Listons Down Under

YAMBA As we left the Gold Coast we were on the coast road at last. There were miles and mile of beaches (see picture right) from Broad Beach down and a lovely road that ran parallel to the beaches. Some of them, like the one at Nobby's Beach had sports equipment that you could use (see picture left) so David took advantage. We carried on down the coast as far as we could and then decided to have lunch.   I never thought we would ever join a surf club but as food and drink were only available to members we had to join (see picture right).  Lovely friendly atmosphere.  After lunch we were back on the motorway, heading for Byron Bay.  This was one of the big places in the '70s but had become too famous and consequently too expensive. We only wanted to look at the place, but getting in and out was horrendous due to heavy traffic and winding roads, and when we did stop by the (small) beach it was very smelly. Fortunately, we had already decided not to stay ...

GOLDEN DAYS We picked up the hire car in Brisbane, a nice white Toyota Corolla. At first we struggled to get our large suitcases in, but a little jiggling around soon sorted out the problem. We had intended to take the coast road out of Brisbane, but the girls in the car hire office seemed to think that we had to go on the freeway. They had no thoughts as to how we might achieve our wishes. Instead, we had to rely on the GPS. After a few minutes of discussion,we relented and set out on our way. The freeway was like driving up to Birmingham on the M40 only much brighter but not seeing much of the local countryside. After about an hour, we stopped at a service station for some refreshments. Linda asked if they had any road maps and was met with a blank stare. 'Nobody has road maps, all you need is your GPS,' came the reply. We got back in the car and that was when we found out we had a dodgy GPS. It had trouble getting a signal. After a while, the GPS came back to life, but ...

BEAUTIFUL BRIZZI The big decision when we arrived at Brisbane Aiport was whether to take the Airtrain or the Shuttle. The Airtrain only took about 20 minutes as opposed to 50 minutes for the Shuttle but was more expensive and did not drop us outside our hotel as the Shuttle did. Decision made. The Adina Hotel was very centrally located. Opposite the Central Railway Station on ANZAC Square (see picture 1), in the Central Business District (CBD). We were right next to the main shopping centres and minutes from City Hall. Great location but it was a pity that the bed was almost too big for the bedroom and made sockets and the safe challenging. However, it had a nice sitting area, adequate kitchen and breakfast area and (most importantly) a washing machine!!! Having arrived just before 6 o'clock in the evening we took a walk down Creek Street to explore the eateries in the newish area of Eagle Street which were right on the river. With quite a selection we chose Go Centro and it wa...

ALL THAT GLISTERS IS NOT GOLD All that glisters is not (necessarily) gold. Don't get me wrong, after the delights of Port Douglas and hearing people's comments, we were really looking forward to our short stay at Hamilton Island. I can't remember the last time I flew on a prop plane, but the hour long hop across the azure waters went without a hitch (we even got free food) and were quickly escorted to the Reef View Hotel. The view from our room on the 6th floor was amazing (see picture 1), but until our day of departure that was as good as it got. Our hotel had 19 floors, not the sort of place we usually stay. It was a bit of a concrete monstrosity. There was a balcony, but we couldn't sit out there because the cockerels invaded us every time we opened the door, looking for food. People next door to us fed the birds chocolate even though there are signs saying not to - it seems they have a sugar habit - but this makes them lose their feathers (see pictures 2 and 3 ...

A TASTE OF PARADISE AT PORT DOUGLAS It was another extremely early start for our trip to Port Douglas. After a 5 hour flight, we arrived at Cairns at 7.30 and we reached Port Douglas shortly after 9 a.m. Of course, our room wasn't ready and we were already sweltering in our travel clothes, with the temperature of 30C plus and almost 100% humidity. However, a swift change in the shower by the pool soon saw us more comfortably  dressed in shorts, tee shirts and sandals. There was only a short walk to Macrossan Street, which is the main street in Port Douglas for restaurants,bars, tour info and all kinds of shops and we enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast. By the time we returned to our hotel, the Meridian, our room was ready and what a delight it was. We had a large double bed, a compact kitchen and a  spacious sitting room which led on to a balcony over looking the swimming pool (see picture 1 right). Later that day, we went back into town to do our supermarket shopping fo...

POSITIVELY PERTH To be perfectly honest, I didn't know what reception we would get in Perth. Bob and his wife, Barbara (my actual cousin) immigrated to Perth just after Linda and I got married 35 years ago (was it something we said?) and we had rarely been in touch since. Sadly, Barbara passed away two years ago, but her memory is very strong. There is a marvellous picture of her, Bob and their whole family hanging on the wall. This was a great way to start Australia as we were made to feel so very comfortable and welcome and Bob looked after us really well. We took the local train into Perth, an impressive city; we went to Fremantle (or Freo as the locals call it) and then up to Cottesloe Beach (see picture 1 left). Bit windy. On Saturday, we again took a trip into Freo (it really was worth seeing the older style buildings with their wrought iron balconies - see picture 2 right),visited the Roundhouse which was the old jail, and walked through the wonderful old market resist...

RETURN TO SINGAPORE Singapore was short and sweet. The city had certainly grown since we were last there. Land reclamation had increased its size by 25%. - how did they build such tall buildings on reclaimed land? Our hotel was excellent, on the 7th floor with a view over the pool (picture 1). The wonderful 'hop on, hop off' bus took us up to the old Botanical Gardens, where Linda once again (35 years on) bought an orchid dipped in gold on a chain but added ear-rings this time. Then a walk down Orchard Road to view some of the many varied shopping plazas. Super to travel on the mass transit railway (MRT), which was not built when we were last in Singapore 30 years ago. We had good food experiences, in a Hot Pot restaurant in Chinatown the night we arrived, lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant in a shopping centre (must go and try their new Covent Garden venue). Dinner at LeVel 33 - a restaurant recommended by niece Debbie because they sold Fromm wine (one of her clients), on...