The "Thick Black Line. An Odyssey" in 2017 separated my 32 year career in IT from a new career as a psychotherapist and gave me a taste for travel! Read more
  • Day 88

    On to Cooktown ...

    June 10, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I had another fantastic drive today through stunning scenery.

    By chance I find myself in Cooktown during the annual Discovery Festival. The town is named after Captain Cook who beached the Endeavour here to make hull repairs after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef during his first exploration.

    Just out of interest, because it's pretty mind-boggling, Cooktown has a population under 3000 and the massive Shire of Cook (area 41,000 square miles, compared to England's 50,000) has a population of about 5000. Correct, 5000. I'd read that Cooktown gets about 26,000 visitors pa and couldn't understand why that was so remarkable - now I understand!
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  • Day 87

    Cairns to Palmer River Roadhouse

    June 9, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Oh it's been lovely to get back into the Australian bush. I decided to head towards Cooktown, which is far north as I'm planning to go. The route from Cairns winds up through Kuranda National Park - the oldest rainforest on the planet then I turned onto the Mulligan Highway which will take me the rest of the way.

    That first part was quite taxing - a winding uphill road with lots of traffic on my tail, so I can't say I enjoyed that, but the Mulligan Highway is a delight. I drove past a few places I'd like to stop, just because I didn't have time to throw the van's anchor out, but I'll be retracing my steps in a few days because this is the only paved road this far north in the Cape York Peninsula (the eastern part of Australia that nearly joins on to Papua New Guinea).

    I stopped at the Palmer River Roadhouse overnight. Hardly anyone else was there, so I almost felt like I was alone in the bush 😎 (apart from the showers and electric feed!)
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  • Day 86

    Camper!

    June 8, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Not much physical movement, but all has changed 😎

    I've only driven a few miles to get supplies and get to my first site. It was quite an adventure with all sorts of clonks and crashes going on behind me as things slid around inside cupboards. Also turned out I hadn't secured the fridge door properly. I've literally just spotted a little peg that holds it shut. Another steep learning curve!

    I'm at a regular holiday park tonight - a good place to try things out with some help at hand.

    PS. Go UK! Do the right thing! When I was in Tokyo I managed to make arrangements for a proxy vote - thanks proxy ☺
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  • Day 85

    Cairns

    June 7, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Oh well finally I've lost the plot. It was bound to happen sometime. Said goodbye to my Airbnb host this morning, packed my bags, was just about to ring for a taxi down to Britz Campervans, checked the time I'm picking it up. 11:30 as I remembered. But TOMORROW!!! It's clear on my planner, just not in my brain ... oops!

    All my bookings, apart from a campervan pitch for tonight, are correct so no big deal other than disappointment at having to wait a day!
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  • Day 84

    Cairns - tropical north Queensland

    June 6, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Woo hoo! I'm very excited to be here. Cairns is a very attractive place to fly into; a beautiful coastline and lush green hills.

    However I just got a timely reminder from my host's brother that there are crocs everywhere: STAY AWAY FROM THE WATER! It'd be a shame to get this far only to be a snappy snack so I'll heed his warning 🤔Read more

  • Day 83

    When in Sydney ...

    June 5, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I'm only here for 1 day so sorting out my itinerary hasn't been complex. 2 iconic sights conveniently located next to each other. I'd never felt any interest in seeing Sydney Opera House, so what a revelation today has been. It really is astonishing. Utterly captivating architecture and not at all the shape I thought it was - how amazing is that! I'm deliberately not posting some pics.

    This afternoon I took a fast ferry out to Manly and after a bit of a wander around found myself in the very agreeable 4 Pines micro brewery 🙄
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  • Day 81

    Hello Sydney!

    June 3, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After a couple of quiet days in Waikiki, a long flight and a nimble skip over the international date line, I'm now back in Oz for the final phase of my trip.

    Brr! After the fierce sun and humidity (but also very strong breeze) of Honolulu/Waikiki, autumnal Sydney is a bit of a shock to the system.

    Pardon my language, but I'm staying in a complete shit-tip of a hostel. Only 2 nights (max - I'll see how I feel tomorrow and may cut my losses and move on). Such a contrast with HI Waikiki which was spotlessly clean.
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  • Day 78

    Back to Waikiki

    May 31, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    That's it ... my Hawai'i adventure is over. Rental car returned intact. And exhale...

    My last Airbnb host gave me a bag of the juiciest lychees as I left - dee...lish!

  • Day 77

    Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea

    May 30, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    I had the most fitting final day on Big Island. There would have been something missing for me if I hadn't made it up to the 'saddle road' which runs E-W (or W-E ...) across the island on the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. In the past hire cars weren't allowed up there but the road is mostly upgraded, though driving can be iffy if the weather changes.

    It was a beautiful clear morning so I took a picnic to the Mauna Kea Recreation Area which is about half way across. It fed my soul to finally see the tops of those 2 great volcanoes 😎

    I hadn't planned to do this, but feeling inspired I did a little more research and decided to head up to the Mauna Kea Visitor Centre. It's a stop-off point at 3000m for anyone going to the observatories at the top, to help prevent altitude sickness - it's the change in altitude (most will be travelling from close to sea level) that causes the problem. I saw one person really struggling. To go further you have to have 4WD, specifically a vehicle that can do engine braking on the descent.

    Well that's one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's lovely up there. I huffed and puffed to the top of a nearby cinder cone (the thin atmosphere, obviously) and got fantastic views over that part of the volcano, and not a soul was around. Very special in ways I don't really understand.

    Then I stayed until dark for the star gazing run by the Uni of Hawaii 😊. The centre has facilities to buy and prepare noodle pots, cocoa, coffee. Plus hoodies, socks, hats and blankets to buy. That all makes sense when the temperature drops to 5C ... that compares to low 30s daytime, mid 20s night at the coast... ie. flippin' freezing! So now I have an extra hoodie.

    They show a film while the sky is darkening, which doesn't shy away from the controversy about having the observatories at the summit. I hadn't heard this before. Mauna Kea is a sacred mountain for the native Hawaiians, not only a mountain, but an actual ancestor. I think some sort of framework is in place now to help reconcile the different perspectives.

    Ace day.
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  • Day 76

    Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden

    May 29, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    This is a lovely place for a visit. It's only a couple of miles from where I'm staying, on the Old Mamalahoe Highway. Goodness knows how people coped when the road was part of the 'belt' road around the island: it twists around each valley foot/mouth (!...where it meets the sea ...) single track over some of the bridges, one is wooden! Lovely picturesque drive, but few places to pull over. And that was just getting there!
    The gardens follow a valley down, with the Onomea Falls just round a corner, then open out a bit at the sea. Everywhere is densely planted which makes for mostly hopeless scenic pics - just can't capure the beauty the human eye sees. It was just lovely to wander. I have loads of pictures of different leaves/patterns. I will try to resist 😉 I feel a photo shop collage thingy coming on when I get home!
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