Honestly, I’m confused, my head is a mess. I spent forty-two years experiencing Christmas in winter. December, in my mind, will always be cold, now, suddenly, our tropical Christmas is in summer, it’s too weird! I find myself living in Port Douglas, Australia, in an alternate hemisphere, am I supposed to adjust to the idea …
Yesterday was the first day of summer in Australia. It brought wind and rain to Port Douglas, looks a bit stormy doesn’t it? Our wet season has started, so there is plenty more rain to come . Don’t be fooled into thinking it was cold, the temperatures were up in the thirties and the humidity …
Why do I love India? I fell in love with India a long time ago. I think it had something to do with visiting a neighbour’s house as a child, seeing her Ganesh shrine set up in the front room and hearing sitar music as she wafted about the house barefoot, jingling and dazzling in ankle bracelets …
The scary scuba diving story is the scariest of my travel horror stories. If you’re learning to scuba dive, read this first and avoid my mistake! Is scuba diving scary? Well, yes, it can be, depending on the person, but this experience would scare the whatsit out of most people. Despite this newbie diver story, …
We live in the tropics, Far North Queensland, we get horrible tropical diseases, more so, because we have children, adorable little germ factories that they are. Today’s disease is impetigo or school sores. It’s so bad I’m going to add it to my list of travel horror stories, I didn’t even have to leave home for this one! …
We’ve just got back from Four Mile Beach Port Douglas, the total solar eclipse was stunning! Dragging the kids out of bed at 4am didn’t go down too well, but a Daintree ice cream and some celestial spectacularness soon perked them up. Part of Photo Friday on Delicious Baby. As a new blogger I’d do linkies …
Is snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef on the top of your bucket list? It’s an experience like no other, a marine adventure that people travel the whole world to experience, an unforgettable day during your time in Australia. In this post we talk about snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, what it’s like, what …
Kopi Luwak or Luwak Coffee is often described as the most expensive coffee in the world, prized for it’s mellow taste. The first stage of coffee luwak coffee production is growing the coffee beans of course, but after this, the ripe coffee beans must be eaten and partially digested by a small mammal, a civet …
Small group adventure holidays usually involve travel to an adventure holiday destination, domestic or international, and touring or taking part in an activity with a group of strangers, plus a guide or group leader. These holidays can be of any duration from a few days to many months. For some individuals they are a great …
I’d love to get a long-term volunteer position while we are traveling, but, it’s hard to get into. it’s often a voluntourism scam and it is expensive for the volunteer. For me, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. Somebody else, with fewer family commitments and more cash will have the privilege of taking …
Well, who knows? We’d like to see a few new places and, of course, we have favourite countries from our previous trips that we’d love to share with the children, to explore further, or just revisit. This RTW, With Children, Will Be Different. We’ll have to travel slowly, build in some quieter times to kick …
My husband laughs at my packing. He laughed even harder when I mentioned that I was going to blog about packing for, you see, in the last 4 years of full time travel, of constantly moving on to pastures new, packing anxiety has been my constant companion. I hate packing! I really, really can’t stand …
A chef’s widow is a term used to refer to a person who is married to a chef. Chefs spend so many hours in work, at antisocial hours, that their wives and partners barely see them. I am married to a chef, a blog post about life, work, travel, and kids as a chef wife. …
It’s not unusual to attract wildlife when you’re camping in Australia. Living in the tropics involves plenty of up-close wildlife interaction. We’ve had wallabies and possums visit our tent more that once. But did you know kookaburras like to snatch your food too? I’ve seen then snatch chicken legs direct from somebody’s hand down south, …
A weekend camping on Lake Tinaroo. A great chance to catch Lake Tinaroo redclaw yabbies and mess around on Tinaroo dam. There’s loads to do up on the Tablelands, from playpus spotting to chocolate tasting, but first catch your yabbie. The Tablelands lie to the west of Cairns and Port Douglas in Far North Queensland. …
