out bags as usual took a while to get out. We made out way out and took the skytrain to downtown – central station, which took just under 20 mins. Funny enough we found ourselves sitting next to the person who was next to us on the plane.

Getting out we just went into the Pacific Center to see if we could get a Sim, but it turned out that it would be much more expensive then I thought, so we gave up and (after walking round the place), walked down Robson St, in the hot and humid day, around 10 mins to our hotel – The Listel. It was Bhavnis first experience for the way that road signs work in America, and total confusion ensued.

Checking in we went up to the top floor (6th) and freshened up before going out. We just went up the street and into a cafe/restraunt, where we ordered some Quinoa salad, a burger and yam fries. Bhavni ordered a sangria, amusing as it was quite alcoholic.

We then walked to Stanley park, which was quite a bit of a way, turning quite residential before the park. We had a walk around the pavilion and the rose gardens, before catching a tour bus, which took us around the park – though a bit quickly. In retrospect we should have just hired some bikes. We got dropped out of the park near the ferries to Granville Island, so after a look around we made our way back to the hotel and relaxed a bit as it was now after 6pm.

Bhavni soon enough got restless and we were out again at 7.30 towards the north of downtown, where we went to Vancouver harbour and saw the Olympic flame there, catching a bit of drizzle. Bhavni then was on the search for a 7-11 for some fruit, and after a long while we found one…. Anyway we got back to the hotel around 9.30 and retired for the night.

Tuesday 24th June

It was a sightly restless night, jetlag, but we properly woke up by 6.30am, getting out of the door at 8.15. The day looked like it was going to be a wet day so we  borrowed two umbrellas from the reception. We first walked to Canada Place to see the famous 5 sails of the port building (and taking plenty of pictures), before we walked to the Vancouver public library – famous for its Colosseum design. We were still early so it had not opened yet, so we went to one of the cafes there and ordered a masalla Chai for Bhavni and a London Fog (really over sweet earl grey with milk) for me, whilst connecting to the wifi.

After about 30 minutes we were on our way again, walking towards China Town. On the way we stopped at a kitchen shop and had a browse. We bought a couple of soup bowls for our travelling and a gift for Milan’s Cousin (who we were going to meet). It was only a small walk to the Dr San Yan Fat Garden, where we bought our entrance tickets. The next tour was due to start at 11am, so we had nearly 20 minutes, so we went to the big art room where there was lots of Tibetan art (for an exhibition) and I tried my hand at calligraphy. Bhavni also tried, but somehow managed to fall of the stool (breaking one of the bowls!). We joined the tour which went around the garden talking about all the different features and significance. We learnt that doing double sided silk panels will make you go blind, my eyes had trouble even seeing the stitching.

After finishing with the gardens we then walked to Gas Town, where we had a look around some of the shops – some quite posh, some tourist traps, before waiting for the going off of the famous steam powered clock. Walking back to downtown around 1pm, we connected with Burrard street and took it all the way to the bridge which went near Vernier Park, then we walked to Graville Island. It was nearly 2pm by now, so we made out way into the market and ordered a mexican wrap from one of the outlets there, before we started to systematically have a look around. I suppose if you really like brik a brak, then the island is good, but it did not have anything that would jeep us there for hours, so we eventually left around 4.40pm, walking over Graville St bridge, then Robson St and back to the hotel.

Bhavni phoned Milan’s cousin Sunjay, who phoned back with his address. We had a little time so we got ready and left at 7pm catching a taxi to his house, which was quite nice. There we met his wife and his son (who had just finished from Nottingham). We had a home made dinner, before it became a Dr, Dr, Dr and trainee Dr discussion with me slowly falling asleep (waking up just enough to spout things like the importance of the Cocraine review). Sunjay dropped us of at 10pm to our hotel.

I basically retired for the night, whilst Bhavni spent a bit longer phoning Kenya.

25th June

We managed to get a bit of a rest waking up by 8am and leaving the hotel by 9am on a much brighter and sunny day. Our first stop was to the downtown tourist center, where we firstly picked up one day travel cards for us and secondly we booked a show at Graville island in the evening.

We walked to the ferry terminal (waterfront) where we boarded a ferry to the north shore – a 15 minute journey. We went into Lonsdale Quay Market having a look around the shops there – Bhavni bought some clothes there. We took some photos from around the market, and tried looking around the next streets, but they were just normal high streets so we just went back to the market and got some coffee/tea and some bread as a snack and ate watching the waterfront.

Catching the ferry back (avoiding the usual crazy guy) we then caught the bus to vernier park (very busy with lots of children). We went into the MOV (museum of Vancouver), but that was a big disappointment for us and it was very small. The artwork outside was quite nice though. We then walked to Kits beach to have a look around, most of the children on the bus we caught earlier were here and the place was very busy. We leasurely walked through and then caught another bus to downtown.

Bhavni was in the mood for shopping, as the day was hot we centered around Pacific center. Bhavni got a new pair of trainers. We were getting a bit hungry so we went to the food court and got a pad-thai (okish), before we headed back to the hotel. We had a bit of time and I was still peckish, so whilst Bhavni lazed in the AC room, I just went down the road and got a subway sandwich.

Around 7pm we went out managing to catch a No 5 bus to the center and then the No 50 to Graville Island. We were e bit early or the show so we had a drink inside waiting for the doors to open. The Imvprov show was really funny, with two teams competing for funny acts. Bhavni tried to say “Made in Chelsea” for a name of a show but it got interpreted as “Maude and Chelsea. Well a few hours of laughter later we headed back to the hotel (catching the 50 and another) before retiring for the night.

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26th June

Today was an reasonable early start and we were awake and checked out by 7.45am. We walked to near the Hornby Street to the Avis check in desk. Not to busy, so we were seen to by the person behind the counter and we ended up with a Hyundi rather than an American car. Down to the 8th floor underground, only one unmarked scratch.

I took my time getting out, new car and left hand drive and drove to the hotel. Bhavni tried to direct… still confused about the street signs so I ended up directing my self. We picked up our bags and then made our way out onto Highway 1A, which went through Stanley park and over the lions gate bridge. Bhavni wanted to try the Marine drive, so after missing it, I managed to get back to it…. well it was not that great as the views were obscured by trees mostly, never mind. We soon enough joined the 99 going along the fiord to Squamish. Our next stop was to see Shannon Falls, the third largest in BC. Quite cool, we also went to the alternate viewpoint, where we tried to take a selfie on the SLR. Bhavni found she could not jump to sit onto the ledge.

We had to carry on to get to our destination, and as we got further the mountains got more rugged and snow covered. Amazing. Soon we arrived at Nita Lodge in Whistler and checked in. Lovely room. We freshened up and took the free minibus to Whistler village. We were meant to pick up out ticket for the peak to peak gondola from the Zip tours, but annoyingly they gave us a refund and asked us to get the ticket from the main Blackcomb desk. Luckily there was not too much of a queue and we we soon going up. It was amusing when the gondola up entered the Olympic station, I thought we must be there, but a sign showed that we were only a third of the way up. The view out kept on getting better. After a while we emerged onto the top of whistler mountain.

Having a look around the top, we took the time to take some photos of the scenery, before going about half way up the only open trail on the mountain (to the summit). It was nice walking past snow banks and seeing the frozen scenery. After returning to the lodge at the top, we then boarded the peak to peak gondola, which went over the valley to Blakcombe mountain (we did not wait for the glass bottom gondola as the queue was quite massive).

On the Blackcombe side was a smaller lodge, but it seemed to have more trails there (but closed as well). We got talking to one of the volunteer guides on the top, having a talk about when everything opens and our upcoming trip. After we had a look around we took the peak to peak back to Whistler, where we got our photo on the Olympic stand and had some fries, which were actually pretty good and crispy. We then took the peak to peak for the last time back to Blackcombe and then took the open lift down. Bhavni managed to get a massive head cold, whilst I enjoyed the fresh air. We saw 2 black bears just under us whilst on the lifts down.

It was a bit of a walk to the whistler village from where we came down. Making our way to the information centre we caught the minibus to Nita lodge (with our neighbours), where we had time to freshen up (Bhavni slept). For dinner we went to the Mongoli grill in town catching the bus, where we had a nice stir fry, before going back to the lodge and having a coffee before retiring.

27th June

Another early start, we had checked out and loaded the bags into the car (in the parking garage) by 7.45am, after which we asked the front desk for a minibus ride into town. We made our way to Zip Trek and checked in at the desk.  We were really early, so we had to wait at the meeting point for about 20 minutes. We were then met (along with the rest of the group) by the guides.  We were taken to a side and put on our zip line harnesses loosely before getting into a small minibus to go up Whistler mountain, a little higher than the Olympic station.

We were on the eagle trek which had 5 different zip lines, each quite different. The first one was a duel line, so two could zip at the same time. Bhavni and I (when our turn came) walked with trepidation and let go simultaneously.  I let go of the line, just supported by the cable – amazing, I even managed to not go backwards until nearly the end. Other zip lines went through trees and over rivers. The rain even managed to hold off for the whole of it. The last one was slightly different in that we all went upside down off the zip line, demonstrated by one of our guides (a girl who used to live in London).

After the zipping and returning the gear, we walked through the town (getting a coffee from starbucks, which I regret as it was very bland and Bhavni managed to get an unhappy worker, who was not happy about the mistake of cream on the coffee). We caught the bus to Nita lodge, and after a brief look at Nita lake, we got in the car and underway to out next destination – Kamloops.

We travelled north, slowly getting out of the really big mountains with lovely views all the way. There were lots of small towns that we passed and the area slowly became more arid until we joined highway 1, then it started getting slightly greener again. We saw some deer on the side of the road grazing and found some good places to take photos, before arriving in Kamloops and checking into Hampton Inn. The room was fine and we cooled down a bit before Bhavni wanted to go to the shops she could see from the windows. The shops actually required us walking a distance as the main highway ran in the middle. Most of the shops were big furniture shops or similar, but we went into a big bookshop. Apart from Bhavni buying books there, I read a little on the walks in the national parks, so we were there for over an hour.

