We are spending a couple of days in the beautiful village of Tournon Sur Rhone. Nestled between the mountains the village is on the River Rhone. We have found a gorgeous boutique hotel named Hotel Ayalees.
Our accommodation in Dijon was a stunning 15th century three storied home with wonderful gardens .
Rising just above Dijon, the River Soane descends towards Lyon passing through several gorgeous little towns just before it flows into the Rhone. We have found many friendly easy going french people, certainly far from the arrogance that they are known for. It is so much fun picking restaurants to sample the local cuisine and wine. Tonight I hope to find frogs legs.
For us floating along the River Soane is peaceful and relaxing. Lucky, because the boat is slow. Calling into ports and villages. Eating, drinking coffee and wine in tiny bars, restaurants and self catering on the boat with local produce.
We are into our second day of walking the streets of Paris. What a beautiful city. Went up to Montmartre today finishing with lunch in a typical local French restaurant. Have taken too many photos, but here are some of our favourites.
We arrived last night into Paris via Finland. A good trip and felt surprisingly fresh on arrival, enjoying a meal out at a restaurant next door to our hotel. Our photos of Paris are taken from outside the hotel. So close to the Eiffel Tower.
We are having a relaxing time in Hua Hin, about three hours from Bangkok. Swimming, eating yummy Thai food , enjoying cocktails , night markets, the must have two hour daily massages, all in beautiful tropical gardens.
We have just completed our second Targa, and like last year completed all the Targa stages successfully without any major mishaps thanks to Mals good, but certainly fast, driving. Oh… and of course the excellent navigator.
Like the Triumph Stag last year, our little Triumph TR8 did not let us down and performed well. We experienced many emotions including terror (on my part), excitement and anticipation on what would happen next. We travelled many parts of Tasmania with a fun loving, friendly group. 
After spending a couple of days in Melbourne and then catching the Spirit Of Tasmania to cross Bass Straight to Tassie, we are home!! . It has been a great trip but as usual always good to get home !!! We enjoyed catching up with Liz and Gary (Melbourne friends) at their place for dinner, and also Guy who spent a day driving us around many of the sights of Melbourne. A real travel guide !!! Wayne and Bonnie, our “shed” and house sitters have done a wonderful job of looking after our home and animals. As I write this, Mal is actually back on the mainland delivering our much loved and used caravan…. we have traded it in on a bigger one with more comfort which we fly over to pick up on about the 24th October. If the new van gives us as much pleasure as the old one, we are in for a few more years of fun !!!!
We have been traveling down the Great Ocean Road for the past few days. It is a stunning area. The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243km stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. The spectacular Great Ocean Road was hand-built by approx 3000 returned First World War soldiers and sailors in honour of their fallen comrades. Completed in 1932, it is the world’s biggest war memorial. We spent a day up in the Great Otways National Park amongst tall trees, ancient plant life and lush ferns, before coming back to Apollo Bay for dinner at Chilli Tapas (yum). We also visited famous Bells Beach and Torquay amongst many other things.
After leaving the Great Ocean Road we have booked into Queenscliff on the Bellerine Peninsular for 4 days. Have been spending time checking out the area including the city of Geelong. Off to Melbourne next for 3 days before boarding our boat for our trip home.
The Clare Valley is an enchanting place, we have spent our time weaving our way through the tapestry of trails and have discovered so many special places tucked around every bend… characters, places, cellar doors and artisans all unique in their own way. We usually visit the Barossa, but I think we like the Clare Valley a bit more.
We booked in for 2 days, and have stayed for 4 so far!!! Loved the caravan park here set amongst stunning gum trees and green grass. Every night we meet fellow campers around the huge campfire for “Happy Hour”. Any excuse.
Have visited some great wineries including Tim Adams Wines, Pikes Wines, Annie Lane and the very old and beautiful Sevenhill Cellars. Yesterday we had a great lunch of tapas at Mr Micks Cellar and Kitchen. We enjoyed it so much we are going back today with friends we are camping with, Kerrie and Graham (Micky) Scholz from Henty. (one of my old home towns)
We have just completed our 3rd trip across the Nullarbor. We certainly live in a beautiful, ever changing country which is accentuated while crossing the Nullarbor. To say we love it is an understatement !!! Less than 3 weeks before we are home. We miss our little piece of Australian paradise in Tassie, our unique dry bushland, absolute peace, private beach and stunning views. We are very lucky. We are looking forward to seeing Molly, Salem, Booth and the Girls (the chooks and rooster) again.
