We left the Sunshine Coast in pouring rain. We arrived in Longreach, some 1,300 km northeast of Brisbane, still raining. While not exactly a desert, the area around Longreach is normally red, dry and dusty. As a result of heavy…
17. SUNSHINE COAST.
Life on the Sunshine Coast goes on. Sun, rain, sun, rain, sun, rain … To be fair, this is the wet season, and in between the showers it gets lovely, sunny and dry! During the time we were in Brisbane,…
16. BRISBANE.
Brisbane. The capital city of Queensland. Australia’s third-most populous city. Home to some 2.9 million people. Plus two for a few days as we head south to avoid the continuous rain forecast for a week on the Sunshine Coast! Last…
15. A WALK IN THE PARK.
The River Mooloolah is not a particularly grand river. It’s catchment area is not huge – certainly by Australian standards. In fact, it’s TINY at about 225 km² compared with the approximately 1.2 million km² which drain into Lake Eyre! …
14. AUSTRALIA AT LAST!
Leaving Vietnam, we had to overnight in Hong Kong – at the Regal Hotel. This is conveniently situated a five minute walk from one end of the arrivals hall. Mind you, it can take fully ten minutes to walk from…
13. HO CHI MINH CITY.
Arriving in Ho Chi Minh, we flew into basically the centre of the city. But are we in the right place? Despite the name change in 1976, “Saigon” remains in common use. It was known as the “Pearl of the…
12. MÒRÈ PHÙ QUÒK
Driving in Australia, there is always a risk of hitting an errant kangaroo (Robin did last week). In Vietnam, dragons are the problem. Dragons … and motorbikes, of course! At the birds’ nest soup factory, they also had a sideline…
11. PHÙ QUÒC.
Leaving Sapa, we got glimpses of the famous steeply terraced rice fields … We also discovered that the short-cutting bridge which was closed on the way up four days ago is now open. It did save us the twenty minutes…
10. SAPA AND THE HIGHEST POINT IN SE ASIA.
We have one night in Hanoi, where we met Robin, Linda and family, before heading NE to the high country. Sapa is the target. We reject a wildly unimpressive option to take the overnight train and book a nine-seater luxury…
9. HA LONG BAY.
Strictly speaking, I think it should be written “Hą Long Bay”. But who’s checking? After several days in fairly dismal, industrial surroundings, the Bay is looking positively enchanting! Our first views of the “mountainous” scenery were superb. I don’t think…