This Travel Life

About Us | Our Journeys | Blog | Photos | Top 10s |

round-the-world in 2005

previous country : index

Australia

Jan 20 - Feb 8, 2006

We are back in Australia where we started our journey. Read about the start of our journey in Australia close to a year ago.

Darwin catch up with friends

20 Jan 2006 Darwin, NT

Brief visit
We arrived in Australia at Darwin airport, happy to be finally on home soil safe and sound. As diligent travelers, we declared all our wooden articles and foodstuffs to customs as we entered. This was all ok though as they checked our bags they discovered our prized tennis racquet bug zappers that we had searched long and hard for in Bangkok. They apparently don’t meet Australian safety standards – they can give a good shock, but that’s the fun part! So we have them no more and Australia is safe. Chrisso picked us up at 6am – what a champ – and took us back to their new place. We needed some more sleep because of the time difference and the lack of sleep on the plane (Australian red wine and movies on demand were hard to resist). A few hours rest and we woke to meet Clancy – the McCormick addition. We had some errands to run, so we borrowed Cate’s car and took a cruise around Darwin. Not a lot has changed and it all feels very familiar – good to have that feeling after being in foreign countries for a year! The evenings plan was an impromptu dinner with Chris, Cate, Stevo, Gus and Mark. A fantastic fun night filled with catching up and story telling.

Stanwell Park fom Bald Hill

21 Jan 2006 Stanwell Park, NSW

Family 1
Cate had the early morning duty of dumping us back at Darwin airport. We flew via Alice Springs to Sydney and had the delight of sitting in front of Rolf Harris for the first leg. We arrived in Sydney to be met by Penelope, Jacob, Rachel and Zach (who had arrived an hour earlier). We were then picked up by Pete in their new car. It was great to catch up with the Stanny Park Woods.

Old Wairo Bakery

22 Jan 2006 Wairo Beach, NSW coast

Wood reunion
A sleepy start and a short drive (3 hours is short compared to some of the trips we have done) down the coast to Wairo Beach and caravan park, to meet the rest of the Wood family. Lunch was had together with Pam and John, Lea and Paul, Alli and Reggie. It has been two years since there was a family get-together - unfortunately this time Michael and his family is absent. A swim in the pool was in order with such a hot day, some food shopping then a beer at the Ulladulla pub, before a BBQ back at the ranch!
What's that?

23 Jan 2006 Wairo Beach, NSW coast

Beach Gridiron
We started the day with a visit to the beach. There is little else to do around here – which is a good thing. In the afternoon, we went further down the coast to another beach, which was nicely situated in a National Park. The American amongst us, Reggie, organised us into teams for a well fought game of beach gridiron. There were a few injuries from the rough seaweed and rough play, and we were pretty tired and sore as we are unaccustomed to any stressful exercise.

On the lookout

24 Jan 2006 Wairo Beach, NSW coast

Time out in Timezone
It rained today – quite a change from the heat of yesterday. We cruised into Ulladulla town, which is just 10 minutes drive north of here. The kids entertained themselves at Timezone, while we went for a walk out to the point. Back home in the sprinkling rain, we played a game of put-put golf in the afternoon with the crew. For dinner we headed back into town for some grub at the bowling club.

Jacob wins Put Put

25 Jan 2006 Wairo Beach, NSW coast

Stars in the Sand
The morning was filled with soccer and baseball games on beach. A few people were heading home in the afternoon, so that was the last opportunity for family bonding. Another barbie was in order, as has been the theme of the week. Rachel went for a nocturnal walk along the beach, and came racing back with news of stars in the sand. We all headed down to investigate this amazing display of tiny lights in the sand that appeared like magic as we walked along. We all had differing theories as it their origin - it was not until some Google searching much later that it was discovered that it was due to phosphorescent plankton in the sand which light up in response to movement.

happy 33rd birthday Clare

26 Jan 2006 Wairo Beach, NSW coast

Clare’s Birthday
We had a lovely breakfast at our cabin, then ventured into the nearby small historic town of Milton for window shopping and a romantic lunch. In the afternoon we were back at the beach, but unfortunately today was very windy. There was a multiple celebration at the cabins tonight for Clare, Reggie and Caitlin’s birthdays with cake all around!

