Category: 2017 The Antipodes

Eight weeks to Australia and New Zealand via Hong Kong

Duck Hunt

Well wha’d’ya know? We had rain again overnight which persisted into the morning. The pattern continues. If I ever meet the person responsible for the rumour that Australia is a warm, dry country, I’m gonna strangle them. Yesterday, David and

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

In Search of Donkeys

I’m beginning to detect a pattern. Once again we had some rain overnight at Warragul which persisted in drifting across Wallaby Wood into the the mid-morning. The rain was supposed to stop but the temperature was not expected to rise

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

Tree Ferns

We had spent our first and very comfortable night in David and Kay’s guest room in their mud-brick self built mansion. There had been a briefly uncomfortable feeling as Buddy, their dog, had peered longingly at us through our French

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

Mekung to Durnham

Today we left our self-catering cottage in Metung to head for our friends, David and Kay, in Darnum, near Warragul, Victoria. This is a stepping stone on our way back towards Melbourne where we will catch our flight to New

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

Bad Signs

Today we bad farewell to Francine’s brother and sister-in-law, with the requisite weepy eyes, of course, and headed for Metung on the south coast, where we have a self-catering chalet booked for the night.Regrettably our old weather jinx was in

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

Powder Magazine Walk

Francine has been digging around in a pamphlet containing walks in the vicinity of Beechworth and has settled on one taking in Ingram’s Rock, where wild flowers are mentioned. The written route of the walk is actually a circular walk

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

The Missing Charger

In February this year, we embarked on an Explore trip a trip to Namibia. On arrival at Heathrow airport, I had discovered that I’d left our joint camera charger at home. 2-week photographic trip and no charger. Brilliant, Franco! This

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

Trees Revisited

Our last trip to Australia was in 2001. That was a 4-week trip during which time we were based in Sydney, with Francine’s brother Michel. Our highlight, though, was a 2-week camping trip using his pop-up camper trailer. One place

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

Chinese Burning Towers

A quiet day. Francine had a hankering to visit Beechworth cemetery, where the main attraction seems to be a pair of Chinese Burning Towers. We were accosted by a local who wondered if we had “any rellies” buried in there.

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes

A Chance Encounter

Michel had suggested Sunday lunch on the deck of Gapsted Winery. Their website does a much more comprehensive job of explaining what’s what than I could here, so go look. Suffice to say that they make “cool climate” wines in

Posted in 2017 Australia, 2017 The Antipodes