After getting back to the hotel, we took the car to downtown, where we went to a Mexican restaurant. The veg choice was not that great but ok. I could not decide whether the waitress was not in a great mood or just distant. After we had a walk around the town before heading back to the hotel and calling it a night.

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28th June

We started the day with breakfast at hotel. The breakfast was continental style, I made a fresh waffle and we gorged ourselves. After I loaded up the car and Bhavni went to checkout at around 10.15. Soon we were on the road going north and east with the scenery slowly getting greener as we were following a valley north. Bhavni again enjoyed becoming a train spotter.

We got to a place called Clear Water, and after seeing the information centre as we went past, we decided to go back to it – could do with a break. It was a small information center, but Bhavni got talking to one of the staff members asking what there was to do on the journey – not that much apart from the views en-route. Then Bhavni noticed some pictures and asked where the waterfall portrayed in it was. Well it turned out that there were some waterfalls within relatively easy reach (the furthest being 48km away) in Wells Grey national park, but to do it all would take probably 2.30h.

Whilst leaving, we both thought that since the first waterfall is only 10km up the road, we could visit that, and then carry on – thats only an extra 30-40 minutes. So off we set into the state park. We could not really figure out where the actual park gate was, as at the 5km mark there was just a  golf club marked. But soon enough we turned into the parking. It was a short walk to the fall area – we could hear a roar but could not see it. Well it turned out we were above the impressive waterfall, which came out half way up the canyon walls (volcanic and glacier formed). We took some pictures and after looking at each other – decided we just had to do the rest of the waterfalls.

We drove to the furthest waterfall next – described at the information center as being one of the most beautiful in Canada. Well they were right, we were nearly at the top of this one and it looked like something out of a fantasy film – a fall in a nearly spherical hollow. After some impressive views, we headed back to the last waterfall – the Niagra of the park, which was quite nice, but not as good as the previous one.

Getting back on track (after the 2.15h detour and seeing some bears crossing) we carried on to Valemont, passing through some quite heavy showers. We stopped at a swiss bakery which was on the other side of town across the rail tracks. They were nearly closing, so did not have much, but we had some tea and split a muffin. We were in a clear spell so it was nice to admire the scenery.

From just north we joined highway 16, through Mt Robson park to the Alberta border. The rain and clouds were back so we could not see Mt Robson. At the border we entered Jasper national park and payed the park entry entry fee at the ranger stop

It was still a while to Jasper but with the scenery we enjoyed the drive. Getting into town (seeing the Rocky Mountaineer train as well), we found the Moose Haven Suite and let our selves in – we were left instructions on how. We unloaded the car. Noticing the time on the clocks and then on our phone we released it was 7pm (1 hour later than BC). So quickly freshening up and reading a little about food we headed out and went to dinner in Cassios. I had the Aglio oli and Bhavni had a Premavera. The waiter was quite talkative (though he did not give us our free bread – found out later).

Getting back to the suite, we met the owners briefly and planned some of our possible walks for the next few days before retiring for the night.

29th June

We were up early and had breakfast, before we ventured into town. We walked to the I-Site, but it was still closed, so we went to the supermarket and got a bit of food. Back at the I site, they just opened up after we arrived and we asked about some of the walks. The ranger told basically confirmed what we had thought about the walks and which ones to do. Just that he recommended the Sulpher Skyline today and the Bald Hills tomorrow.

We went to the Bear Claw bakery, which now  had a queue. Getting a olive and something loaf we went back to the apartment and made our selves some sandwiches and packed our lunch with our equipments (gloves for Bhavni) into our ruck sacks. Soon enough we got into our car and were on our way to the Mette hotprings area. On the way (before Japer lake) there were a lot of cars parking on the side of the road, so we also parked and investigated. They were photographing an elk (I think). Getting to the skyline parking, just at the hot springs we got our selves ready and looked at the sign – 700m climb. We started up on the walk up the path which wound through trees for a while, before they started thinning as we got higher. It was quite a cloudy day, but not raining luckily.

About 2 hours later we got to a plateau just before the peak we were trying to get to. We sat down and had a cereal bar before the final push to the top. The final bit was extra steep for the beginning, so plenty of breaks. Getting to the top, it was a bit exposed, but was a nice place to take some photos with amazing views. An old couple (who we had overtaken) came to the top and the guy got a picture of himself doing a hand stand at the top.

Getting back to the plateau we had our lunch on one of the benches overlooking a nice view, before going back down. It was not very long going back down, and soon we were in the car park.

Out plan was to go to the hot springs after the walk, annoyingly the queue was quite massive and out the door. I stood in the queue whilst Bhavni returned the items to the car – we had to go just to say we had done it.

It was a bit of a disappointment as the pools were really crowded, and children were splashing away as well as none of the pools were really really hot, so we left in half and hour and headed back to town. On the way back we saw some wild life; some mountaian goats near rocks, a familly of three deer of some type on the side of the road and back on the main road, with lots of people stopping to take photos a caribou or elk.

In town, back at the apartment we chilled for a while before going up the road to get the laundry done. Back for some tv before going to a pizza parlour.

26th July

We were up pretty early as we had to check out and we were picked up by Sheilina at the airport hotel. We were driven to Albany where Sheilina and Grants new diving shop was located (as she had a meeting going on), where we then took our car to go to her house. Letting our selves in we dropped our bags in “our” room and sorted ourselves out before leaving again and dropping into into the dive shop at Silverdale to see Grant. After we drove back to Shelina and went back together to here house, chilled and started making dinner. I picked up Grant from the dive shop and went home for a chilled night.

27th

In the morning after a relaxed wakeup, Bhavni and I took Imani to the local park for a couple of hours, entertaining her on all the crazy slides and jungle gyms. She was quite brave and tried most of the different stuff there.

After we got back, Bhavni took the car and went into town to see here work friends at a restaurant for a last get to gather. Meanwhile I stayed at the house and looked after Imani – lots of reading and puzzle building ensued.

After Bhavni got back in the late afternoon we relaxed for a bit of time before going to Dunkerron Avene, to the Grants house for dinner. We took a nice bottle of red with us which got opened as a late birthday treat for Sue. Most of our neighbours were there apart from Peter from No 30 as he was already in the UK. It was a really nice night and its still amazing to hear the stories from our neighbours – who have led interesting lives and been close to lots of important people in NZ.

28th

Sheilina was off today, so we (after breakfast) headed to Piha (finally for us). We spent the morning walking first along the beach then along one of the paths through the trees where we got to see some waterfalls. On the beach Imani collected quite a few shells, which were slowly scattered about in the woods.

For lunch we found a small place and ordered a couple of chips for our selves.

The Lion was beckoning, so after some fun getting stopped by a stream only a meter across (because of out shoes), we got back in the car and went around. Imani was after some ice cream, so Bhavni and I headed to the Lion, but the next minute Sheilina was shouting behind us – Imani said she would like to climb up. It is a relatively good accent, but Imani manged it well and we got a good lookout at the top.

We got back and chilled at the house in the evening.

29th

I was awake early enough to watch the dawn, I ended up giving Imani breakfast as well. Whilst Sheilina was out working in the morning we spent the day with Imani, having fun with playdoh and creating lots of animals.

In the afternoon we spend a while packing for the next day.

30th

Again I got up in time for dawn, with Bhavni also joining to catch the view. Today we were off. Sheilina was dropping us to the airport, but as out flight was much later we decided to have a last meal in Newmarket. There was apparently a really nice Indian restraunt with lots of vegetarian choices, however we could not find it, so we had italian – pizza and pasta, cant go wrong normally.

From there we had our final trip to the airport, where we said out bye byes to Sheilina and Imani (who was being very shy as we were leaving).

We joined the queue and went to check in….. Out bags were a little overweight, and the attendant was not in a good mood so we had to go out of the line and reshift some of out stuff, (although we got past the queue) we were still slightly over on these scales even though the public scales had shown it was ok. Back to shifting again. This time we got to another attendant, so the bags got allowed into the flight – finally as we were a bit flustered at this point.

Now we had to get to security. Well stopped again for our hand luggage. Even with the approved label on the bag the attendant was not happy about the bag, as Bhavni had just put her coat in there for now. Bhavni offered to wear the coat, but the new attendant would not see reason, so Bhavni had to go down and actually got them to write on the bag it was approved. In the mean time I threw away a pair of shoes and some towels as they were not going to let me go otherwise…..

Eventually we got through and tried to relax, what a silly end to an amazing time!

On the plane, Air NZ, they apparently did not know we had ordered veg meals, so that was a bit rubbish. It was apparent it was there fault as when we landed in Vancouver and asked the Air Canada staff, our meal was sorted. Vancouver airport was quite nice and we got some Maple Syrup for people.

Soon enough we were crossing security in Heathrow. Welcome back to the UK.

Saturday 13th July

It was a very early start, leaving before 6am from the motel. Waking up and transporting our bags downstairs was quite an effort. Driving to the airport, we had some fun dropping off the car as the deop of zones where choc-a-block and in the end we left the car in an unmarked corner.

We checked in fine and soon found ourselves on the plane just after 7am.

With the time difference we arrived in Alice Springs around 9.10am. Initially we were going to get a shuttle to our hotel and then catch a free bus from there, but then Bhavni had the idea to talk to the rental car people. As we were renting of europcar (which we had arranged with flight center), we asked them. If we tried to rent a car using the same cover as what we had rented it would be over $100, but (with bhavni suggesting) we could rent a normal car for $40 for the day as a different rental, then pick up our actual car later in the day – Duh.

We looked at the rental car – a 3 door red i20… that was smaller than the band we had paid for, but there was no other car available.

