Our Front PageSunday, February 5. 2012Please make a selection from the list of categories Our current trip is 'Western Half of Oz' The blog for our current trip has been moved to a different location and can be found at http://v79294.blogspot.com.au/ Enjoy our musings. Another Caravan AdventureSunday, February 5. 2012Well here we go again. The intention is to travel from Wollongong to Darwin via Alice Springs then on to Broome and Perth and back home. I have moved thethe blog for this trip to a different location so that it is easier for me to edit. The new location is http://v79294.blogspot.com.au/ Web Links for our next tripWednesday, October 5. 2011I'm back again .... must take advantage of free internet access when it's available. Yesterday we had a tour of Boston pointing out the important historical sites and important buildings. The afternoon was free and Lorraine and I walked for about 4 hours. Visiting the markets, a Macy's store and retracing our steps from the previous night to get some daylight photos of the Back Bay area which we had visited in twilight. Bye for now --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lobster dinner in Bar Harbor was delicious. We each had a whole lobster surrounded by mussels. The trip to Boston was a long day in the bus. Getting in to Boston at around 4:00 pm. Just had time for a quick freshen up and organise luggage before it was off on an optional tour of the Back Bay area. A lot of Boston is built on reclaimed land which originally were tidal mud flats. The Back Bay area is one of those areas that is now an upmarket area and also has many tall buildings and shoping centres. We visited the Prudential Tower and went to the observation deck for 360 drgree views of Boston and surrounds. More tomorrow. Bye ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well Hello from Bar Harbor. We have made it into the USA (again). Just to back track to where I left off last time ...... Quebec has to be seen to be believed (I think I have overused that expression but it's true). Our hotel the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth was only a stones throw from the old walled city. The old city has an upper and lower level. The lower level is predominately French architecture while the upper level is predominately English architecture. The reason being that the English destroyed Quebec and then rebuilt it after capturing the city. The French retained control of the lower section of the old city. Quebec also has a very big underground shopping complex, unfortunately we only had a few hours and explored only a fraction. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well here I am back sooner than expected. It appears that we have some very eager readers. Last night, around midnight, I thought the alarm was going off a little early but it was only one of our readers wanting to know when the next update was coming. We left Toronto and headed north towards Ottawa. Stopped at Kingston for lunch. A very pretty place on the northern shores of Lake Ontario. City hall here was originally built as the Canadian parliament building as it was believed that Queen Victoria would name Kingston as the capital but she eventually named Ottawa as the capital and so the building was made city hall. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Toronto Hilton has free internet with real computers so I am taking the opportunity to provide you with another update. On return to Vancouver we transferred to the airport for our flight to Toronto and the start of our second tour. Sunday in Toronto we caught up with our friends who are also doing a second, but different tour, and we had a day exploring Toronto. Murray and Faye's tour nearly follows us as far as Montreal from where they will make their way home and we will continue to the US. Monday morning was the first touring day of our second tour. We had a quick tour of Toronto, fortunately very little duplication of our explorations the previous day and the it was up the CN Tower. The CN Tower was the tallest building in the world until the one in Dubai was completed recently. Panoramic views of Toronto from the observation decks where it is obvious that the landscape here is totally lacking in any features ... it's totally flat. Toronto is a city of 6 million people and is a very modern city, Very few examples of older buildings remain as they have been demolished to make way for modern high rise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone, I have access to a computer again so it's time for an update. Emerald Lake Lodge was fantastic, cabins nestled in a national park, snow on the ground provided somewhere to cool you wine as there were no fridges in the cabins. On leaving Emerald Lake we headed for the Columbia Ice Field, stopping several times to view wildlife (bears and elk) and waterfalls. At the Ice Fields which incidentally is the only place in the world where there is a 3 way watershed. The melt from the icefields flows east to the Atlantic, west to the Pacific and north to the