Travels with Gail and Rob

Slow Trip from White Cliffs

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:23:00 +0000

No flies on us in the Mutawinji National Park!

From Broken Hill we travelled up to Mutawintji National Park. After we turned off the Silver City Highway, we were on a dirt road for the rest of the trip. At the park, we went on a walk along Homestead Creek and visited a large rock overhang decorated with Aboriginal art. We walked as far as where a waterfall flows after heavy rain.
We continued on to White Cliffs and did not see another car during the 160 km trip but we did see lots of emus. The road deteriorated - it was marginal for a regular vehicle. Just before we arrived at our accommodation, one tyre gave out. We were down to the steel belts and the low profile tyres just could not cope with the very rough road. After putting on the narrow spare, we found our accommodation.

We stayed at the underground motel, built into the hillside. Our room was dugout 17. After pre dinner drinks, we dined on the set menu with soup, roast lamb and apple crumble.
In the morning, we drove around the mine sites and visited an underground house and museum owned by “Mad Jock”. He lived up to his name! We also visited several opal mines selling their wares but did not end up with any White Cliffs opals to take home.
Our trip to Cobar was very slow and steady. We were on sealed road but travelled at a maximum speed of 80 kph. 400 km is a long way at 80 kph! We finally made it into Cobar in time to replace the rear tyres ready to travel on the next day.

Broken Hill, Silverton and Menindee Lakes

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Burke and Wills stayed in this hotel in Menindee before setting off on their fatal journey of exploration.

The Mad Max movies were made in Silverton and here is the car!

During our time at Broken Hill, we marvelled at the wonderful buildings from the colonial days. These ranged from the grand public buildings and hotels to the simple miners’ cottages. The mine still dominates the town.
We visited Silverton, 25 km from Broken Hill, referred to as a ghost town, that once had thousands of residents. Now it has museums, including the former gaol and school. These were fascinating. It also has artists and galleries of the bush art school.
Menindee Lakes are dry! The huge lakes are no longer the refuge for waterbirds and a place for Broken Hill people to ski and sail. We followed the river road that ran along beside the Darling River and then drove out to the main weir that stores water for Broken Hill. Saw lots of emus but they are so common, we no longer stop to take photos!
Our visit to the Broken Hill Galleries included those of Jack Absalom, Pro Hart and Julie Hart where we made a purchase.

Flinders Ranges

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:43:00 +0000

On Friday we drove out to the Flinders Ranges. We first visited the town of Quorn, a fascinating place which was used as the site for several movies such as The Shiralee and Sunday Too Far Away.

Our next stop was the historic town of Hawker where the original Ghan used to pass through on its way to Maree. The trains no longer run and it is very small and quiet.

We finally arrived at Rawnley Park Station which runs sheep and tourists! We walked to Ferntree Falls which had no water but was very beautiful with interesting rock formations.

On Saturday we drove to Wilpena Pound and went on an amazing walk through the pound where wheat used to growand sheep once grazed. Now it is National Park. We visited the original homestead and walked up to the lookout. it was a steep climb but a great view.

A truly magical place.

Coffin Bay National Park

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:32:00 +0000

On our visit to the Yacht Club in Coffin Bay, it was suggested that the nearby National Park was an absolutely must see place so off we went.

Our first stop was Templetonia Lookout, named for the pea shaped red flowers that grow in the area and are currently in flower. Next we drove to Little Yangie Bay where we were entertained by several wrens that showed no fear, sat on the car, danced at our feet and admired themselves in the reflection on the car windows.

The highlight of our visit, however, was the sighting of several emus and chicks. The emus were very protective but we were thrilled when they crossed the road right in front of our car. We also saw the ‘coat of arms‘- an emu and a kangaroo standing next to each other.

Coffin Bay National Park is also the home of the white bellied sea eagle but unfortunately, we did not have a sighting.

Whale Watching

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:21:00 +0000

Last Tuesday we headed off from Ceduna to the Head of the Bight to see the whales. It was 300 km there and 300 km back so we were hoping for some amazing sights and we were not disappointed.

At the “Head of Bight” as it is known, the deep water comes right in to the cliff face and this is where the southern right whales come every year from May till August to calve. We saw at least forty whales, many with their small (compared to their mothers) babies. They were so close in to shore and the wooden boardwalk allowed us such a great view, we stood there and just marvelled.

Some of the whales had barnacles on their bodies which we could clearly see from where we were standing. The babies clung closely to their mothers. They stay in the area for several months and after calving, they stay very close to the cliffs.