We drove into town and dropped of the bags at the hotel – Chifley Alice Springs Resort, before driving out and parking at Blatherskite park

The parking area was already getting busy, so where we parked was a small walk away from the entrance, where we paid the entrance fees and went in. The event was not starting until 12.30 so we had around an hour to take in the atmosphere. We sat on one of the stands, pretty much opposite the start line enjoying the bright sunny day. Bhavni got talking to some nurses who worked here in Alice Springs.

The event stated, first by a grand show, where they paraded the camels around the track; there were lots of camels, varying from small for children jockeys to the larger ones for the main events.

The format of the day was a race, interspersed with other weird and wonderful events. The races were quite fun to see, as camels did not always do what the jockey wanted and even sometimes started going around the track the wrong way, but they were fast.

The most amusing event was the chariot race, where 4 people had to pull a chariot around the whole racetrack. The winners were quite funny, wearing wigs and other dress, the guys pulled the chariot to about a third the way before swapping having the girls pull and waving like royalty. These guys beat the rest by a long way.

We had bananas and crisps with us, which we ate, along with some drinks (Bhavni got me a beer), but later we wondered around the park, seeing the different stalls and got some strawberries and ice cream.

We left a little before the end and drove to the i-center to pick up some information, before going to the airport to get our actual hire car.

We were meant to pick up our hire car around 4pm and were a bit early – no one was behind the counter. Phoning the person using the desk phone, it was over half an hour before they turned up. Bhavni used this time to get her self wound up,  worrying that they would only give us the current 3 door car which hardly fitted our bags. When the lady appeared she announced that we were getting an upgrade; a new Mitsubishi …. . Nice car.

We drove back to the hotel, freshened up and relaxed for a while and had to remove an “uninvited guest” from the room before going out to eat. We went to the “Hanuman” restaurant which was in one of the larger hotels. The atmosphere was quite nice and the food was ok, but just too sweet like most Australian palates.

After we went back to the hotel and watched a bit of tv before going to sleep.

14th July

For some reason we had the alarm go off at 5.15am, a mistake surely, but soon enough the actual alarm went off at 6.30am and we struggled out of bed and got ready. Bhavni made lunch – some sandwiches with bell peppers, and we ate some weetabix for breakfast. We found we had another uninvited guest appear, which we left trapped under a glass. Checking out, we were in the car around 8am and started our drive out of Alice Springs heading south on the Stuart Highway. The scenery was quite arid, but in no way did it seem desolate and there were plenty of vehicles on the highway.

There was an alternate route, which would be shorter, but it was a dirt road. We actually drove on the beginning bit of it – where it was harder, but we soon saw a sign that said it was closed – and anyone using it would be prosecuted. Well I was quite uncomfortable with just the road, yet alone the sign, so we headed back to the highway. We drove all the way to Erldunda where we filled up on fuel before we turned onto the Lasseter Highway. The road was much quieter, but there was still cars passing every now and then.

We were making good progress and Bhavni had been told that Kings Canyon was the place to see – rivalling other things in the centre, so we turned down Luritja Road and drove all the way to there. The land all the way was was mostly flat and it was all of a sudden that we came to Kings Canyon. Its strange as you have no idea what to expect – from what I had read I thought it was going to be something similar to the Grand Canyon but on a smaller scale, but when we came to it it was nothing like that, more like a large fault in between rugged slopes. It was near lunch time, so we climbed up the canyon and ate our sandwiches whilst looking out over the canyon.

As I wanted to be at Uleru for a decent time, we left soon after and drove back, rejoining the Lassester highway. On our left we saw the quite impressive looking Mt Conner – a flat mount – in the distance. We filled up a little bit of fuel again at Curtain Springs, before the last push.

We arrived at Yulera and after fining parking, checked into the Desert Garden Hotel. After dropping off some stuff in the room, we ducked out as we had a little bit of time and went looking for the I-site. The one closest to our part of the hotel was closed, so we had a  run around looking for the main centre – It was located just off the Yulera main square. We got some brochures, maps and information from them and as we saw it advertised we booked ourselves in for some star gazing later in the evening.

We went back to our side of the complex and got in the car and drove into the National Park. We had to join the queue and get our entry tickets into the park, but it did not take that long. We had decided to see the Sunset over the Kata Tjuta so initially driving toward Uleru we then took a right turn and stated a 40km drive. On the way there was a lookout area, which we stopped at and walked from the car park to the viewing platforms. This area had a really good view of the really impressive Kata Tjuata, but was best for watching the sunrise over them as there would be too much shadow at sunset. We had a little chat with the only other person there and told her we were going to the west side to the sunset look out point.

We got to the sunset look out point and parked up. It was fairly busy as some of the tours stopped there for the sunset also. We still managed to find a  good position to view the sunset and marvelled in the changing colours on the really impressive Kata Tjutas. They are impressive as they are even higher then Uleru in places and really cool in shape.

After the sun had set we headed back to the car and (after a quick look at the valley of the winds point at the closest car park), drove back to Yulera – pretty much in a convoy, as everyone leaves after sun set.

Heading back to the Hotel we parked up and offloaded the car, hoping to go for a shower – but it was broken, so all we could do is change and tell reception. We then headed out to the main square, to meet for the Star Gazing.

There was a colourful bunch for the star gazing – some not having got food and all the places closed. We were met by the guide who reminded be a little of David Hurst and we walked out a bit to the telescopes. It was quite informative with him showing quite a few interesting stars and constellations as well as looking at the moon.

After we finished, we headed back to our hotel and asked reception where we had been moved, before going to our new room – in a completely different block and on a second level. The room was the same as before, just with a now working shower. We made some noodles for dinner and then it was off to bed.

15th July

Another early start for us as we were up and out of the hotel, checked out, at 5.30am as we had to get into the park early, which opened at 6am. I queued in the wrong line, which meant we took 5 minutes extra; we had the ticket so we could have gone in the fast lane. Just after 6am we were in the park and drove to the sunrise lookout area for Uleru. There were quite a few viewing platforms and while I held a nice position Bhavni went and had a bit of an explore, but we probably had as good a spot as any already.

Slowly the dawn colours stated coming out and we could see the colours change on Uleru as well as the Kata Tjuatas appear in the distance (40km away). It gave us plenty of time to try different settings on the camera. The pre dawn reds were amazing, with the clear skies. As we were standing there, it got busier and busier, until we were quite hemmed in at the end, but as one most people started drifting off at the same time.

This was also out cue to leave as we went to the Mala Walk car park where there was a guided walk going on. We were early enough to stretch before the ranger appeared. He was very informative (and talkative) and talked about the many cave paintings and sights along the away; for example the story of the 4 people who were turned into stone, which was where the rock had been worn away by the sand, but there were 4 areas – vaguely outlined like human shadows, where the rock had worn less. There were areas around the walk where we were not allowed to take photos (e.g. the womens business areas), where you could be fined – Bhavni nearly got snap happy but realised.

The end of the Mala Walk was at a permanent pool of water at the base of Uleru, where the guide talked for quite a while on why you should not go and walk up on Uleru to the top. I got itchy feet by then as we had to leave to get back, so when he had finished we quickly made our way back, but still personally thanked him for the talk. We wished we had a few more hours to explore or even do the valley of the winds walk at the Kata Tjuta’s, but unfortunately we had to leave.

Getting back to the car we were soon on our way out of the park, past Yulera and onto the Lassester Highway, going past Mt Conner in the distance. We took a photo of us at the sign saying the Red Center highway, tolerating the annoying flies buzzing around, just before the Stuart Highway. At Curtain Springs we stopped for a small fuel fill up. I was quite amused at the baby calf sitting on the porch in place of a cat or dog and had to take a photo, amusing the locals. We then carried on driving up the Stuart highway all the way back to Alice Springs.

We had actually made good time and were quite early, so we drove to the town center and

went into a mall. We did a bit of souvenir shopping getting a Koula in a can and some keychains. But soon it was time to head to the airport. Getting to the airport we parked the car, just put the keys in the counter drop off as there was no-one there and checked in for our next flight.

Whilst we waited we had some food and I got a coffee, before we boarded the flight – the Quantus QF1948 to Cairnes, and had dinner on board.

Arriving in Carines around 8pm we got our bags and picked up our car – a silver WW Golf. When checking the car we saw there was actually a reasonably big scratch on it, so we had to report it to the Europcar representative who came out and signed on our form he had seen it.

We drove to our hotel for the night – the Cairns Sheridan Hotel, which was a little out of the main town and was a business hotel, but not bad. We checked in, freshened up and then went out for a drive around the town. We drove near the waterfront and along the Eplanade. There were horse drawn carriages for tourists, but not much else going on, but we got a view of the city. We decided to go back to the hotel – via a Coles where we picked up some ice cream for dessert – chocolate which we had then retired for the night.

16th July

It was a slightly more relaxed morning for us – we did not have to wake up really early, so we found ourselves down for breakfast around 8.30am for the included buffet breakfast, after which we checked out. We had to go to Port Douglas next, but we were not due to check into the next place until the afternoon.

With the weather being a bit breezy, cloudy and rainy looking, we were advised to go via the inland way, rather than the direct 45 minute ocean road, so driving north we then turned west up the mountains of the Mcalister ranges. We ascended quite a bit and got a good look back at the valley we had just come up.

We continued on to Kuranda where we stopped of. Kuranda was a small little town and we just parked on one of the main streets. There were quite a few different attractions that we could do, but we decided to do the rainforest walk first. This was just a walk in the surrounding forests going in a large circuit past the rivers and over the tourist railway. It was quite a quiet walk, interspersed with the occasional tourist couple walking as well and it took us around 45 minutes to finish.

