C is for Caloundra - A-Z Guidebook linkup

Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast has long been a favourite getaway spot for Queenslanders. Offering four or five different beaches, there's plenty of sand and waves for everyone. 

When my husband and I first started dating we took a weekend away at Bulcock Beach and it's been a top spot of ours ever since. Facing Pumicestone Passage, there's no surf so the calm water attracts young families and people who just want to float around in the sparkling sea. 

Caloundra itself has changed a lot over the decades with more and more holiday apartments going up, but it has retained a lot of its sleepy seaside town appeal. 

There's not a lot to do unless like me you're a fan of late breakfasts, going for walks, reading trashy novels, eating ice cream, having a paddle and taking afternoon naps like me!

And at only 1-2 hours drive north of Brisbane (depending on traffic), it's close enough to home that you don't have to waste a lot of your precious holiday time getting there. 

Do you have a favourite beach holiday spot?

Linking up with TIFFIN Bite Sized Food Adventures monthly travel A-Z Guidebook 

4x4 Fun

I'd never been off-road with my husband before last weekend. When I was young I fondly remember my dad barreling the XF down dirt tracks to remote campsites, box trailer in tow. What fun. 

But I've never really been "4WD-ing" so when C decided he wanted to give another go to the mountain trail that I'd freaked out on a few weeks prior, I was a bit nervous. 

Lucky my husband is a prepper - he likes to be prepared for all eventualities. As he loaded a first aid kit, some "Max Trax" and a roll of loo paper into the back of the X-Trail my fears were somewhat assauged. 

The road we'd decided to take started at amount Kilcoy and ended Who-Knows-Where. We'd managed to find it on a Hema map but weren't sure where we would end up as there were multiple intersecting roads. I was having visions of the RACQ rescue chopper having to winch us out. 

I must admit, being completely alone in the Australian bush unnerves me. I was on Yowie-watch the whole time! The difficult parts of the road scared me, whereas C was having a complete ball tacking washouts and slippery corners. The scenery up there is stunning. At times over 600m above sea level, the bush changes from scrubby gums to semi-tropical rainforest as you go. 

In the end it wasn't a particularly challenging trail (apparently) but more than enough for my nerves! After a couple of hours I was ready for home and the promise of a hot shower. 

What I did like was taking the new camera and tripod and practicing our photography. And we even saw a kangaroo. 

Now we just have to decide where to go next! Any suggestions?

Travel Essentials You Can't Pack in Your Suitcase

These days, the average person will know the basics of international travel. Roll your clothes, take an emergency outfit in your carry-on, layering for the plane etc. But what about preparing your attitude like you do your luggage?

These are my favorite things to mentally pack when headed over the ocean blue: 

1. An Open Mind

Australians sometimes don't realise until they travel just how lucky they are to live in such a clean country with universal healthcare. Even if you're headed to another First World country, you should be prepared to see (and smell!) things that may shock or disturb you. Poverty, beggars, thieves, gypsies, garbage, sewerage - you'll need to keep an open mind and realise not everywhere is just like home. 

2. A Sense of Adventure

If you're not traveling for work, you're probably traveling to see new things, new places, experience the world - don't forget to bring along your sense of adventure! Being overly cautious can sometimes mean you'll make decisions you regret later. Try the street food! Visit that remote temple. Talk to the locals. You'll get so much more out of the experience. 

3. Common Sense

Point 2 should be tempered by point 3. Yes, be adventurous and take advantage of exciting opportunities, but always apply common sense. If that bungy jumping operation doesn't look like it's had any HS&E inspections lately, perhaps don't do it. Likewise give a miss to things like drinking the local water if travel guidelines say it's unsafe. And don't believe the taxi driver when they try to tell you that major tourist attraction is closed! I once nearly missed out on seeing Bangkok's Grand Palace because of a cheeky tuk-tuk driver!

4. Flexibility

I heard once there's an unofficial second motto of the US Marines:  "Semper Gumby". It's a joking way of reminding themselves to be flexible. When you're traveling, circumstances can change at a moment's notice. Connections get missed, weather ruins plans. Scaffolding happens.* Don't let these things ruin your day! Look for alternatives and make the best of any situation of possible. 

5. A Backup Plan

When things upset your itinerary or that museum you wanted to visit is closed on the only day you're in the city, it helps to have a backup plan. If you suspect a certain something you'd like to do might be closed/inaccessible/impossible, think of some alternatives. Don't go Clarke Griswald on everyone! Google is your friend, more so now than the large Lonely Planet tome we used to cart about. A good backup plan saves a lot of worry and anxiety!