Artic. We boarded an large 6 wheel drive over snow transport to take us up the Athabasca Glacier. The only way to describe it is incredible. We were lucky enough to be up there when a snow fall rolled in. Fantastic. On to Jasper and Jasper Park Lodge. The Lodge was fantastic, not much in Jasper except souvenir shops so there was not much shopping to be done. Lorraine need a trip to the doctor to get some antibiotics for the flu. Many people on our bus are starting to develop flu symptoms but the other bus has been far worse with people visiting a hospital. We went to Princess Lake to admire the view of Pyramid Mountain and hopefully see some more wildlife. We saw plenty of elk. The grounds of the Lodge are an elk calving ground and there are plenty around. They can be approached as close as 2 - 3 metres any closer is not advised. On the second night in Jasper I did an optional walk where we were told about local flaura and fauna and visited three beaver lodges. The beavers were busy and we got to see them from a distance of about 40 metres. The big day for the train trip. We arrive at Jasper station and the train is loaded with lots of efficient, very helpful staff guiding people. The Rocky Mountaineer is a very good way to see the western Canadian countryside. As we travel from Jasper to Vancouver with an overnight stop in Kamloops we pass firstly through the Rocky Mountains then the semidesert area of the Okanagan Valley on through the Coastal Range and then through fertile farming lands. The train is met in Kamloops by three Kamloops Mounted Police who we are told greet every Mountaineer Train. Everyone associated with the train is extremely helpful and polite with many of the hotel staff turning out to wave good bye as we depart for the second day on the train. This morning we visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge and then this afternoon we board the MS Zuiderdam for the cruise leg of the tour. Oh well you are now up to date so until next time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm back .... another estaqblishment with internet access at the right price! The dinner in Chinatown, Victoria was fabulous and we had a great local guide who took us on a tour and told us stories old and new of Chinatown. After Victoria we headed to Whistler, visiting the Shannon Falls on the way. Shannon Falls are the third highest falls in BC (British Columbia) at 335 metres. Our room in Whistler can only be described as fabulous. After dropping off our hand luggage we went to the Squamish Lilwat Cultural Centre. This is a cultural centre cohosted by two local First Nation tribes .... very interesting. After an hour and a half in the centre we headed off for a walking tour of Whistler. There's no cars in the main part of town as it is a pedestrian town. An early start the next morning for a 500 km drive to Kelowna, roughly half way between Whistler and Banff. The scenery is just magnificant and continued to get better as we headed into the mountains. And that is just the Coastal Range, The Rockies are still 400 km away. Just outside Kelowna we sampled some of the local wine from Little Straw Winery. Very nice especially their Ice Wine. Another early start for the second 500 km drive to Banff. We stopped at Craigellachie where the Trans Canadian Railway was joined as it was built from both the east and the west. On to Revelstoke for lunch and we start to sight the Rockies. The mountains have to be seem to be believed. It's quite amazing to be at 4,000 feet and have mountains towering another 4,000 feet. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel is nestled under Mt Rundle, which is more a mountain range than a mountain as it stretches for 14 km. Well our day in Banff started with a helicopter flight from Canmore around Mt Assiniboine (just over 11,000 ft) and back to Canmore. The scenery is even more magnificant when viewed from the air. There's something about viewing an 11,000+ foot mountain from 10,000 feet up on a mobile viewing platform! For the technically minded it was in a Bell 206 Long Ranger taking 5 passengers at a time. They had 4 helicopters flying at any one time, quite an operation. After that half hour of excitement we headed back to the hotel to regroup and headed off for a gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain (just over 8,000 feet), about a five minute bus ride from the hotel. Amazing views over Banff and away down the valley. The afternoon was spent with a self guided tour of the retail therapy establishments of Banff. Our dinner was a show and dinner, the show (Oh Canada Eh!) featured music and songs written by Canadians and it is surprising how many popular songs, old and new, have been written by Canadians. An excellent show and dinner. Ah a late start at last. We didn't need too leave until 10 am today to head for Lake Louise. A short stop in the town of Lake Louise to purchase lunch and to visit the museum and the on to Lake Louise proper and the famous Chateau Lake Louise. After a short introduction fron our guide and a tour group photo we were free to wander around and marvel at the sites. We took the oportunity to walk the length of Lake Louise which is still covered with ice and the path was covered with snow in places. One end of the Lake to the other took just over an hour with fantastic views anywhere you looked. We had a look aroung the Chateau before joing the bus for the trip to Emerald Lake where we are staying tonight. Seperate cabins with 2 or 4 rooms surround a central dinning room/guest services facility. There are two tours running concurrently and now the other tour director needs to use the one complimentary internet connection as there is no mobile phone reception here. We are in the Yoho National Park. Bye for now. More later, hopefully. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well finally a hotel that has computers available for public access at the right price! We had a great flight over, as some of you would know from our SMS's. On arrival in Vancouver on Saturday our room was not ready as we arrived early morning so we wandered around Vancouver to get a feel of the city and the layout while we waited. Later we went to our room and had a rest before dinner and an early night. Sunday morning we met our friends from Melbourne for breakfast and decided to head up Grouse Mountain. Monday we met our friends from Adelaide, they decided to go to Grouse Mountain and the Melbourne pair and us decided to have some retail therapy. We caught the Skytrain out to Metrotown, reportedly the largest shopping complex in Vancouver. Public transport is excellent, fast and clean. There is one fare on weekends and your ticket is valid for 90 minutes on trains, buses and ferries. In the Afternoon we took a circuit of Vancouver on a hop on hop off bus ... they went further afield than we wanted to walk. Monday night we had our meet and greet session where we met other travelers and our tour guide. She is French Canadian and has a really wacky sense of humour and many many corny jokes. Tuesday as part of the Insight tour we did another drive around Vancouver, slightly different route than the previous afternoon, before heading for the ferry for Vancouver Island and our next stop in Victoria. A drive around tour of Sidney and Victoria before going to our hotel. Dinner was preceded by a one hour horse and carriage ride to our restaurant. Victoria predates Vancouver by about 50 years and there are many heritage listed homes in Victoria. Dinner was a selection from two legs, four legs or no legs. Wednesday we headed to the Butchart Gardens for breakfast, well before the gardens opened to the public and then we had nearly 4 hours to explore the gardens. They are magnificant. All the flowers were in bloom and the planting of colours and mixed heights are amazing and must be seem to be believed. I won't explain the history but in short it was an old limestome quarry ... use Google to find more. We returned to our hotel just before lunch so that people going whale watching could meet their bus. We choose not to go. Instead we went on a float plane tour of Victoria. Amazing seeing it from the air. Tonight we head to Chinatown for a walking tour and then a Chinese dinner. Thursday will be an early start as we have to catch the ferry back to the mainland at 8:00. Then we head for Whistler. We hope everyone is well and the weather isn't too bad ... it has been absolutely fantastic here so far with every day starting out about 15 and heading up to mid 20's with barely any cloud cover. Well I gotta go now as we are meeting for our Chinatown tour in 15 minutes. I'll post more when I get a chance so keep checking back regularly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the two tours we are doing in 2012. The first one (May 14 to June 2): Followed by (June 3 to June 18): The blog will be updated when we have internet access.
Day 70 - The Final LegSunday, September 11. 2011Well this is the end of our journey and the end of the blog for today we will be home. We'd like to leave you with some photos that didn't make the blog. We hope you have enjoyed following our trip as much as we have enjoyed sharing it with you. Until our next adventure .......... goodbye from the blog.
Before we finishSunday, September 11. 2011Here are a selection of photos that didn't make the blog at the appropriate time.
Day 69 - The EntranceSunday, September 11. 2011Today was a day spent exploring the Central Coast. We started with The Entrance and then moved down to Terrigal and on to Avoca. We had lunch at Avoca before finishing our tour and then returned to The Entrance in time for the pelican feeding at 3:30. Pelican feeding began more than 20 years ago when a fish shop began giving its scraps to pelicans. Today it is a tourist attraction and the pelicans are checked for injuries when they are fed by a group of volunteers. There can be as many as 300 pelicans at a feeding. After the pelican feeding we returned to our vans to enjoy the view and sunset before going out to Diggers at The Entrance for a celebratory final dinner.
