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More Boomer Travel- Ayers Rock
Just a 2.5-hour plane journey from Brisbane and we banked over a massive red rock projecting out of the flat red landscape reaching further than the Eiffel tower into the sky. What a timeless land this beautiful country of ours is and what beautiful scenery it always produces. How lucky are we to have such a remarkable world renown symbol of our fabulous outback in Ayers Rock at Uluru Resort. The colours are amazing with the bleached grass blending in with red soil, green leaves on white gums and clear blue sky. The red centre resort is run like a well-oiled machine with the indigenous management making sure the local mob have work and are well trained. They are all friendly and proud of what they have produced which is a world class facility for tourist who flock there from all points of the globe to see the big red rock, the accompanying Olgas a few kilometres away and a 3-hour drive to Kings Canyon being the highlights. The resort offers a town centre, coffee shops, supermarket, fuel, pool, courtesy bus, pub, helicopter rides, camel farm, entertainment and great walks with the highlights being the 12km walk around the rock with the accompanying spiritual feeling that a landscape and people millions of years old bring you and smaller walks into and around the Olgas. We stayed 2 days but realistically should have been 4 days but it is definitely a must for your bucket list. |
What is it about Western Australia? Why is it such an enjoyable and unique place to visit? We have just completed a 4000 km road trip in a small comfortable self-contained campervan from Perth to Adelaide so another one off the bucket list. It was simply magnificent. We flew from Brisbane to Perth in five uneventful hours and shacked up in a hotel for three days while we visited Rottnest Island, Fremantle and the delights of Perth. It was the wildflower festival in their beautiful Kings Park and the flora was exceptional mainly due to the variety of local wildflowers unique to that climate. I have never seen such a display of varied colours and plants like it and we have visited botanical gardens around the world. You must see it. Rottnest Island, the former military training camp, intern war camp and holiday destination for many West Australian is a treasure. You can circumnavigate this beautiful island by bus, bike or walk and you will never be bored. The scenery is wonderful with a variety of bays, beaches and outlooks with the unique flora and fauna to treat your senses, swim or snorkel in the crystal clear turquoise coloured water or just sit and ponder life surrounded by the sounds of silence. The Rottnest Flyer boat leaves the port city of Freemantle a couple of times a day and is only a half-hour journey. On return we walked the city up to the infamous convict prison, past the coffee strip, through the food markets and took the free bus around a city that offers a variety of healthy food options in and around the markets. We left Perth on day four and drove to the Anzac area of Bunbury, Busselton (where we walked a km out on the same jetty the Anzacs were loaded onto ships) and Albany where they trained before heading for Gallipoli and the Western Front. The quaint and alternate town of Dunsborough was our first night stop and we found a good spot to park in the volunteer rescue car park on Geographe Bay. The next morning we walked to Meelup beach along a very well kept path with outstanding views of the coast line as a great introduction to the Naturaliste-Leeuwin National Park which is a biodiversity smorgasbord. What and eye-opener for lovers of nature from the lighthouses on Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin which are joined by a 100 km coastal walk that will satisfy your every need for beauty and adventure. We camped at Prevelly/Gnarabup where we watched the sun set and stopped at the jaw-droppingly beautiful Yallingup on the way down. Woke up above the car park above beach café where we enjoyed a morning coffee and enjoyed the wildflowers that are everywhere and the blue ocean that keeps rolling into the bleached white sands and rocky headlands. The scenery is breathtaking. After passing through the wine district of Margaret River where we counted at least 50 wineries and experienced the spiritual solitude of vast grey gum forests, we drove to Pemberton for lunch and on to Walpole, before visiting the Valley of the Giant trees and finally stopping at Denmark surf club carpark for the night. From Denmark it was a short drive to MT Barker the next morning where we climbed the mountain for an hour before reaching the awesome sky walkway that sits like and eagles nest high above the surrounding country-side. It truly was a feeling of elation as we reached the sky walk which is built with stainless steel and bolted to the many massive granite boulders. It really offers a feeling