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  • Bear 1971
  • Bear 1971

Australia

A 81-day adventure by Bear 1971 Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 28, 2025
    Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler
    22

    Terrific Tasmania

    Jul 30–Aug 9, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    After a few days in Melbourne (not much to report from my VERY short time there but I am revisiting later in the month) I jetted off to Tasmania!

    Tasmania may not have been on my original plan but Sarah suggested it as a meeting place and what a great place to meet.

    Hobart had a lovely familiar feel to it, combined with a beautiful harbour and the wonderful Salamanca market.

    We stayed right by the water front and enjoyed relaxed days and taking part in some sightseeing; the red bus city tour, Bonorong sanctuary, Richmond and a wonderful day touring the wine region and one or four wine tastings!

    Along with all those lovely day time treats, we also had an amazing treat of a dinner, thank you Pat (Sarah's husband) , at Rock wall. 4 courses with wine pairing. Everything was delicious and we had such a funny, wonderful evening with the "wife" .

    Then part one of trip Tasmania finished too quickly but we have decided to see each other again before I leave. Part 2 begins with the arrival of Julia.

    My time with Julia on the trek will be documented separately as too many gorgeous photos from our trek!

    For me, being used to English wildlife, it was wonderful to be in this place that felt like England in so many ways but then faced with such unusual wildlife, such as; tassie devils, wallabies, wombats, echidnas, pandemelons, cockatoos, galahs and tassie hens. Nature is fabulous! A wombat in the wild has been a dream since I saw one for the first time, 20 years ago, in Australia! Apart from the devil, we have seen all the other creatures in the wild!

    It was so lovely to catch up with dear Sarah, we've known each other for so long, felt so natural and familiar to be together again, sharing laughter, sitting up in twin beds drinking tea and catching up, it was almost like being in our 20s again!

    When Julia arrived we quickly made our way to Mona. Mona is amazing, an art gallery (museum) with a difference We arrived on a camouflage ferry, riding on tigers and into the art space of David Walsh. A very interesting man, by all accounts! Have a read about him. Mona is fabulous space with surprises all over the place. An unusual start to this little vignette but actually very apt as Julia is an artist and this is her bag! I came along for the ride and loved every minute of the weirdness and creativity!

    And finally, the trek was an amazing addition to a lovely little break on this gorgeous island.

    My first time in Tasmania and I really hope it won't be my last.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler

    Three capes trek

    Aug 5–8, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    If you are ever in Tasmania and love walking, this is a must do.

    Our journey was 48km which was four days of pure delight. We started with a visit to Port Arthur and learnt about it's dark history then jumped on a boat and dropped off at Denmans cove with our full and heavy backpacks!

    We had a great book to accompany us which gave us the maps and more importantly stories to accompany our journey. Stories that told us the history of the area and most importantly about the flora and fauna.

    If you're interested, when I return, I will bore you with the details but for now, here's a brief overview and photos to show the pure beauty of this amazing walk.
    Day 1 - 4 km to Surveyors (a wonderful lodge. There were lodges along the way for us to sleep, eat and chill after walking)
    Day 2 - and Julia's birthday! 11km to Munro (and a fun experience of showers outside in this most glorious location) some fireball whisky and many rounds of happy birthday!
    Day 3 - 19km to Retakunna via Cape Pillar
    Day 4 - 14km to Fortescue bay

    Day 4 also meant the finish of this amazing trek. A return bus to Hobart for well deserved beer and real food (dehydrated meals served a purpose for 4 days but were not a delight).

    A joyful 4 days, sharing the journey with dear Julia and Tasmanian nature.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler

    Marvellous Melbourne

    Aug 9–17, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    After returning from our lovely hike, I had the pleasure of staying at the Hall residence in gorgeous Hampton.

    A beautiful home with beautiful people, I couldn't have wished for a lovelier home It was so nice to spend quality time with Julia and the rest of her clan. We laughed, we chatted and ate great food. Hampton was a great base for me to see the city so spent a few days exploring.

    Family time, party for Julia's birthday, day in the city, a day cycling, a day chilling, walks on the beach and all too quickly it was time to move on.

    I'll miss watching the kitchen dance performance each night, a family in harmony whilst undertaking their clean up tasks.