With these tips in your mental kitbag, you're sure to have smoother travels. I've navigated my way though multiple travel disasters by using them!

This post is an entry in the Virgin Australia Problogger Event competition. 

*There's a Murphy's Law that applies to traveling in Europe - your favourite monument or cathedral is probably going to be covered in scaffolding. Old buildings need lots of restoration!

B is for Bath - A-Z Travel Guide Linkup

I can't describe how excited I was to visit Bath. After a steady diet of Jane Austen in my formative years, of course I yearned to walk the streets of the place where her characters and she herself spent so much time.

The Pump Room! Where the Georgians went every day to "take the waters". The signs seemed magical to me, like books brought to life - but of course Austen was writing from life experience after all. 

The Pump Room is just one of many wonderful sights to see in Bath. Starting at the bottom of the hill there is the Baths themselves (interesting tour) and the Cathedral (many famous people buried there, and beautiful in its own right). 

Further up the slope is the Jane Austen Museum (spent a lovely time there!) and the Assembly Rooms, location of so much of the drama in Northanger Abbey. 

At the top of the hill is the Royal Crescent - one of the most beautiful examples of residential architecture you will ever see. I couldn't help but imagine the carriages coming and going and the people promenading in the afternoon in Austen's time. 

On my way back down I discovered paths through gardens and woods. How delightful! And then I stumbled across the very spot where Captain Wentworth caught up with Anne Elliot, I'm sure of it...

If it wasn't for the awful backpackers hostel I was in, Bath would have been 100% perfect. Even non-Austen fans would love its gorgeous sandstone buildings and deep history. 

Linking up with Tiffin Bite-Sized Adventures A-Z Guidebook

A-Z Guidebook: Ayutthaya

In 2006, I took off on a mad adventure. Inspired by my travels in Europe the year before, I decided a solo jaunt through SE Asia was in order. On my own. When I look back at it now, I can't help but think how worried my parents must have been. Heck, I worry just thinking about how crazy it was!

One of the highlights of my time in Thailand was a day-trip to the ancient capital of Ayuttaya. Never heard of it? Neither had I, but my parents had recommended it having been there on a previous trip. Google maps calls the area Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya.

After an early morning drive in a packed minivan from Bangkok, we arrived. What a place! The complex of ancient ruins is vast, and you could spend hours wandering around. As my tour guide kept repeating - "many stupa, many temple!".

I took this photo with the timer on my very new digital camera, and is one of the very few of me on this trip. The price you pay for traveling alone BEFORE the advent of the Selfie Stick! The headless Buddhas were damaged in one of the wars between the old kingdom of Siam and their neighbours the Cambodians.

Many statues are smashed and the heads thrown to the ground, but the Thai still venerate them by draping them in cloth and flowers. It was a hot day but I bought a palm fan from a roadside seller and pressed on, taking in the history and spending a lot of time looking up at tall ruins.

For the purposes of this post, I'm only sharing one photo but if you're interested in SE Asian history, I recommend googling some more. The city ruins and stupas are truly amazing, as are the massive statues, still standing after so many centuries have passed.

This post is for the A-Z Guidebook linkup on Tiffin Bite Sized Food Adventures. Be sure and check out the other posts!

I Do... Love a Wedding

I was never a girl who spent hours mentally planning my dream fairytale wedding. I went to a lot as a young child, having lots of cousins tying the knot as I grew up. I always appreciated the aesthetic pleasure of a pretty party as well as the romantic symbolism of marriage itself.

I still adore weddings. The main things I love about them are:
a) traveling, a wedding is sometimes a little holiday!
b) dressing up, always a good excuse to roll out the accessories
c) free food and booze, who doesn't?
d) catching up with family and friends

Recently a friend from uni, who along with her fiance has become one of C and I's best "couple friends", finally got married. They decided on the Gold Coast for their venue and the bride being a lady who knew what she wanted from the start, had planned a beautiful day and night for their nuptials.

The wedding was at a church in Southport. The bride arrived in a vintage car and of course, looked stunning in her beautiful ballgown dress. 



We then retired to Palazzo Versace for the reception, which was a bit of a show-stopper of a venue. The reception was lovely, and the champagne flowed easily.

We took an apartment at Main Beach for the night, and in the morning I wished we could have stayed a few days longer! Coast living really appeals to me. I had a cup of tea on the balcony in the morning and was just seduced by it all.

It has left me wondering... when's the next wedding please??

