Travel Archives - The Bright Eyed Explorer

What to do with your pets when travelling

If you are anything like me you struggle with the idea of leaving your pets when you go travelling. Unless you take them with you, this can be something that could either stop you from doing extensive travelling or stop you from going anywhere at all.

Some of us are fortunate enough to have a support network or someone in particular that they can rely upon. Some of us don’t. Most of us do not want to leave our furry friends in the hands of strangers, but sometimes we may not have a choice.

Believe me, this is my first thing I think about when I am considering travelling. It is all well and good to throw caution to the wind and book something, but my two fur kids are my children and I simply will not leave them in the hands of people I do not know.

How many of you that have animals watch your beloved fur friend get that sad look in their eyes when you start to pack for a trip? Oh, My Lord!!!! I tell you my two dogs, especially the older one, really make me feel like I am deserting them when I am packing. And as much as I try to hide the packing process from them (trust me I have tried many ways of doing this) they just seem to know.

My older dog, Ralph, picks up on things pretty quickly and man am I in the doghouse (see what I did there? Lol) for days on end. He has, many of times, turned his back on me and won’t give me cuddles for days! So, it is so super important that who I have looking after them is someone that I trust and someone that will give them the attention and love that they need.

For many years I was really lucky in that my brother and his wife would look after my two. They at the time lived in Melbourne and loved having time with my fur kids (well I hope that they did). I trusted them with my dogs and I know that the kids loved them immensely. But all good and easy things must come to an end at some point, and with their move up to the Gold Coast a few years ago the ease of booking a trip became a bit more complex.

While I could put them in a kennel, it simply is not an option I would consider. I am not dismissing the convenience of using a dog kennel as I know some people do not have the luxury of anything else. But for me, I just couldn’t. I’ll put my hand up and say my dogs are spoilt. They follow me around, they eat super well (home cooked food), we have snuggles on the couch every day AND they sleep on top of my bed.

One is a touch on the anxious side and quite old (14) and the other is adorably crazy. They are as reliant on me as I am of them. So, to put them in a kennel for an extended period of time just does not work for us.

My first trip overseas after my brother and his partner moved, I had two good friends look after them at my place. The second time another two good friends took it in turns at my place. The third, a short trip to New Zealand, offered up a place for a friend who was in between houses. The fourth trip overseas my cousin was living with me at the time, so she looked after them. The last trip overseas, a work colleague who was in between rentals.

*Photos from pet sitters while I’ve been away*

When I have family or friends staying at my place to look after my dogs and they have never looked after them before I will always get them to come over to go through a few things. It is important for your dog sitter to know how much to feed them, what they do’s and don’ts’ are, where to walk them and general quirks that my dogs have. We will always go on a walk together so that they know what my dogs temperament is like when on a leash.

I am also crazy enough to have a dog manual in print that stays on the kitchen table for them to use should they need. I know, I am a crazy dog lady! But it is important for me to feel comfortable leaving my fur kids as much as it is for the friend to feel comfortable in my home and with the kids.

I ensure that:

There is enough food and treats so that the friend does not have to go shopping for anything.
Leave extra money in case food runs out or the friend wants to buy treats.
The dogs are groomed, washed and smelling fresh for their visitor.
Beds are clean.
There are enough toys to keep them occupied.
The person has emergency contact list including vet, emergency vet, other family or friends in the area that can assist.
Offer to pay the person looking after your fur kids. I often get told to “piss off” with this one so I either buy them something from my travels, take them out to dinner, treat them to something or buy them a gift that I know that they will love.
I need to check my expectations. Just because they sleep on my bed does not mean that the friend is comfortable with doing that. Even though I walk my two daily, it does not matter if that doesn’t happen every day when I am away.
Remember the favour that has enabled me to travel.
Try not to be a pain in the arse by not contacting the friend every single day! You have them there for a reason, you trust them. Enjoy your holiday!

Being in contact while I am away is super important for me. I won’t lie. The first couple of days are always rough as I go through my own separation anxiety. But as soon as I settle in and know the dogs are ok, I tend to relax a little. I always ask for whoever is looking after them to send me photos or videos and let me know how they are going. This works really well for alleviating any anxiety that I may have.

Relying on friends and family not only gives you the option to be that crazy animal owner and ask them to ‘reeeeeally’ look after your family, but they are trusted people in your network of people. You know them, you trust them, and you know that they understand how important your fur kids are to you.

But what if you do not have that option?

Friends of mine have become connected to dog meet up groups on social media and have met trusted dog/house sitters through that option. Generally, people who join these kinds of groups love animals so will have your fur kids’ best interest at heart.
Consider taking them with you. I know not an option for a lot of overseas travel, but if you are travelling locally and if it is somewhere you can easily drive to, or if animals are allowed on trains and buses, why not try out dog friendly accommodation. Just as much as you love getting away, I am sure your animals do too. You can read about our recent dog vacation to Macclesfield here: ‘Dog Vacation Victoria – Luella Rise’.
Look at trusted house sitters’ websites such as: Trusted House Sitters, Mad Paws and Happy House Sitters. Be selective with who you choose. Remember you must be able to trust the person to look after your animals. Ask them questions, treat it like an interview and ALWAYS ask for references. Blind faith is a hard thing, trust your gut. If it feels like a good option, it is likely that it will be. If you are feeling too anxious about the person, find someone else.
Consider your animals staying at a family or friends place rather than in your own home.

I have been very fortunate not to have many mishaps while I have been away travelling. The dogs have been in good health, the people that have looked after them are people I trust explicitly. There has only been one time where I had someone booked in to look after my two that put me at unease. Communication was pretty shit leading up to my trip, and the limited contact we did have I was constantly told “not to worry, I have this sorted”, something did not sit right for me. So, I cancelled her and asked someone else.

If it doesn’t feel right for you, find someone or something that does. I know it is a huge responsibility to place on someone else, and I ALWAYS remember that this person/people are doing me a massive favour. But nothing would more heart breaking than knowing your beloved fur family was not looked after.

When you have someone doing you a favour as big as this (because it truly is) ALWAYS remember to be gracious. Your animals are ultimately your responsibility. But if you are having a family member or friend look after your fur kids, do the right thing and show your gratitude. I am so super thankful to the people that have looked after my dogs. If ever there is a time, I repay their generosity in some way.

What it has enabled me to do is that I have been able to travel knowing that the two things I love more than most things in this world are doing well, happy and content. Most of the times after the trip is over and things return to normal, the friend ends up back at my place because they miss my two! Hopefully me too!

For me, nothing feels better than turning the key to my front door after a trip away and a long flight home to see my two dogs. The excitement levels are through the roof and in all honesty, I don’t think ANY human has been as excited as my two dogs to see my face when I have come home from a holiday. Equally as good is knowing that they have been loved, cared for and they are happy and in good health.

So, when planning your trip when you have animals to care for, I hope the above gives you some insight on some of the things that you can do in order to feel comfortable travelling. As well as what other crazy animal lovers do to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their beloved pets.

How Italy changed me

February 18, 2020October 28, 20222 Weeks in Italy, Adventure, Europe, Finding yourself travel, Inspirational Travel, Italy, Solo Adventures, Solo female travel, Solo travel, Travel admin 1 Comment

A story of homesickness, tackling grief and learning to finally love who I am, all while being alone and 15,000 kms from home!

Oh Italy, you changed me! This one is a little emotional……

At the time of visiting Italy, I was quite homesick and just felt this weird sense of unease.

Don’t get me wrong. I did have a fabulous time. Italy was all and more of what I expected. All that fabulous food and wine, the people, the history, the art. All of it so special. So amazing. But there was just something that didn’t sit right for me.

I knew it wasn’t Italy. I knew it wasn’t being on holiday (um the alternative was being back at work – hell no). But I just knew that I was off. Something wasn’t right and I couldn’t figure it out. For a moment there I was worried that I was over doing all this travel thing. Ah of all the dumb things that came to my mind.

It wasn’t until a very close friend from home called me when I was in Florence (she was concerned about my lacklustre replies to her check in messages) that we nutted out my problem.