Wood family photo

27 Jan 2006 Canberra, ACT

Family Split
We went for an early morning swim before saying goodbye to everyone. It had been a memorable week, and worth cutting our overseas trip short a few weeks. We drove to Canberra, three hours away, and picked up the key for our storage unit, and stayed the night with friends Clem and Michelle.

Canberra Cafe chairs

31 Jan 2006 Canberra, ACT

Canberra Catch-ups
On our first day in Canberra, we went to our storage place to get some of our belongings, and we glad to see that all was still there after our year away. We also bought a mobile phone now people can contact us – no more hiding. The next day was catching up with more Canberra friends - lunch at King O’Mally's with Rosie and Lex, then dinner with Clem and Michelle. On Monday, Clare went to the AIS to visit all her old work friends. There were too many people to see and it was difficult to leave, but great to see everyone. Meanwhile, Rob also went back to his old workplace and did some shopping for a laptop computer. We moved places to Rosie's, as Clem and Michelle had someone else coming to stay at their house, then went to the local, O’Neill’s pub, and had a $5 steaks and fish dinner with Craig and Rosie. It was great to share common stories with Craig after his year around the world. Our final day was spent with more catch ups - afternoon tea with Howie and Elvira, and dinner with Ruth at her place.

Wollongong Lighthouse

01 Feb 2006 Stanwell Park, NSW

Mobile Designer
We drove the familiar drive back to the Woods at Stanwell Park. On the way we purchased a laptop in Wollongong, so now Rob is mobile with his graphic design work. We can also start to sort out our photos and show some people. It is only a short stay in Stanny as we head to Sydney tomorrow to visit some of Clare’s family.

Sydney Harbour Tunnel

02 Feb 2006 Sydney, NSW

Ferry Ride to the other side
We caught the train into Sydney, Rob playing on his new laptop along the way. We transferred to the Manly ferry then on to Ellen’s place. In the afternoon we went down to Manly beach for some swimming and exploring. There are backpackers everywhere, and are easy to spot now that we know their type.

Sydeny at twilight

03 Feb 2006 Sydney, NSW

Joining the Jones’s
Today is very overcast and forecast for rain, so our plans of going to Sydney city were changed to walking down to the big shopping mall near Manly and looking for an mp3 player/storage device. When Ellen came home she drove us up to the north head of Manly, for a nice view of Sydney, and a walk around the headland.

Australian Airports

04 Feb 2006 Darwin, NT

Back Again
A rainy day in Sydney town kept us indoors for the morning till our plane left for Darwin. We packed and chatted more to Ellen about our RTW journey. The plane left in the early afternoon, delivered us to Cairns by mid afternoon, where we had to wait a few hours for the next leg to Darwin. Arriving late at nine, we got a taxi to Steve’s place and let ourselves in. Steve is lending us his house and car while he is away, which is fantastic, as we are right on the ocean front.

Nightcliff Markets in Darwin

05 Feb 2006 Darwin, NT

Hot and Sticky
We have been reminded again of how sticky hot Darwin is, but it is good to be back here, especially to go to the markets again. We took a trip to Nightcliff markets for some good Asian food (like we haven’t had enough of that yet!!). We also caught the band that usually plays there mid morning. We ventured home to watch a bit of the cricket – Gilchrist on the rampage again – before getting a phone call from Paul Finn. An invitation to go sailing in Darwin harbour can not be turned down so we spent the rest of the afternoon sailing the waters of the gusty harbour. Rob and Paul discussed a potential short term job for Rob at the NTIS.

Nightcliff cliffs

06 Feb 2006 Darwin, NT

Fitness Works
We went for a run this morning – the start of our fitness program – and boy was it hard work. We felt like a swim – since we are staying directly opposite a small beach – however glad we didn’t because the front page story of the paper was a crocodile sighting seen at that beach. We caught up on some housekeeping in the afternoon, before heading to one of our favourite eating spots – the Wharf – with Chris and Cate.

Clare and Rob back in Perth

08 Feb 2006 Forward Plan

Hi, We are back in Australia and still visiting family and friends in different areas of the country. We are due back in Perth on February 9th, which is the end of our official round the world trip. Thank you all for following our journey. Will keep you posted with more photos and a final destination for living.

 

That's the end of this travel blog. We are now living in cosmopolitan Melbourne for the time being. Who knows where to next. (after 2 years we went travelling again - this time around Australia)

previous country : index