of accomplishment as well in reaching it but with an added bonus of incredible far-reaching views. Nearby Albany was our next stop with two nights at the Big 4 Caravan Park nestled on beautiful Middleton beach. After a peaceful night’s sleep we ventured past the nearby coffee shops and on to the walkway leading to Port Albany and the ANZAC Centre. More wildflowers, some old lighthouse relics and an amazing view of the entrance to the harbour are an integral part of that journey. A short drive the next day to the spectacular wind farms and more WA Parks stainless steel walkways overlooking their natural bridge and gap where the waves pounded the rocks directly below where we stood. Before we hit the road again we spent the morning at the boatshed markets in Port Albany where we met our first live ATM named Albert who sits with a bag of money next to the ATM sign. He swipes your credit card then adds his fee and you are given the cash a process which we found quite unique but effective. The trip just kept on dazzling us with stays in Hopetoun, Esperance right on the beach again and a crossing of the Nullarbor Plains which justify the meaning of Nullarbor which is treeless but inspiring especially as you camp out in clear starry skies. On crossing the border South Australia surprised us with numerous whales at the Bunda Cliffs Head of the Bight, tranquil settings on the Flinders Highway at Streaky Bay and Elliston and BHP's Whyalla but nothing to match the magic of WA. Go in the spring and enjoy the experience of a lifetime in an area that is by no means over-crowded like other parts of OZ but just delightfully fascinating.
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LORD HOWE ISLAND- a holiday with a difference.
I have just returned from a week on Lord Howe Island and it is a paradise for conservationists and a remarkable place to see. Only one and a half hours flight time form Brisbane or Sydney, it is worth a visit. On flying into the island, I was immediately taken by its natural beauty and compared it immediately to the same island paradise of Norfolk Island that is a tourist’s delight. It only took one trip to the local museum (also acts as the information point) to realise the difference between the two. You don’t go to Lord Howe for a holiday although it is very relaxing and has golf, tennis, snorkelling, fishing just as the likes of Norfolk Island does but the difference is Ian Hutton. Ian visited the island in 1980 and stayed on as a naturalist and then conservationist. In his words….. “For me, living on Lord Howe Island is like living inside a David Attenborough documentary. Outside my front door is the Island rainforest – alive with the calls of rare endemic birds. A 30-minute walk through the palm forest and into the hills takes me to 200 metre high cliffs, and from there I can see many of the Island’s 14 seabird species, which breed in tens of thousands every year. The Island’s mountain summits are slightly less accessible, but where else on such a short trek, could one enter a mysterious “coal age” mist forest, clad with mosses, ferns and ancient flowering plants, most of which are totally restricted to that environment. Alternatively, if the mood takes me, I can motor out in my dinghy to the Island’s coral reef (in less than five minutes) and snorkel over a dazzling realm of colourful corals and fish, whose myriad variety stuns the senses.” -Ian Hutton The island museum tells the conservation story visually or you can walk the island for days to see the results but he runs programs daily about the bird life, marine life, local flora and the changes that have been made to Lord Howe over the decades. The eradication of feral cats, goats and next year the rats that came 200 years ago. All man made problems for the local fauna and some species are now extinct because of it. But now, through his remarkable vision and work, the bird life is the healthiest in the world with 130 permanent and migratory species of land birds and sea birds. There are only 300 inhabitants on the island and only 400 guests are allowed at one time. His vast knowledge of conservation and its issues is worth listening to and students come from all over to learn from him. Indeed, over 20 were there from Wellington University in NZ whilst we visited and we sat with them during his enthralling lecture on birdlife. His informative documentaries he has made are also shown every day except Saturday and he is available to talk to you during or after the talks. I had the pleasure of shaking his hand before I left and thanked him for his passion, knowledge, devotion and achievements and I know when he asks the question of why he is here on this planet, then his work is the answer and proves he is in the one percent of humanity that truly excels in leaving a legacy for future generations. |
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Want to be a millionaire? Go to Bali.