The whale watching area is in Yalata Aboriginal land and we had reached the Nullarbor Plain before we turned down to the Bunda Cliffs to do our whale watching. It was a marvellous experience.

Lake Mungo

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:31:00 +0000

Standing on the Walls of China at Lake Mungo

We drove up to Lake Mungo after dropping our stuff at the homestead where we were staying. We followed a 63 km self drive tour around the lake mungo region and took in the sights. Lake Mungo is part of the willandra lakes world heritage area, one of the original three declared in Australia along with Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef.

We visited the Walls of China, a lunette of sandhills and clay that has been severely eroded. We walked through this most interesting area that includes fossils of dwarf hippos, giant wombats and kangaroos. This is also wher Mungo woman and Mungo man were discovered, possibly the most significant archaeological finds in Australia.

Other places included old homesteads and ground tanks, driving across the enormous lake beds, an old 1869 wool shed and fascinating vegetation.

Our accommodation was fascinating as we stayed in the shearers' shed on a working property. We had a mulga stump fire and fortified ourselves with sherry and port.

Along the Murray

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:14:00 +0000

This is the view right outside the cottage.

Our stay in a cottage on the Murray was delightful. Brimin Lodge is a working farm- but a rather unusual one. They breed lambs and Murray cod for the restaurant trade. We visited a number of the Rutherglen wineries and dined on Murray cod and chicken (Gail), washed down with fine local wines.

It is a birdwatchers’ paradise. We especially liked the finches and also saw possums and pademelon. Unfortunately we did not spot any of the local platypus.

We had a long drive on to Mildura, following the Murray Highway for about 600 km. We had an interesting break at Echuca, the fabulous old Murray port that still has a number of working paddle steamers, along with stops for morning tea and lunch plus another stop at a fruit quarantine bin. (We ate the oranges and threw the grapefruit.)

We spent the night at a quiet cabin a few km from the centre of Mildura, located at the main beach on the Murray. In the morning (Friday), we head up to Lake Mungo National Park and hope to post this before we leave as there is no mobile or email service there.

From the Murrumbidgee to the Murray

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:04:00 +0000

We left Sydney early on Monday and travelled down to Griffith in the centre of the MIA. First thing we did was visit De Bortoli for a tasting. We were amazed at the number of wines that we recognised that we had not realized were produced by De Bortoli.

We had an interesting drive around the ridge overlooking Griffith including the area where a hermit had lived in a cave from the 1920s to 1952. We also saw the memorial to Donald McKay and drove past his original furniture shop which is still called McKay's.

Yesterday we drove on to Rutherglen and are staying in a cottage right on the banks of the Murray. Previously we had stayed on a houseboat on a billabong on the property but now the billabong is dry. Our cottage is very comfortable and there are frequent sightings of many Australian animals and birds in the area ranging from platypus to the black swans that swam by this morning.

So far today we have visited Stanton and Killeen Winery and Campbell's Winery. The car was full when we arrived in Rutherglen. Now we have a few more dozen bottles to add to the load. We will need to drink any that we can't fit in tonight!

Each winery had its own cat. Stanton and Killeen had Trouble (its brother is Strife) and Campbell's had Muscat (their previous cat was Tokay).

Feeding Frenzy

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Catfish enjoying a meal...thank goodness they weren't dogfish
We have lots of photos of sky and trees...and a few eagles
Safe from the predators
The monkey dance

You may think we are going to describe the three local restaurants where we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner today and indeed it was a feeding frenzy of a type. Instead we are going to tell you about feeding frenzies in the animal kingdom, in one of which we became the meal.

We went on an island hopping trip by fast boat and had some fascinating experiences. Our first stop was at the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden, the largest fresh water lake in Langkawi, on an island off the coast. According to legend, a fairy princess buried her child who died, in the lake and blessed the water so that any childless woman who swam in the lake would become pregnant. We both enjoyed a swim but soon after, had to rescue a man who almost drowned.

After our swim, we dangled our feet at the edge where hundreds of catfish swarmed over them. They were in a feeding frenzy as they eat the dead skin off your feet. We became the meal.

We zoomed off to a bay where hundreds of eagles congregate and we watched them go into a feeding frenzy on the fish morsels used to attract them. They were so fast, it was very hard to photograph them.

Our final stop was at a beautiful bay where we swam but fortunately there were no sharks in a feeding frenzy.