There are plenty of things to do in Ubud for families or with kids, there are family-friendly activities, dining and accommodation. You could spend weeks or months in Ubud Bali and stay busy. Some places in Bali have been ruined by their own tourist trade, we know because we tested several locations during our many trips …
We just had a couple of days camping in Cooktown. It’s about 3 hours north of Port Douglas in Far North Queensland, Australia. That’s along the beautiful coast road, only suitable for four-wheel drives for most of the way. There is a sealed road further inland, but it takes slightly longer and, arguably, isn’t nearly as …
12 Reasons to take a round the world trip (RTW). Only 12? There are far more, but I’ve tried to condense them into an even dozen. Our primary reason for travelling is education, learning, and understanding. I’ve always been driven by my thirst for knowledge in the areas that interest me, this is why I’ve …
We’ve been travelling full-time for over 4 years now, without a full-time traditional job between us and loving our new non-conventional life. Raising the money to travel was hard work initially, we weren’t rich, didn’t win the lottery and for the preceding 5 years we only had 1 income, my husband’s chef’s salary. I was …
Travel is amazing, but it’s time to ‘fess up. I have a few travel horror stories to tell. Sometimes travel sucks. It can be hard, exhausting, dangerous, boring or just plain icky. If you are squeamish or don’t like reading about matters lavatorial, maybe this isn’t the post for you. Here are some of my …
We’ve fed our travelling children in some incredible travel destinations, in over 50 countries now. They’re still alive, still healthy and one, at 12 is now dwarfing his mum. We’re doing OK. Do you want to know a few tricks and tips for finding food for kids while travelling? You need food they will eat …
There are quite a few options in Port Douglas if you are interested in helicopter rides and charters. We live in Port Douglas, but tourists are just as likely to take a helicopter ride here in Quensland too. Taking helicopter rides is one of the more expensive things to do in Port Douglas, but there …
Most people worry about flying with children. I used to, but now I don’t know why I ever did. We’ve done it many, many times including flying the seriously long-haul UK to Australia routes with kids. It holds no horrors for me and hasn’t for years. No, my children are not angels, far from it, …
Some people just don’t understand homeschooling at all. That’s OK, its not something that most people have ever come across or researched. It’s not “normal”, school is the best thing for kids in the conventional mindset. Surely it’s compulsory? It’s not compulsory, it’s a choice, parents have a legal obligation to provide their children with an education. …
Stinger season Cairns, Port Douglas, the Great Barrier Reef area and the whole of Far North Queensland is something you need to be aware of. Insider knowledge on how to be safe, for you and your kids is essential. We lived up here for 6 years safe from jellyfish, so read on. Dates for Stinger …
People often don’t associate South Africa with taking a safari or visiting a game reserve. I always think of Kenya and Tanzania, but there are plenty of wildlife parks in South Africa, the mighty Kruger and dozens of smaller game parks. We took our then very young children to a few of South Africa’s game …
This post was written and titled “Living in Port Douglas” when we were planning our great escape. We lived in Port Douglas. we owned, still own, a beautiful house there, but we left to travel the world for several years. We returned to Port Douglas in 2020 – 2023. Port Douglas is a great place …
We saw an Australian animal that less than 10% of all Australians have ever seen near Cairns, the fantastic, and surprisingly tiny, platypus. That’s wild platypus, not in a zoo. If you’d like to share in this incredible experience, check out the Atherton Platypus Park near Cairns at Tarzali Lakes. You can visit for the …
Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas, was closed a while ago by a 4-meter saltwater crocodile. He didn’t do much, just swam along the beach about 20m from shore. A crowd gathered and watched, that’s about as exciting as the day got. It made me think though, not many people have the experience of sharing their home with …
Koh Samet (also spelled Ko Samet or Ko Samed), is maybe the easiest of the Thai Islands to access if you are visiting Bangkok, just 220 Km from the capital and 7km from the shore. It is very popular as a weekend destination with locals and is full of backpackers, independent travellers and package tour …