After the walk (apart from Bhavni running away from the reptile house) we went into the butterfly house. This place is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. We were a little early for the tour, so we went out and explored for a bit before the tour began. It was quite an interesting tour as it began in the main area with thousands of butterflies flying around us and feeding on fake nectar placed between the tropical planting. One of the most amazing ones were the Blue Ulyssess butterflies – though they only lived for a few weeks as they were constantly in motion. We were also shown around the labs where the butterflies are raised from the caterpillars, and we got to see a verity of different butterflies in different stages.

We learnt the difference between a butterfly and moth cocoon and we also saw the cocoons for Hercules moths – the biggest moths in the world. After the tour, we saw lots of preserved butterflies and the moths – as big as plates – apparently the record is over 30cm.

After we had a wonder around the markets there, with there many brick a braks and food stalls. It was spitting a little so we decided to continue our journey.

On the way to Mareeba one of the sights that we were told to see was a gorge. Stopping at the parking area, it was a slight walk through some interesting canopy paths, up and down some inclines. But it was worth the walk, at the end was a viewing area with a really cool looking waterfall cascading down to the gorge. Plenty of time for photo opportunities.

After we carried on to Mareeba, in which time the sun appeared and it dried out. As usual we went to the I centre and got some ideas on what we can do; I was only a little tempted to stop at the coffee museum but decided we will go to the Mango winery instead, where as the name suggests they made wine out of mangos. Bhavni for some reason felt sorry for the mango trees that were grown and kept quite low. Well we tried a couple of different wines; all of them were quite nice but all sweet and they even had port made from mango – We ended up buying a small bottle for a present.

After it was a straight run north until we met the 44 again towards Cairnes. The turn off to port Douglas went past lots of quite posh looking resorts down the peninsula. Our accommodation “Le Cher Du Monde” was right at the end in the middle of port Douglas. We found the parking and checked in. The place was run by an older Kiwi Couple and the lady showed us to our room and gave us a quick tour around. After which I struggled with bringing the bags up the couple of flights of stars.

The room was really quite nice – open plan, with a small kitchenette and a open lounge. The balcony overlooked the pool and it was absolutely tranquil – amazing considering how busy port Douglas was. We found that our fridge was not working so we told the hosts and the husband came up a short time later and fixed it.

After freshening up we went for a walk to the Coles and picked up food for the next few days, before returning and making a nice dinner of pasta with chillies. We relaxed and watched tv for a while before going to sleep.

Wednesday 17th July

Waking up reasonably bright and early, we ate weetabix for breakfast, before heading out with our day bags. It was just a short walk to the Marina. We were not really sure where exactly to go – we just new that the boat we wanted to go on was part of Poseidon Cruises. We had a walk in the shopping area there before I found out where to go – Bhavni did not believe me and started to wonder the wrong way to the wrong cruise company!

Soon we had boarded the vessel and settled ourselves down in the cabin with a hot tea and some pastries. Most people seemed to be fully qualified, but there were a couple of us who were not. I managed to give my PADI number to them and they looked it up, just to get an idea of the stage I was at. Bhavni just said treat it as the first time.

Soon we were on our way out to sea. It was going to be a good hour to get to the first dive site and whilst en route the guys went over the safety briefing and Bhavni had to do the multiple choice test. We were also going to dive together, whilst the other two were going to get another instructor.

We soon enough arrived at out first dive site, a nice area – not too deep to explore. After the qualified divers had got in – it was our turn. Bhavni went in first and was helped by the instructor for a bit before I was allowed in. We went with the instructor, following him closely and looking at the many fishes around us and the rock formations there. We were shown a territorial fish, which does not like any rocks in its “garden”, so the instructor amused us by putting a small shell there and seeing the fish remove it. Soon enough our time was up and we had to go back to the boat and dry off. The boat then sailed to the second site whilst we had some more hot drinks.

Arriving at the second site – affectionately called Barracuda Hill, we were told to expect something really nice. They were not wrong – after getting in we were amazed at the sheer amount of fish swimming around. The site was a big mound underwater – just at the edge of a shelf. The upper shelf was less than 10m deep, but it went to 20m or so on the other side. Swimming around we could see the famous barracudas nearer the surface and different varieties at other levels. We were shown a small shark that was sheltering in an alcove. Again it was soon time to surface and get in the boat, where we went and dried off.

It was now time for lunch. Hearing the menu and expecting to pick the few vegetarian options, we were pleasantly surprised to be told that we had special meals. These turned out to have quite a few tasty items including falafel like items. In the wind it was quite cold so we managed to find some space on the top deck of the boat in the sun. Bhavni got talking to one of the other passengers whilst I ate some of her food.

After lunch it was time for the third dive, Bhavni had decided not to go for another dive, and one of the other beginners had also decided that was enough. So Bhavni’s and my instructor stayed dry whilst we went with the other instructor. The site was not as full of fauna as the last site, but we got a chance to swim through more narrow channels and into small caves. Generally improving our skills. But soon enough we had used up our time and were back on board.

Getting changed an having a coffee, the boat started back to the harbour. On the way we paid for the extra dives we did and relaxed. I was feeling tired so I tried closing my eyes a bit. This was not great as we had got too some swells, so I had to step outside into the fresh air to feel better. We got back around 4:30pm.

Back at shore, we had a quick wonder around the shops in the harbour before going back to the apartments and going for a shower. After a brief rest, we went for a short walk around the area, going up the hill, before heading back where we made tacos with bean filling for dinner and then vegetated for a while before bed time.

18th July

We decided to have a bit of a lie in – waking up at 7.30. We had our usual breakfast of weetabix before packing a few things together and going down to the car.

After driving down the peninsula we headed north connecting to the SH14. Our first stop was not very far away – The Mossam Gorge, part of the southern Daintree forest. We stopped in the car park and at the reception area bought tickets to go on the bus to the gorge. You could actually walk it and if you did no tours it was free, but it was a 4 mile walk, and time was more important.

Some people had got here early and were already waiting for the bus back when we got to the drop off point – early risers. We got off and started the suggested walk through the forest. It was really a tranquil walk with us meeting other people only now and then. One of the first nice areas was a clear running river with big rounded boulders studded through the landscape. Further away from the river, trees were in dominance, with some really big fig trees and vines in dominance.

Completing the walk we got the bus back to the visitor centre. The bus actually drove past some of the backpackers who had overtaken us in the walk (saving some money). Getting back into the car, we carried on north up the Mossman-Daintree road and then onto the Cape Tribulation Rd, getting to the ferry crossing. All the roads had signs for Cassoways crossing, but we did not see one.

Crossing the river on the ferry, we carried on up the Cape Tribulation Rd, up over a ridge, where there was a lookout which had an amazing view of the rainforest and sea. From there we tried to look at the marked vistior center. It was privately run and was more of a walk at $32pp so we decided, especially with the lack of time, to carry on all the way to Cape Tribulation.

It was quite a nice drive in the forest, passing plenty of other walks and beaches on the way. Eventually we got to Cape Tribulation and parking at the car park, we had a small walk before emerging from the forest onto the beach (past the usual signs saying beware of crocodiles). We had a walk along the beach – there were other people around, but hardly busy, so it was quite pleasant. After the walk we sat at a picnic area and ate some food, getting amused at the funny chicken like birds walking around.

After lunch we took the short walk to the look out points over the Cape, which meandered through the rainforest and up the rise, for some more brilliant views. Wondering back down we had some more photo opportunities on the beach before heading back to the car. If you had a 4×4 vehicle you could carry on north to even more secluded areas.

Further south, we got off at another walk – which was a rainforest/swamp walk. It started in the rainforest but then went to more boggy areas and then mangroves before coming back on the 1.2km circular track.

Our final stop on the way back was at the tourist stop for fresh ice cream. The ice creams were fruit flavoured. One of the fruits which we had never encountered before was the Black Sapote, which was quite pleasant, but the rest so-so. Had to be done.

After we pretty much drove back to Port Douglas, where we got to the accommodation and  after freshening up – made mushroom risotto for dinner.

We did our usual of watching a bit of tv, before retiring to bed.

19th July

Our last day here today. For once we had a lie in, not waking up until 8am. Getting ready we had our breakfast before packing up and cleaning the place, including putting things like oil for cooking away (since you really cant by enough for just a few days).

After we were packed we thought it would be a good idea to get some pictures from around the pool area. Whilst we were taking pictures one of the other guests at the place approached us – he and his wife were enjoying the sun there. It turned out that he was a photographer, and his wife felt sorry for us and told him to take some pictures. So we got our own photo shoot.

After that fun, we loaded up the bags in the car (amusing people with the weight being carried) and checked out, driving south along the Captain Cook Highway. It was another really nice day, and we came to a lookout point where we stopped. We met a character there who was cycling in the heat.

We spent a bit of time talking to him and taking a few pictures at this nice lookout before resuming our journey back to Cairns.

We stopped at Palm Cove – not that far from Cairns, which was meant to also be a nice place to stay. We had a wonder around the shops and beach there and went to a nice (posh) restaurant near the end of the beach parade, where I had a coffee and cake, whilst Bhavni had a milkshake and cake, outside in the sun. Obviously there was also chips involved.

After the food we got back into the car and drove onto Cairns. Well the sun disappeared and was replaced by rain. As we had plenty of time we headed to the central market, and after a cuffufful about where to park (as we were not sure if we had to pay) we had a wonder around. There were lots of fruit and veg vendors, which were nice to look at, but there was the usual trinkets and items that were less interesting.

Getting bored but with a while to go we drove to the Botanical gardens (which were not far off en-route). The parking was quite spread out in sections, but it was made up for with a nice walk into the gardens proper. We took some of the nice paths around the areas and stopped on a bench for a while taking in the quiet while having a snack. It was a very nice botanical garden.

Soon enough we returned to the car and drove to the airport, returning the car and checking in for the flight. Our flight was the 17:05 Quantus QF655 to Brisbane.

