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Stoire’s winter escape

October 2018 - August 2019
It's getting colder, darker and I'm determined not to become miserable and full of dread. So instead of hibernating I am emigrating. I'm off to chase the sunshine, until it decides to return to the UK. See you all in Spring, I'm back in April! Read more
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  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Singapore

    December 11, 2018 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I've had a flying to Singapore visit to meet my good friend, Marla, which also conveniently breaks up the long journey to Australia. Having spent a couple of weeks with Marla in Singapore before there were not many tourist things I wanted to do. So instead we went to the gym and did a couple of her classes that I also do at home. We used to attempt to work out on the boat together so this was taking our efforts up a level! After that we felt quite righteous and took a bag of beers and a picnic to the beach. Unfortunately after only about 30 minutes of glorious sunshine a heavy storm passed over, and kept us huddled underneath an umbrella for about two hours. the rain was torrential and the lightning was frequently right by us. We had all we needed in the picnic, but the desire for a toilet was increasing as we sank more beers! Finally when the lightening stopped we dashed into the sea and it was warmer than the outside environment so we stayed in it for ages warming up. I left England not to be cold and here I was on a beach in the tropics of the equator with goosebumps! but the difference was I was in a bikini and had some belief that soon I would be warm and see the sun again. Monsoon storms can disappear as quickly as they appear.
    That night we went out for dinner at a large hawker market with a group of Marla's friends and continued to drink beer....a couple of fancy cocktail bars later we ended up in a late night Bollywood dancing venue showing off our talent. It was really good fun and possibly slightly regrettable for those of her friends who had work the next morning! But I have learnt that late night drinking seems to be as much of a culture as late night working is, so they must find the balance right somehow.
    Having got home at 5am we went to bed and I slept until mid afternoon. This left us time to get some food at another hawker market. I had my favourite Indian dish-Dosa, which made me very happy. And we spent the rest of the time begging to plan our time together in February. We now have flights booked to meet in the Phillipines, and a vague idea of where we will go once there.
    Marla dropped me at the airport and now I am super excited to be on my way to the Gold Coast, where Jamie meets me at 8.10am when I land. For the next three weeks I am on a Maclean family holiday. Wooga!    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Brisbane reunions

    December 17, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    I arrived Friday morning in Australia and have spent the weekend enjoying reunion with Jamie and all the family. The girls did not take long at all to forget their shyness. In fact Samantha was not at all shy at all, she is just a constant chatterbox! I went with Jamie and Renee to pick them up from their last day at school and it didn't take long for me to get some cuddles. We have had a fun weekend playing games, going swimming, making towel animals and doing crafts. I have been teaching Sophie how to do a headstand and she is teaching me how to do a handstand. It is none stop entertainment!
    Yesterday Renee's dad had a 60th birthday party so all his 6 granddaughters were there-it was a loud day and a lot of wine was consumed.
    Now for the first three days of school holiday I am looking after the girls whilst Jamie and Renee are at work. So far they have been very well behaved and we have had a fun packed day. Let's see how another couple of days treats us....and my sanity!    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    The Festive season

    December 23, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Stew and Emily arrived the morning of Jamie's birthday and so we have enjoyed the festive season together. The volume increased considerably, with children getting more excited and Magnus being added to the games. They were quick to play together, but inevitability it has also led to many tears, tantrums and tellings off.

    We have enjoyed some delicious feasts, a fair few bottles of booze and shared a lot of banter. We've been to Redcliffe and to Bribie island.

    Christmas eve we had a barbecue and then took a walk of the estate to see the incredible light displays. I have never seen anything like it, one house has singing Christmas trees. The decoration is unbelievable. Afterwards the kids got excited about Santa, left him food and pranced around the lawn laying reindeer food.

    In the morning on Christmas day I was woken at 5.15am by Sophie and Samantha who had their stockings. They were so excited and loved everything inside, then dashed downstairs to see the heaps of presents under the tree. They waited patiently, but in the end were allowed to open presents before magnus woke. When he woke he was equally excited, but spent more time playing with each new present and lost interest in the pile remaining. So he has been opening a few presents each day instead. The whole thing has been very exciting and quite magic to be a part of.

    We had 32 people round for dinner on Christmas Day, of Renee's family. It was a delicious spread of salads and countless meats. We all overindulged and then us Maclean's States up drinking a little too much and playing with the kids. I have bruises on my leg from overenthusiastic wrestling with Magnus!

    Boxing day we took a dip in the sea and tidied the mess. Then the next day we drove up to Bribie Island, a sand island in the sunshine coast. It had the busiest beach in have ever seen in Australia, the sea was swarming and it was hard to find a space to sit. I overheard a family describe it as 'holy moly, this is like a beach in England!'.