I have never spent a week in a place of so many contradictions. I also never really wanted to go since the Bali bombings back last century, but my better half convinced me that her research showed it was a country of culture and tradition, beautiful views, fabulous art and furniture/garden designs and with added unique fauna and flora.
We also love yoga and mediation and enjoy a walk so the rice field countryside and exotic beaches sounded very appealing.
It all sounded wonderful so we packed a small bag to carry on the flight (roll your clothes up and you get more in but there is a seven-kilo weight rule for cabin luggage so be choosy in what you take) and bypass baggage ques at the airport and flew from Brisbane to Bali in 5 hours.
We had already become instant millionaires when our 10 dollars Australian gave us one million rupiah note so effectively, we were millionaires. It is an inexpensive country with food prices running from a third to half of what we pay at home, but the exception is their airports where you can pay 6 dollars for a coffee and twice our food prices.
Ubud is in the mountain regions of central Bali so our first stop was there. A wonderful place of world class yoga centres and workshops (mind you I do my own yoga at home as I am aware that my body might offend others) but my wife likes female company for her sessions. The raw food cafes were amazing and the food clean and delicious. We walked for kilometres around the famed monkey forest and watched the monkeys walk over the street cables and climb light posts. It is amazing how streetwise they are.
The ridge walk is worthy of a visit. You follow the walk for some 7 kilometres past many shops and coffee shops, restaurants and resorts to the Jungle Fish resort (simply stunning) and then return. Hindu temples (the main religion in Bali with a temple in all villages and communities) line the route and you will see some other stunning views of valleys lined with housing and many green rice fields.
The streets of Bali can be quite dangerous though as poor infrastructure means that the traffic (around 70% scooters and motor bikes) are forever around you so stay safe. There are few footpaths (if supplied usually only 40 or so centimetres wide) so you are walking with the traffic which can be quite a feat. Somehow, they seem to miss you but forget pedestrian crossings or a police presence. It’s every person for themselves over there.
Our accommodation was stunning with a 100-metre walkway through a rice field to enter a traditional Balinese structure which was inspiring. It was built on a gully with a swimming pool as a central point at the lower end of the complex, surrounded by the most impressive Balinese concrete buildings. There was a definite spiritual feel to the place and very quiet and enjoyable until the last day when four young Romanian tourists arrived and decided to party beside the pool for 4 hours until management finally shut them down. Party central is the beach not here.
Most hotels and resorts have yoga, cooking classes and wood carving and traditional dress demonstrations. The Balinese people are simple, spiritual, friendly and caring and life is centred around family. They earn around ten dollars a day and work extra-long hours and there is no compensation if injured and no welfare including pensions when you retire as your family look after you. Most shops are opened late in the inner city and restaurants all day long until after 10 at night.
There is a lot of small building projects using simple tools, no boots (mainly thongs) and cement is barrow mixed. Bamboo is the main support and is used as scaffolding even on mufti storey building although not many are over four levels high.
It was disappointing to me to see how waste is discarded in the streets and worksites just dump it into the bush or on an adjacent site. There’s the contradiction- beautify countryside littered with rubbish. Love their families but not their surrounds.
We moved to the coast for the last few days and hibernated. Blue Ridge Bay was our first stop and it was simple stunning. Great surging waves (with many surfers riding them) rolling into the rocky coastline and the hotel was perched on the cliff with blue pools overlooking the surfing spectacular below. There is also a whole world below the resort as you walk down the cliff face stairs past restaurants, surging stores and ding repair shops and coffee shops to an amazing chasm of rocks below where the surfers drop in their boards. Loud music is blaring, and the young are enjoying life. We tried to fit in but with Japanese wedding parties dominating the pool setting and the music so loud you couldn’t talk, we retreated to our room.