    After a delicious brunch in Sandringham (Melbourne has the most amazing food scene especially brunch), Julia popped me on a train to Frankston and I navigated my way to Mornington to meet an old friend, Nic, who I used to work with at St Mary's over 20 years ago.

    My journey was fun, I met some very interesting people and I appeared to be the entertainment for many people on the bus all helped by a charming elderly man who decided to talk to me, very loudly, about all things British!

    It was great to see Nic after so many years and we left off where we started all those years ago. We caught up on life. The time with Nic consisted of a fun yet very wet walk along the peninsula to Fort Nepean, an important land mark for World War 1 and chilling time with friends, doing lovely normal things! It's the biggest thing I've missed whilst travelling, normality and the simple things we take for granted.

    A wonderful addition to my time in Melbourne was a couple of lovely catch ups with old colleagues, Anju, Elsa and Sam. A beautiful reminder of home and work and how important my work and colleagues are to me.

    Finally a stroll round some cool places near to the city with Nic including Brunswick, Fitzroy and Brunswick Street and another amazing brunch.

    My final event in the city was catching up with Nick and Shanti from our Nepalese trek. We met in an Indian Nepalese Restaurant, we drank Nepal ice, ate Momos and caught up on life. That's what it's so cool about travelling, the people you met and the memories you make. Hoping that, at some point, the whole gang can get back together.

    I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Melbourne and how well I've adapted to not living in a car!

    Thank you to all these lovely people who are sharing my journey, giving up their time and sharing their homes, friends and family with me.

    And now to move on to Canberra.

    Thank you Melbourne.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler
    111

    The capital of Australia!

    Aug 18–23, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    I don't actually know many people who've been to Canberra and also the ones that have been didn't sing it's praises but I really liked it!

    I had the pleasure of staying with my old Pharmacy friends, Pete and Ange and their young adults, Georgie and Maddie and not forgetting the beautiful Ruby!

    Pete and Ange are running a community pharmacy with no cover or support so let me get on with my days and looked after me in the evenings. They gave me some tips and we chatted in the evenings about what to do in Canberra and as usual, I just wandered the city each day and found some great things to do.

    Canberra is a really easy city to get around . The bus network was really easy and the walkways safe and well maintained. I made the most of the time here by visiting; Anzac drive, the Australian War Memorial, National portrait gallery, the state Library, Parliament House, walked up and down Mount Ainslie and walked along Lake Burley Griffin.

    The highlight, apart from spending time with the Millers, was the Australian War Memorial. An amazing building with a strong heart. A tribute to all the Australians who lost their lives fighting wars. I took a free guided tour and learnt so much about Australian Army's involvement during so many wars. The end of the day was spent listening and watching the last post. Every evening they pay tribute to one of the brave service people who are on the role of honour, their story is told, the last post played and important service people and a chosen school or community project lay flowers. A really moving day. I really don't understand why war has to happen.

    The time in Canberra was very special for so many reasons, I'm glad I took that overnight coach and made the effort to visit Canberra in the ACT state.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler

    An unexpected detour or three!

    Aug 23–Sep 2, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    I had loose plans about what I wanted to do with my "free" weeks, I had no plans to see any friends and was hoping to travel solo down the coast of western Australia but my budget had other ideas!

    I was offered the use of a holiday home in Noosa so decided to take up that kind offer and en route from Canberra I visited old family friends just outside of Sydney which allowed me to do the city tourist sights as well as a lovely catch up with Cliff, Winn, Emma, James and all the kids.

    After a weekend in Engerdine, Sydney, with them which included a day in the city solo and a day exploring the area with them as my tour guides I moved on to Noosa.

    Noosa was all about the sun, sea, sand, river, mansions and ice cream! I managed to swim in the sea, paddleboard on the river and kayak in the everglades, a beautiful surprise addition to my time in Oz.

    As I was "near" to Brisbane, I also had a lovely trip out to see Sarah, Pat, Coco and Poppy! A great weekend of good food and great company including a lovely little tour of the area they live in. The bonus being a cost of $1 from Noosa to Brisbane!!

    Last day in Noosa was spent walking in the national park. A stunning costal walk including beautiful beaches, bush land and dolphins!

    Somethings are meant to happen and this change of plan happened for a reason, a glorious 10 days.

    The other change of this plan includes a fortnight helping on a small family garden farm in Gympie which will have its own post as its well deserved and it needs to have the space to show the joy it has brought to my life and this travel experience.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler
    1

    Mooloo joy!