I missed my mum.

My Italian adventure happened to be my first European trip since my darling mum passed away 15 months prior. Sure, I had gone on other holidays since she passed, but this was my first one to Europe. Usually when I go to Europe, I would check in with her every day. Often calling or FaceTime’ing each other so I could hear her news and tell her about all the exciting things I had seen or done over the last day or so.

Mum was always super interested and keen to know everything I was up to. She would be entertained by my mishaps, interested in my adventures, wanted to know all about the local food and wine and in general, how I was getting along. Almost every call she’d giggle and then ask if I’d met any ‘nice men’. I think she was always far more interested in my adventures than anyone else I know.

Mum had never travelled overseas and thought I was a little crazy having this need to travel every six months. She was often worried about me travelling by myself, but trusted me enough to know I would take care of myself. I like to think by doing so she got to see a little bit of the world through my eyes. Looking at it that way, I have taken her to Indonesia, Norway, Denmark, France, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, UK and Thailand. She was mostly impressed by Paris!

I missed out on all of that this trip and it just did not sit well with me. I felt like I was a pressure cooker ready to explode. Worst though was that I found myself not enjoying my time in Italy as much as I thought I would and then became quite annoyed with myself for doing so. Ahhhh what a mess!

Luckily, that all changed when I could identify what this nagging feeling was (thanks Danielle!). And by doing so I gave myself the chance to work through it. Finally after months of denying myself the chance to feel my grief. I was alone, I didn’t have to hide it from anyone. I could let it all out. And Boy did I let it out! I won’t lie, it was bloody tough. Let me tell you there is nothing like having an emotional breakdown when you’re in a foreign country and SUPPOSED to be having the time of your life to really make you question where you are at in life! What a mess.

But you know what, I somehow I managed to make some clarity of it all and the heart heaviness I was feeling was just a little bit less. I knew I had to make the best this situation so on I went out onto the busy streets of Florence and Rome and enjoyed what time I had left in Italy with the appreciation of being strong enough to have worked through some pretty tough shit. Knowing that mum was always happiest when her children were happy gave me a choice of either choosing the path of letting grief beat me down or carrying on with her love and happiness in my heart.

The sadness of losing my mum will always be there. I am forever a changed woman without having her presence in my life. I am just learning to deal with the grief a little better and know that I need to keep living my best life. For her. For me.

Rome Pantheon — *Living my best life in Italy*

Rome Trevi Fountain — *Living my best life in Italy*

So, for me Italy was a trip of growth (not just the pasta fuelled waistline kind of growth), learning, actually dealing with my grief (instead of hiding or not acknowledging it) and becoming so much stronger and resilient than I ever thought I could be. A chip off the old block really (Aussie slang for meaning that a child is just like one of their parents in character or behaviour). The fire and passion was back in my belly and i’ll be damed if this 40 something year old independent woman wasn’t going to continue to go out and experience the best of life.

What I also took from my trip to Italy was just how much I love the freedom of travel. How much I love getting on a plane and experiencing new places. That I am fortunate enough to be able to have these experiences is never lost on me. I learnt that I really do love throwing myself in the deep end when it comes to travel and feeling, seeing, doing as much as I can. I relearned how much I love being an independent woman with choices. But (and it is a huge BUT) most importantly, after 42 long years, I FINALLY learnt that I am pretty comfortable with who I am and that I love being me.

In the end Italy really grew on me. So much so that I actually found myself not wanting to go home. I will be forever grateful to such a fabulous country for giving me the time and space to let myself have those moments for I feel like I have changed and am better for having had the experience.

I am also really grateful for all the pasta. And the Wine. And the Pizza and gelato and…….

So, thank you Italy. I didn’t know I needed you as much as I did. You’re like a wise old Nona, dishing out the hard love and life experiences, while at the same time loving, nurturing, caring and shoving good food in the faces of those who need your love.

Mangia bene, ridi spesso, ama molto xx

It is the two year anniversary of my mother’s passing from Ovarian Cancer today (19th February). Ovarian Cancer is one of those cancers with a high death rate cancers and limited funding for research. A matter VERY close to mine and my family’s hearts is making donations for research into early detection tests and lifting the survival rate. If you would like to donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) you can do so here.

To find out more about my experience at Kata Tjuta and my connection to my mum, read: ‘Finding peace and connection in the middle of Australia’

Carry on size luggage only: How to travel lightly for 3 weeks in Europe

April 12, 2019October 28, 2022Adventure, Carry on luggage, Carry on only, Minimal luggage, Solo Adventures, Solo female travel, Solo travel, Travel, Uncategorized admin

I thought with all of my trips to South East Asia that I was a reasonably ok packer. In fact, the last trip I did to Bali in 2015 I only took carry on size luggage in an attempt to save money on the cost of my flights. And I did ok. Granted a trip to Bali generally means I do some much-needed suitcase filling bargain shopping, yet I STILL managed to get home with only carry on.

So where did it go wrong from Bali in 2015 to my last overseas and overpacked trip to Queenstown in 2018?

I don’t know.

Well I kind of do, some of those trips have been to much colder climates than South East Asia, like above the arctic circle cold! Some trips I have just been a total dick about what I have packed, mostly it is due to poor planning or thinking I really could need this skirt/top/cardi/hoodie/hairdryer etc etc, when in fact I clearly did not.

I mean the amount of times I have come home from a trip with a sore back from lugging around a packed to the hilt backpack only to unpack clothes I NEVER WORE!!!!

This happens to me ALL the time!

Clearly forgetting the packing for Bali rule, which is:

Pack
Unpack
Refill your case with half of what you initially packed
Unpack again
Repack with a third less

Me, no I just pack everything but the kitchen sink. I mean I have contact lenses that had actually expired because I don’t wear them at home but here I am packing them and a full bottle of saline on my last trip to Queenstown because you never know, I may just be inclined to use them.

They were never used, in fact I threw them out so I could bring home a few purchases.

My first trip to France, a local helped me out of a train station by offering to carry my ‘backpack’ up the stairs and onto the street. Here I was worried he was going to run off with my luggage, in hindsight there is no way he’d have gotten 50 meters up the road with all I had thrown into that bag. I know my travel companion Kerryn was probably (and rightfully so) unimpressed with my massive loot on numerous occasions with me holding her up trying to lug this shitbag full of crap, but full credit to her for not giving me the ribbing I most definitely deserved.

A few years later and back in Paris and super keen to impress my gorgeous Parisian man friend (oooh la la) who happens to be a very experienced traveler (being a travel journo and all) lead to an epic fail when trying to scale the steps of a rail overpass at 5.30am to meet a train. Him needing to head off to an assignment and all. How embarrassing when he turns to me all deliciously French and goes “Your luggage is just too much, I cannot wait for you, I have to go” and off he drifts with his teeny tiny little overnight bag into the rising sun meanwhile I’m mid flight of stairs trying to lug this ridiculous bag of shit all the while looking like an unruly mess of sweat and regret.

Damn you bag. Damn you overpacking queen!!

Carry on size — 45 litres on the left as opposed to who knows how many litres on the right. YES!! I dragged that bag around Europe on TWO trips. Weirdo!!

A serial over packer I MAY have been in the past, but its time as a 42 year old who has enough travel experience to know better, I am challenging myself to do better with this packing thing.

My next trip which is in a few days time will be CARRY ON ONLY !

Yep that’s right, carry on sized luggage only for 3 weeks in Europe. 3 weeks in Europe with varying degrees of weather.

Am I crazy? I don’t think so but numerous friends and family who have seen the size of my 45 litre High Sierra Convertible Carry On Backpack think it hilarious that I am even embarking on this challenge. There are more than a few that doubt that I can do this.

High Sierra AT8 Convertible Carry-On in the color Black Zest. Clicking on any of the links within the product gallery will enlarge the image. Detailshttps://shop.highsierra.com/backpacks/high-sierra-at8-convertible-carry-on/67939XXXX.html Item 67939XXXX HIGH SIERRA AT8 CONVERTIBLE CARRY-ON

Always up for a challenge and to prove people wrong, I’ll show them how easy this can be.