We saw lots of monkeys at both the islands where we visited but there were signs up not to feed them as it sends them into a feeding frenzy.

When we returned to our tree house, we found the ants were in a feeding frenzy on our packet of savoury biscuits. We probably ate some of them along with our cheese and pre lunch drinks!

For the rest of the day we have been in recovery mode.

Sponge Bob Sighted in Croatia

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:53:00 +0000

Sponge Bob in Korcula
Sponge Bob in Rab
Sponge Bob in Pag
Sponge Bob in Trogir.

There have been unprecedented sightings of Sponge Bob in the Adriatic region. Just look at the photos.

More about our Treehouse

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Our treehouse
Gail on the front balcony taken from the beach

Our treehouse is a wonderful place to recover from a holiday conducted at a hectic pace!

It is, as you may have gathered, up a tree..as most treehouses are! It comes with all mod cons and has a living /bedroom area, a bathroom and a front and back balcony.It has air con, a fan, a frig and a TV although we are considering thrrowing it off the balcony to make a bit more room. The back balcony is for leaving your thongs (the type you wear on your feet) and for drying the washing. The front balcony has a tree growing through it but has enough space for the two of us to sit and enjoy a drink, a cuppa or read. It is also a great spot to watch the sunset.

If you want to go we will come with you!

Lovely Langkawi

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:31:00 +0000

We have arrived in Langkawi and settled into our treehouse.... yes that's right, our treehouse. Here am I sitting on the balcony that looks straight over the beach. The resort is very pleasant with a wonderful location right on Pantai Cenang beach. It includes 5 treetop chalets and we are lucky enough to occupy one of them.

So far, we managed a swim and a sleep when we arrived. The sleep was to recover from our overnight flight from Rome made even more difficult because for some odd reason, they could not turn the lights off!

By the time we had our pre dinner drinks on the balcony, and dinner at one of the dozens of small restaurants near the resort, we had almost recovered.

This morning we had another swim and breakfast at a different restaurant. Our plan for today is 2 more restaurants, more pre dinner drinks on the balcony, another sleep and as many swims as we can fit in with our reading.

Rome to Kuala Lumpur

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:59:00 +0000

We have spent most of the last few days travelling. Ferry from Split to Ancona in Italy where we just missed a train to Rome. We waited a few hours and then nearly missed the next train as we were on platform 2 and not platform 2 west!

We had a quiet afternoon in Rome, leaving the next morning for Kuala Lumpur. We are currently sitting in the airport terminal, waiting for our flight to Langkawi.

We are looking forward to a few quiet days on Langkawi to recover from our very hectic holiday schedule. Each of the last 7 nights we have spent in a different bed or in the case of last night, sitting in an airline seat.

Last Day in Croatia

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Standing on the castle wall in Trogir

Having packed our bags and waited for the rain to clear, we still had the best part of the day as we could not board our ferry to Italy until 6.30 pm.

We headed off by bus to visit Trogir. We crossed the historic bridge into the old town and it was just as good as all the other stari grads! We did not even bother with a map but ambled through the streets and narrow laneways with their marble cobblestones. The squares were delightful and the souvenir shops had exactly the same things as all the other stari grads in Croatia.

The cathedral was especially interesting with the church being quite ornate with some unusual carvings of Adam and Eve wearing fig leaves and looking embarrassed. There was a separate baptistery with a hooded font surrounded by lots of carved cherubs - all boys. The Treasury had reliquaries of gold and silver, including arm bones encased in a golden arm studded with gems.

We climbed the bell tower that provided wonderful views over the city. It did however, have particularly steep and narrow stairs.

We had an enjoyable lunch in a restaurant near the harbour that provided great views and cover from the rain.

Our final visit was to the castle where we walked round the walls and looked at the views of the harbour and the town. Right next to the castle wall we had a view over the amusement park complete with trapeze trampolines. What a contrast between the old and the new!

Makarska Riviera

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:54:00 +0000

National Day in Croatia
The limestone mountains behind the harbour in Makaska.

We travelled from Mostar down to Makarska, located between Dubrovnik and Split. It has a stunning setting with a mountain range behind and a beautiful coastline and some of the best beaches we have seen in Croatia. (smaller pebbles)

We headed out to look around carrying our sunnies, hats and rain jackets and by the time we returned, we had used them all but this time, just a light shower.

We did not originally plan to visit here but are very glad we did. The place has a real holiday feel but without the significant cultural highlights, other than the nightly disco.