    By now Samantha and Magnus are holding hands all the time and getting on like a house on fire. And meanwhile Sophie impresses us with her countless handstands and cartwheels. She's teaching me and I am getting a lot better!    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Mount Ngungun

    December 28, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Mount Ngungun (pronounced Noo Noo)
    2.8km return trip, maximum height 225m, incline walked 196m.

    We rose early and woke the kids, who reluctantly joined us for a short hike up a 'mountain'. Even at 8am it was an incredibly sweaty walk and the steps were steep at points, so it was quite a challenge for short legs. But they all did very well, with minimal moaning and only occasional tears. Samantha counted all the steps to be distracted from winging, but she lost count somewhere around 100,000.

    Mount Ngungun is one of the glasshouse mountains, north of Brisbane and it sits within a huge national park. The views from the top were incredible. However the company I was with re-ignighted my phobia of heights because seeing the kids close to the edge of a cliff drop made me incredibly anxious, with their jerky movement and clumsy footing it gave me a sense of doom. At one point Magnus stood up and lost his footing and I nearly had a panic attack. Everyone else remained calm and enjoyed the views, but I learnt that children create fear in me.

    It was a great little adventure to start the day with and it reminded me how much I love Australian countryside. The sounds, smells and colours are so calming and beautiful. I hope for more forest retreating to come.    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Camping at Mount Tamborine

    December 29, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We have spent the last few days camping on Mount Tambourine, which is South of Brisbane and inland from the Gold Coast. The site was shady and we managed to get ourselves a very private spot. The kids have had great fun playing in the dirt and the river. We have enjoyed the relaxing fresh air and outdoor living and have been able to cook over an open fire.

    We saw some good wildlife- Bandacoot, wallaby, monitor lizard, stick insect, Cain toad, cockateel, laurequeets and cuckoburros. It was great!

    Yesterday we went to the Gold Coast to see the long stretch of beach there. It was busy, but the beach is so long it always has more space. It was mega hot so we had to stay in a restaurant until the sun eased a bit, then we all had fun in the sea and sand.

    Last night for New Year the kids did a performance show of some dances for us. We had YMCA, the Macarrenna and I like to Move it. Magnus danced so hard he got stitch and had to take a break and the girls filled in with some inspiring monkey type backing dancing. They have their parents dance talents....or lack of. Then they had fun with some sparklers whilst we adults drank some big pop to celebrate the new year. None of us managed to stay up until midnight, but Stew and Jamie were nearly there as they shared a bottle of red wine by the fire.

    It was a relaxing few days and the kids have been less argumentative as they have had more space and freedom.    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Reunion with Bob in Tucabia

    January 3, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Five years ago when I first came to Australia I travelled up the East coast with two French girls and we couch surfed the whole way. We met a man called Bob who lives in rural Australia, in a village we would never have heard of otherwise Tucabia. He gave the kindest hospitality and we felt like we had created a family whilst all living in his home. We promised him we would stay in touch and would visit at later dates. In fact we all said we would come back to him with our own new families......yet all theae years on not one of us have found a partner or come anywhere near to settling down, we are all still travelling across the world, taking occasional settlement's to work! However I am now the second of us to come back and visit Bob.

    Bob hasn't changed at all, apart from that he lives in a different house about 500m up the road from before. He has not let me help with a thing and has fed me generously and treated me like a special guest. It has been a relaxing couple of days with him, we have chatted a lot and caught up on each others lives. And today we went to the local, untouched beach. It's a beautiful spot with miles of beach with hardly anyone on it. It was super hot so we sat in the shade by the river, which is just 20m from the sea and has calmer waters so is beautiful for swimming. I didn't see any of this last time as we all wanted to go and visit the more well known tourist coast line. But really this is more beautiful and the journey there was winding through a thick forest with vegetation that I can only describe as Australian. Then as an extra bonus I saw my first sight of kangaroo. This happened the first time I visited Bob as well- after being in Aus 3 weeks his surroundings were the first place I saw them. It is just a beautiful, quiet and very Australian spot of countryside. It has got me very excited about going back to Western Australia next week as I know it is like this but even better.

    Bob has been very pleased to see me and I have enjoyed relaxing in the country. Tomorrow I drive back to Brisbane and await Mum and Das arrival for a final few days of noisy reunions.    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Brisbane City

    January 5, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I spent Saturday exploring Brisbane CBD on foot. I walked through the shopping district, across the river to southbank and took a long walk along the riverside cliff walks. There was a great atmosphere as a big act was playing at the outdoor arena, so people were gathering on the south of the river to enjoy the sound and the sunset. I saw a couple of weddings and many lizards-the first one made me jump as I hadn't expected such a close encounter in the city centre!