2 hours later we arrived and collected our bags, before going to pick up our car. The car was a golf, but a old one and before we left we noticed a big scratch on it so we had to get it signed by the person before we left. Out drive was about an hour away – the Gold coast and it decided to rain quite a bit en route. But soon we got to the Gold Coast and found the apartments that Bhavni had booked – Pacific Views Resort. It was quite late, after 9pm so the reception was closed, but as we had told them we would be quite late they had put the keys in the security box which they opened after a few security questions. We could then park in the underground car park.

I think we were quite amazed at the apartments that Bhavni had booked – Really spacious with amazing views. We made some tea and then settled in for the night.

Saturday 20th July

Waking up after 8am, to a sunny day, we made ourselves breakfast and ate on the balcony with the view of the sea and beaches 23 floors below – superb. After we registered at the reception and then went for a walk. We were a block away from the waterfront, so we headed that way and then onto the beach. We were based at Main Beach and we walked to Surfers Paradise – about 4km, taking our time. It was cooler then the north, but still really comfortable, sunny and picturesque – plenty of photos.

At surfers paradise we got back on the promenade and walked into the Q1 building, having a chat to the real estate agent about the price of the apartments and how much of the building is sold. He said that now was nice, come the heat, you can hardly move on the beach. We had a wonder around surfers paradise afterwords – looking at a few shops, and getting an ice cream for Bhavni before heading back to the apartments along the beach.

By the time we got to the apartments it was about to rain – just got a little bit of drizzle right at the end, so we went and freshened up and had some snacks before going down. We just had a short walk to a few streets back from where we were staying – the receptionist had said there was a fun event nearby with stuff to see, so we thought we would check it out. Well there were lots random cars – classic and muscle – pictures to Miten. After a wonder, we headed back and chilled for a bit (it was already getting late) and watched the sunset over the city.

Just before 7pm we headed out as we had a show booked – Dracula’s Cabaret Restaurant Show, taking the car. It was located near Broadbeach – 1 Hooker Boulevard, not that far a drive, but it was nice to get to see the amount of water around gold coast for boats. Finding parking in the next door shopping centre, we crossed the road and joined the queue. We had a little while to wait, before we could go in (not A class) but we soon had some entertainers around doing weird juggling and fire eating acts.

Letting people in a few at a time, we went through the main doors, where they did an introduction (scaring some of the people) before letting us go on a ride (which was a haunted house ride) to get into the venue proper. Inside we went to the bar to get some drinks. We were lucky the guy behind the bar was a kiwi and when Bhavni asked for a mocktail he said he would call it a fruit drink as it was 3 times cheaper. Very nice mocktail too.

Soon enough we were shown to out seats (with the person in charge saying namuste) and after a while the show began. Well it was interesting and a bit riqsque. Going for the slight horror / comedy feel. We managed to get our drinks, but it took a bit of time (busy place) and the food was ok for vegetarians (more so for me as Bhavni did not like it).

The show ended just before midnight and we managed to leave before the crowds left, getting to the car and driving back to the apartments.

21st July

Again we got a chance to wake up late – having breakfast on the balcony on another sunny morning, watching the waves far below. After our lazy start we got out and started to walk down the beach, again to surfers paradise. We got plenty of photo opportunities and wading in the water time. Getting to surfers paradise, we went to the shopping centre there and spent a while there. At one of the shops we got some keychains but had a funny conversation with the oriental looking shopkeep about the wrongs of the world.

At the beach front there was an open air market going on and we quite enjoyed looking there, even getting a few things. Before we knew it it was late afternoon and we headed back to the apartments via the beach.

We got back with some time to catch the sunset and the changing colours of the city. We headed out and filled up the car before we came back and made a simple dinner, packed our clothes and chilled until bed time.

22nd July

Today we got up early to catch some Sunrise pictures from the department, got ready and were out before 6.15am. Well the journey started well and we were cruising along on the M1 until we got nearer Brisbane…. It was a morning weekday, so we hit traffic way before the M6 junction which carried on really slowly till the M2 junction. So the 1hour slipped away and my stress level increased a wee bit. Luckily after the M2 junction the traffic eased a lot and we could carry on to the airport.

It was coming up to 8.15 when we arrived. So instead of dropping the car off together, I dropped Bhavni with the bags just at the drop of point and went to drop the car off myself. I saw her trying to battle past a bus load of Chinese tourists.

The petrol gauge had just come off the top but was still reading full – just – not that I had any time to refill it if it was not full. I even managed to put the car in the wrong place, but one of the guys at the rental company said it was ok. So I rushed over to the airport with the hand luggage.

I had no idea where Bhavni was when I got inside, but I then saw her, a bit close to tears. She had managed to make it to the checkin in time. The woman at the counter told her to put the bags in the bag drop of area, but did not give her the tags, so by the time she went back to get them the woman said the flight is now closing and she was going to take us off the flight.

So with me we went to the service desk, where they were actually helpful and re-checked us and our bags in. The flight was 30 minutes delayed so that helped us as well. In the end with the confusion of our seats we ended up in different locations but still on the flight (QF511) at least, which took off just before 9.30am.

On the plane Bhavni ended up sitting next to someone quite high up in the tourism ministry, so she got a few tips on what to do when we got there.

Under 1.5 hours later we arrived in Sydney, collected our bags and went to find the drop of service bus. We found a counter inside – apparently the companies had merged and the price had gone up a little, so we bought the tickets to only find that the tickets were $5 cheaper from the guy in charge of the buses outside ! Back in a big city where we cant trust everyone.

The bus took us to Darling Harbour area (Pyrmont) and dropped us off near the Novotel. We just had to walk to the next building (which is joined to the Novotel), where Teena had left the keys at the reception for us. We got into her apartment and freshened up quickly before heading out.

We walked across the Pyrmont Bridge and booked a harbour cruise just on the other side. The cruise was setting off from the Circular Quay in just under an hour so we had a nice leisurely walk to the Quay. This was where we got our fist look at the Harbour Bridge and Opera House with some time for photos.

We boarded the boat and we went right to the top deck as the sun was shining, a little breezy but nice. The tour went round all the bays east showing points of interest and talking about the expensive beach front properties. We got our tea and cake from the lower floors but made our way back up. We had to move a bit as there were some annoying American girls who instead of enjoying the tour were gossipping loudly. The tour stopped short of the harbour entrance and went to the manly side before going under the harbour bridge past Goat Island, before returning to the Quay.

I spotted one of the crew crying in a corner, mentioned it to Bhavni, who ended up talking to her. As I said big city.

After docking we disembarked and took some photos near the waterfront. It was here we noticed that there was a tour going on and we joined them. It was a “free” walking tour of Sydney. They were most of the way through, but they still carried on for a while to the Rocks and finally to a great viewpoint for the bridge. It was quite an informative tour and we asked when the next one is – tomorrow morning -so we could do the other half. We spent a bit of time taking photos as it got dark before we headed back to Teena apartments.

We made our way in and pressed the lift button – as the doors opened Teena was standing there – im sure we both did a double take ! We went up and had a catch up before deciding where to go out and eat. We caught a taxi and travelled to the student haunts where we went to quite a nice Mexican restaurant, with the obligatory Churros for desert.

Getting back to Teena’s place we had a cup of tea and called it a night.

23rd July

We did not wake up late, but even so Teena had left by the time we emerged. We had breakfast and then went across the Pyrmont bridge towards town Hall. We were early for the walking tour so we had a look around the Queen Victoria building before joining the tour.

The same person was doing the walking tour and he obviously recognised us. The tour was really informative and went through quite a few places – for example the Queen Victoria building, around the centre point then to Hyde park. Past the Mint and the old hospitals, underground through shopping malls and eventually to circular quay. We left the tour roughly where we had joined it the previous day

After we retraced our steps to the Mint and went in. We had to sign in – security is tight there, but the mint was quite nice, showing the different currencies and how they have evolved as well as the use of things such as piggy banks. It also showed some information on how many countries are now using the plastic money.

Back towards circular Quay and the opera house where we made our way. Lots of people were around and repairs were going on, but we did get a few moments when we were alone to take some photos. I think its better seen from far then from close.

 

 

We then caught the 380 bus at the circular Quay to Bondi Beach. The bus system is different in that you have to prepay for a ticket – at any of the little prepay boxes on the street. The bus ride took over half an hour going via Bondi Junction, but dropped us right near the beach. It had gotten quite cloudy by now. It was around lunch time and we were quite peckish, so after some debate on where to eat we decided to have lunch at noodle place called Thaiinabox, where you chose the type of noodle and the type of sauce. A bit hit and miss, but filling.

We got a bottle of drink from a supermarket and then headed to the beach and south to do the coastal walk. I recognized the iceberg club swimming pool from TV and we spent a time watching the surfers trying to catch waves. There were not that many people on the walk and it was a little chilly, but very scenic going past rocky outrops and parks. We walked up and down lots of stairs and slopes past Bronte Beach, a cemetry and Coogee beach before ending up at Maraubra beach. We got a bit of rain just right near the end of the walk – after threatening for so long.

Catching a bus we got back to the city centre – it was getting to evening. We went to “the rocks” and found the way up onto the harbour bridge, where we walked across. We got a closer look of Luna park and a nice view of the city and opera house, trying out some of the manual focusing of Bhavnis camera.

Time to get back to Teenas place, which was a good 30 min walk – Teena had just come home a bit before we arrived and we shared our days adventure. For dinner we went out for a thai type meal. We mistakenly went to a restaurant Teena had not been to before, the food was not very good. Well that called for desert – a chocolate place. I had a hugging cup of hot chocolate – really nice, whilst Bhavni tried coconut – not that good as it was so sweet.

We headed back and called it a night.