I am a few days out from my trip and there are certain measures I’ve had to take to ensure that this will be a success. I have to be very calculated with what I am packing and there are a number of things I have put in place for determining what will and won’t work for me. But even before I’ve started thinking about what to pack the decision to try carry on only has impacted on where I have chosen to stay however, mode of transport has become undoubtedly easier to plan.

So, after landing in Rome I will be heading directly to Munich on an internal flight so naturally, I have selected carry on only luggage which cut the cost of flights considerably. A win for the Aussie dollar competing with the high flying Euro! On this trip I am cutting down on the amount of clothing considerably. Who cares if I am wearing the same clothes in my photos! The first week of my trip I am in hotels so will either need to spend time at a laundromat washing clothes or use the old bar of soap, water, and hanging dirty clothes over chairs and tables trick in an attempt to wash and dry my clothes.

I’ll be totally fine with this; I’ve done this throughout all of my travels.

After a week of hotels its apartments and washing machines all the way! Hoorah!!

Why am I doing this?

There are so many reasons as to why carry on only is such a good option while travelling. From financial benefits of being able to select cheaper flights to skipping queues at airport bag drop off to minimsing the risk of luggage being lost and knowing you have your belongings safe with you. It seems to me a no brainer, something I should have thought of many many flights ago.

What swayed me for this trip is that I will be spending a fair amount of time walking to and from train stations and some of these walks are quite significant. Also, I’ll mostly be travelling by train. Lugging heavy baggage on and off trains is a huge pain in the arse, too much of a struggle that I simply want to avoid.

So if you want to get on the less is better travel bandwagon by minimising your luggage and switching to carry on only, here’s some important factors to consider:

Choose the right bag!
It goes without saying that this is THE most important part of ensuring you have the right bag that will fit airline carry on requirements. Keeping in mind that all airlines have different dimension restrictions so it pays to look up what your carrier’s rules are.

Generally the standard size is: 56cm x 36cm x 23cm Weight 7kg

When choosing the right bag for carry on the whole purpose is to make your travel life simpler. Some other things to consider when choosing the right bag for you are:
Detailed packing list
The second most crucial part of nailing minimal packing is to have a detailed packing list. Having a list keeps you within your limits and on track with what you are packing. I started mine a while ago and have looked at it many times questioning the things I was intending on packing.
Pack early

Pack at least a few days before you head off on your trip so that you are not throwing things in last minute.
Be strict!
Learn to be hard on yourself and say NO! If you can’t then enlist the help of a trusted friend to help you go through your items and get them to question why you’re packing things. If you can’t find an answer or its wishy washy then there is simply no reason to pack that item. Remove those ‘what ifs’, you don’t need them.
Set limits
Put a limit on toiletries and bottle sizes. All the major pharmacies, supermarkets and travel specific retailers will sell the small empty travel bottles. USE THESE. There is absolutely NO need to pack a full bottle of saline for a 3-week trip. Nor is there a need for taking all of your moisturiser when you can put a small amount into one of these empty containers. Also buy travel sized toiletries.

While you’re at it, put a limit on the amount of electronics you’re taking. You’re on holidays, unhook from technology for a while!
Wear bulky items on the plane
If it is a matter or trying to get through airport check-in with the minimal amount of weight then do this and once you are through can be repacked into your bag. Also, as a space saver jackets or cardigans can double for a blanket as can a scarf be used as a pillow.

What else am I doing to minimise my packing for this trip?

I’ve ditched the shampoo and conditioner bottles, opting to use an all in one soap bar for my hair from Lush. Let me tell you how gorgeous this smells and how wonderful my hair feels. The one I selected ‘Godiva’ has enough oils in it to condition your hair so you only need the one bar for washing and treating your hair. Such an awesome product I am now using this every time I wash my hair.
Compression packing cubes. Packing cubes in general are a must when it comes to travel. I’ve used them for years and cant do without them now. Compression packing cubes help in that they give you a few more cms in space meaning you can add more to your luggage. Just be careful with your bag weight.
Rolling clothes instead of folding
Choosing clothes that I can get multiple wears out of and can mix and match means you get more out of what you’re packing. Be clever when you’re making your list and work out what goes with what.
Only packing 2 pairs of shoes. One pair I will be wearing on the plane, the other will be filled with socks and underwear.
As I will be staying in apartments and am able to wash my clothes I have purchased washing tablets to use. But instead of taking the whole packet of 20 tablets I have put 6 tablets (more than enough for 3 weeks of travel washing) into an old vitamin bottle so they are secure and do not take up much space.
Ditching tablet boxes and just taking the sleeve of medication. A small thing but those boxes can take up some space that you can fill with other goodies.
Wearing my heavier jacket on the plane to double as a blanket
Not taking my huge Canon 6D MII, instead I have invested in a Canon Mirrorless that is to be used specifically for travelling.

Lush-shampoo-conditioner-soap-perfect-for-travel — Lush all in one Shampoo and conditioner is a fantastic space saver

minimising-washing-powder-for-travel — Lush all in one Shampoo and conditioner is a fantastic space saver

So there you have it. Challenge accepted! I WILL do this and continue to travel in this way from now on.

With under a week to go I have completed my packing list and have attempted a packing trial run. While I had missed a few small items in the trial run, I still had plenty of room left in my case, which means I can do a bit of shopping. YES!!!

All packed apart from 2 items. Too damn easy!!

Looking forward to simplifying my travels from here on.

If you need any more tips or are interested in how this went for me, feel free to drop a comment below.

If you found this post interesting and helpful check out my recent post about surviving a long haul flight by staying comfortable and entertained.

Surviving a long haul flight: Tips to keep you comfortable & make time fly by

April 12, 2019October 28, 2022Adventure, Australia, Leisure, Long haul flights, Sightseeing, Solo Adventures, Solo travel, Travel, Uncategorized admin

For Australian and New Zealand travellers, unless we holiday in our own countries, the Pacific Islands or South East Asia it is inevitable that at some point we will have to endure the long haul to the rest of the world.

I think the longest I’ve done is Melbourne – Bangkok – Oslo – Tromso = 23.5 hours flying, not including layovers. Add those to the mix then there is another 10 hours to account for, which is actually considerably good for layover times.

That is a hell of long time to be sitting on your bum, in economy no less because let’s face it, who can afford business or first? I’d struggle to afford premium economy, or rather I’d prefer to use what I’d pay on a premium economy seat to use on my trip. But hey, if you CAN afford the upgrade, good for you, I would imagine the comfort is well worth it.

So what have I done on past trips to ensure I am entertained and comfortable enough? Lots of things, below are some handy hints that could end up saving you a lot of pain, boredom and sleep deprivation:

Preparing for a long-haul flight

Get in early and choose your seat. The debate over window or aisle rages on however, whether you find a window seat best for sleeping or you prefer an aisle for easy bathroom access you’ll only have the option to get the seat you want if you check in ahead of time. Or select your seat when booking, if you can do that.

Also, not that this works ALL the time, but quite a few times I have managed to secure an entire row all to myself which means I can stretch out more which is easier for sleeping. How have I managed this? I book my seat up the back of the plane. Front of (or closer to the front) means quicker exit and it seems most people prefer to sit up the front. But for the sake of potentially securing a row to yourself then try up the back. You could get lucky!

Get your body ready. The day before your flight go to the gym, go for a walk, eat healthy, hydrate yourself and get a good night sleep. Also pack yourself a little amenities bag (more on this below) for freshening up both on the flight or on a layover. All these measures will help with both your in flight experience as well as combating jet lag.

So what do I do in cattle class to pass the time?

Sleep

I don’t know about you, but this is the one thing that has failed me time and time again. I am quite in awe of those who can drift off for hours on long haul flights, but if you’re anything like me it’s 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there. It is frustrating.

Contrary to what you’d think is the natural order of things when it comes to sleep, you should start your long-haul flight already well rested. That way if sleep evades you on the flight at least you’re only catching up on a few hours’ worth of sleep (as opposed to many days) in your holiday destination.

