A Valentine’s Stroll on Coolum Beach
This is a repost from the original followsummer travel blog: February 14th, 2004. In memory of John Mountain, our co-founder and husband.
An Australian Driving Primer: “Tired Drivers Die!”
I think you can tell a lot about a country by driving its roads. Based on the 1600 kilometers we’ve covered, driving from Cairns to Coolum, and without an Australian drivers license, I would say that Australians are...
Visiting Tahiti: Heaven on Earth
If you’ve ever wondered what a heaven on Earth would look like, you should visit Tahiti, the most breathtaking island of the Pacific Ocean. Along with Moorea, Bora Bora and more than a hundred other beautiful islands, Tahiti...
Top Four Ways to See Australia on a Budget
Despite the cost of living, which in Australia is far from low, this is one of the countries you most certainly want to visit in your lifetime. Of course, travelling on a budget means cutting out a few things such as scuba diving...
Panicky Moments Diving the Great Barrier Reef
Success! We are certified divers. Well, that treading water for 10 minutes and swimming 200 metres on Tuesday, February 3rd was only the beginning of one of the most exciting and eventful parts of our journey so far. As of...
A Kookaburra, in a Tree, in the Rain
The morning starts with rain – it has been raining since we went to bed last night. The monsoon here comes normally during the nights. This year Queensland is getting more rain than normal, after 5 years of significantly lower...
Searching for ‘Roos on Kangaroo Island, Australia
This is one of those days that Greg has been dreading. Up at 5:30!!!!! On the bus at 6:30 for the 2-hour ride to the ferry (45 minutes) that takes us across to Kangaroo Island, where there is a huge wildlife sanctuary, Flinders...
Everlasting Salvation at the Barron Gorge
I awake from a somewhat sleepless night of unfamiliar rainforest bird calls and various forms of cicada boisterously screeching in a constant crescendo and decrescendo, each species trying to outdo each other in noisy leg...
Cape Reinga: New Zealand’s Very North Tip.
Today is our first official family road trip. Ruth, John and I pack up the car and head north for the 2-hour drive to the very northern tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. John skillfully and successfully drives one of the cars on...
Views From Our Campervan: South West Rocks
Today is the 25th anniversary of the day that we met. We were introduced by friends, Dan and Lisle, at a bar late on a Sunday afternoon. Who knew that all these years later we’d still be talking to each other, happily ensconced...