I am not sure what the owners spend their money on but it’s not maintenance. Most things are broken or not working, and the paint is peeling. We moved rooms as the smell of mould was too much but the next morning after a worthy breakfast in their restaurant, the water ran out. No toilets, no showers and after a hasty retreat to Echo Beach further south, our driver said it happened before there so water supply must be a problem. Another contradiction- stunning position and facade for resort but no work on internal maintenance to keep tourists happy.
Finally, the last few days in a villa was relaxing and the surf once again was outstanding at Echo Beach, but the black sand beach was uninviting, so we stayed local and enjoyed our pool in the complex and walked around the local area dodging bikes and barking dogs (animals are sacred in Bali so have right of way). Once again, the staff were outstanding with their smiling faces and friendliness and nothing is too much to ask for, so I did feel surprisingly very rested after our stay at Canggu Dream Villa, and such a different cultural experience was, in the end, refreshing as I realise now just how good we have it at home but take a lot for granted. Yes, I would go back but maybe Fiji first.
Want to be a millionaire? Go to Bali.
I have never spent a week in a place of so many contradictions. I also never really wanted to go since the Bali bombings back last century, but my better half convinced me that her research showed it was a country of culture and tradition, beautiful views, fabulous art and furniture/garden designs and with added unique fauna and flora.
We also love yoga and mediation and enjoy a walk so the rice field countryside and exotic beaches sounded very appealing.
It all sounded wonderful so we packed a small bag to carry on the flight (roll your clothes up and you get more in but there is a seven-kilo weight rule for cabin luggage so be choosy in what you take) and bypass baggage ques at the airport and flew from Brisbane to Bali in 5 hours.
We had already become instant millionaires when our 10 dollars Australian gave us one million rupiah note so effectively, we were millionaires. It is an inexpensive country with food prices running from a third to half of what we pay at home, but the exception is their airports where you can pay 6 dollars for a coffee and twice our food prices.
Ubud is in the mountain regions of central Bali so our first stop was there. A wonderful place of world class yoga centres and workshops (mind you I do my own yoga at home as I am aware that my body might offend others) but my wife likes female company for her sessions. The raw food cafes were amazing and the food clean and delicious. We walked for kilometres around the famed monkey forest and watched the monkeys walk over the street cables and climb light posts. It is amazing how streetwise they are.
The ridge walk is worthy of a visit. You follow the walk for some 7 kilometres past many shops and coffee shops, restaurants and resorts to the Jungle Fish resort (simply stunning) and then return. Hindu temples (the main religion in Bali with a temple in all villages and communities) line the route and you will see some other stunning views of valleys lined with housing and many green rice fields.
The streets of Bali can be quite dangerous though as poor infrastructure means that the traffic (around 70% scooters and motor bikes) are forever around you so stay safe. There are few footpaths (if supplied usually only 40 or so centimetres wide) so you are walking with the traffic which can be quite a feat. Somehow, they seem to miss you but forget pedestrian crossings or a police presence. It’s every person for themselves over there.
Our accommodation was stunning with a 100-metre walkway through a rice field to enter a traditional Balinese structure which was inspiring. It was built on a gully with a swimming pool as a central point at the lower end of the complex, surrounded by the most impressive Balinese concrete buildings. There was a definite spiritual feel to the place and very quiet and enjoyable until the last day when four young Romanian tourists arrived and decided to party beside the pool for 4 hours until management finally shut them down. Party central is the beach not here.
Most hotels and resorts have yoga, cooking classes and wood carving and traditional dress demonstrations. The Balinese people are simple, spiritual, friendly and caring and life is centred around family. They earn around ten dollars a day and work extra-long hours and there is no compensation if injured and no welfare including pensions when you retire as your family look after you. Most shops are opened late in the inner city and restaurants all day long until after 10 at night.
There is a lot of small building projects using simple tools, no boots (mainly thongs) and cement is barrow mixed. Bamboo is the main support and is used as scaffolding even on mufti storey building although not many are over four levels high.
It was disappointing to me to see how waste is discarded in the streets and worksites just dump it into the bush or on an adjacent site. There’s the contradiction- beautify countryside littered with rubbish. Love their families but not their surrounds.