Some people rely on alcohol or sleeping aids to get themselves a few hours of shut eye. I find for me that red wine gets me sleepy, but still not enough for a few hours of sleep. Plus, too much of that is very dehydrating. I’ve not tried sleeping pills or other sedatives, however this upcoming trip I think I may give the old mother’s helper ‘Phenergan’ a go. I use it before sleep for allergy flare ups and I seem to drift off with no problems.

Will see how it goes!
Escape
Move

Get up out of your seat and go for a walk around the cabin. Or head up to the back of the plane and do some squats or leg raises. Not only does this help pass the time but it gets the blood pumping which after hours of sitting on your backside is vital for your health.

I’ve often seen people up the back with their iPad watching a TV show, just so that they can stand up for a while.

While in your seat make sure that you keep pumping your legs, flexing, and stretching both your legs and arms. The risk of developing a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) increases on long haul flights so movement is important to keep the blood flowing. It is also wise to keep yourself hydrated (no, that does not include wine!!) and wearing compression stockings or socks.
Eat

Yeah yeah air plane food is nothing amazing, unless of course you’re sitting in first or business of course. But by the time that food trolley comes around you can wipe off about a half an hour of flight time with the whole eating and drinking business.

On a trip from Australia to Europe (via Asia or Middle East) there are at least two to three meals on each flight. For a 9 hour flight from Melbourne to Bangkok that’s at least 1 hour of your time taken up by eating and drinking.

How do I make the flight more comfortable?

Pre-book my seat.
Noise cancelling headphones (or ear plugs).
Eye mask.
Small amenities kit including deodorant, toothbrush and paste, face mist or cream, lip balm, hand cream and saline nasal spray (trust me it’s a game changer).
Berocca, Hydralite, multi-vitamins and headache pills – to fight jet lag before it even begins.
Baby wipes. Essential to give yourself a quick body wash.
My own water bottle so I can fill whenever and keep myself hydrated.
Loose fitting clothes – dress comfortably and layer up because it can get cold on a plane.
Loose shoes you can kick off – don’t wear tight shoes if you know your feet are likely to swell.
Travel pillow/scarf. Personally, I use a scarf as it has more than one use but effective rolled up as a pillow.
Only have what I need for the flight under my seat so that I have more leg room. The rest can go in the overhead locker.
Book an overnight flight in order to reduce jet lag

Carry-on-survival-kit-amenities — Carry on survival kit (minus the toothbrush)

And when the flight is over?

Normally I am super keep to get to my destination and start exploring. Or eating and drinking. However, after 24 hours flying there are a few things I do that ensure that I fight off the dreaded jet lag:

I try to book flights where I arrive in the morning, that way I am acclimatised to the time of the country that I am in.
Unpack. Just get it done, that way you have more time to get out and do fun stuff.
Go for a short walk to get the blood pumping. I mean you have been sitting on your bum for many hours, get those legs moving.
Familiarise myself with my surroundings.
Eat something fresh and healthy.
Loads of water.
Put on a hydrating mask (these are so worth it).
Have a long warm shower.
A glass of wine.
Get a decent night sleep.

In a few days I am off on a long haul flight to Munich via Bangkok and Rome so hopefully it is a comfortable and easy series of flights. I’d be super happy to get some sleep on the Bangkok to Rome leg so fingers crossed for that!

Hopefully some of this post is helpful to those of you whom are embarking on a long haul flight soon.

If you found this post helpful and interesting then check out my recent post on travelling with carry on size only for 3 weeks in Europe.

Solo travel: nothing adventured, nothing gained.

February 12, 2019October 28, 2022Adventure, Sightseeing, Solo Adventures, Solo female travel, Solo travel, Travel, Uncategorized admin 4 Comments

Face those fears and book that ticket.

As a frequent traveller I am often asked why I choose solo travel over travelling with others. It is not that I don’t enjoy the company of others when travelling, it is just that my preferred form of travel happens to be by myself. In the last few years I have had family, friends, and even strangers try to understand my reasoning so it has compelled me to put this piece together.

If you are seriously considering solo travel, I hope that this post gives you the motivation you need to commit to it. If you’re wary, curious, sceptical or don’t think solo travel is for you then I hope that this gives you some insight into the wonders of solo travel and how it can impact your life in such a positive way.

Personally, I have found that there is nothing in life more challenging, yet so fulfilling and life changing than solo travel. By being pushed so far outside of my comfort zone, solo travel has given me the ability to trust my own instincts and has elevated my confidence in ways that I would never have imagined.

Simply put, solo travel is liberating.

It is freedom.

And it is sooooooooooo rewarding!

My solo travels have been periods of extreme growth as an individual. It is where I have learnt more about myself and the world around me than I ever would have done sitting at home waiting for someone to travel with me. 

On that topic let me just get this off my chest straight away. DO NOT wait for other people to accompany you on a trip. Just go. Do it. Don’t fall into that trap of letting other people hold you back from your dreams. Once you are out there, you WILL meet people and oftentimes you will forge lasting friendships with people from all over the world. What a win!! For me, if there is somewhere I want to go and I can afford it, nothing holds me back from booking that holiday.

Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed travelling with family, friends and partners and for most parts have had some truly memorable experiences. Some of my happiest travel moments have been experiencing or witnessing something spectacular and sharing those moments with someone else. It is just that my most  favourite form of travel is done solo. I do happen to quite appreciate my own company and the bonus is having the freedom to do what I want, when I want and how I want.

For me there is nothing more satisfying than booking a trip, researching locations, choosing accommodation, booking tours and embarking on a solo trip when it is all for my own enjoyment. All without having to take into consideration the needs and wants of others.

Selfish? I don’t think so, life is short. Why not embrace and do what makes me happy! My mother’s early departure from life taught me to grab life with both hands and just do everything I possibly can. For me complacency and not fulfilling my dreams is akin to a slow and painful death, so travel on my terms, when I want and how I want is definitely for me.

I get that solo travel is not for everyone and not being one to sugar coat things, I will say that travelling by yourself can be hard and it will test you. Solo travel really does push you well outside of your comfort zone, and I understand that may not be very appealing for some people.

There have been many times where I have doubted myself. I have worried about my personal safety and general well being. I have wondered about the intentions of strangers, hoping I have got their motives right. I have gotten myself so lost in cities and wondered around for hours. Accommodation and tour bookings have fallen through last minute and I have missed a flight AND a train or two. But never once in all my solo travels have I run into any major issues that couldn’t be fixed.

Solo travel can be a lonely affair at times so the one thing you need to be able to do is enjoy your own company. Eating and drinking alone in a foreign place has been an unexpected obstacle for me to overcome. In the past I have been so worried about being judged for sitting there on my own but now, I am so comfortable with solo dining that I even do it back home.

Another consideration is the loneliness of not having someone to share amazing experiences with. For example, I would have LOVED to have shared with someone the excitement of seeing the Northern Lights in Norway or that time I stumbled across Paul Kelly busking out the front of Shakespeare and Co in Paris. But having those moments on my own far outweigh not ever having had the experience at all.

The greatest night of my life!!!
Paul Kelly at Shakespeare & Co Paris

Have I enticed you to give solo a travel a go yet?

If you are hesitant to go it alone rather than jumping in the deep end and doing a massive adventure that you could potentially hate (unless of course that floats your boat) my advice is to give yourself a solo travel taster to begin with. Start small and somewhere that is familiar enough to you. It could be that you holiday in your own city, state or country. Or like me, to a country that you had been to before. If that seems too much, start by taking yourself out for dinner on your own. The important thing is to learn how to travel by yourself. See if you will be ok on your own.

I started my solo adventures in Bali because to me, it was familiar. I had been there numerous times with others and for me it was important to put myself out there but gently, dipping my toes in the solo travel waters one inch at a time. Bali was easy. If shit hit the fan, I was only 6 hours from home. I knew where I was, I knew the Balinese culture, food, and people. I even had a group of locals that I call my ‘Bali family’ that I could rely upon IF needed (I never did by the way).  