Wednesday 24th July

Again Teena had gone to work by the time we emerged from the room. We had a quick breakfast and headed out. I had arranged a tour today so we had to get picked up outside the Novotel entrance at 7.30. We were picked up by a real local – Rob – in his small custom minibus from Sydney Great Escapes. We had to pick up one more family of 3 and then we were on our way. Rob was an entertainer and amused us on the journey with lots of jokes (including slightly inappropriate but funny ones).

Our first stop was the Featherdale Wildlife Park, a really famous animal park near Sydney. We were there before the actual opening time of the park, but we were let in as we were part of Rob’s tour.

We were treated to seeing animals we had not seen before properly or at all. One of the first animals we saw was a Wombat, which was happy being petted. This led to the first lot of Wallabys, who we could pet as well. As we were going to the next area another type of wallaby escaped into the area causing a wee bit of chaos with the ones there; they dont play nice.

In this area we picked up an ice cream cone of feed and could give some to the wallabies and kangaroos there. Bhavni was enjoying feeding them, when suddenly she was backing up as an emu came towards her, casually reached out and grabbed the whole feed cup off her ! I hid mine around the Emu. In this area, behind a rail was also a cassowary – a really big bird. It really looks cool with the striking blue covering and head projection. Following on from this we got the Kaola area, where we got really close to these sleeping animals and held them.

From here there was lots of areas to explore, with all different animals. There were lots of different birds including eagles, owls, raptors and parrots in large aviaries, some really striking. There were Dingos and reptiles as well as larger kangaroos. Bhavni had fun running up and down the side of an enclosure with a wombat trying to follow her moves. We also saw a Tasmanian devil, but we never saw the platypus or echinda in their enclosures.

Soon enough it was time to leave and we headed for the hills. We had a brief stop at a local produce shop, more of a tourist trap then anything else, but we got a bit of fruit before resuming our journey, stopping at a few points for a lookout. One of the really good lookout points was just of the main road and a small walk through the bush, where we ended up on a really nice point overlooking a valley.

Rob told us about the local history and the famous rider that jumped of the cliff not far from the area. He also spoke about Darwin and how he realised the earth was much older than what most people thought. We could also see the damage to the trees from the forest fires that had happened a number of years back. After some photos and what to say if your are lost (not “HELP” but “Koooeeee” which I just could not do), we carried on.

We stopped at the old Imperial Hotel for lunch, where we had the inclusive lunch. I had a beer to accompany my food, which was ok, Bhavni had pasta whilst I had a vegetarian pie.

Whilst having lunch we were given our options for the Three Sisters park. Because Bhavni’s knees are soso we were decided. This was our next stop, Rob just said to meet at 3.30 at the car park. We took the cable car to the visitor centre, getting a good view of the valley below us and the waterfall plummeting down. From the visitor centre we took the other gondola to the valley floor, getting a look at the famous 3 sisters there.

On the valley floor we walked around the larger path through the forest. It was much colder here but keeping up a brisk pace meant we were ok. From here we took the world steepest train up to the top (I think unless you have the view at the end it is a bit of a let down), where we met Rob for our trip back.

Instead of driving all the way back in the rush hour, Rob dropped us of at parramatta where he bought tickets for our ferry ride back to Circular Quay. Slightly amusing as the ferry had to turn back as it had left early and people came for it after it had departed. It was nice stepping out and seeing the city passing by and eventually the harbour bridge came into view.

Back on land we had a bit of time for some more picture taking before we headed back to Teenas place.

Teena had declared she was a Liverpool football fan and they were playing, so we ordered pizza and Bhavni and I picked up a bottle of wine. Football, wine and pizza – relaxing night.

25th July

Out last in Sydney and Australia today. Again Teena had made it our before we did. After breakfast we headed off to Cirrcular Quay and to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I left Bhavni at an exhibit by a Kenyan Woman and went for a wonder by myself (as it did not appeal to me). I had a wonder around but unlike modern art there was not that much to hold my interest. We luckily had agreed on meeting 1hour later in the gift shop, so I made my way there (and had to wait 15 mins for Bhavni to come).

We left and took some photos outside before going to Teenas work place to meet her. In the end we went to an Italian restaurant for lunch – the safe option. After saying bye to Teena, we made our way back to her apartment and got our things together – leaving a thank you, and headed down for out pickup at 3pm outside the Novotel.

Soon enough we found ourselves at the airport, checked in and on the 18:25 Quantus QF49 flight to Auckland. Bye Bye Australia.

Due to the time difference we arrived in Auckland at 23:30, collected our bags and proceeded to customs. It was quite amusing as they were just telling us to go through and Bhavni told them we had come from Australia so they should spray the shoes – they were quite happy that we asked!

Because of the time we were arriving I had booked us into the Ibis hotel near the airport. Basic but did the job.

1st July – Monday

An early start, Sheilina kindly dropped us all the way to the airport, luckily at 4am there is not any traffic, so we got there quickly. After saying bye at the drop off area, Bhavni and I dropped our bags off and chilled until the flight which was just before 7am. I had most of the breakfast which included vegetarian sausages.

With the time difference we arrived in Melbourne just before 9am local time. The airport customs was something else; it felt like we were entering china, with a queue of mostly Chinese people, signs in Chinese and people on the phone disregarding  the signs said no phones allowed.

So i got my passport checked just fine, but for Bhavni, the person behind the desk said that immigration would like to have a word with her…. so we went to immigration who stated asking what she was doing and what her flight out was, Bhavni turned to me and asked for the itinerary (which is when he released i was with her), he took one look at the itinerary and then left us through. This Bhavni looks way to conspicuous….

After that fiasco and the dog sniffing in the convict line, we finally made it out. I had pre-booked the sky bus to the hotel, which took us to the central bus garage in the city before another bus took us to the hotel – Causeway 353. This was actually quite a good little business hotel, right in the city centre on Little Collins Street.

They gave us a room right away, not a view, but i did not expect one and frankly it did not bother us in the least. After freshening up, we made our way down – it had just gone 12 and we were hungry – right outside the hotel there were lots of small eateries and we got some filled bagels. While we were eating it became lunch time for the businesses, it became really busy, so we had picked a good time.

After eating we walked to Federation Square, just a couple of blocks away. Its quite a big area and there were performers all around the edges. It was fun noticing that Bhavni and I were walking around in tshirts, whilst everyone else were in sweaters and coats. We went to the tourist information at the square and got a few leaflets and ideas, before catching a tram for a few stops. That was a bit crazy as the tram was really full and uncomfortable, but a least we could say we took a tram in Melbourne.

We got off at near the Immigration museum – it was near 3pm and we went inside and had a wonder until closing time at 5pm. From there we went for a walk around the south bank area of the city and back across to the hotel before getting ready for dinner (after getting a local sim).

 

We had arranged to meat Priya – a friend of Bhavnis – in the city near one of the casinos not far from the south bank, about a 15 minute walk away. Priya had been in Melbourne for quite a while and really loved it. Meeting with her we decided to walk through south bank to a restaurant. We picked an Italian restaurant; the food was quite nice – gnocchi – though the waitress was in quite a bad mood.

I was feeling quite sleepy by the end of the meal, so after dinner we went to the train station so Priya could go home before returning to the hotel.

2nd July

Making it a early start, we woke and went to breakfast (included), which was a reasonable buffet, before venturing out. We caught the free bus to the closet point near Queen Victoria Market, were we wondered around for a while. There were lots and lots for fruit and vegetable vendors, so Bhavni and I bought some fruit – mostly satsumas, bananas and apples. There were quite a few random shops around but nothing that stood out.

From there we walked to the Melbourne museum. We starred to wonder around our selves but luckily a tour was starting just then which we joined. The guide was quite good and took us for a quick overview of all the main areas. After we had a look around ourselves at a few things before going to the Treasures of the Middle east exhibit, which was a special exhibit of treasures that were hidden from the Taliban. There were some serious gold artifacts there from areas along the silk road, including the main attraction; a prince who had been buried with his 5 wives each with many kg of gold jewellery.

Having seen the exhibits we left the museum (following a suggested walk), going into china town. We went looking for a restaurant that Priya had suggested – we eventually found it, but luckily it was closed as it looked like a place we would not want to eat. Instead we found a Vietnamese restaurant called fire paper on the main streets which was more to our liking.

We decided to go to St Kilda’s, but we walked, it was quite a long walk but quite pleasant as it went south through Albert Park, and we watched the large city scape start to dwindle behind us.

On reaching St Kildas we had a look around the sea front and then had some hot chocolate and coffee at one of the restraints there on the sea front, because we were peckish from the walk we gave in and ordered some (as it turned out soso) garlic bread. We watched the sunset over the harbour before walking back. It went from twilight to completely dark by the time we got back.

Getting back to the hotel we got ready before meeting Priya, where we had dinner at a very crowded Mexican restaurant. It was quite strange as all the food – tacos etc had no beans in them, just soya or tofu. It was not that bad but not very satisfying.

After saying bye, we went back to the hotel and prepared for the next day before calling it a night.

3rd July – Wednesday

After buffet breakfast, as we were earlier than expected, we phoned up Avis to ask if we could pick up the car earlier – the answer was yes but at quite a bit of extra expense, which was not with the extra hour, so we stuck with the original plan.

We instead checked out leaving out bags at the hotel and walked to federation squire where we picked up some leaflets about the great ocean road, before catching the free tourist bus.

The bus was really good, telling us a lot about the points of interest around the city and taking us to places like the stadium. We were tempted to go round more of the stops, but as it would get quite late to set out, we got off near the Queen Victoria Market stop and went to the Avis rental on Franklin Street. We had booked an intermediate car, but the person behind the counter asked if we wanted a full size car for and extra $30 a day. No we said, so after a bit more time he said he would let us have the upgrade for $15 a day. We still said no. In the end there was no immediate car so we got the double upgrade to a Toyota Aivion for free; a really brilliant car.