We moved to the coast for the last few days and hibernated. Blue Ridge Bay was our first stop and it was simple stunning. Great surging waves (with many surfers riding them) rolling into the rocky coastline and the hotel was perched on the cliff with blue pools overlooking the surfing spectacular below. There is also a whole world below the resort as you walk down the cliff face stairs past restaurants, surging stores and ding repair shops and coffee shops to an amazing chasm of rocks below where the surfers drop in their boards. Loud music is blaring, and the young are enjoying life. We tried to fit in but with Japanese wedding parties dominating the pool setting and the music so loud you couldn’t talk, we retreated to our room.
I am not sure what the owners spend their money on but it’s not maintenance. Most things are broken or not working, and the paint is peeling. We moved rooms as the smell of mould was too much but the next morning after a worthy breakfast in their restaurant, the water ran out. No toilets, no showers and after a hasty retreat to Echo Beach further south, our driver said it happened before there so water supply must be a problem. Another contradiction- stunning position and facade for resort but no work on internal maintenance to keep tourists happy.
Finally, the last few days in a villa was relaxing and the surf once again was outstanding at Echo Beach, but the black sand beach was uninviting, so we stayed local and enjoyed our pool in the complex and walked around the local area dodging bikes and barking dogs (animals are sacred in Bali so have right of way). Once again, the staff were outstanding with their smiling faces and friendliness and nothing is too much to ask for, so I did feel surprisingly very rested after our stay at Canggu Dream Villa, and such a different cultural experience was, in the end, refreshing as I realise now just how good we have it at home but take a lot for granted. Yes, I would go back but maybe Fiji first.
Expect the unexpected- Otago Rail Bike Trail
Thought we might do something more energetic this time so we tried the Otago Rail Bike Trail. 150 km from Clyde (near Queenstown) to Middlecross (near Dunedin).
Make no mistake, this is not a leisurely ride as advertised, particularly when the track becomes too gravelly, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. You can pick your own pace and stops so it takes 2 or up to 5 days to do..it's up to you.You can even walk it if you want.
The countryside is picturesque, quiet and isolated, mostly green and strangely relaxing. The exception is when nature interferes. Not much you can do about it but it can rain at an angle that stings your face or have a strong headwind which will test your limitations.
We swapped to an ebike on day two so the inclines were easier to ascend and at a cost, will make your journey even better.
The stopovers are all locals, hotels or B&B's but the Kiwis are very friendly, generous and caring people who are making a living yes, but make the journey much more pleasant. Your luggage is transported daily to your next stop or you take it in bike bags and stop where you want to and not pre-planned.
We met and talked to some wonderful and interesting people from around the world over dinner and at the bar at the stopovers, so the social life is first class.
My body knows I have pushed my limits but I have no regrets and recommend it for those who are inclined to physical activity.
Thought we might do something more energetic this time so we tried the Otago Rail Bike Trail. 150 km from Clyde (near Queenstown) to Middlecross (near Dunedin).
Make no mistake, this is not a leisurely ride as advertised, particularly when the track becomes too gravelly, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. You can pick your own pace and stops so it takes 2 or up to 5 days to do..it's up to you.You can even walk it if you want.
The countryside is picturesque, quiet and isolated, mostly green and strangely relaxing. The exception is when nature interferes. Not much you can do about it but it can rain at an angle that stings your face or have a strong headwind which will test your limitations.
We swapped to an ebike on day two so the inclines were easier to ascend and at a cost, will make your journey even better.
The stopovers are all locals, hotels or B&B's but the Kiwis are very friendly, generous and caring people who are making a living yes, but make the journey much more pleasant. Your luggage is transported daily to your next stop or you take it in bike bags and stop where you want to and not pre-planned.
We met and talked to some wonderful and interesting people from around the world over dinner and at the bar at the stopovers, so the social life is first class.
My body knows I have pushed my limits but I have no regrets and recommend it for those who are inclined to physical activity.
