One of my resolutions in 2017 was to spend more time in nature. While I’ve failed dismally for most of the year, I got October off to a flying start by whale watching on the Gold Coast with Spirit of Gold Coast. Sports-mad Melbourne has a public holiday for the AFL Grand Final at the end of September. I couldn’t care less about the Grand Final (shhh), so … Continue reading Whale Watching on the Gold Coast’s Humpback Highway
Stressed? Burnt out? Bogged down in the winter blues? Prescribe yourself an extra long weekend in Queensland. In four days, I got the dose of sunshine, blue skies and blessed humidity that I’ve been missing in chilly, drizzly Melbourne. Before last weekend, I’d never considered squeezing in time in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast in one trip. I live in Melbourne, but … Continue reading The Great Escape: 4 Days in Brisbane, Gold Coast & Sunshine Coast
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. It was the happiest day I had in five blissful weeks of exploring France, Italy, Greece and even a little Turkey. In fact, it was the best day I have ever had while travelling. We spent half the day sailing around Capri, including a visit into the famous Blue Grotto – the experience I had most been … Continue reading Sailing around Capri & The Blue Grotto
It’s the Great Barrier Reef, but not as you know it. Green Island is a coral cay within the Great Barrier Reef, just off the coast of Cairns. My best friend Chloe & I visited on a day trip from Cairns during our week in the Whitsundays & Tropical North Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the main reasons we were visiting Tropical North … Continue reading Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef from Green Island
When my best friend and I spent a week exploring Queensland‘s beautiful tropics, Hamilton Island was a firm must-see destination on our list. One of the few inhabited islands in the Whitsundays archipelago, Hamilton Island was a little out of our price range to stay on, so we stayed in a backpackers in Airlie Beach on the mainland. We visited Hamilton Island & Whitsunday Island … Continue reading A Day Trip to Hamilton Island
To take on the Queensland tropics in style, look no further than Port Douglas. One hour’s drive north of Cairns, this stylish beach town is a very popular holiday and destination wedding destination (with the price tag to match). We visited Port Douglas on a day trip from Cairns with Discovery Tours Australia. Our tour guide drove us up to the perfect lookout point … Continue reading Postcards from Port Douglas
Cape Tribulation in Tropical North Queensland is the only place in the world where two World Heritage Listed Sites collide. It’s not every day you get to visit a place that is truly the only kind in its category, so walking along the beach at “Cape Trib” was pretty special. I acknowledge the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people as the First Nations owners of the land … Continue reading Cape Tribulation: The Only Place in the World…
There is no shortage of beautiful beaches in Australia, especially in the steamy Queensland tropics. A short ferry ride from Townsville, our quick visit to Magnetic Island was relaxing, easy and affordable. During my one-week trip through the Whitsundays and Tropical North Queensland, we had an overnight stop in Townsville. Townsville is the largest city in north Queensland and I was surprised by how beautiful it … Continue reading Day Trip to Magnetic Island from Townsville
Sometimes you just need the wide open spaces. Endless blue skies, rolling green and gold hills, plunging waterfalls, good ol’ country hospitality and roadside pumpkin stands. Wineries, distilleries, orchards & dairies with cheese-so-good-you-could-eat-it-with-a-spoon certainly don’t hurt either. Southern Queensland Country is at its most beautiful in Autumn when the crisp country air gets a little chilly and the trees erupt in flaming golden foliage. A … Continue reading One perfect day in Southern QLD Country
The term “jaw-dropping” is grossly overused in travel writing and marketing, and I can count on one hand the number of times my jaw has involuntarily dropped due to the sheer beauty of what I am seeing. That was before I visited Luecila Beach in New Caledonia. The beach overlooks the second-largest reef in the world, which positively glows all shades of aqua and turquoise, even … Continue reading Postcards from Luecila Beach, Lifou