Back from 8 weeks across Australia

 Hi everyone, I am just back from 8 weeks travelling across Australia from Western Australia, where I live, across South Australia, with a few stops, and then our main destination touring around Victoria in the south east of Australia. See maps!

For those not familiar with Australia - Map 1 is a map of Australia with a black outline roughly the area we travelled through. 

 Map 2 - is a download of our trip recorded by our SPOT tracker. It is a great device that allows our family to track us while we are away, and at the end of each day we send a message to say we are ok. 

Map 3 - is a blow up of the South Australia and Victoria part of our trip.

I must confess that with the incredible rise in fuel prices before we left and the trouble in the Middle East, at one stage we actually considered not going. But we are glad we did go. You can't put a price on making memories with those you love.  Yes fuel was expensive, but we just put it in, I wrote it in the book, and then closed the book.

We were away exactly 8 weeks. We travelled 11,559.5km, fuel cost $4,918.57, most expensive fuel we bought was in Corryong Victoria @ $3.31/Litre, cheapest fuel Waterloo WA @ $2.15.9/Litre. We did see fuel more expensive but thanks to an app called Petrol Spy we were able to avoid them. 

We stopped in 9 free camps and 19 caravan parks. 

We had so many enjoyable experiences and visited places new to us, caught up with two sets of friends in South Australia, we met new people, followed up on my family heritage from the 1800s in Victoria, saw koalas in the wild, ticked off some movie locations for our son, experienced the Man From Snowy River 4 day festival in Corryong Victoria, and saw Craig's Hut (from the Man From Snowy River movie) in the fog on Mt Stirling in the Victorian high country. 

It was our first trip to regional Victoria, so there was so much for us to explore.  

My husband drove us all that way and back home safely. Thank you! Home sweet home. Clean ups done, but still sorting through all those photos!

 Over the coming weeks I will bring you some stories and photos, but for now just a taster. I am still going through my photos and trying to catch up on real life. 

As we live in a town in the south west corner of Western Australia, it is a long way just to get to what I call the actual start of our trip at Kimba in South Australia - 2,384 kilometers and 4 free camps in fact, including travelling across the Nullarbor - a vast, semi arid expanse between Norseman in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia. They had had a lot of rain in the previous weeks and it was greener than we had ever seen it before. It is a long way, but you can break it up by stopping at the various points of interest on the way. But for us this time, we just wanted to get across. Watch out for camels, wombats and kangaroos! And those big road trains.

Here is a link on my blog about the Nullarbor from a previous trip - Crossing Australia - Eyre Highway

I have lots to share with you, but for now a few highlights - 

The amazing Stick Shed in Murtoa. We saw The Stick Shed on ABC's Back Roads when we were researching for our recent trip. It is located at Murtoa in the Wimmera-Mallee region of Victoria. Completed in 1942 during WW2, it was built in 4 months as an emergency grain store. Find out more soon! 

Fantastic silo and water tank art - is it a thing in your country? It certainly is in Australia

Stunning coastline vistas and lighthouses along Australia's south coast - next stop Antarctica 

Visiting Craig's Hut from the Man From Snowy River movie - in the Victorian high country - very atmospheric in the fog. (and a few other movie locations - more later!) 

The Man From Snowy River annual 4 day festival in Corryong, Victoria - horse events of every kind. Actually the original reason for us going to Victoria. We learnt about it in a travel magazine last year. 

Visiting historic Echuca on the Murray River and taking a cruise on the Paddle Steamer Pevensy - used as the PS Philadelphia in the Australian 1983 TV series All The Rivers Run. 

The state border between New South Wales and Victoria actually runs along the high tide mark on the Victorian side of the 2,508 km Murray River before it runs down through South Australia to the sea. River trade was used for many years up and down the Murray, Darling and other rivers before rail transport. 

Heritage buildings, museums, eating out at some interesting locations, and exploring family history. My family on my mother's side arrived in Port Fairy on the south coast of Victoria from England in 1853. 

Driving and walking through forests, along coastal paths, and finding koalas in the wild! 

 I hope you will join me over the coming weeks to read these stories and more about our recent travels through South Australia and Victoria. See you then! 

 

 Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Sorry I have been missing from yours over the last 8 weeks. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best! Sadly some linkups that I have been following for a number of years have closed over the last few months. 