Jungle view from my Bali hut. Solo travel rocks
Eating alone has never looked better

That one week in Bali changed my life for the better. I don’t think I had ever been so relaxed and happy, and I felt like I had really nailed travelling on my own. After Bali I was hooked so as soon as I got home I booked another solo trip to France. I followed that up with trips to Norway, Denmark and Uluru. This year I am off to Italy, Germany, Austria as well as the US and Canada (some solo, some with friends). I am so thankful for the experiences I have had and incredibly excited about what is ahead!

Some other valuable discoveries about solo travel that I think are incredibly important:

I am more capable than I ever gave myself credit for. Stepping outside my comfort zone has been a life changer!

To be totally transparent, when I embarked on my first solo trip, I was shit scared and so worried that I wasn’t capable of doing it. I thought that I needed someone with me to have fun with or to rely upon to navigate the holiday. In fact, I still have some of those doubts before every trip (mostly when I am on the plane and it is fortunately too late to back out).

Self-doubt and low confidence have been somewhat of an issue for me my entire life. Jumping into solo travel has really tested me, but with having no choice than to face my fears I have gained a new and profound sense of independence and understanding that I am more than capable of travelling on my own. All I have needed was to trust myself and listen to my gut instinct.

From my solo adventures I have had to talk to people I would normally shy away from. I have had to ask strangers for help, I have had to face eating and drinking on my own, going solo on tours and the list goes on but, by facing those fears I have not lost a thing. Only gained new friends and some fabulous new experiences.

People are inherently good

One of the greatest realisations that I have had while travelling solo is that most people are good and are not out to screw you over. In fact, in my experience, locals are often willing to help someone asking for directions or are full of useful information and recommendations. Generally, they are proud of their home and want to show it off to you by being helpful.

Fellow travellers are often in the same boat as you and can turn out to be the source of endless fun and unexpected adventures. I have been very fortunate in all of my solo travel experiences and have met some wonderful new friends all from asking for directions or getting over my own scardy cat bullshit and striking up conversation.

I have had dinners with a couple from Germany who have invited me to stay with them in their home, a night out in Tromso with a total misfit 70 year old woman from Brisbane, bonded over beers with a new friend from Hong Kong while sitting next to each other on a flight, an awesome new friend in Svolaer who happens to own a bar there (handy friend to have) AND I’ve even had a waiter attempt to pick me up in Strasbourg (ah huh, that happened much to my delight).

Yes, there are some jerks out there, but do as you would do in your own home. If someone looks dodgy, common sense would mean that you probably wouldn’t approach them to ask for directions. Same goes for when you are travelling.

Things can and will go wrong and that is ok.

Sometimes shit just happens and while it can be quite frustrating, when you are holidaying you can’t afford to waste precious time holding onto the what ifs and what nots. Just roll with it.

I mean, what is the point of stressing over things beyond your control while travelling? The only outcome is that the stress will lead to you having a miserable trip and who wants that? So yeah, you missed that flight? Go find an airport bar and drink a bottle of wine (like my friend Loz did in Oslo). Your accommodation is not what it looked like in the pictures? Move places or better still stay, you’re not on holidays to spend the bulk of your time in a hotel room.

It really does pay to lower your expectations of what your holiday should or could be as it inevitably will lead to less disappointment and a more enjoyable trip.

A new sense of freedom.

The first moment I realised how liberating and freeing solo travel was occurred after a 24-hour flight from Melbourne to Paris. After I landed, I navigated through the airport and train into central Paris, found my hotel and now my holiday was to begin. I had done it. I had made this trip happen, I saved the money, researched, created an itinerary, booked tours, hotels, Airbnb’s, train trips and now here I was, totally relaxed, very excited and utterly content on my own in a wine bar sipping on some of France’s finest.

This was what freedom was and is to me. Being able to decide for myself on doing something that makes me incredibly happy. And just simply doing it. This is how I continue to feel every time I travel solo.

Free!

Solo travel means being vulnerable, and it really is a beautiful thing.

Travelling solo is ALL about being vulnerable. Not all of us are ok with feeling vulnerable and to be transparent once again it took me a long time to embrace the idea that accepting my own vulnerability was going to be one of the best things for me. So good that it has been a part of transforming me into being the best version of myself.

The moment you start thinking about solo travel is the moment you step outside of your comfort zone. The moment you step outside of your comfort zone onto another city, state or country with hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of people you do not know who speak a language you do not understand you are ultimately vulnerable.

Being vulnerable is by no means comfortable. But neither is masking our vulnerability and failing to put ourselves out there and take a chance. Everything I have done, things that I am proud of, every brilliant memory I have, my accomplishments, successes, and fabulous life experiences have come about because I allowed myself to be vulnerable and take a chance. I took a chance on solo travel, allowed myself to be vulnerable and I am so glad I did for my life is so rich because of it.

Cheers to Paris, cheers to travelling solo
This is what happiness looks like

So next time you are wishing that you had the courage to get on a plane, train or in a car on your own to have an adventure I hope my words of encouragement help push you in the direction of saying a big YES to solo travel. Don’t wait for someone else to be ‘available’ to holiday with you, trust me you CAN do this. Those first few days may be a little rough, but I promise you that it will be the best thing that you ever did for yourself.

What are you waiting for? Treat yourself and book that solo trip! Go on, I dare you!

Where is she off to next? A 2018 recap and plans for 2019

January 1, 2019October 28, 2022Adventure, Australia, Beaches, Cruise, Europe, Food, Hotels & Eateries, Leisure, New Zealand, Queenstown, Road Trips, Sightseeing, Sports & Activities, Travel, Uluru, Uncategorized, Wine admin 2 Comments

Firstly, happy new year to you all. It’s my first ever happy new year as a travel writer and man it makes my heart sing! Cheers to that!

I started this in July 2018 after some gentle persuasion from family and friends and let me just say, it’s been an absolute treat. Not only is this giving me an opportunity to write about my favourite thing to do, travel, I am actually writing. And taking photos. And learning. Being creative on some level has always been at the core of who I am and what I want to do with my life.

It’s been ace! And there is so much more to come.

I woke this morning on New Year’s Day with mixed emotion. One of my closest life allies and closest of friends was already up in the sky embarking on a new life adventure by moving from Melbourne to Seattle. I felt like I missed her already yet I was so bloody excited for her new path in life.

It got me to thinking about the past year, 2018. Personally, it was hideous on a lot of levels. No need to dwell on the past year, those who follow the blog know. But while it was literally the worst year of my life, I still managed to find it a humbling and life changing year in its own right. One in which I’ve learnt some extremely valuable life lessons and found a finer appreciation for life and living the best one imaginable. Lessons in which with gratitude and love I chose to embody going forward. I’ve dropped people pleasing and saying yes when I have wanted to say no for doing what I want on my terms, basically living my life more authentically and true to self.

And this means change. Professionally, personally and creatively. Some subtle, some huge and really significant and whilst it is scary I am so fucking excited! 2019 I absolutely and unapologetically choose me without any guilt.

And more travel of course.

And so the heart sings some more!

Nothing gives me more of a thrill that being in a plane… or helicopter so it seems

But back to last year. 2018 saw me focus on travel that was more localised. I ventured to Uluru, Northern Territory for the first time and it was monumental on all levels. So much so I really want to go back sooner rather than later. I think it was 2 weeks after my mum passed away that I fulfilled a promise to her and booked my flights and accommodation. At the time (and still now) my heart was completely shattered, I either felt a complete mess or just numb, so jumping on a plane seemed just about the best thing I could do to remove myself from all responsibilities of the last few years. Finding peace and connection in the middle of Australia is my account of one of the most insightful journeys I have had to date.