What was the last wedding you went to? Do you love them as much as I do?

Kicking the Bucket List

Oh, I had such fun looking through all my old photos for this post...!

I was listening to the radio yesterday, and the segment was on "Bucket Lists". People rang up to share things that were on theirs, or that they had crossed off. Some were dangerous things, others unique experiences, or places to visit.

Not to be too Carrie Bradshaw about it, but it got me thinking...

... I've actually done quite a few amazing things that were on my informal "do before you die" list. It was kind of a cool realisation. 

I've:

- patted a tiger

- ridden an elephant

- had a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar at Raffles

- stood in front of the Mona Lisa and Van Gogh's Sunflowers

- been up the Eiffel Tower

- had a beer in the Eagle & Child in Oxford where the Inklings used to meet

- been to New Zealand, twice

There have even been some amazing experiences that happened quite by accident that I didn't know would be once-in-a-lifetime things I could add to my Bucket List:

- hiked a Glen in the Scotish Highlands

- napped in a hammock in a 200-year-old former Opium Den in Malacca

- went down the River Kwai on a bamboo raft

- got lost in the back streets of Venice and stumbled on the world's most amazing pizza

- watched the blackjack table in the Monte Carlo casino

And perhaps the biggest and cheesiest Bucket List item of all, amongst it all I somehow managed to meet the love of my life!

So what's left? There are so many amazing things in this world that I want to see and do. Most of my personal Bucket List wishes involve travel. I want to see Egypt, the Galapagos, Machu Pichu. I want to visit the Smithsonian and eat a bagel in New York. I've never seen Uluru and want to photograph the Red Centre. 

It occurs to me that I have not done anything Before-I-Die amazing lately. Need to get on that.

And if I had unlimited resources and could let my imagination run wild? I would love to go in to space. That would be the ultimate Bucket List item for me. 

What's on your List? Have you crossed anything off lately?

A Day on Maggie

Townsville is a place I now know well. We spend quite a bit of time there since my husband's parents moved there a few years ago.

We are always looking for new things to do in the area and this visit I decided I wanted to go to Magnetic Island for the day. Known as "Maggie" to the locals, I'd been before when I was young but remembered absolutely nothing!

We took the passenger ferry across (a reasonable fare of $32 return, I thought) and before we knew it we were being turned down to hire a Mini Moke. Mokes are a little bit of an icon on the island but turns out you need to get there early to hire one!

In the end this was a good thing, as it was a blisteringly hot day and in the end I was very happy with the Ford Focus we ended up with (and the ice-cold air con!). I certainly would recommend hiring a car, because though the island is quite small and you can take the bus between townships, it gives you some independance and you don't need to wait around in the hot sun. We saw people walking but the distances between places eg. Arcadia and Horseshoe Bay are quite great.

We took a few snaps at Horseshoe Bay before heading up to The Forts bushwalk. More on this in another post - let's just say for now it was a personal challenge for me, being quite steep and long! Afterwards I was promised a lovely lunch so we drove down to Picnic Bay and ended up at the pub there. One steak sandwich and a glass of prosecco later and I felt revived.

The water is so impressive and every view delights on the island. You can't swim in the summer - one of North Qld's biggest disappointments really - because of the stingers. We saw a few kids in stinger suits splashing about but most people confined themselves to the stinger net, which a local told us they rotate between the beaches throughout the summer.

We headed home in the afternoon a little disappointed that there wasn't much more to do. While waiting for the ferry, we strolled around the marina admiring the boats and yachts and dreaming of a nomadic life. Maggie is a quiet place - people who live there obviously value this and holiday-makers must appreciate the slower pace. But I don't think it's for me unless I ever decide I want the kind of holiday where you do nothing but sleep, eat, read and go for walks.

Come to think of it, that actually sounds quite nice...

 

Have you ever been to Maggie?

PS - this is also my 301st post on this blog - nice milestone!

Ignorance is Bliss

The sound the engines were making changed. Was it my imagination, or were they were slowing down? I glanced out my window to see only clouds. Were we descending?

I'm not a nervous flyer by any means. I actually love take-off, that wonderful adrenaline-inducing moment when the engines fire and the plane leaps forward, gaining speed before delicately lifting from the ground and soaring into the blue sky. It's the stuff of wonderment to me. The sheer physics of it are astounding.

Unfortunately, it was those physics of flight that were on my mind when flying back from Townsville on Sunday. Suddently, I was gripped by the fear that for some reason, the engines would fail and we would fall out of the air like a 300 tonne brick.