If you are looking for a translate button - it's there near the top on the right hand side. 
   

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Saturdays Critters - Viewing Nature With Eileen

Peabea's Pictorial Tuesday

Weekly Wonders 

Travel Tuesday

Talking About It Tuesdays @ Slices of Life

ThroughMy Lens 
Thankful Thursday 

H2O Thursday
Nature Thursday

Sky Watch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Until then, enjoy your day...Life only comes around once, so do what makes you happy, be kind, and be with people who make you smile. 

Is a bus tour for you?

We have just returned home from 4 weeks in Europe visiting Spain, Malta and Italy.

We booked two bus tours with Trafalgar with a few days in between visiting a friend in Malta. 

Spanish Wonders – 9 days and 8 nights – visiting Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Granada, Valencia and Barcelona.

And Grand Italian Experience – 17 days and 16 nights – visiting Rome, Alberobello, Ostuni, Sorrento, the Amalfi coast, Pompeii, Assisi, Venice, Milan, Trento, Lake Maggiore, Santa Margherita, the Cinque Terre, and Florence, finally returning to Rome for one night before we flew home.

Sounds exhausting? Yes it was, BUT we believe we travelled more safely and probably saw a lot more than we would have under our own steam as it was our first visit to this part of Europe, we didn’t know anything about travel in these countries, and don’t speak their languages.
A fellow traveller said she felt like she had been in the "amazing race"! 

An organised tour is not for everyone, but looking back over our holiday I started thinking about the 'fors' and 'againsts' of organised bus tour travel.

But first a few travel tips: Seasoned travellers probably have many more you could add.

•  I suggest arriving the day before your tour starts to allow time to rest after your flight. We had an approximately 30 hour trip from home in Western Australia to Madrid, had virtually no sleep on the plane, and arrived at the hotel with only an hour to spare before we went to our tour's evening "welcome" dinner.

• Check the luggage restrictions of the airline you are flying with and your tour bus. Sizes and weights may be different so you need to pack for the smaller size.

•   Pack lightly. My friend advised – lay out the clothes you would like to take, then take half away. I tried to do this, and still had clothes I didn’t wear.  Try to pack clothes that don’t crease. We found that hotels in Europe didn’t supply irons.

• Hand wash your essentials every night and other clothes every couple of days. The hotel supplied shampoo and soap are good for this.  We carry a small ‘washing line’ and pegs with us and hoped for a balcony for drying when we had a two night stop over.

• A great way to wring out extra water from your washing is to wrap the items in a bath towel and hand wring tightly. It is amazing the amount of extra water that comes out.

• If you are a reader only take one book or take an e-reader. Honestly you won’t have time to read unless you intend reading on the bus or you are a late night reader. 

• Make sure you take an international power adapter with you so you can charge your devices. A power board for plugging in multiple devices is also a good idea. 
•  
• The easiest way for photographers to store photos is to take multiple memory cards. 

Montserrat, Spain

• We purchased a "travel sim" for our mobile phone which made calls home much cheaper. The mobile phone was a good way to check our emails and update family and friends on Facebook. Our bus had wifi and the facility to charge mobile devices, but make sure you take the necessary cords with you.

• We loaded a ‘travel card’ with Euro before we left home and used this instead of our Visa card, as well as some cash. The travel card is not connected to any of our bank accounts, can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs, and can be loaded with extra cash on-line if necessary. 

•  Whilst we agree that airport transfers when you arrive at your destination make life easier and a lot less stressful, we found that a taxi transfer from our hotel to the airport for our return flight was easy and a lot cheaper. 

•  Be aware of additional or ‘hidden’ costs. These include optional experiences, lunches and evening meals, and gratuities (tips) expected by the local guides, your tour leader and coach driver. This can add many extra dollars to your cost, so you need include these in your budgeting before your book.  
•  
• Be careful of paying "gratuities" to tour leaders and coach drivers upfront when you pay for your trip. Gratuity rates are 'recommended' by the tour company but they are "something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service" - therefore they are not obligatory - they are a 'tip' for good service. Unfortunately some times you might feel that your tour leader or coach driver has not given you the service you expected, in which case you should not feel 'obliged' to pay the 'recommended' amount. If you have already paid up front when you paid for your trip, you have no say in how much you pay. 

Now the fors and againsts tour bus travel, as we saw them.....