In July I headed off to New Zealand for the first time ever with a good friend of mine Hannah. While we didn’t stray too far from Queenstown, it was a beautiful holiday, one spent with a great friend, eating glorious foods, and adventuring around the area. Milford Sound was a huge highlight of this trip, the views are truly next level amazing and we got to see it all 3 ways, via bus, boat and unexpectedly via helicopter. You can read more about our Milford Sound adventure here. We had heard that food and wine in the area was sensational but nothing prepared us for exactly how amazing it was. Huge notable mention to fabulous Ferg burger, Ferg bakery, Rata, Bunker and the Gibbston Valley Winery and Cheese Shop. If food is your thing, get mouth wateringly jealous by reading this.

Ship faced at 20 knots; a booze filled family adventure on the high sees details a little family get together on honour of my late mum for her birthday at the end of September. This trip saw me join my brother, his wife and numerous members of Mum’s family for a cruise off the coast of Queensland. This P&O cruise on the Pacific Dawn was to celebrate what would have been mums 64^th birthday and didn’t we do her proud. Well I hope so anyway. It was a bit of a booze cruise in the end, a few of us got sea sick (not I for I own a stomach of steel) but we all had a really great time being together. Especially that last day bar crawl. Ouch! Never knew there were so many bars on board cruise ships!

So… 2018 recap done and dusted, you may ask what is in store for The Bright Eyed Explorer in 2019?

Shit Loads.

It was only this morning I started planning my first ever trip to the US in October/November. I am off to Europe again in April and have done stuff all organising for that trip but the US trip, feel like I’m all organised!

So at Easter this year I’ll be off to Europe again. Landing in Rome on Good Friday I am hightailing it out of Catholic Rome at the most religious time of year and heading to Munich. Swapping religion for beer halls and pork knuckle sounds just about right to me. I’ll be in Munich for 4 days before heading to Salzburg to sample a little taste of what Austria has to offer.

Where I have stalled in organising this trip is… I only have 3 weeks and was thinking of heading from Salzburg to Slovenia and doing a bit of lake bled, and a touch of Ljubljana. But the more I think about Italy, and pasta, and Prosecco, and pizza, and wine, and gelato and um just Italy, the more I am compelled to skip the Slovenia side trip and just launching head first (stomach first) into northern and central Italy. Honestly, tough life choices I know. But what a good dilemma to have.

I am currently taking submissions/help/advice for my 2 weeks in Italy, but I do know that I will be doing Venice, Bologna, Florence and Rome. It’s the in between bits that I am unsure of. Do I do Cinque Terre? Pisa? Milan? Parma? Verona? I definitely want to do a bit of lounging around in Tuscany. With wine of course. If you have any insight for me, I am so interested in hearing your advice.

In October I’ll be heading to the US for the first time EVER! Didn’t think I’d be as excited as I am, it’s weird this disconnection I have had with the US until now. Maybe it’s the fascination I have with Europe? And Asia? Maybe like, New Zealand, I’ve stupidly felt it would be all too similar? But hey there’s nothing like one of your closest mates moving there to fuel some interest.

This morning I planned this trip all out. Land in LA, spend a few days with another close mate from Melbourne who happens to be on holidays at the same time. Then meet the friend living in the US in San Fran for a few days of exploring then heading back to her place in Seattle for a week and half. Being a teenager of the 90s and a huge lover of ‘Grunge’, Seattle has always been on my US list of must sees, but since knowing my friend was moving there, I’ve learnt more about the awesome food, coffee, booze, art and culture of Seattle so needless to say I am hell excited about going there.

While my friend is working, I plan on an overnighter in Portland Oregon, and on one of the weekends we will head into Canada to Vancouver. Ticking another country off my list. After Seattle, I’m solo tripping to Alaska! YAY! The more I learn about Alaska the more fucking excited I am. Glaciers, fjords, micro-breweries, off the beaten path stuff. It’s so me to a tea. BUT the biggest draw card and reason why I’m heading to Alaska, is the chance to see the northern lights again!!!

OMG I AM GOING TO SEE THE AURORA BOREALIS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Speaking of the Northern Lights, I promise that I will have blog posts of my trip to Norway in 2017 up on the blog VERY soon… watch this space).

I’ve also realised that I really have not seen a lot of my home state Victoria. I mean I did grow up in the country and am very familiar with Ballarat and Portland, as well as Geelong, Port Fairy, Warnambool, Hamilton, Buningyong, Echuca and Wangaratta. But it is hard to believe that at 41 I have not yet seen the Great Ocean Road. What an absolute crime, I am actually quite embarrassed to admit that one. I’d also love to do a trip to Lake Tyrell to take gorgeous pics of the salt lake as well as other areas such as Lake Eildon, the Grampians, Bright and the Victorian Alps.

Time for some weekend road trips with my trusty DSLR me thinks.

And speaking of more local trips. Midway through writing this post I got side tracked (happens a lot) but received confirmation from a dear friend who is able to dog sit for me in a few weeks so it is off the Gold Coast I go for Australia Day weekend. Flights booked and all! Yay, I finally get to see my bro Richie and his wife Jas in their new home after too many months apart. Also ticking off the list for this trip is seeing his new band ‘Awake in Time’. I am VERY excited for this!

Before I forget, watch this space as I’ll be announcing a small collaboration with two other travel bloggers Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt and Kristin Addis of Be My Travel Muse. A piece I wrote on overcoming my fear of travelling solo will be featured with some other solo travellers. Such an honour to be a part of this one as both bloggers have been such a huge influence for me with their combined 14 plus years of experience. These are the bloggers that inspire me to be better and to work harder at what I am doing so it is an honour to be included.

Also, I recently came runner up in a competition to meet my master run by the guys at Red Zed. I had to write 250 words on my business master and what I would gain from meeting them. I submitted the entry on a tram on the way home from work so really have no idea what I wrote but apparently it was enough to get runner up placing and $1000 AUD. All goes into the travel account so I am so grateful for that opportunity. If I had of won, I would have been meeting Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse but the runner up placing was awesome considering I didn’t think my entry would even be considered.

So now I have blabbed on and on about my travels, where are you off to this year?

Do you have some plans set in place or a trip you are thinking about? If you do, I would LOVE to hear all about it.

Happy new year & safe travels for 2019.

S x

The Bright Eyed Explorer — Summer in Melbourne means hammock hangs…..

Ship faced at 20 knots: A booze filled family adventure on the high seas.

November 27, 2018October 28, 2022Adventure, Australia, Beaches, Cruise, Food, Leisure, Sightseeing, Travel admin 2 Comments

“Let’s all go on a cruise” she said. “I am in, it will be AMAZING!!” the one on the left said. “Oh yeah, we had sooooo much fun on the last one” the short one pipes in. And with that it was set in concrete. Done. Organised. Swiftly. Without any second guessing.

What?

What the hell had I just committed to? A cruise? Me? Shae the self-confessed Euro lover? The experienced South East Asian explorer? World adventurer, land lover, plane and train junkie… The list goes on. A cruise? Like on a boat? Like on a boat that sails on the sea? Like on water? Oh no, surely not. Surely, I can spend my travel money in a better way?

With 18 family members?

Has my brain suddenly decided after 41 years to depart my body and fly off into some distant land?

Look you’d be right in thinking I’d lost my mind but let me back track a little before you pass judgement upon my good self and the state of my mental health.

You see, those people in that very first sentence of this story were some of my dearly loved Aunties. My mum’s sisters. And if you’ve been following my blog of late, you’d know that Mum is no longer with us. In fact, in February this year cancer made an angel of the biggest legend of a human, my mum.

Mum was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in early December 2015 not long after getting back from her first ever cruise with some of her family, her first holiday in 20 years. Cruel twist of fate hey. Let that one sink in while you second guess why holidays should be a priority in your life.

Cheeky mum on her first ever cruise. She looks so happy here

She had a ball. I remember picking her up from Melbourne airport and for the 20kms to her house, Mum talked non-stop about how much fun she’d had. I could see the excitement in her eyes and hear it in her voice. She looked and sounded like a new woman, invigorated, inspired and ready for more adventures. For me it felt like Mum finally GOT travel. Finally GOT why I chose to invest my time and money in travel and experiences rather than a mortgage. Honestly, it had been years since I’d seen her so happy and shit did that make me smile. That was to be her last real holiday. Only a week after Mum got back from her cruise she got the cancer diagnosis and that is when all our lives changed forever.