We now return to Split to reunite all our baggage and to prepare for our crossing to Italy.

Celebrating Croatian Style

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Earlier, we posed the question as to how we should celebrate Anti Fascism Struggle Day and the National Day.

We asked lots of locals about the first holiday and most did not seem to know what it was for. Perhaps they could not explain the concept in English. Since the last public holiday we experienced, they have repealed the law requiring everything to close so on outward appearances, it was just another regular day.

The best answer we received on how to celebrate was “It is a day for eating and drinking.” Sounds like some holidays in Australia.

We were out of the country for the national day but there must have been some formalities because when we returned to Croatia, there were wreaths on several significant monuments. Like some holidays in Australia - wreaths, then eating and drinking.

We visited Trogir the following day and again saw wreaths commemorating those who had lost their lives in the fighting from 1991. Like all wars, many were very young.

Mostar

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Our bus trip to Bosnia Herzegovina was an interesting journey. In fact, we visited twice. Driving from Dubrovnik along the coast was beautiful. Heading north, we entered the narrow coastal strip of Bosnia Herzegovina that cuts across Croatia to the Adriatic Sea. It only goes for a few km and we went through Croatian and Bosnian immigration and then Bosnian and Croatian immigration as we exited back into Croatia a short time later.

About 65 km from Dubrovnik, we turned east to Mostar and soon reached the border to repeat the passport formalities, our 2nd trip to Bosnia Herzegovina.

Mostar is a fascinating city but sad in some ways. It was badly damaged in the fighting and its famous bridge, built in 1556, was destroyed in 1993. It has now been restored in the same style. A poignant sign says “Remember 1993”. This small sign is the only indication that it has not been standing since 1556.

The town is truly beautiful with wonderful views over the picturesque Neretva River. There are more mosques than churches, a 16th century Turkish bath, a great bazaar and overall, a fabulous ambience.

While we were in the town, the heavens opened again. Our washing was out drying on the line as were our new rain jackets. We found a restaurant to shelter in for a late lunch. It had fabulous views of the bridge. It was a great time to take photos of the bridge as no-one was silly enough top be out walking. We sat for a long time over lunch and only got a little wet on the return trip to our accommodation.

Research Update

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:01:00 +0000

As we continued our research last night on our new economic indicator, we discovered a flaw in the ‘basket of commodities’.

It is based on the premise that the commodities are all equal. Now while some ice creams may be slightly better than others, we can tell you that if we apply the premise that all wines are equal, we have to say that some wines are more equal than others.

We should have followed our brother-in-law, Tony’s advice and spent more than one euro on a bottle.

If the image is blurred, it looked ok to us! Maybe you are just seeing double!

Motor to Kotor

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:53:00 +0000

Outside the walls of Kotor
Back to Dubrovnik

Off by early bus to Kotor in Montenegro. The weather looked threatening when we left Budva but over the mountain, the sun was shining. We were walking around Kotor by 9.15 am and enjoying the old town. Like all the other old towns (Stari Grads), it was the same but different!

We explored churches, the Maritime Museum and lots of old palaces (grand houses). The walls are amazing running up from the town to the top of the mountain, around the top and back down. We sat in a restaurant eating local food for lunch looking up over the buildings at this astonishing wall. What a feat of engineering!

The harbour was a contrast - lots of boats, many costing over $100 million.

It did rain when we were in the Maritime Museum and when we were on the bus back to Dubrovnik, but we stayed dry as we had new rain jackets by now. The others are back in Split!

The trip around the lake was glorious with wonderful views. Back in Herceg Novi, this time in dry weather, we discovered that it wasn’t much better than the 1st viewing in the rain.

The views over Dubrovnik, as we returned from our 2 days in Montenegro were superb.

Split Baggage

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:08:00 +0000

No...no nasty accident resulting in dirty washing all over the old town!

We realized this morning that as light as we are travelling, we have managed to have our bags spread over 3 cities and 2 countries.

Our main bag is in Split (intact we hope), our 2nd bag was left in Dubrovnik and our small day packs were with us in Budva in Montenegro.

They will all be reunited next Saturday when we return to Split.

Tomorrow we will take all the rest to Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovina for a few days.

Cost of Living Index

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:58:00 +0000

With everyone focused on the economy, we have developed our Cost of Living Index for Croatia. Normally this is done by calculating the cost of "a basket of commodities".

Our index is simple but effective. It has only one item..the cost of an ice cream cone. We have found this reflects the cost of accommodation, meals, etc.