    Sep 2–17, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    I can't describe to you the joy I've felt these past 2 weeks in Mooloo.

    Mooloo is just outside of Gympie and I have been helping on a family farm. The work is good and I'm using my energy and muscles to help make their garden lovely but the most joyful thing is just being here.

    The Hauser family live almost self sufficient, they grow their own vegetables and have cows for dairy and meat. As well as having full time jobs, Luke and Kristy keep this beautiful place, well ..... beautiful as well as it being serene and idyllic.

    I have smiled all day, every day, just the simplest things here give me joy, collecting the veggies for dinner, watering the glorious garden, walking round the farm to see the wonderful landscape, helping to maintain their home and be part of their exciting journey.

    I really believe this was meant to happen for so many reasons.

    It also helps that they are the kindest people and so welcoming. This is an experience that I would never have had if my plans had not changed. Living off the land, in a gorgeous part of the world, this really was an experience that money can't buy!

    Also got to meet the family at lunch in Montville and drove the tourist route to see the beautiful Glasshouse Mountains.

    Also visited the Gold Museum of Gympie which was so cute and reminded me of visiting museums in the 70s with our lovely Dad. He loved an old car so beautiful memories were evoked by this place.

    So grateful to be here, healthy, happy and content!

    Time to say goodbye to all the animals (4 cats and 9 cows), marvellous Mooloo and the Hausers, their 2 young adult sons and their extended family! I'll be seeing them again soon, I'm sure of it!

    Another friendship made through workaway and volunteering.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler
    1

    Perth part 1

    Sep 17–28, 2025 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    The last 4 weeks of this amazing year are here! I can't actually believe it. I've been to so many places, seen some of the most amazing sights I have ever seen, met some beautiful people and it's almost all over!

    Must not be too sad, yet! My final week's are being spent with my dear friends the Cunliffes. They emigrated to Western Australia 14 years ago and I've not seen them for since they waved goodbye to the UK (apart from Alfie visiting the UK 2 years ago!).

    The first weeks have been great fun, lots of chatting, drinking too much wine (my body is not used to it!!) and seeing the beautiful sights of Western Australia and in particular Perth.

    A quick run down of places visited : Yanchep (where I'm living), Yanchep lagoon, BBQs at friends, Joondalup, walked along the Indian ocean (Jindalee to Quinns), birthday lunch for Lee with friends and family (including lovely Alfie and Viv!) lovely walk in Yanchep National Park to see the Koalas, Perth Mint, hair cuts at Panache (Bevs workplace) and caught up with their eldest, Kieton, who lives in Parapadoo. We went to Leederville, very cool spot with Kristen, Kiets fiancée and generally ate well, lots of food and great company. Almost forgot, a great exhibition in Perth, Banksy!

    A girls weekend in Freo, we ate in Emily Taylor which was stunning and then, yeehaw, we went line dancing at honky tonk! A brilliant night!
    Followed, the next day, by the best op shops and a tour of Fremantle prison, ask me about the saying "cats got your tongue" when I see you. Fremantle is a very cool town! Vibrant, friendly, lovely and laid back.

    Bev had an elbow operation on my arrival date so as well a full itinerary, I've been her driver, we've done school runs with Sunny, arm appointments and as well as all of these amazing days out, we are living the family life. It's lovely, normal and great to spend quality time with them all.

    So the first part done, now time to explore more of beautiful Western Australia and a little holiday to Albany and Margaret River.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler

    The beautiful state of WA

    Sep 29–Oct 6, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Thanks to the school holidays we were all able to spend a week together having fun! A trip organised by the lovely Bev, we made our way down south to Albany and the Margaret River region.

    Joined by Alfie and Viv, we spent a few glorious days together at Middleton Beach in Albany. A stunning house with beach views, we walked along the lovely beach path, we ate fish and chips, we cooked together, we celebrated Sunny's 16th and toured the area and saw the sights.

    There is a shared love of "Come dine with me" so on our first full day we decided to have our version of come dine with me! Lots of fun and lots of food! After a full day in the kitchen, the following days were filled with visiting the Williams Bay National Park including the green pools, elephant cove and rocks, waterfall beach finishing with late lunch at the Boston Brewery.

