2018
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Apr 29 Nadi
Travelled in
David returns half-way from the dead and we spend most of the morning making arrangements for going to Suva, the capitol of Fiji located about a four-hour drive from Nadi around the southern coast of Viti Levu. Wayne, Myra and… Continue reading
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Apr 28 Nadi
Travelled in
Nadi is pronounced “Nahn-dee” in Fijian. David is sure it’s an interesting place but he wouldn’t know ‘cause he stays in bed the whole day, until just after sunset, which he is sure was spectacular. Nadi is on Viti Levu,… Continue reading
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Apr 27 Sydney to Nadi, Fiji
Travelled in
We’re at the airport by 7:30 and use our remaining Aussie cash to buy several bottles in the duty free shop. Our first plane, from Sydney to Auckland boards about an hour late. Even though the plane is on the… Continue reading
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Apr 26 Sydney
Travelled in
Ferry to Manly for the day. After a relatively lazy morning of sleep and laundry, we hop on a series of trains to board the ferry at Darling Harbor, destined for Manly Beach. We take the slow ferry and pass… Continue reading
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Apr 25 Sydney
Travelled in
ANZAC Day Parade Despite Cynthia’s cold — it’s a doozy and she IS a trooper — we get up early-ish and put on some nice-ish clothes because our host, David Williams, will march in the parade and has invited us… Continue reading
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Apr 24 Sydney
Travelled in
Drive to Bondi and other Sydney beaches and dinner at Italian restaurant. Travel is good for the soul but it can be hard on the elderly body. Our hosts leave for a variety of appointments and we spend the morning… Continue reading
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Apr 23 Sydney
Travelled in
Walking tour of Sydney After a quick brekkie, Cynthia and I walk out David and Gaye’s back yard door, cross a small dog park and get on the light rail for downtown Sydney, about 40 minutes distant. We go to… Continue reading
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Apr 22 Melbourne to Sydney
Travelled in
Jim drives us to the Melbourne airport where we visit the food kiosks in the domestic departures terminal for the sixth and last time, this one on our way to Sydney. David Williams (not the same person as in Melbourne… Continue reading
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Apr 21 Melbourne
Travelled in
After breakfast, Cynthia and I take the train into Melbourne to see Simon’s sculptures in 101 Collins Street. The office building is the “Fifth Avenue” of Melbourne, so the Bulgari jewelry store down the street has two guards dressed as… Continue reading
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Apr 20 Melbourne
Travelled in
During brekkie, Jim and Jenni show us photographs of the sheep farm they bought and renovated and lived in about a light year in the past: fifty-plus acres and more than 100 sheep and a variety of other animals. Then David… Continue reading
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Apr 19 Sandy Point to Williamstown
Travelled in
Sadly, the Big Chill must end and after brekkie we pack, load into Jim and Jenni’s car to return to Williamstown — leaving David Williams to burn trash and find the Tiger snake, and Helen to catch a bus to… Continue reading
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Apr 18 Sandy Point
Travelled in
David runs along a typical twisting-through-the-forest-along-the-edge-of-the-water path to an inlet, watching for koala and Tiger snakes. None. The tide is out so the inlet is a mud flat about the size of four baseball fields. Several pelicans, a dozen black… Continue reading
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Apr 17 Melbourne to Sandy Point
Travelled in
Tuesday morning continues our string of basically beautiful weather. After caffeinating we load David and Helen’s diesel Range Rover, get $225 of gas poured into its two tanks, and motor about three-plus hours to Sandy Point, a beautiful beach community… Continue reading
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Apr 16 Daintree to Melbourne
Travelled in
We finally discover why Daintree is called a rain forest. Pluvial does not describe today’s weather. “Torrential” is too tame. We pack in a lull between heavenly cascades and leave our lodge in pouring rain, thankful that we had sunny… Continue reading
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Apr 15 Daintree
Travelled in
We come at 9:15 for the lodge’s continental brekkie so we completely fail to understand why no one seems concerned that tables are dirty and there’s no bread to be toasted and lukewarm coffee in the carafe. We later learn… Continue reading
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Apr 14 Daintree
Travelled in
We have a quick breakfast and David, being the slow and stubborn learner he always has been, simply drinks coffee and eats nothing despite Cynthia’s admonition that he might want some energy seeing as how he’ll be snorkeling for two… Continue reading
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Apr 13 Port Douglas to Daintree
Travelled in
We leave Port Douglas late after enjoying our wonderful suite, planning our next few days and having lunch. We pass through miles of tall green sugar cane on both sides of the Captain Cook Highway until we reach a ferry… Continue reading
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Apr 12 Bendigo to Port Douglas
Travelled in
Drive from Bendigo to Hanging Rock. Then on to Melbourne airport, fly to Cairns, and drive to Port Douglas. Quite a day! Our creation myth, our personal Dreamtime, is that Cynthia was working between teaching gigs for Sandy McKenzie at… Continue reading
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Apr 11 Hall’s Gap to Bendigo
Travelled in
Halls gap to Bendigo museums and parks. We say au revoir until Fiji to Wayne and Myra, load the car, clean the cabin and depart on almost totally empty roads for Bendigo, one of Victoria state’s major gold-mining towns of… Continue reading
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Apr 10 Hall’s Gap to Dreamtime
Travelled in
Visit with Hanson family, tour area with Aboriginal guide. What do 1,000 cockatoos sound like in the morning right outside your window? Answer: You don’t know because you can’t think. The sound is so loud that it numbs your senses.… Continue reading
Two Tramps 