On the quieter islands like Pag, ice creams were 5 kn. In the slightly more upmarket spots like Rab and Kircula, they were 6 kn. and in the happening and tourist mecca spots like Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik, they are 7 kn.

We have called this new economic tool The Ice Cream Cost of Living Indicator.

As much fun as it was carrying out the research, we are working on a new tool..The Local Wine Cost of Living Indicator. This may delay our return.

Sorry no photos of us eating the Economic Indicator were on file.

Four Seasons in One Day

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:44:00 +0000

View of Budva from the city wall
Herceg Novi

‘Here under the azure dome of the sky
Everything blossoms and ripens
In the sunshine.
The poet might say:
“Here one lives for sunshine
Because of sunshine, for sunshine…”
That is why I stayed in this town.’
Zuko Dzumhur

We travelled from Dubrovnik to Herceg Novi in Montenegro. By the time we arrived, it was pouring rain! The town has a beautiful location at the entrance of one of the loveliest bays in the world and is backed by the Orjen Mountains that peak at almost 1900 metres. It’s just that the scenery does not look so good when you are dripping wet.

On we went around the bay…. stunningly beautiful…. depressingly rainy! We travelled past Kotor to Budva where we found a nice apartment and dried ourselves off. Everything we had with us was wet to some degree! Then the sun came out….. we headed down to the old town and the locals headed off to the beach.

The old town is a beautiful sight…..especially in the sun. The city has Greek, Roman and medieval structures. We explored the churches, the archaeological museum, the citadel with its great views, as well as the modern harbour with millions of dollars worth of modern boats.

A very different afternoon from how the day started.

Delightful Dubrovnik

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:58:00 +0000

The cloisters in the Franciscan Monastery.

Wow! Dubrovnic’s old town is really delightful.

We arrived and found an apartment in the centre of the old town, only steps from the wall, the cathedral etc. It is such a great location, we keep calling in … to have cups of tea, go to the toilet, drop off shopping etc. It is in the area where they believe the earliest church was built but not located….. We believe it is just under our apartment!

We spent the last 2 days simply strolling the old town. We have walked the famous walls, visited the cathedral and treasury complete with the relics of St. Blaize; the church of St. Saviour, the Franciscan Monastery and St. Blaize’s church; lots of beautiful buildings, old palaces and museums including the Rector’s Palace complete with original furnishings and artworks, the Franciscan and the Maritime. We have others planned for tomorrow.

We have now walked the walls of Dubrovnik but unfortunately got wet for the last 10minutes but the views were wonderful. We have also visited another few churches and museums and have been totally impressed with this beautiful city.

We are spending 2 days in Montenegro

Living in Marco,s Street

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Korcula from the sea

Why is there a love seat outside the Bishop,s Palace?
The ferry from Hvar approached Korcula town and we immediately knew we were going to like this place! The approach from the sea is spectacular - one of the best in the Mediterranean. The old town with its high sea walls, towers and old houses is unforgettable.

Our accommodation is waterfront with great views. It is on the corner of Marco Polo’s street from when he was a boy! To swim, we walk just a few paces and go down the steps to the water.

We have enjoyed wandering through the old town. It is very compact! We have visited churches, museums, towers, but best of all is simply strolling along the waterfront and the labyrinths of lanes that make up the old town.

It is a place to relax, to eat, drink and unwind. The restaurants that are set up for the summer along the waterfront are great, as is the local food and wine.

Starry Stari Grad

noreply@blogger.com (gailandrob) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:29:00 +0000

Stari Grad harbour

Lunch in the lane
Simply translated, it means “Old Town” and it was originally the capital of Hvar until the 13th century.

We leave Hvar today for the island of Korcula but our ferry does not depart until 6 pm so we are spending the day at Stari Grad, a 30 minute bus ride from Hvar town. Our bus trip took 1 hour as we went via the Stari Grad ferry port, a few km before we arrived at the old town.

Stari Grad does not have the hordes of tourists and has not changed much since the Venetians ruled it. We wandered round the old port and visited several churches, museums and old historic houses it is the sort of place that you could spend 1 hour or a lifetime.

At the time of typing this blog, we are sitting in a small outdoor restaurant in one of the little narrow lanes just back from the port Our chicken was stuffed with ham and cheese and so are we!

We are catching the 2.30 pm bus back to Hvar Town to pick up our bags, hopefully post this and catch our ferry to Korcula.