I’ve never had a surprise birthday party, and this one definitely came as a surprise! Just before we left for Samoa, I’d sent out an email to all my friends in Melbourne inviting them to Mum & Dad’s place on Saturday 14th January for some casual birthday drinks and a catch-up. What I didn’t, Read More
My gorgeous sister Marnie gave Adriana and I a fantastic Christmas present: dinner on Melbourne’s restaurant tram! I’d seen it trundle around Melbourne’s streets for years and had always wanted to do it. We climbed aboard the tram in near the Yarra river in the early evening. It traveled through South Melbourne and around, Read More
We returned to ‘Upolu and stayed in Apia another night before making our way to the best beach on the island at Lalomanu, on the south-east corner. The bus ride over took us across the rugged, mountainous and green interior of the island. Once we arrived we dumped our gear in our beach fale, Read More
We quickly found out why Savai’i is indeed the less touristy island. It was tough to get around the place, and difficult and expensive to make any travel or tour arrangements. The hard truth is that Savai’i really doesn’t have much to offer the tourist – or at least not as much as the, Read More
Adriana and had I planned a mini-holiday within our Australian trip, and on New Year’s Day we flew from Melbourne to Apia, the capital of Independent Samoa (formerly Western Samoa, and yes that’s different to American Samoa). Because of the Date Time Line we actually arrived JUST after midnight on New Year’s Eve –, Read More
Believe it or not, even though I’d grown up in Melbourne, I’d never done the length of the Great Ocean Road! For those of you that don’t know, the Great Ocean Road is a coastal road that follows a large section of Victoria’s south-west coast. It’s a lovely, twisty two-lane road that hugs the, Read More
We had a few more days together in Melbourne before Karen flew back to Townsville and Sally and Ren flew back to Perth. Before everyone went their separate ways we had some pre-dinner drinks at Marnie’s apartment in the Docklands, followed by one last big family dinner at our favourite Chinese restaurant in Hawthorn., Read More
The last time I’d been home for Christmas was way back in 1999, so it was a great to be around family and friends this year. It was especially important for me to be home because my older sister Sally was pregnant with her first baby, so it was definitely a time to celebrate! , Read More
We made our way up north along Highway 1, which follows the coast for most of the way to Brisbane. Our first night was in Port Macquarie, a small coastal town popular with Sydney beach holidayers. It was great to unwind at the beach after a day’s driving, and we were able to find, Read More
We picked up our tiny hatchback rental car and packed our things to start our road trip north to Brisbane. Our first stop was to the west, the Blue Mountains National Park and the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters. According to Adriana their names are: Sandra, Adriana and Isabel (her sisters). Kangaroo Paw flowers, Read More