Stopping by the hotel we collected our bags – took a bit of time – before heading out of town towards the Great Ocean Road, past Geelong. I think we were spoilt with the scenery in New Zealand as we had seen scenery like that before. We stopped at Split End to see the light house, driving most the way up the road, it was quite busy with tourists but still free enough for some nice pictures. From Split end we drove to Apollo Bay where we got some flat bread for $1 from a bakery to keep us going with the fruit from the QVC market.

We stopped at quite a few places for the lookouts, but the next major stop was at the 12 Apostles. We had managed to get here about an hour before sunset, so we had plenty of time to walk around and see the colours changing on the rocks, from all the different platforms. The rocks were quite cool to see and the part of the ocean road that was really worth it (even though there are not 12). Before sunset we snagged our selves a good location and watched the sun disappear.

Getting back in the car we managed to drive to see the “London Bridge” in the twilight. This used to be a double span bridge until recently when one of the spans collapsed, and was well worth seeing with the ocean breaking through the span.

Driving on we could just make out some of the rocks belonging to the thousand islands, but it was really to dark by now, so we carried on to Warrnambool. Whilst driving we saw something crossing the road – a big cowala.

Getting to Warrnambool we checked into the Comfort Inn – quite a nice motel, got ready and went for dinner. Having a look around we finally decided on Italian and found ourselves in a deceptively deep restaurant, were we had a lovely fetticine and pizza with salad.

4th July

After a breakfast of weetabix, we checked out and headed out; it was going to be a fair bit of traveling today and the weather was not that great – quite cold. Warrnambool was meant to be a good place to see whales because the area is a nursery to humpbacks, so we drove to the whale lookout area. Steel skies meant it was quite choppy and not that easy to see, but there was one whale around far out, which stayed there slowly swimming. Lots of other tourists came and went and were excited when we told them where to look.

We carried on our journey out of town. Having had talked to the owners of the motel and they had recommended going to a park called Tower Hill not far away en route, which was the left overs from a volcano. Driving in we saw an Emu and kangaroos crossing the road with more Emus walking around. At the visitor centre we had a look at the exhibits before going on one of the really short walks and returning to the car.

Driving out we continued our journey towards Mt Gambia, with a brief look at Portland. The weather had closed in quite a bit and by the time we got to Mt Gambia it was raining. We went into the Umperston sink hole, which was quite intesting – a massive sink hole that had been planted and had benches and trees at the bottom – not many tourists with the weather, just some from china. We were lucky we had good waterproofs otherwise we would have got soaked.

From there we went north up the A66 towards Naracoorte. Bhavni was driving and we experienced some serious hail storms and squalls en-route with virtually no visibility, which Bhavni answered by driving faster ! We had got some really lovely tortilla chips in the morning along with other food for the journey so we did not need to stop.

We drove past the Naracoorte caves and decided a few miles later that it would actrually be good if we go see them, so we turned back and went. There is a famous cave there where animals eons ago have fallen in, because of holes in the cave roof. Unfortunately the cave could only be entered guided, but only earlier in the day, so we opted for a self guided visit to one of the other caves, after seeing the exhibit of what some of the marsupials that used to exist  in Australia. Some of them were truly massive. It was a nice respite in the cave from the rain (which is why we saw the exhibits first as it was really raining heavily then), the caves were quite large and had many features.

As it was getting late we pretty much carried on driving to Adalaide, where we parked next to the Grand Chancellor Adelaide and checked in before parking our car a few blocks away for free parking (rather than pay $30). We got ready and then went looking for food – this became interesting as there did not seem to be many places ones we saw were closed. Eventually we found some food at the Casablanca restaurant and went back to the hotel. It was quite cold so we used the hot tub in the room !

5th July – Friday

It was a nice early start as we had to get to the car before the zone became active. We had some wheetabix for breakfast then for to the car before 8.30 am and drove to the Adelaide Hills on a beautiful day. The Adelaide Hills is a very famous wine growing region, with over 20% of Australian wine originating from here in the Berossa Valley. En Route we stopped at Willanstown at a famous cafe for a light meal, before continuing on the scenic route. This took us to the whispering wall, which is a dam, having just the right curvature that you can talk at one end and be heard clearly at the other end.

We stopped at Jackobs Creek as it is really famous and everyone knows the name; it is quite nicely done as a vineyard, but we did not  appreciate the wine that much, unlike quite a few of the tourists. We carried on to Taunton and stopped at the I-Site for a map of the vineyards and followed their suggested scenic drive to some of the smaller vineyards. I think not many others had to use a spittoon, but I would be very merry had I not – especially with the port from one of the vineyards.

We stopped in Salters Vineyard for lunch, having a really hie looking meal of flat breads with various dips, before visiting one more vineyard – amazing how many ex kiwis there are around.

From there we drove to Handhorf, which is a old German village. We parked at one end and had a walk around looking at the little shops, before having a long conversation with a chocolateer there.

We drove back to Adelaide and had a bit of trouble fining free parking, eventually fining a tight space to fit into near to where I had parked the day before. After getting back to the hotel, we got ready and I headed back out for dinner. We went for dinner to Jasmine – an Indian restaurant run by a Mr Singh. Although there was not a massive choice for vegetarian food, when it came it was really nice, and they did a aubergine dish substitution for me. No wonder it was quite busy.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and I went back out to move the car to a better location, which was now much easier, before having another spa in the room to warm up. I had even asked for extra heaters as the room was a bit cold.

6th July – Saturday

We woke quite early and after our breakfast of weetabix, we went to fetch the car which we then drove and returned to the Avis centre in the North Terrace, which only took us a few circles around the one way systems. Getting back to the hotel, we had tea then and checked out, leaving our bags. We went to the Adelaide Market which was quite bustling with nearly any food you can think of available. We had a pleasant wonder around before getting a coffee/hot chocolate and croissant from one of the cafes and getting amused by some people saying that seats are taken to others. We bought some tangerines for the journey.

After we had a look at the parliamentary buildings before having a walk in the museum nearby allowing us to avoid the intermittent rain. The museum had a really big collection of Aboriginal artwork and artifacts and we walked through some of the natural history areas also.

From the museum we visited the Art Gallery, where some of the artwork was quite strange to say the least – eg dead fake horses, though there were some nice items also.

After we went trough Rundell Mall and got some food – a Burito, before going back to the hotel to collect our bags and wait for the taxi pickup to the Airport.

The lady behind the reception desk (who had helped us for the last few days) was really nice and helpful and checked on the taxi for us.

We got the taxi and got to the airport ($22) and checked in for our flight around 4pm. Our flight was at 17.15pm to Perth, on which we had food.

We got to Perth close to 19.15 local time and was picked up by Ashish (Rupals brother). We were taken to Rupals house where we met Rupal and Mayash and all there guests over kachri butteta.

After with another friend of theirs arriving we went out for coffee and then to the other side of a park to see to city lights, before going back with Ashish to his house to sleep – a bit cold with no heating.

7th July

Waking at Ashishes house we had eggs and Nashto for breakfast. Deciding to do some laundry we were a bit delayed in leaving as we were meeting at Rupals house in the morning. We went via a restaurant called Spice Tree (which has a cook from kenya working there), to pick up some Jelebi and Ghatia. We met Milan (Rupals uncle), who apparently had been on a cruise to new zealand at the beginning of the year and met up with Zuli there.

After getting to Rupals by 11.30 isn we had a second breakfast and then all of us went to Kings Park, which is a really nice park overlooking the city centre. As the sun was shining it was quite pleasant, although cold in the shade. We walked to the memorial there near the children’s hospital before getting back in the cars as they had not found any good parking all this time.

So we headed to Freemantle (which is a port) and parked there. Having a look around the market there, then leaving the girls, Ashish and I grabbed some beers on the down low, avoiding the others. We looked at some of the ships sailing bye before heading back to Rupals house and having tea.

 

We had phoned Bhavesh (Meenas nephew) and he came and collected us and went to his house, meeting Ecta and the children. We had a bit of fried food and Bhavni ran into a random person from her school, who sat there complaining about life.

After saying bye we were dropped back and had chips (as Mayesh had been out to get these flavoured chips especially), before Rupal droped us to Ashish’s house as he had gone home tired earlier.

8th July

We woke up a little late and were suddenly supprised as Ashish was home (he had said that he was going to work). We got ready and had breakfast – eggs for me and bread and naasto for Bhavni, before going to Rupals.

After talking for a while we took a bus, almost from outside the house, to the city centre. Bhavni’s aim was to look for an eggless cake as it was Rupal wedding anniversary. That was fun as we went all around reading ready made cakes and asking at lots of bakeries (after asking the I-Site). We eventually found one that does it, but had sold most of their cake, having 3 slices left. They could have made some muffins for us, but it was going to be very expensive and late, so we wondered off. Instead we found a Harre Krishna shop and bought some Gulab Jambuns from them. Accomanying this we got some sobet from Coles and a gift card. We could now return as we wanted to be back early as the other guests were leaving.

Taking the bus we were back at Rupals by 3.30 and the food disappeared with all the guests eating the Gulab Jambuns. Mahesh then went to the airport to drop the other guests – who almost missed their flights, after which we went out shopping to get some food.

We made Taccos for them and Ashish came after work to join us. We spent a while sorting our luggage for the early start the next day.

9th July – Tuesday

We had to wake up quite early as we had an early flight. We got ready and I knocked on Mahesh’s door as he was our lift and not to be seen. Eventually he appeared and we had some early morning tea (alarm bells ringing), before going to the airport. He said there would be no traffic, but there was and I stared to be a little stressed. We eventually got the the airport and managed to check in, though we could not get seats next to each other, but at least we were on the plane which took of at 8.30am.

Due to the time difference we arrived in Darwin at around 13.30 and got through customs, picked up our bags and then got to the crazy busy car rental counters to pick up our medium sized car – a Toyotta Corrola, which included 400km. Getting out into the 30+ degree day, we drove into town to our hotel – the Cullen Bay Resort and checked in. The room was quite nice and had a really good view of the Marina.