The day after we said goodbye to mum (it was massive, my mum was one of 12 kids so lots of extended family) while we were all still together, the cruise plan was hatched. You see, we are a family that sticks together, we may fall out on occasion (it’s never bad) and there may be disagreements but we all pull together to support each other and this was possibly the biggest moment in our lives since Pa passed away (back when I was 13) that we all needed to band together. We were hurting, grief had entered our lives and took one of the best in a shitty fucked up kind of way so we needed to do something to honour her, to celebrate mum’s life, to be together, and to breathe again.

From memory I think it was my Aunty Cathy who suggested the cruise. Cathy and her husband, Phil (legends) are seasoned cruisers so it was decided that they would do the organising and before you knew it, 18 people had committed, rooms were allocated, and deposits paid. We were off on a family adventure on P&Os Pacific Dawn for 3 nights of cruising out into the Pacific Ocean before heading back into the port of Brisbane. This particular cruise was a ‘Comedy Cruise’ ha, I knew our family were quite funny, but there was no need to rename the cruise for our benefit ;-).

I was bunking in with one of mum’s youngest sisters, my Aunty Trish. Trish is only a few years older than me and a bit of a lush and gawd do I love her for it. I’ve lived with her previously so we would get on perfectly fine. Trish was, after all the person who introduced the younger version of me to much more refined drinking when I was 18. She was literally the perfect person for me to bunk in with. My brother and his wife ended up being about 1km away (not really but it felt like that) at the mid-front of the boat while a Trish and I were at the very end of the boat. Like the last room on level 9 while the rest of the family were splattered around near us.

On the day of boarding we all managed to find our allocated rooms and by 12.45pm I think it may have been my incredibly gifted for all things fun, Aunty Angela and her as gifted hubby Ross who sniffed out the only adults’ bar on board, Oasis (coincidently at the end of the boat, a level up from our room – winning). By 3.30pm when we had the ‘very important’ safety briefing, it would be safe to say that 70% of our family were well on our way to sweet drunken bliss. That particular day, our first day on board was also the AFL grand final (Australian Rules football for you non-aussies) so we managed to find a quiet spot at the on-board casino of all places to watch (ahem scream at the telly some of you) West Coast beat Collingwood. I’ll never get the picture of my sister-in-law’s joy of the Magpies los out of my head!

Dancing the night away
When the weather was good

The first night was spent at the aptly named ‘Pantry’ which is a buffet of all different nationalities. Cruise ships are renowned for mass gastro outbreaks so obviously for that very reason, food is not a free for all, everything is served by staff. Generally buffet food rings to me bland and tasteless meals with limp salads and crap desserts, but not at the ‘Pantry’ on P&Os Pacific Dawn. No, sir, not here! I don’t know how many times I ate the spaghetti Bolognese on this cruise but call me super impressed. Other food options were really quite good considering the mass amount of people being served. The only real negative for me when it came to food and drinks was lining up for 20 minutes in the mornings for my much-needed double shot caffeine hit.

Later that night we ended up in the Orient Bar partaking in a spot of music trivia. Considering we are a family of music lovers, had a musician and an ex band manager in our group we were a shoe in to win and seriously we did win if honesty counts for something (meh there was one question that clearly was answered by Mr Google by on opposing team). To commiserate/celebrate our second placing, unhinged dancing, singing and general hijinks preceded a pretty crude but hilarious Comedy Show.

Our second day cruising was disappointingly, a shocker weather wise and a few of us had been stricken with a bit of sea sickness so while some spent time in bed, most of us headed off to do our own thing indoors for a few hours before meeting up at the front of the boat, at the very tip, in yep you guessed it, another bar. But before drinks could commence a few of us started the day in the gym, some went on walks, while I found a quiet spot by myself to sit and have some reflection and writing time as this was of course, what would have been Mum’s 64^th birthday. Only natural that in moments like these that emotion can bring tears to the surface so with that, just before I broke into an epic sob session and just as I was looking for a dignity saving escape route, over walks two living angles in the form of Aunties with the long-missed sun at their backs. It was literally a perfect moment. I love being Ms Independent, solo world traveller, strong-as-all-hell-I-got-this-shit-sorted-woman-of-the-world, but… I just didn’t realise just how much I needed people, my family, until then. Thank you Clare and Colleen.

Later that night the entire family was booked in at the Waterfront Restaurant for mum’s birthday celebration. Unfortunately, dinner was a bit of a fizzier on account of about half of us battling the dreaded sea sickness, but in a roundabout way, mum managed to save the night. You see sneaky me (some might say, clever) managed to bring along some of mum’s chemo anti-nausea drugs (yes yes I should have thrown them out, but ya know, I didn’t and for good reason) and within no time people started to feel a little better. A few of us got an early night while the rest headed off to another late-night comedy show before succumbing to sleep in readiness for the next day…

The next day? The last day? What a day! From what I remember at least anyway. You remember that bar we went to the day prior, the one at the very tip of the boat? Well on the second day of the cruise, our first time at that bar and after witnessing a flash mob (why do people still do that?) we started to count just how many bars there were in total on the boat. And by doing that count, someone, I can’t remember who exactly, suggested a bar crawl for our last day. A plan was conceived, put into action and by 1pm the next day we were back at that bar at the tip of the boat ready to drink ourselves into sweet bliss.

Rules were (cause with our lot there needs to be some rules):

1 drink in one bar – half an hour maximum time spent in the bar before moving onto the next (pffft some of us managed more than one drink)
One shot to buy in for every bar you’ve missed
One extra drink for one person (only) in each bar for a family member on her own cancer journey

Simple!

One person’s collection from one of the early bars
Early days! Not posting the end result photo!

After visiting 10 bars, 2 other alcohol serving areas on the boat and revisiting a few more, sneaking in more drinks in our half hour slot at each bar, and general crazy hi jinx over gawd knows how many hours, it was suggested in good spirit that our family should have an annual bar crawl to celebrate mum’s life on her birthday. Considering she wasn’t a drinker (but her children clearly are) I think my brother and I are down with that, she loved a decent celebration after all. I’ll go with it for sure. I love drinks. Sorry mum. Ah it was sure a night to remember. There were a few tears (me mostly) but plenty of laughs and happy times. Mum would have been (and probably was) right amongst it all. She was after all an instigator of fun.

So. Did I have a good time on my first cruise? Yes! Of course, I did. If you are thinking of doing a cruise, I would. It really is a different kind of adventure and one of which will always be what you make of it. Like any form of travel. Just do it. Like all travel inspiration, don’t wait to do it. Just remember when you get off the boat it is going to take you a few days to get your land legs back and things will feel weird. Yes. It is true! I struggled for three days. Would I do it again? Yes, but not for a while and if I did it would be out to see something like an island or other things in the ocean….

But irrespective of would I do it again was not the point of THIS cruise. This was to celebrate the life of an outstanding, firecracker, cheeky, generous and beautiful woman who happened to be my gorgeous mum. I think we did a bloody good job of honouring her. Yes, it was a bit boozy for some of us, but in true family spirit we were together and having a great time.

On the first night of the cruise my brother and I snuck away from everyone else and stood at the back of the boat watching the sunset as the boat left the port of Brisbane. It was real pretty. One of those catch ya in the feels moments. A token moment of admiring natural beauty and our own sentimentalities on such a pivotal occasion. Arm in arm, tears in our eyes we vowed to make this a beautiful and fun journey, for mum. Gawd I fucken love that kid (sorry swearing not sorry really).

There were many times on the cruise when I stood back on all the frivolity, all the laughter and all the noise to take stock. To look at each and every one of my family enjoying themselves and I could feel mum next to me saying ‘we did good kid’. You see family was at the core of mums whole entire essence. Mum loved her family more than anything, her children, me and the bro, were her life. Her whole entire family was what fired her and gave her the most joy in her life. Wherever she was in the universe over those 3 days I know it was a whirlwind of amazing for her as much as it was for me.

