Reset search
Journey to the Land Down UnderJourney to the Land Down Under
SatelliteEdit route
A tribute, thank you, adventure trip of a lifetime Read more

List of countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
Categories
Car, Family, Friendship, Sightseeing, Wildlife
  • 37.0kkilometers traveled
Means of transport
  • Flight-kilometers
  • Walking-kilometers
  • Hiking-kilometers
  • Bicycle-kilometers
  • Motorbike-kilometers
  • Tuk Tuk-kilometers
  • Car-kilometers
  • Train-kilometers
  • Bus-kilometers
  • Camper-kilometers
  • Caravan-kilometers
  • 4x4-kilometers
  • Swimming-kilometers
  • Paddling/Rowing-kilometers
  • Motorboat-kilometers
  • Sailing-kilometers
  • Houseboat-kilometers
  • Ferry-kilometers
  • Cruise ship-kilometers
  • Horse-kilometers
  • Skiing-kilometers
  • Hitchhiking-kilometers
  • Cable car-kilometers
  • Helicopter-kilometers
  • Barefoot-kilometers
  • 36footprints
  • 25days
  • 379photos
  • 0likes
FollowCalendarShareBucket list
Newest first
  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 1

    Here’s to new adventures

    April 7 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Like most of our adventures this one starts with a story.
    When Bron passed away in June 2023, Gillian was an integral part of helping Dad with so many things including the planning of her memorial in October of that year (should have been September but the wildfires fires had other plans!)
    Dad was at a loss as to what he could do to thank her for all that she had done and he asked me for some ideas. One of the things I threw in to the mix was a trip to Australia - and of course I offered to tag along as her companion 😜. Dad considered the idea and decided that was a great way to show his appreciation and Gillian would also get a chance to visit with Kaye and Jo in their home country.
    As plans were being discussed the question of Kev joining us came up and he indicated he was up for it too.
    So Dad provided some funds and simply said “you do with it what you want, but there’s really no other way to fly across the Pacific than in a lay flat seat” - so that’s just what we did!
    And you know what comes with those lay flat seat tickets? Lounge access with snacks and free drinks! No better way to start our journey than with some bubbles 🙃    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 1

    YZF and YOW to YVR

    April 7 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Kev and I headed to Vancouver from Ottawa as Gillian headed there from Yellowknife.
    Gillian arrived first and secured us a table in the YVR Air Canada lounge, Kev and I joining her once our flight arrived.
    It felt as if we were eating and drinking our way to Australia! 😜
    It’s hard to describe the feeling of how to prepare for a 14+ hour flight 😳 Having never done it we just hoped that we could get enough sleep so that we would be functional for our first day in Oz.
    We left Vancouver slightly ahead of schedule (yay for all those passengers being on time) and settled in for our verrrry long flight! 😴    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 2

    Welcome to Brisbane

    April 8 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We made it!
    After more than 14 hours in the air, multiple meals (supper (again) and breakfast) countless hours of shows and at least some hours of sleeping/dozing we landed safely at the Brisbane airport.
    For anyone who has traveled internationally or even just to the US we all have our expectations of what customs clearance will be like - well we can attest to the fact that clearing customs and bio-security in BNE was a breeze! 😅
    The first leg of our journey we were going to be doing some touring and Kev was going to be doing the driving - not sure how he felt exactly but I for one was a bit apprehensive about driving in Australia 😳
    We secured the car at the airport and we were off!    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 3

    Off to a great start!

    April 9 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    When planning our trip we all established a few “bucket list” items.
    In addition to wine, rum and the Great Barrier Reef were wildlife encounters of any kind. With that in mind we searched for such possible options and came across Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. At one time you were able to actually hold a koala however they had in fact stopped that type of encounter, but there was still the option to “touch” a koala and take your own photos - and that’s exactly what we did!
    We decided what better way to start our adventure but with a koala encounter so Gillian and I booked our time slot for mere hours after our arrival 😜
    The sanctuary housed a number of other Australian wildlife so we did a quick tour before our encounter and once we had touched our koala, Riley (an odd combination of soft and oddly thick fur 🤔), we met back up with Kev at the car and headed off towards to Byron Bay.    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 3

    Byron Bay

    April 9 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    We managed to navigate our way to the koala sanctuary and Kev continued to handle the challenges of right side of the car and left side of the road driving - huge kudos to him! Bit of a struggle to keep the wipers off when looking to signal a turn and navigating all of the traffic circles but he handled it all.
    We arrived in BB by mid afternoon and after dropping our luggage at the Airbnb we did a we bit of exploring before stopping at the local IGA for some food.
    We all managed to make it to 7/8 pm before succumbing to the effects of 24+ hours of travel and another full day of adventure so it was off to bed.    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 4