Day 68 - Cessnock to The EntranceSaturday, September 10. 2011Very short trip to The Entrance only 80 km but in pouring rain. This is the first time we have had to pack up and set up in the rain. We were surprised when they asked us to unhitch the vans at the reception office. It was explained to us that as we had waterfront sites and they needed to position our vans with the tractor. It was a nervious experience to watch as the vans were positioned. The view across the entrance to The Entrance is spectacular. Due to the poor weather we decided to explore Bateau Bay, about 5 km away. Later in the afternoon the sun began to shine. We returned to the caravan park to enjoy our view, the sunset and dinner.
Day 67 - CessnockThursday, September 8. 2011The Hunter Valley Gardens were graced with our presence today and what a beatiful day it was to wander around the various gardens. The day started out not looking too promisimg with light showers until around 9:00 am and then they cleared away to a fine sunny day with light cloud cover. We spent the whole day at the gardens and late in the afternoon we drove around the main wineries around Pokolbin. We were all wined out and decided not to go wine tasting. We headed back to the caravan park with a detour to the supermarket in Cessnock to pick up a couple of items for tea. Around 7:00 pm the heavens opened and it has been quite heavy rain since.
Day 66 - Tamworth to CessnockThursday, September 8. 2011Nothing exciting for our readers today! As our adventure draws to a close we are slowing down. As you can see from the heading we travelled from Tamworth to Cessnock stopping in Muswellbrook for some lunch. On arrival at the Vine Valley Big4 Caravan Park we set up and had a very lazy afternoon.
Day 65 - TamworthTuesday, September 6. 2011
First on the list today was the Oxley Lookout. Here we had panoramic views over Tamworth. After enjoying the views for a while we returned to Peel Street, the main shopping street of Tamworth, where we spent the rest of the day. Late in the afternoon we returned to the caravan for a relaxing time before having tea.
Day 64 - Tenterfield to TamworthTuesday, September 6. 2011Our journey south continued today as we travelled to Tamworth with a stop in Armidale for morning tea with David, a friend of Eleanor and Phil, who we had caught up with in Hervey Bay. Arriving in Tamworth we set up our vans and had a late lunch before setting off to the Golden Guitar Complex. The complex houses the country music wax museum and alongside each figure is a brief history of their country music career. The complex is about 5 km south of Tamworth and on our return journey we took a drive through the business centre of Tamworth before returning to the caravan park.
Day 63 - TenterfieldSunday, September 4. 2011Celebrations today with two fathers and one birthday girl. We eventually got started after phone calls from family and headed for the TIC. We drove around several points of interest before heading out on Scenic Route 9 a 38 km loop which would take us past a number of rocky outcrops of granite rocks with names like Doctor's Nose, Bald Rock, Draining Rock and MacKenzie Lookout amongst a few other sites. On our return to Tenterfield we had lunch at the Courtyard Cafe before taking a self guided walking tour to look at a number of historically significant buildings. Late afternoon saw us back at the caravan park for a brief rest. Tea tonight? Well it looks like the Bowling Club might have the highest number of votes.
Day 62 - Burleigh Heads to TenterfieldSaturday, September 3. 2011Away from the coast today heading inland. We took the scenic route to Tenterfield travelling via the Tweed Valley Way to Murwillumbah past Mt Warning on to Uki and Kyogle where we had morning tea at the Box and Dice Cafe. Getting back on the road we headed for Casino and on to Tenterfield. Arriving at Craig's Caravan park at around 3:00 pm we set up our vans, had some afternoon tea and then headed out to have a look around Tenterfield. We checked out the railway station and noted it would be flood lit at night. Near the railway station is an old hotel which is now the office for a caravan park. There are many old building in Tenterfield, it is the oldest town in the New England region and dates from 1851.
Day 61 - Gold CoastFriday, September 2. 2011Public holiday today for the Gold Coast Council area due to the Gold Coast Show so we decide to head for the hills! Mount Tamborine has quite a lot to see and do. We chose the Glow worms at the Cedar Creek Winery where the glow worms are bred in a man made tunnel and when numbers build up will be used to repopulate areas in the wild. No we didn't taste any wine here but we did head for The Distillery on the advice of another couple we met. They have 80 different liquers, schnapps and vodkas. We tasted some and bought some. The Wattle Toffee Liquer and the Chocolate Chilli Liquer might last until we get home. We then headed for Mt Tamborine for some lunch at the Mt Tamborine micro Brewery and the cheese factory. Following lunch we needed a long walk around Mt Tamborine village. There are some very interesting shops there for both the girls and for Phil and myself. When the shops closed we had afternoon tea and then headed home for tea.
