The World of Gondwana – Tasmania

We’ve been stepping through the ancient Tarkine forests these last weeks, discovering the places reminiscent of Gondwana Land. Tasmania has some of the few remaining forests on Earth which breath quietly and tell the tale of this ancient continent. One split apart giving birth to the ark that is Australia. It is relatively easy to find a true wilderness here in the wild Tarkine, in the remote NW of Tasmania. It is a place where ancient trees loom over you, one where you can see strange water falls that appear to have been built by a childish hand, a playful spirit stacking building block upon building block in columns, to create something that is natures own version of lego-land.

Time to Renovate on the Road

We’ve been travelling now for some years and have reached a point where our beloved home on wheels is in need a bit of work. Like a house, the van suffers all that wear and tear you experience from constant use. On-going maintenance is a must! But what people don’t talk about or perhaps don’t experience as they use their vans intermittently, is refurbishment.

Secret Places – CBD Sydney

View from Sydney Shore

Cities of the world each hold their secrets and Sydney is no exception. This is a city we frequent, one The Man and I grew up in and it is a favoured haunt of ours. It also holds some charming secrets, hiding them in full view and it never ceases to surprise me how so many people overlook these things.

While growing up in Sydney, we had some favourite things to do and see when time and circumstance allowed us. These entertainments ranged broadly from the local beaches to rummaging through the bush, and of course the Manly Ferry ride across the beautiful harbour, particularly when there was a Southerly Buster blowing and the ride was a tad on the wild side. A much loved day out was exploring the City, looking for new wonders as well as the remnant of good ole Sydney Town at the Rocks and other places, those still haunted by the past and family memories.

Living the High Life – Oldies at Large

Some say that you should never go back, and there are perhaps sometimes when that is a true idiom. For The Man and me though we often have returned to the places where memories have been made, those truly special places to the heart. This is the case with the High Country of Victoria. As children (it seems that way now) we enjoyed our honeymoon in decades past, in the High Country.

The Wet Season in Far North Queensland

It’s approaching time to head south, its time to leave the rainforest and our safe little camp nestled into the ridge. The monsoons have arrived and the Wet season is promising to settle in. All across the inland the water is at last beginning to flow after a long drought and it is gunna get damp in FNQ. I know this because the ants are on the move and small spots of mould are starting to appear into the crevices in the van. I spend a few minutes each day spraying and cleaning these pesky reminders of living in the Wet Season in the Far North Queensland Tropics.

15 Things I’ve learnt as a Grey Nomad

1. Blessed are the Chiller Bags

These handy zippered bags are the best thing since sliced bread. They are cheap as chips, readily available and great for storage and all manner of things. We store our seasonal clothes (out of season) in these and use them for dirty clothes. We prefer them to plastic when shopping or picnicking and they are great for holding ropes, cables and the like.

2. Companionship is Precious

Lapping Aus’ – What Next?

We’ve completed The Lap, an Aussie dream and yes… we adored our time travelling. It was all part of our retirement plan and given 18 months we feel that we took way too little time to appreciate all our country has to show us. We planned diligently and as happens, found we had commitments to meet with family and friends all along the way as well as our many adventures. These we all very much enjoyed but there was so much to see that we had to set aside for another visit a great deal and already we have made plans to return to many of these places. We also made lots of new and great friends who we continue to run into, who we follow on Facebook and with whom we will catch up with again for sure. Plans are already afoot.

Kalgoorlie’s Deserts of Gold

Available for FREE download, for just a few days is the e-book Deserts of Gold

A story of modern day adventure into the frontier Goldfields of Australia

Read about the history, the discovery and experience the adventure of one of the biggest goldfields in the world.

Come and journey with me in this tale from the ‘Around the Campfire’ series of stories in travelling around Australia, by traveller Jan Hawkins

People of the Nullabor – Mundrabilla

Most Australians believe the Nullabor, known historically as the Oondiri, is a desert wasteland. In general one sparsely populated with people who would choose to live elsewhere, and they couldn’t be more wrong. The Oondiri is a fascinating place, with a human history that stretches back 18,000 years at the very least. Descendant’s of the ancient tribes who once sparcely populated the waterless plain are now mostly settled in desert towns such as Norseman and Kalgoorlie. They wander the plains no more and this is a choice they make, as do we the vast majority of us.

The Bush Camp – Oldies at Large

I was born a city girl, one who grew up in the bush on the edge of the city, on the wrong side of the river my Great Grandparents would say. My Grandfather crossed the Georges River to the wilder south side of Sydney near a century ago, despite the advice of his parents. He built a home for his family amongst oyster leases, fishing huts, native camps and Chinamen who worked in those wonderful Chinese gardens in the cities of yesteryear. It was on the southern edge of Sydney in the 1920’s at Oyster Bay. Things have changed a lot since then … it is now considered millionaires row and the beautiful isolated peninsula is a much sort after suburb.