We have had a safe trip so far with no major problems….. except a $600 bill for new car keys. (not lost by me thank goodness…. lost by “him that must be obeyed” ).
After about 8 days of bush camping, which we prefer, we have booked into the Clare Valley Park for a couple of days to stock up on water and do some much needed washing before heading along the southern beaches of South Australia and Victoria. Even though we will be home soon, there is still much to see and explore. We see so much while caravaning and bush camping. More than staying in motels John and Rhonda. You guys need a caravan. They come in 5 Star Rhonda !!!
If anyone gets the chance you must read Tim Winton’s book Dirt Music… His descriptions of driving from Perth through to the top describing the landscape, where we have visited this trip, are so perfect. I read it at night while crossing the Nullarbor and loved it.
We have been camping at Burns Beach, about 15 minutes north of Bec and Steve’s home in Perth. It has been great catching up with Bec, Steve, Rosie and Creed and doing a bit of grandparent stuff… picking the kids up from school, watching sport and even school presentations. We love the campsite at Burns Beach, right on the beach with bike track nearby. With only about 12 powered caravan sites it is a small park and was lovely when I phoned in advance and Wade the owner remembered us from our last stay. We will be here for a week before starting our trek across the Nullarbor on our way home.
Kalbarri is a tiny little place located at the mouth of the Murchison River. I was amazed to read in one of the tourist brochures that the population here is 2,000 – most of those people must be living in far-flung farming properties in the region – certainly there doesn’t seem to be any thing like that number of people in town.The weather here is less extreme than further north. We are officially south of the North West of WA and I guess this would be accurately described as being the northern most reaches of the mid-west coast. A good number of Perth folk spend their winters here, even though it doesn’t get anywhere as warm and toasty as ‘further up’. The winter temps here range from the low to mid 20s. My idea of paradise I think! I have never been one for the extreme hot and this trip has confirmed my love of slightly cooler climates. Rain-fall here is quite poor, as displayed by the fairly barren sandy coastal flats that surround the town. The Rainbow Jungle is out along the road heading out of Kalbarri town. This scenic drive takes you down to all the coastal gorges and some outstanding coastline. Massive multicoloured and layered sandstone and limestone cliffs tower over the sparkling turquoise ocean and enormous waves hurl themselves against the forbidding cliffs and rocks. Amongst all the gorges are some wonderful surfing beaches. Yesterday, there were whales breaching wherever we looked. A ‘must-do’ is to sit and watch the boats attempt the break from the river into the ocean. Worse bar than Ballina.
I know I will never do justice to the beauty here, but I will try with some of my pictures.
Kalbarri reminds us so much of Lennox Head 20 to 25 years ago. Although Lennox is still beautiful, we think it has been spoilt by far too many people in a small town. Kalbarri has a beautiful peaceful charm about it.
Fresh snapper for our BBQ tonight and tomorrow we are splurging on a couple of local lobsters….think lobster mornay !!!! Yumm….
After leaving Broome and Derby about a week ago, we have been traveling down the coast stopping at places such as Port Hedland, Karratha, Exmouth, Dampier and Carnarvon before arriving at Kalbarri this afternoon. We will enjoy staying here for a few days before making our way down to Perth. We have seen so much along the way and are certainly enjoying our travels. It is snowing today at our home in Tassie, so the warmer weather is certainly a change. I am sad we missed the snow though !!! We have loved the wildflowers that are just starting to bloom down the coast. I will show you my pictures of some of the flowers on another post.
Last Thursday and Friday we took a flight from Derby on a turboprop Jet Seaplane flying over the Buccaneer Archipelago landing onto Talbot Bay. After dropping our backpack into our cute little cabin with an amazing view on the house boat we were sleeping on that night, we boarded the fast boat “Jet Stream” for an exhilarating thrill ride though the Horizontal Falls. We had all the toys attached to the house boat including a helicopter for our enjoyment. That night we enjoyed a yummy barramundi BBQ and a few wines with our fellow travellers. Only 24 of us. After brekkie the next day we were back out on the fast boat for another trip over the falls before boarding our plane back to Derby. It was certainly a highlight of our trip !!!!
We are back in Broome for our second trip here. It is such a unique spot. We have already “pigged” out on delicious food at the markets and also at Wharf Restaurant….think Chilli Crab (very messy but delicious) and hot chilli prawns for Mal washed down with an ice-cold Rose wine. We have even been to Matso’s Brewery…. one of our past favourites http://www.matsos.com.au/