There's a strange misconception amoungst the populace, some sort of false story sold to us by tv and movies, that planes can glide. It's true, most big planes can suffer the loss of one or more engines, but when all of them fail, there's no steady descent in which the pilot has the luxury of picking out a handy field to make a crash landing in. Nope. Commercial planes are not in any way, shape or form aerodynamic. They do not glide. The only thing that propels them through the air is the fuckton of thrust being generated by those huge jet engines. No thrust, no forward momentum. No forward movement, no lift. No lift, DOWN WE GO.

I always scoff silently at the air hosties' safety demonstration. Because honestly, the chances of anyone surviving a crash landing over the ocean are practically none. You won't need the lifejacket, the whistle or the little light because the plane will disintegrate upon hitting the water. At the speed it'll be coming down, the physical forces involved will make the water like concrete.

What? I'm sorry, but this is the kind of stuff I think about. I was growing panicked, and suddenly my heart was hammering so hard I could feel the thud of the carotid artery in my neck. After a few minutes contemplating a sudden and horrible plunge to my death, my brain finally decided to throw me a figurative lifeline and pointed out I should look at the hosties. If they weren't worried, why should I be?

They were acting perfectly normal. I therefore concluded we weren't going to crash and calmed down. Statistically, I was more likely to die in a car crash driving to work than in a plane crash. Chill, Sarah, geez. Maybe ignorance is bliss.

Do you love or hate flying? Got any good stories?

A treasure trove of memories

A crashed computer is a painful thing. Heartbreaking, really. And when there is no hope of data recovery you just tend to cry a litte then put on your Big Girl Pants and carry on.

Back in 2007, my PC died. At the time, I blamed C because he was the one using it at the time, but I suspect the poor old thing just had had enough. He took it to his supposedly genius neighbour to try to fix, but to no avail.

I was inconsolable - though I had backed up photos of two of my big holidays, I hadn't backed up anything else. This was before the days of USBs and external hard drives, everything usually got burnt to 700MB CDs. I had lost all of my pics from my New Zealand Lord of the Rings trip, and all my everyday photos from 2004 up to that point.

Recently, when our current PC died and our new Geek Friend managed to retrieve all the data, C had a brainwave. He had for some strange reason kept my old hard drive, perhaps clinging to the hope that one day he would be able to fix it. Five years later (last week), he took it to Geek Friend and begged her to get him out of the shit with me and back in the good books!

And she did! She managed to extract all the corrupted data, and rescued all my old photos. I cannot tell you how happy this has made me. As a scrapbooker, I have always keenly felt the loss of these memories, and I was so moved when I was able to see them again.

These photos brought back so many memories. Most of all though, I was grateful to get back my NZ photos, and now have the task of deciding what type of project to choose for them! I am wavering between a digital book and a traditional scrapbook album.

I thought I would share some of these photos with you all, as some are truly beautiful, and some historic!

A little background: In December 2003 I was at the height of my Lord of the Rings fangirliness. I flew to New Zealand with two friends for a two-week holiday. We rented a car and drove ourselves around, staying wherever we ended up that night. We visited many LOTR filming locations and ended up in Wellington for the big Return of the King premiere and celebrations. We went to the TheOneRing.net party and watched the parade the next day. It was just ace.

Rotarua

Queenstown

A "tarn" in the mountains above Queenstown. The Rohan refugee scene from The Two Towers was filmed here.

Coromandel Ranges

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier

Somewhere in Marlborough. I think they filmed some Narnia stuff on this beach (many years later of course).

Same Marlborough beach

Te Anau

Tongariro National Park. The Mt Doom scenes were filmed up here.

Wellington, Return of the King weekend. Telecom New Zealand renamed its mobile cell tower in honour of the occasion.

Ian McKellan soaking up the adoration of fans

Elvish warriors

Ah, so many wonderful memories! Watching Peter Jackson's production videos of The Hobbit filming really makes me emotional. New Zealand has a special place in my heart and though I've already been twice, I want to go there again soon.

Have you found anything recently that you thought was lost?

Leaving on a jet plane

[image source]

This blog has been a little silent of late. The reason being is I haven’t felt the need to post anything. I usually do participate in a few link-ups on the weekend however I was visiting my parents the last few days and in between helping mum with her computer, a big family birthday party and generally lolling about I didn’t really think about blogging!

Today I’m going on a work trip. My company is sending me to Sydney for 2 days to complete a training course, along with a few other newbies. I’m flying out tonight and coming home Thursday. This means two nights and two days away, coming straight after 3 days away at the farm. I’ll be missing my darling a lot by the time I come back, I bet.