    We celebrated Sunny's birthday on the 1st October with visits to the gap, natural bridge and the sand patch wind farm, followed by lunch in Albany and bowling! The evening event was a portrait session which was the best fun, all paintings were great but it has to be said, if we were going up choose a winner, Viv would have had that accolade and it just happened to be a picture of me! A fabulous day for a fabulous gal!

    Almost time to say good bye to Alfie and Viv, en route to Witchcliff we all made our way to the valley of the giants, a beautiful tree top walk made up of three types of Tingle tree which is a type of Eucalyptus tree. The walk was created to save this beautiful forest from over visiting so the high up walk allows visitors to get a birds eye view of the forest whilst providing a conservation solution.

    A nice drive to Witchcliff, thank you Mr Cunliffe, got us to our final location, the birds nest Galah! Stunning place in a very cool Eco village. We ate a beautiful dinner in Dear Darnells, we had a day touring the wine area of Margaret river, we played in the WOW illusion house and visited some more rocks (We loved the rocks, stunning coast line in these parts but there are a lot of rocks!), we walked 1km of the cape to cape hike and have promised ourselves to come back and do the whole trek!

    And on our way home to Perth we did the most wonderful thing, a cow cuddling experience. For an hour we sat and cuddled cows, we brushed them, spoke to them and just had the loveliest time with these beautiful creatures, who are living their best lives!

    Memories were made on our lovely break. Western Australia is a beautiful part of this massive country, I can see why the Cunliffes love it so much.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler

    Final weeks of this amazing journey

    Oct 6–16, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    The final weeks of this amazing experience have been a lot of fun.

    We joked about the differences in my travel experience : South East Asia; Temples, food and culture, Western Australia; Wollies or Coles (two major supermarkets!)

    Joking aside, my time in Western Australia was more about spending time with my dear friends, the Cunliffes. We did visit some amazing places, gorgeous beaches, stunning coastlines, wonderful national parks and of course the wildlife of Oz! We also lived a normal family life, we took Sunny to school, we went shopping, we ate family meals and we watched come dine with me. These 4 weeks have been exactly what I wanted.

    The last weeks have been a lovely combination of fun things and family time.

    We visited Atlantis and two rocks, we took Coco for lovely walks, we did the red bus tour in Perth, we walked the 12km ghost house walk in Yanchep, we visited Caversham Conservation Wildlife park, we did a bar crawl of the hidden bars in Perth, we danced in a "secret" night club, had hospital visits to see Mr Lee (he's okay now, a procedure to help him get better!) and spent time with each other as it may be a while before I can afford to visit again.

    And another highlight of Western Australia, Rottnest Island and the Quokkas! I didn't think this would happen due to our packed itinerary but it did. I'm so grateful for being able to visit this lovely island and even more grateful that the beautiful Quokkas exist and live so happily here. You're not supposed to feed them but one little fella stole a chip but it did make for a good photo. We didn't get the elusive smiling Quokka selfie but we enjoyed their company for quite a while!

    We loved, we cried, we hugged, we danced and just had the best time. I'll miss my little routines with this lovely family but hopefully see them very soon.

    I can't thank them enough for looking after me, their kindness and generosity is another level and I've been throughly spoilt for a whole month!

    Can you believe this is the penultimate post! My final post will be a mixture of photos, a round up of the year and a goodbye to you all who took the time to read my ramblings.    Read more

  • Bear 1971AustraliaTraveler

    And just like that!!

    October 16, 2025 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    And just like that, the year is over and I'm home. Home safe, sound, content and happy.

    The year has been the best thing I've I've ever done. Memories made to last my lifetime.

    Thank you for joining me throughout the year, listening to my ramblings and looking at the photos. I've loved documenting my time away, it's been therapeutic, it's kept me company the few times I was lonely and more importantly I've lasting memoirs as all of these posts are being printed into books.

    Finally, a big thank you for all the people who I met along the way, the new friendships I made and the old ones that I rekindled. And to the people who looked after me and made this trip so special, I'm so grateful for you all.

    The final photo choices are a few of my favourite photos of the people that I met along the way! Who I shared journeys and experiences with.

    Thank YOU all for being there for me during this year, for being a big part in the planning, for all the words of encouragement and for supporting the execution of those plans. It's been an absolute blast.

    See you all soon ❤️    Read more

    Trip end
    October 16, 2025
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