After the clouds arrived and my star trails got mucked up I sat in the hireclunker out of the wind for an hour and lay in wait for dawn. I’m not a morning person so while I’ve seen hundreds of sunsets I’ve seen relatively few sunrises. Usually when I’m travelling, working early shifts, or feeding very young…
Category: Travel Tales
My stories from when I went to places and did stuff. Plus some photos, because I just can’t help myself.
Watching the World Turn: Star Trails.
Exmouth. Stupid o’clock in the morning, Day 4. I realised shortly after I booked my flights that one of my main goals for this trip, to take a star-trail-silhouetted photo of Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, was going to be a bit harder than I thought: Problem 1: VHLH is nearly 20km from town. Solution: Easy. Hire a car….
Watching the World Turn: Sunset. (Vlamingh Head, WA)
End of Day 3. I very nearly did miss the sunset! Squealed out of the Turquoise Bay carpark (literally, thanks to that bloody fanbelt) at 5 past 5 then floored it the 45km back to Vlamingh Head, slowing down for the odd kangaroo. I hooned up the hill to the lighthouse, pulled over in a shower of…
Turquoise Drift. (Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia)
Exmouth Day 3. As I enjoyed my brekky al fresco this morning a couple of kids at a nearby campsite started getting stuck into each other. Mummymode clicked on automatically and I was halfway out of my seat to go break it up before I stopped and thought, hang on; not my problem! Yippee! I was missing the boys,…
Yardie of Glass. (Yardie Creek Gorge, Western Australia)
Day 2 Episode III. Was having a fantastic day tooling around the North West Cape with Ningaloo Safari Tours, with still a couple of stops to go! Cruising Yardie Creek Gorge was something else off my bucket list; I can’t believe it’s only the first W.A. gorge that I’ve been to! I always meant to at least visit Karijini while…
The Edge of the World. (Ningaloo Coast, Western Australia.)
Day 2 Episode II. Left Vlamingh Head Lighthouse and continued around the headland into Ningaloo Marine Park. “Ningaloo” is an Aboriginal word for promontory; I’m unsure which language group it’s from but the Cape’s original inhabitants were known as the Yinigudura people. I couldn’t find out much about them; they apparently left the cape before white settlement….
The Coral Coast.
Day 2 Episode I. Limo pickup this morning; outback style! ‘Top of the Range’ tour with Dave from Ningaloo Safari Tours – a full day in the Cape Range National Park and Ningaloo Marine Parks! On the drive up to Shothole Canyon Dave regaled us with amusing tales: Like how even though all new houses are cyclone…
Red-eyes & Red Skies: Exmouth, Western Australia.
Day 1 11pm Wednesday, in midair somewhere between the Gold Coast and Perth. I’m turning 40 soon and it’s already the best birthday ever because I’m finally doing something that I’ve wanted to do for over half my life. I told you I grew up in Carnarvon? Well my dream of the last 25 years has…
The Misty, Muddy Mountains: Binna Burra, Queensland.
Last December J & I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. The day itself was a bit of a fizzer; I awoke with a 6 yr old’s foot up my bum and J started work at 5.30am. So romance. Eh, it was fine. Once the right time presented itself however – the following Easter weekend – we…
Paua Play. (Kaka Point, New Zealand)
The South Island of Enzed in summer is SOMETHING ELSE. If you happen to be visiting there in January you might be lying on a beach saying to yourself “This is amazeballs! So sunny and clear, and the scenery’s stunning! It’s really something else!”or you might be in all-weather gear and thermal underwear muttering “What the Hell IS…
Tykes on Bikes: Arrowtown, New Zealand.
Finn got a bike for his birthday last October and was sooo stoked. He was on it constantly, up and down the driveway (only occasionally in the bushes beside the driveway) and up the hills around the block multiple times without stacking it once. We even ventured to a BMX track where he hared around like Evel Knievel, scaring the poo out…
Shafts of Light: Arrowtown, New Zealand.
Arrowtown Day 1. We used to stay with beloved family whilst in the Queenstown area, but in summer the 3 hour time difference including daylight saving means our body clocks make us a bit antisocial – 7am is a completely reasonable time for Kiwis to get up but the only Aussies that want to be awake at…
Still Not A Journal. 