FORS

• The tour companies know the countries you are visiting and are well placed to get the best deal to see the most in a limited time.

• Travel in the safety and security of a group under the guidance of a tour leader who will also address language difficulties.

• All your accommodation, breakfast and many of your meals are organised. Generally we stayed in good quality hotels, but this depends on how much you pay for your tour.

A very enjoyable "optional" dinner in Madrid with opera singing waiters

• You don’t have to plan or think about your day – it’s all organised for you

• You receive a good snapshot of the country including visiting the iconic sites.

•   A good tour leader will be very organised and have you arrive at points of interest early before the tourist hoards descend. 

•  Be taken to places you might not have been aware of in the region: eg UNESCO World Heritage listed Trulli houses near Alberobello in Italy dating back to the 14th Century.

Trulli houses

•   No queuing at locations. To me this is the biggest plus of an organised tour when I saw the length of queues at the iconic sites. Our tickets were already purchased and we went straight past the waiting queues of other tourists, some of which were hundreds of metres long. This can save many hours of queuing which is wasted sight-seeing time.

Colosseum crowds, Rome

• Optional tours with local specialist guides at places of interest or street walks gave us an in-depth experience of these places. We found in general that local guides were passionate about their cities and its history. We all had headset radios which worked well for everyone to hear what the guides were saying.

The Mosque of the Caliphs in Cordoba in Spain, built in the 10th Century, and now a Catholic cathedral, and our passionate local guide

• All our breakfasts were included in the price of the tour, some of our evening meals, and some optional cultural dinners were offered.

• Meet a range of people from different countries with whom you can share experiences, fact find together, and share information. 

AGAINSTS

• The pace of the tour was hectic. We only had a few cities where we stayed two nights. The ‘get packed up, put your suitcase out to be collected, have breakfast, and get down to the bus by 8am or earlier’ regime was tiring.  

• There was very little opportunity to relax. We often had long driving days with a visit to a place along the way, usually not getting to our hotel till after 4pm. We would have liked to have had 3 nights in a few places, and perhaps an ‘at leisure’ day in the middle of the tour so that we could rest, recharge, explore on our own or get our washing done. 
• You may have to spend time at locations of little interest to you as they are part of the travel itinerary.

•   Whilst the ‘optional tours’ give you a more in-depth experience, they leave little time for self-exploration, especially if the stop also required finding lunch, all within an hour or so. But of course these are 'optional tours' which you can opt out of.

• No flexibility to stop and explore places of particular personal interest or move on quickly from places of little interest to you.

•  Sometimes the ‘experiences’ don’t necessarily match the itinerary, or hold ups with traffic etc can mean that you are rushed through planned experiences. Unfortunately this happened to us in Pompeii, and the rain that day didn't help.

• Visits to artisan workshops and outlets, whilst very interesting, can be little more than a chance to push sales. On several occasions I felt I would have rather spent my time exploring the city instead.

• You may find you are travelling with a group or tour leader that isn’t a good match for your personality. Touring in this situation can make for a less than happy experience considering how much time you spend together over the duration of your tour. This can make or break your enjoyment of the tour.

• Tour groups can be too large. Our last tour had 49 people. Tour groups of this size puts additional pressure on tour leaders and make it more difficult to have interaction with everyone on the tour. When you are walking with a local specialist the tour group tends to get ‘strung out’ over a long distance.The 'plus' of a large group is that you are more than likely you will find somebody who you 'click' with.

•   On the bus, whilst our tour leaders could tell us information along the way via their microphone, it was limited how we could interact back to them or ask them a question due to the size of the bus. 

•   A large tour group can make for very noisy dining experiences.

FINALLY

At the end of our tours we were given evaluation sheets. This is a good opportunity to express your likes and dislikes, or make suggestions, about the tour, or you could email the tour operator direct on your return home. Please try to give truthful and useful feedback, otherwise the tour company won’t know what they are doing right, what doesn't work, or what they could improve on. 

Overall we enjoyed our travels through Spain and Italy and we met some lovely people who we will no doubt keep in touch with over the coming years. However next time we will be looking more closely at the length of the tour, the area being covered and the number of people we would be travelling with. 