    Then in the evening I met an old school friend and her fiance and we had some drinks listening to live music at southbank.....then more drinks in a northern suburb and we danced until 3am. Needless to say Sunday was quite a lazy day and the girls took great pleasure in telling Granny Mac that I had spent the whole day in my pijamas, when she arrived.    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Lamington National Park

    January 9, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Mum and Dad arrived a little hazy from the long journey, so we spent a couple of days relaxing at Jamie's. Then on Wednesday we all went down to Lamington National Park, which is somewhere I have wanted to go for years. It is a rainforest high in the hills of the Gold Coast and is famous for its' bird life and scenic views. It definitely did not disappoint, we had such a brilliant time there-it was absolute bliss. We stayed in two villas built on the hillside of the rainforest, within the trees and overlooking a never ending view of rolling hills and mountains. Beautiful colourful birds would perch on our balcony whilst we and and the sounds of the forest were incredible. I don't think I have ever heard such a loud orchestra of insects, it was phenomenal.

    On our first night we got a little over excited and drank most of our wine supply that was meant for both our nights. Consequently Mum ended up doing an over enthusiastic performance of Abba to us and we all managed to get ourselves in trouble, with the manager coming to visit us to report a complaint. Given how peaceful and relaxing the place was we were very quick to end the night and repent for our sins.

    The next day was brilliant, starting with wildlife encounters when we got to meet an Australian magpie, a sooty owl, some little cute marsupial possum types things and a python. It was great fun holding a snake and learning about the animals. Then we fed the birds and had parrots and lauraquetes climbing all over us. Then we went on a tree top walk, which walls through the canopy of the rainforest. After a relaxing lunch at the villas we all went separate ways and met up at the swimming pool later. I went on a walk with Mum and Dad at this time, to Pythons rock look out. It was so beautiful, the views were of endless green mountains and the walk took us through thick rainforest. The sounds and smells were tranquilizing, I loved it.

    After a swim in the infinity pool that overlooked a similarly stunning view we filled the hottub and enjoyed drinks at the villa before going out to dinner at the resort restaurant. We all ate far too much, to top off what had already been a bloody brilliant day.

    We were earlier to bed after all the fun and excitement and because the next day we were waking early to get a boat on the Gold Coast.    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Big day out on a big boat

    January 11, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Friday was our last day all together and so we made the most of it with the help of a generous donation from Great Granny Mac. We hired a boat with a barbecue on it for the day and went boating around the waters of the Gold Coast. It was a scorching hot day with clear skies so the colour of the water was especially beautiful.

    The kids loved having a go on the steering wheel, which led to a few rather uneasy moments. And us adults managed to raise blood pressures a couple of time with an accidental drifting of the boat when we dropped anchor at the bay and again when we grounded the motor in shallow waters. Jamie came to the rescue on both incidents and we survived the day with no worries and a lot of good memories.

    We had speakers on the boat so we all enjoyed a good dance and we even got a repeat performance of the children's new years eve dance performance- YMCA and I like to move it move it. Once again they performed with full enthusiasm and we received it with excitement.

    We anchored the boat at a beach on island to have the barbecue and then Dad cooked up a feast of sausages, kebabs, prawns and halloumi, served with a few salads, dips and bread. There was food to feed an army and we all ate far more than necessary!

    Whilst playing in the sea and on the beach a boat pulled up selling ice cream so the day became even better as we all got an ice cold treat.

    It was the perfect end to what has been a fun filled family holiday. And none of us even got burned by the burning the sun. 100% success! Thank you so much Great Granny Mac, we are all very grateful.

    Now I am on the plane to Perth, having had a series of farewells this morning-first with Stew and co leaving, then when I left Jamie and co. I have spent so long with them I feel I have become part of the household and I am going to really miss it.

    But on to the next stage of my adventure......    Read more

  • TravelerStoire’s winter escape

    Perth

    January 12, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    I spent the weekend and in Perth staying at a couchsurfers house. I had a really sociable and relaxed time. Harris is a 29 year guy who loves travelling and meeting people of different cultures. So much so that he recently upgraded his house so that he could house share with travellers. He had three Belgium backpacker housemates, an american couch surfer and people of all sorts of nationalities popping in across the weekend. We all had drinks together on Saturday night and then on Sunday a few of us went to Scarborough Beach where we had a picnic and relaxed. I had forgotten how cold the wind can be on the West Coast. Although it was a bright sunny day it felt cool as there was a wind from the West. However we still had a good day. In the evening we watched a horror movie and the next morning I woke early to take a train, followed by a bus down to Denmark.Read more

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