    Adventures around Byron Bay

    April 10 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    While it was an early morning, it wasn’t quite early enough to catch the sunrise at the lighthouse 😜
    We were definitely early as we shared the lighthouse with many others who had either walked or run(!!) all the way UP the road! The locals and visitors are certainly a healthy bunch!
    A walk and wander around the lighthouse, Kev and I traveled down the trail to the most easterly point of Australia and we even took a short walk down the road to grab a cache.
    After the lighthouse we drove back in to town and took a few hours to wander around and check out the beach.
    After some meat pies (deemed to be the best of all the ones we had during our stay) we headed back out on the road for an afternoon of driving excitement 😳    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 4

    White knuckle drive to the falls

    April 10 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    In searching for things to do around BB, Kev came across a suggestion of Minyon Falls which was a mere 40 minute drive from where we were staying.
    40 minutes doesn’t seem long until you start travelling twisty, windy, mountainous roads 😳 And by roads I mean what might be considered a lane and a half, with no shoulders and the occasional pothole!
    We did make the National Park without incident and were treated to amazing views and a 100 m set of falls. There happened to be some Parks staff working at the lookout who were wonderfully chatty and shared lots of information of the area, including wildlife and the impact of the hurricane that had hit the area recently, the first in about 50 years.
    We decided the trip back to should take us through Mullimbimby as Jo and Greg had lived and run a cafe there.
    A lovely little town with delicious gelato to boot!
    Then it was a quick 20 minutes drive back to the Airbnb for a quiet evening.    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 5

    Moving on

    April 11 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    As our stay in Byron Bay came to an end, we packed up the car and decided to make one more trip to the downtown area.
    Not sure if it was the school holiday, just because it was Friday or because we were a little later getting to town but it definitely seemed busier than the day before.
    Gillian and I posted our postcards and after picking up a couple more souvenirs we said goodbye to BB and headed North.
    A quick stop at the Costco gas in Coomera and then we tackled the traffic through Brisbane.
    Coming out the north side we found a spot to have a picnic lunch along the water before heading to our destination for the night, Toorbul.
    Toorbul is a sleepy little town with a small population but apparently it has regular kangaroo visitors throughout town!
    We didn’t see any on our way to the Airbnb and even as we drove around after getting fish and chips for dinner we were starting to think the multiple warnings about ‘Roos was a big red herring and suddenly there they were! At first it was a large group hanging out beyond a fence along the road and then a little further down the road more right alongside 😳
    So cool to actually see them in the “wild” - a true Australian experience 😍
    As Kevin rightly commented - very much like seeing deer along the road back home 😜    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 6

    Birds, coffee and rain in the rainforest

    April 12 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We eased our way into Saturday as we packed up to hit the road again.
    We drove down the road to see if we could spot the kangaroos again but were greeted with an amazing flock of birds instead.
    It was amazing to see pelicans, godwits, Caspian terns, pied stilts and an oyster catcher. We were truly lucky to be there at the same time as a couple of experienced bird watchers (counters) who shared their knowledge.
    After chatting and taking lots of photos we finally hit the road.
    Our initial goal was Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve to explore the rainforest but that was sidelined by the weather as we encountered rain, low clouds and a thunderstorm to boot!
    Before the weather really turned on us we happened across a coffee plantation south of Maleny where we stopped to enjoy a coffee, tea and some sweet treats.
    We were scheduled to arrive at Jo and Greg’s around 1 so we set the quickest route in the map app and away we went.
    There we were again taking some of the craziest back roads through the rainforest! Not sure how we find those roads but the warning sign at the start (and other end) indicating trucks and caravans should not take the road were well founded! 😳
    We finally found our way back to the main highway and arrived in Maryborough right on time 🙂    Read more

  • TravelerJourney to the Land Down Under
    Day 6

    A Garden of Eden

    April 12 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    While our trip to Oz had a number of layers, Maryborough was a key priority stop.
    As home to the author of Mary Poppins, Maryborough was a dream destination of Gillian, bonus that it just happened to also be home to Bron’s sister and brother in law - my Auntie Jo and uncle Greg.
    Before we sat down for lunch Greg and Jo gave us a tour of their gardens surrounding their house.
    No words or photos can truly express the beauty of the rainforest garden they have created in just a few short years. They have transformed all of the “lawn” in front, side and back to a magical oasis.
    We enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by Greg (the chef) and dessert prepared by Jo (with lemons from their own garden) as we chatted and got to know each other better.
    Before long it was time to head to Hervey Bay as we didn’t want to be driving unknown roads in the dark.    Read more

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice