Linda took us to Brisbane airport on her way to work. A fairly early start (05.30!) to miss the worst of the motorway traffic. As soon as baggage check-in opened, we were in. We really didn’t want to get bumped…
20. LAST WEEKS IN AUSTRALIA.
Back on the coast, it’s somehow comforting. I know we were barely half the width of the state inland, but that’s still two an a half hours by plane. There, roads are straight and horizontal. Townships are truly well spaced…
19. STILL IN LONGREACH!
The other main attraction in Longreach is the Qantas Founders Museum, established in 1996. The Queensland And Northern Territory Air Service was started here by two WW1 veteran pilots and an aero-engineer who saw a business opportunity in an air…
18. LONGREACH!
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…