A note on ‘hop on hop off’ buses. These can give you a good overall view and get you around to the iconic places in a city. However be aware of traffic conditions. When we were in London several years ago we wasted a lot of time sitting in traffic and didn’t get to see all the places we had planned. We could have walked quicker than the bus drove through the city. Also you still need to buy your entrance tickets and queue which wastes valuable sight-seeing time. You could catch local buses, but if you don't know your way around this could be problematic. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. Over the next few weeks I hope to bring you more from our travels to Spain, Malta and Italy. 

Have you been on a bus tour? What did you think about it? Do you have any travel tips for us? Perhaps you would like to share in your comments. 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

The views expressed in this article are entirely mine and my husbands.
We travelled with Trafalgar and via Qatar Aireways at our own cost.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.
If you are a blogger you can link into Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global right here -




 

Mauritius Pamplemousses gardens

In May 2017 we had a week's holiday in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. I realised I didn't bring any photos to you, so today I am sharing with you some photos from the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botantic Gardens in Pamplemousses. 

Covering an area of about 37 hectares the garden dates back to the French period of Mauritian history. In 1736, the French Governor, Mahe de Labourdonnais, chose to set up his domain around the present main gate of the garden. In 1767 the French Intendant Pierre Poivre, the creator of the garden, introduced vegetables, fruits, flowers and spices from all over the world. 

Another Day in Paradise - Coral Bay, Western Australia

I've been absent from my blog the last couple of weeks because we've been relaxing and living the beach life along Western Australia’s magical Coral Coast at the small seaside township of Coral Bay, located 1125 kilometres from Perth, 152km south of Exmouth on North West Cape, and 238km kilometres north of Western Australia’s banana growing region Carnarvon.

WA’s Coral Coast starts at Cervantes, a two hour drive north of Perth, and features 1,100 kilometres of stunning coastline, white sandy beaches, marine sanctuaries, the pristine coral reefs of the Ningaloo Reef, National Parks and World Heritage areas.

This was our fourth trip to Coral Bay, the first being in the mid 1980s during the early days of eco-tourism in Coral Bay when Coral Bay was not much more than a caravan park, hotel, and a general store. Coral Bay has grown since then but it still retains its relaxed beachside holiday feel visited by thousands of tourists, families, retired lifestylers, and holiday groups every year from around the world.  Today you will see a small collection of about 20 houses that can be rented, plus workers’ accommodation units, a hotel, backpackers’ accommodation, two caravan parks including cabins, a small shopping centre which includes a fantastic bakery, a tavern, several restaurants serving local seafood, and a host of dive and tour companies.

And of course there is the beach, only a short walk from your front door - look how blue and clear that water is.

We arrived at Coral Bay after two days on the road driving up from our home in the wintery south west. I recommend that travellers take the scenic Indian Ocean Drive which gives you access to the coastal communities between Perth and Geraldton, rather than battling with road-trains on the Brand Highway. I have blogged about the Indian Ocean Drive previously Return to Wedge - Indian Ocean Drive

We stopped overnight at Northbrook Farmstay, conveniently located just six kilometres north of Northhampton (475km north of Perth). The self-contained cottage suited us perfectly for the night and we were on the road early the next morning, stopped in Carnarvon for lunch and reached Coral Bay late afternoon.  

Northbrook Farmstay, Northhampton

Carnarvon banana plantations and waterfront

The ocean at Coral Bay sparkles bluer than blue.  One of the main reasons people visit Coral Bay is to experience the Ningaloo Reef, regarded as one of the world’s great ocean paradises. Ningaloo is Australia’s largest fringing reef, stretching 300 kilometres from Red Bluff, 140 kilometres north of Carnarvon to Bundegi Reef near Exmouth on the tip of North West Cape.  The Ningaloo Marine Park encompasses over 5,000 square kilometres of ocean and is home to around 300 species of coral and 500 species of fish.

Everything in Coral Bay is only metres from the beach, so park your car, slap on a hat, and walk. The beach at Coral Bay is sheltered and the shallow water makes it perfect for families with children, who can play on the white sandy beach, swim safely and wade into the water to see fish swimming along the shoreline and amongst the coral gardens only a few metres from the shore. All you need do is wade in with a snorkel and face mask. For those not confident with snorkelling a “noodle” is a useful addition to your kit to help keep you afloat. The ocean front at Coral Bay is within the marine sanctuary zone and the fish swim close to shore, making for an amazing experience.