It was now 3pm, so we freshened up and then headed out driving to the museum at the east point. The museum was quite interesting, showing lots of animals that are poisonous/deadly as well as a really big crocodile that was a menace to Darwin. The other exhibit was about the destruction of Darwin during a hurricane in the 70’s.

We then drove to east point and had a quick walk around before heading into the town centre and having a walk around there, seeing the sunset from the park. After we headed back to the hotel and freshened up for dinner – we were just going to the end of Cullen Bay as there were many restaurants there.

We eventually found ourselves at a Thai restaurant on the waterfront, which was entertaining as they gave us some stale bread to feed the fishes.

They were a bit cagey on vegetarian food, and in sited that the papaya salad would be awful, well it came and was superb with Bhavni and I finishing the lot. If only the same could be said for the main meal – Thai green curry. Bhavni took it first and made a face, I tried it – it was sugar syrup. So I companied to the waitress, who’s reply was that they always made it like that. Well after finally complaining for a while we got the bill with the curry removed.

We were a little peckish still so we went to the Lebanese restaurant near by and had some babganush and pastry. We decided to make a booking for our return to Darwin. After we went back to the hotel and settled in for the night – though we had a drunk trying to get into our room in the middle of the night.

10th July – Bhavni’s Birthday

After a breakfast of wheetabix, we checked out of the hotel around 9.30 and headed out on the Stuart Highway and then onto the Arnhem highway. We were making good time so we stopped at the “windows of the wetlands”, which had some nice exhibits about the wetlands and the fauna. Bhavni got into watching a video about the different environments in the area. I had to pull her away as we had to go to the Adelaide crocodile cruise at 11am.

We got there and got our tickets sorted with 10 minutes to spare, before we got onto a reasonably large boat. We managed to get some seats upstairs, and we stared sailing. The Adelaide river is really muddy and you cannot see below the surface, but almost immediately some crocodiles could be seen. The boat people lured them with some steak on a large string and coaxed them out of the water, hence the jumping crocodiles. Some of the crocodiles were massive. The boat owners had a go at one of the passengers for walking around the lower decks when there were crocodiles nearby as the crocodiles could easily get him there (especially as he claimed he was a baramundi fisher). Half way we swapped over and went downstairs for a different view, closer to the water line, but behind glass.

One of the more unusual sites was a flock of birds circling around, it was amazing none hit each other.

After an hour we were back at the docks and we carried on along the Arnham highway to the Mary River National Park, where we had to turn onto point Stuart road then onto a dirt road (which looked like the roads you see in the movies of the outback) and drive 10 km to the Wildman Wilderness lodge.

This was a really luxurious place, we were taken by one of the staff members and given a briefing over a cocktail before being show around. We got to our rooms, amazing place – individual air conditioned huts with king bed and an ensuite luxury  shower room with views across the runway into the bush. Yes there was a dirt runway as some of the clients flew in.

We saw our first wallaby sheltering under one of the huts and said hello to our neighbours – who had flown into the retreat in a cesna. After we changed and then went for a walk – listening to their advice not to go near the billabong as there are some crocs there. It turned out to be a slightly longer walk than we originally thought not helped by the sparse markers and we returned via the dirt road in. After we played a bit of scrabble in the bar area before we got to the room and changed into swimming costumes and hit the pool – freezing. As the sun got lower we saw a lot more wallabies crossing the area and hiding under the huts.

Before full dark we went to the room, freshened up and then went to the restaurant for dinner. We had a bit of time before dinner, so we had a couple of cocktails – Bhavni got a special birthday one. The food was defiantly up there, with a starter of asparagus on celeriac puree followed by roasted fennel on cous cous. For desert we could not have the panacotta, so bhavni ordered some ice cream, but it came melted so it got changed to a trio of sorbet – apple, blood orange and passion.

After food Bhavni managed to get her parents on the phone, although we went outside to do so and were attacked by insects when standing still.

We then retired for the night.

11th July – Thursday

In booking the lodge we had a billabong tour included, so we were up early as we wanted to get some food first, after which we were picked up from the reception area (along with another couple) and driven by one of the staff to the billabong at 8am.

We got on a small metal boat and was given a safety briefing. They have life vests but do not wear them because if you fall in, crocodiles are attracted to bright colours, also stay still and avoid moving. That cleared up, we started our cruise. Unlike the rivers we had seen so far, the water in the billabong was clear, with lots of water lillys growing. As it was early and relatively cold, the guide said that most of the crocs would be in the water trying to maintain temperature, so we only seemed to see trails and bubbles for the most part. We saw plenty of bird life and our guide was good at pointing them out.

Our guide spotted something on the banks and we turned to have a look. A few moments later our guide was genuinely worried as it was a large crocodile on the banks; one easilly big enough to damage the boat. Whilst we turned to boat around we could see it slipping in the water and soon enough when we got the next proper look at the bank it had disappeared. Our guide gave us a hasty retreat up the billabong.

He managed to spot a couple of small crocs hiding in some foliage further up, but mostly birds were around. Soon enough our cruise was finished and we were driven back to the lodge. Whilst Bhavni freshened her self up, I went to breakfast for the poached eggs and was done by the time she appeared. We went back to the rooms and sorted our selves out and loaded our items into the car (which I brought around), before checking out. We had managed to get a really good deal for this lodge, as their website was faulty when I booked; much cheaper and the billabong tour was thrown in when it should not have been. But it was defiantly a beautiful place.

We rejoined the Arnham highway and drove onwards to Kakado national park. I had to stop to get a photo near one of the towers of the outback, with Bhavni getting quite worried that i would be attacked by termites. The scenery going past seemed to be unchanging for the most part, large trees to the side and quite flat, until we were further inside the park when we started to get flood plains appearing near the rivers. At one place we came across a big lizard sunbathing on the side of the road, bush fires burning on the sides and lots of birds taking advantage of the fleeing insects. We carried on to the junction not far from Jabiru, where we turned to the Bawali visitor centre to pick up some information.

With the limited time we had we decided to drive south to Nouriangie and see the sites there. It was a good 40km drive away and we got to drive past some remnants of the escapements which were amazing to look at. The sites here were old with prehistoric cave paintings. We had to do a small 2km walk to visit the different locations and with the heat it was sweltering, so it was nice to get to some of the shaded areas and see the paintings. We had an optional summit climb (which was not that bad) which we took, it came up to the top of some of these rocks and we got some amazing views of the escarpments in the distance as well as some of the closer outlying outcrops.

Getting back in the car we drove into Jabiru and quickly checked into the hotel – the Gagudju Crocodile, just to get the room keys and drop off the bags. We then quickly carried on driving, this time north to another site called Ubeer, which is the most famous site in the park. We had to make sure we were there by 4.30pm as there was a ranger talk going on.

It was another 40km drive, past more cool scenery. At Ubeer, we had a little bit of time before the talk so we had a quick wonder and met the ranger at the “Rainbow Serpent” site. The ranger talked about the significance of the painting and the dream time, explaining that she was telling only what she was meant to by the aboriginal elders. She then took us to the next place and explained the time periods that had occurred over nearly 40k years whilst the aborigines were here; the land had been forest, desert and wetlands. The next place showed us the food menu – cave drawings redone many times of the food available in the area. Finally near the top of the riges she talked on the geology of the area before we watched the sunset over the plains with the fires burning in the distance.

As soon as the sun set we quickly got back to the car before the mosquitoes came out and went back to Jaibiru, where we filled up petrol and went to the supermarket to get some food for dinner as well as supplies for lunch the next day. That was amusing as I assumed Bhavni had paid and we walked out before the guy came out saying we had not payed …. duhhh.

It was close to 8pm by the time we got back to the hotel and we were quite tired so we did not make it to one of the slideshows in a neighbouring hotel.

12th July

We were up nice and early, getting ready and having a bite to eat. Checking out we went to the bakery and got a couple of nice rolls. There was a walk going on between the hotel complexes and the visitor centre which we wanted to do, so as Bhavni read the details we went to the Bowali Visitor centre to start the guided walk. We got there and found out that the walk actually started from the Crocodile hotel and was going to finish here ! So we started walking quickly back to the hotels along the track they were coming up, hopefully to meet them. As it turned out we got most the way to the hotel before meeting them. Joining them the ranger showed us plenty of flora and some of the features of the land around there.

The walk was nice and gentle and took about 1.5 hours. Getting to the Bowali visitor centre we were then (after a break) guided around the exhibit in the visitor centre, which was worth seeing. There was a park celebration going on and there were locals doing weaving and making other items, so we watched for a while, especially the old lady stripping some of the flax leaves to make ribbons for weaving.

After a while we left and started our drive back towards Darwin. If we had had a 4×4 and a bit more time we would have loved to visit some of the other places like Jim Jam falls. We saw a wetland area in the park on our way out, and we had to go through some heavily smokey regions with fire burning right next to the road and lots of birds circling. We also saw a (probably the same) lizard by the side of the road in the same place as before.

We stopped at a wetland on the way back and had a lookout, but we could only see things far away, although we saw a wallaby there, so we continued on until we stopped at Foggs dam. Originally we thought we could walk along the dam itself, but there was a sign saying it was closed as there was a large crocodile around. So instead we drove across slowly and saw lots of different birds.

We continued on and got to Darwin in the late afternoon, where we checked into The Leprecorn Motel – pretty lousy place on the second floor and not as clean as one would hope; anyway it was just for the night so we got ready and after Bhavni phoned her aunt we went for food to our pre-booked lebanese restraunt.  We were not that impressed – firstly we were given some seats on a table without a view, then the food was tasteless and to top it of the bill was quite steep… So Darwin does not do food well. We went back to the motel and settled in for the early start the next day.