But at the same time I’m kind of excited. I love flying. I love that surge of speed when the engines spool up and engage, and the plane shoots forward on the runway. I sit there grinning, thinking about the unbelievable amount of air that is being forced through the jet engines and generating enough speed and lift to get the great hulking behemoth off the ground. I’m not so excited about landings, I must admit (I dislike the way the descent makes my stomach drop) but it’s worth it for that feeling you get on take-off.

The engineering of an aeroplane is a fascinating thing, should you be interested in the way things work like I am. Fortunately I am engaged to a guy that is an aircraft maintenence engineer, so he explains things to me. Did you know that a plane has about as much aerodynamic-ness as a brick? It's not the shape that makes it able to fly - it's the mysterious forces of physics.

I’m also kind of looking forward to the novelty of my first “business trip” and the all-expenses paid accommodation and food. We’re staying at an airport hotel, so won’t get to see anything of the city, but I don’t mind because I’ve seen most of Sydney multiple times!

Do you ever travel for work? Does it lose its novelty quickly?

The Locomotion

image source

This morning my commute was marred by a thoughtless person and their loud music. Undeterred, I put in my own earphones to try and at least counter their obnoxious rap with something more soothing. Luckily, playing my own music softly was enough to drown out their noise.

I ride daily in the "Quiet Carriage", a wonderful initiative of Queensland Rail and something I have been waiting for since discovering the “mobile-free” carriages on Virgin trains in the UK some years ago. I love the fact that most of the time, people talk quietly or not at all, and if they play music, it is done quietly. I’m free to read twitter or a book in peace, periodically staring out of the window and getting lost in daydreams.

I have always enjoyed the romanticism of train travel. Stretching back to my childhood to when I first read Murder on the Orient Express, locomotives have always held a certain charm. I enjoy the rhythmic sound of the wheels on the track, the speed which makes the countryside fly past, the relentless movement in a certain direction. You know where trains are going, and can have faith that they will stop – unlike buses, which make me uneasy. You never know where a bus is going to go. This love of trains has recently inspired a desire to travel one of Australia’s great rail journeys – we have quite a few, but I would love to go on The Ghan. Cutting Australia down the middle, The Ghan takes travelers on a trip through the heart of the outback in style. My mother was lucky enough to be chosen as a travel companion for my nanna on one of her last trips, and they went Gold Class all the way – needless to say, I was jealous of her tales of silver, linen napkins, sparkling glassware, amazing wine and an evening turndown service.

And of course there are the other great rail journeys of the world – The Rocky Mountains, The New Zealand Trans-Alpine, The Trans-Siberian railway – and yes, even the Orient Express. All beckon me with the promise of experiencing something not quite a part of this modern world of planes, buses and cars. Trains, despite my daily commute, retain a certain something of the past to me, leftover from an era when the great locomotives of Europe ran from Istanbul to Calais, and men in three piece suits enjoyed a cigar after dinner with their brandy.

Have you been on any great train journeys?

On Travel

I don't often undertake long car journeys, but today I drove over 2 hours straight to reach my parents' farm. Once out of the city, it's a pretty straight shot up the highway so my mind can dangerously wander.
What never fails to amaze me is how the brain can always be thinking of two or three things at once yet still undertake all the responsibility of driving.
When I worked in a 24hr call centre some time ago, I used to drive 20mins to and from work. Sometimes, coming off a night shift at 2 or 3am, I would commence my commute and then, seemingly almost an instant later, I would come to myself and find I was pulling in my driveway. The scary part? I recalled almost nothing of the journey! It's like I had a driving autopilot that could go through the motions whilst my brain took a short break from reality.
Luckily that hasn't happened in some time.
I always find it interesting also that I get just as tired being a car passenger, as being the driver. What is it about car travel that is so tiring? The forced inaction perhaps? I doubt I'll ever know anyway.
Since getting a job in the city I have discovered the joys of train travel. I had undertaken train journeys before - in Europe, the UK and SE Asia, but never a commuter train. I now have a 45min ride each way and it has allowed me to get a lot of reading done, but I'm yearning for something a little more productive. I could almost consider this commute 'wasted time' except for the wonderful company of Georgette Heyer, Patrick O'Brien, Jane Green, Terry Pratchett, Kerry Greenwood and so many others.
I hope to get a laptop soon. Then maybe I can blog on the way. I guess we'll see.