THINGS TO DO:

• ·        Relax! Bare feet mandatory. Check out my last post  - Rules of the beach

•  See the Norwest Snapper fish feeding frenzy at 3.30pm on the beach at Coral Bay (when we visited Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

•  Take a glass-bottom boat or sub-sea explorer tour over the coral.  Or join a See-doo Scooter, kayaking or snorkelling tour.

• Snorkel from the beach

    

         Bottom left is an amazing blue clam which we saw only metres from the shore. 
For those interested, I don't have a complicated underwater camera set-up, just my little Canon G11 go everywhere camera in an underwater housing and no lights.  So I need to be in fairly shallow water for there to be colour in my pics (a bit of post processing helps too). Also I am not good at holding my breath diving down to get closer to take pics, so the water needs to be only a couple of metres deep for me.  Take at look at this blue starfish - cool hey?
 

• For those who are confident snorkelling or deep sea diving and with dollars to spend, you can take a tour from Coral Bay or Exmouth to swim with the Whale Sharks (March to July), Manta Rays (all year) and Humpback Whales (August to October). The world’s largest fish, the Whale Shark which grows up to 18 metres in length, visits the Ningaloo Reef between March and July following the mass spawning of coral. I’ve not experienced it myself, but I am told it is an amazing experience to swim with these gentle giants of the ocean.

•  Many visitors bring a boat to Coral Bay to go fishing outside the reef (please be aware of sanctuary-no fishing zones), or you can join a fishing charter boat tour to experience sport, reef, game or fly-fishing.  

•  The Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area is also an important breeding ground for six varieties of turtles which come ashore to lay their eggs during December/January which hatchings in February and early March. The Jurabi Turtle Centre, located near Exmouth, provides information about Ningaloo’s marine turtles.

•  Explore the beaches, bush tracks and dunes on a quad bike tour

• Watch out for the wildlife. Here you can see a perentie lizard (also known as a bungarra) on our back verandah, a little crab, a herron, a red kangaroo in the caravan park more concerned about washing his face than looking at us.

• Enjoy a sunset sail.

•  Buy something yummy for morning tea from the bakery, or try local seafood cooked beautifully at one of Coral Bay's restaurants. (sorry I didn't take one food pic!)

• Are you are a retired lifestyler? Coral Bay is the perfect place to getaway from the winter down south. 

• Beach walk, sit, swim, read, sleep, relax, build sand castles, talk to friends, enjoy sunset drinks. 

THINGS TO DO FURTHER AFIELD:

• ·        Explore the rugged canyons and gorges of Cape Range National Park.
• ·        Visit 100 year old Vlamingh Head Lighthouse and the remains of a World War 11 radar and anti-aircraft post at North West Cape
• ·        Camp and snorkel in the Ningaloo Marine Park on North West Cape.
• ·        4-wheel-drive the coastal track from Coral Bay to Exmouth.
• ·        Beach camp at Ningaloo or Warroora Station.
• ·        Enjoy a boat tour along Yardie Creek.
• ·        Visit Milyering Discovery Centre in Cape Range National Park.
• ·        Experience the Ningaloo Whale Shark Festival in May.
• ·        Drive up to Exmouth for the day. 

We had two weeks in Coral Bay, and sad to say the weather wasn't kind for boating, either fishing or snorkeling out on the Ningaloo Reef from our boat (which is not big by Ningaloo standards), but the water inshore was warm enough to snorkel, the sun was shining, we had the company of good friends, we had little or no internet to bother us, and we had a lovely relaxing holiday. And with sunsets like this, who can complain?

MORE INFORMATION:

Coral Bay and Exmouth Visitor Information – www.visitningaloo.com.au

Cape Range National Park information – Milyering Discovery Centre, Email: milyering@dpaw.wa.gov.au

Northbrook Farmstay: www.northbrookfarmstay.com.au

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this visit to Coral Bay. I am back in wintery south west Western Australia and the rain is pelting down, the wind is blowing, and our trip to Coral Bay is just a memory. Do you have a favourite beach-side holiday destination? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about it in the comments. 



 I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

Mosaic Monday 
Life Thru the Lens 
Lifestyle Fifty Monday Linkup 
Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global 
Worth Casing Wednesday 
Travel Photo Thursday
The Weekly Postcard 

You might also like:

Life is a beach in Western Australia

Coral Bay - blue on blue

Tour Western Australia - I like to be beside the seaside

Return to Wedge - Indian Ocean Drive