Day 60 - Gold CoastFriday, September 2. 2011Today we drove up to Surfers Paradise to wander around Surfers, check out the beach and meet up with Brooke. After a tour of Brooke's offices we wandered around Surfers Paradise before finding somewhere to have some lunch. During lunch we decided what we were going to do in the afternoon. Pacific Fair at Broadbeach got the vote so we headed south. The girls found a few bargains and we visited Coles for some groceries before going home for tea.
Day 59 - Maroochydore to Burleigh BeachWednesday, August 31. 2011A pretty boring two and a bit hour drive today south down the motorway to Burleigh Heads. Checked into Burleigh Beach Tourist Park just in time to have some lunch and a little rest before setting off exploring. We chose Coolangatta as our target some 15 km south and just on the Qld/NSW border. After wandering around there for a while we went for a sunset walk along the beach before heading home for tea and a discussion on what we would do in the next few days. Oh forgot to mention that we extended our original 2 night booking to 3 nights so that gives us two and a half days to have more fun. We contacted our (John and Lorraine) neice who lives in Surfers Paradise and we are catching up with her tomorrow afternoon.
Day 58 - MaroochydoreTuesday, August 30. 2011Today the girls chose to walk the aisles of Sunshine Plaza, reputedly the largest shopping centre in Queensland while Phil and I went to play 18 holes at Horton Park Golf Club. We played the first 9 holes with the threat of rain and a few spinkles which were of no concern. However the second 9 was a different story. We got to 14 and the heavens opened and before we could tee off on 16 all players were called off the course due to thunder storms. Soaked we returned to pick up the girls who had seen much of the Sunshine Plaza as was evidenced by their clutch of bags and drove out to Mooloolaba to browse The Wharf.
Day 57 - Hervey Bay to MaroochydoreTuesday, August 30. 2011Leaving Hervey Bay late in the morning and 199 km saw us checking into the Maroochy Palms Caravan Park. We set up our vans and had some lunch. After lunch we went for a drive to find the TIC and see what attracted our attention. A trip to Buderim to the Buderim Ginger Shoppe. Since it was afternoon tea time we had a coffee at Gloria Jeans in Buderim and then headed home via the scenic route.
Day 56 - Hervey BaySunday, August 28. 2011Late start this morning, it's Sunday, and breakfast was arranged for 9:00 am with a group of other park guests. It was a big affair with people turning up with their tables and chairs, BBQ's and food. It looked more like a scene from Master Chef than a group of grey nomads making breakfast. By the time we consumed our feast and had a chat it was just about time for lunch ...... no skip that we were too full. The girls put on loads of washing and headed to the pool as the sun was shining for the first time in three days. Phil and I plotted our course for the next couple of days and made appropriate reservations. Day 55 - Hervey BaySunday, August 28. 2011A very early start this morning for what promised to be an exciting day. We were to be out the front of the caravan park at 7:35 am to be picked up for our half day whale watching tour. The inclement weather of the last couple of days seemed to be breaking with patches of blue sky. The bus dropped us at the Urangan Marina where we boarded the Spirit of Hervey Bay to head to Platypus Bay which is within Hervey Bay on the north west coast of Fraser Island. There were plenty of whales around and it didn't take very long before we were rewarded with 3 humpback whales swimming around and under the boat. This was repeated with 3 more pods of whales at various places in Platypus Bay during our trip and all up we saw some 12 or more whales not counting the ones we saw performing in the distance. The weather held and with the aid of radar the Captain was able to avoid the showers so we had maximum time on deck observing. The whales stay in Hervey Bay unlike other places where they are observed as they are migrating up or down the coast so it is a whale watching paradise. They are huge, gentle and inquisitive creatures, a pleasure to observe.
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