So, as mum did when she arrived home from her cruise, with the spirit of travel racing through her heart and soul, so did I. I don’t think that feeling of post-holiday elation ever leaves a person. That excitement should never die, that glow should not fade. So, there really is only one thing a person can do to top a holiday.

Book another holiday. And that I did.

For my mum Mary, Richie, Jasmin, Tricia, Angela, Ross, CAtherine Rose, Phil, Michael, Helen, Clare, Colleen, Narelle, Luke, Nikki, Daniel & kids.

Thank you x

To book through P&O visit their website

Outback Pioneer Hotel

Located within the Ayers Rock Resort complex at Yulara, the Outback Pioneer Hotel is a practical choice for the budget conscious without compromising on comfort and amenities. Staying anywhere within the Ayers Rock Resort is considerably expensive by Australian standards and for the cost per night of a room the Outback Pioneer Hotel is nothing overly flash, but, and there are a lot of buts, it does maintain the outback charm that one may expect from these parts of Australia. A sense of authenticity that is lost in those fancy places just up the road. And that is where I was won over.

That and the fact that the outback pioneer hotel has the only pub in town within the hotel itself (more on that later).

The complex hosts both hotel accommodation and hostel style rooms with up to 4 beds. I stayed in a hotel room that was roomy, well maintained and had everything I needed for my stay, including much needed air conditioning. The bed was super comfortable especially after being outdoors and hiking for a good part of the day. Bathroom was equip with local hair and body products that were really nice to use.

Check in was simple and the staff very friendly. They correspond with tour operators on your behalf and know well in advance what each guest will be doing. One of my tours was cancelled before I arrived and with the reception staff being pre-warned, they attempted to find be different alternatives without me even having to ask.

There is a restaurant where breakfast is buffet style and trust me there is plenty of food! Normally it’s quite expensive (approx $30) but reception will tell you upon check in to grab a voucher from them for any breakfasts at a cost of $15. Bargain! I did only have one dinner at the restaurant and it was both as pleasant as it was filling. Service was exceptional.

The hotel has a pool, gift shop, games centre and plenty of spaces to relax (including the pub). The free town bus is right out the front and departs every 20 minutes to take you the loop to the supermarket, gift shops, cafes, tourist centre and other hotels. If you’re booked on any tours you’re picked up right out the front. All of this runs without any hiccups it really is all too easy.

Now for the pub. It’s the heart of the Outback Pioneer. Right smack bang in the centre of the complex, this open air pub has plenty of outback character, hosts a café, pool tables and plenty of space to pull up a chair to sit back and relax. Of a night it seems unless you’re on a tour everyone converges on the pub for an unwind, to meet new friends and to listen to whomever is performing on the small stage that night. The only issue with the pub is the cost of drinks! $40 for a 6 pack of beer to takeaway is beyond what this beer loving chick would ever want to pay, but when it’s your only option one has to suck up the expense and just go with it. So for the sake of beer and holidays I did, of course.

For my money I would not have stayed anywhere else. When you break a holiday to Uluru area down, you spend most of your day and often night out exploring. It’s not the kind of banana lounge at the beach kind of holiday (beaches being 1000 kms away) so my advice is to keep it simple in Uluru and stay somewhere that is reasonably priced but is comfortable so that you can spend your hard earned dollars on tours and seeing the landscape. The Outback Pioneer Hotel captured a place in my heart, and will be where I stay the next time I’m there.

To book your stay at the Outback Pioneer Hotel click here.

Queenstown – Why it is my new travel destination love

August 20, 2018October 28, 2022Adventure, Leisure, New Zealand, Queenstown, Road Trips, Sightseeing, Travel, Uncategorized admin

Queenstown. Queenstown. Queenstown! Are you not the prettiest, most delightful and exciting spots in my Southern Hemisphere neck of the woods. Kia Ora to you, my new destination love.

New Zealand had always been on my list of places to visit, but with it only being a 3-hour flight from Melbourne, I’d always pushed going there far down the travel destination bucket list. I mean I have had quite the ongoing love affair with Europe that has been ticking along quite nicely for the last 15 years and considering I still have so much more to explore in Europe, New Zealand would have to wait.

Anyway, New Zealand is just like Australia isn’t it? (If you’re a Kiwi and reading this, don’t shoot me, please do read on!).

It was after solid advice from friends and a fellow traveller on my trip to Norway in October 2017 that totally changed my perspective of New Zealand, especially the South Island. So, it soon became my new must-go-to destination. That, and New Zealand was a special place for me to visit, as it was on my darling Mum’s travel bucket list – for more on my Mum’s story and why this trip was important, you can read here

My travel partner for this trip was a good friend of mine, Hannah. Work takes Hannah to New Zealand’s North Island quite often however she was yet to explore the South. Hannah is quite like me, not into the crazy adventure sports that Queenstown is famous for, more of the seek some stuff, visit a few sights, eat, drink, people watch and chill, so she was a perfect partner in crime for this trip.

Like Norway, the South Island is majestically beautiful. You get your first glimpse of exactly how stunning the area is from the air and let me tell you the view is eye popping spectacular. From the air the landscape is an extreme contrast of the lush coast line and fjords, never-ending snow-capped peaks, barren brown mountains, turquoise rivers, deep blue lakes, stunning green farming land and the cutest of little towns spattered here and there. If this was what the Queenstown area looked like from the air, I couldn’t wait to touch down and start exploring on land.

Famous for good views, great food, excellent wine, adventure sports, abundant ski fields, and good old Kiwi hospitality, Queenstown was sure to be a sensory delight for us both. Each day brought us a new adventure, a new place to eat, people to meet, and new scenery to take in. Food was a major highlight for the both of us so before we left home we did plenty of research and asking friends of their favourite places to eat while in Queenstown, and every single one of them gave a hyped up notable mention to the Queenstown institution, Fergburger. As we managed to fit in quite a lot of eating, including two fine dining experiences, I’ve written a separate blog post just on the food and wine experience alone. So, if that’s your thing, click here and I promise you that you’ll be booking a flight to Queenstown before the end of reading the post.

Before leaving Australia, we also did our research into where we wanted to go and what tours we wanted to do, and with only one cancellation, we were able to get around and experience quite a lot in our week break. We managed to fit in trips to Arrowtown, Wanaka, Gibbston Valley, Coronet Peak Ski Field and the majestic Milford Sound which was all sort of amazing. We even took a helicopter ride back from Milford Sound which was a last minute-crazy adventure. To find out about the tours we did click here

Our trip was towards the end of July so the weather at that time is cold, but it is winter, so we expected it. And while it was cold they certainly turn on the warmth indoors. It didn’t snow in Queenstown while we were there, but there was plenty of the white stuff in the surrounding mountains to see. We were told that the snow really hits a bit later so if that’s your thing I’d suggest mid-August. We were also told that the autumn months are particularly beautiful, so March, April and May are your best bets for that. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be to go back to the area at that time of the year and sipping wine in the sunshine.

Queenstown is a hot mix of culture, where the Kiwis seem to be outnumbered by international workers and tourists all of whom seem really happy to be there. I don’t blame them really. Although they were few and far between, every Kiwi we did happen to meet was super friendly and quite endearing, even if there was a bit of Aussie bashing going on, ah there’s nothing like Aussie v Kiwi rivalry to keep you entertained.

The town is small enough to not need to hire a car, taxi or Uber. There is a shuttle bus to and from the airport which is $15 NZD each way or you can catch a taxi which can cost approximately $40NZD. This would be the only real time that you would ever need to catch a taxi in Queenstown though. We spent most of our time walking around the town getting to and from places, bars, restaurants and shops, nothing being more than a 10-minute walk from our hotel.

What did surprise me was the shopping. Slightly cheaper than Melbourne, but some real unique pieces of clothing, jewellery and natural beauty products. I shopped up a storm, yes, my credit card took a hiding, but when on holidays, enjoy right? I especially loved the Manuka honey hand creams (feel so good on the skin) and the merino wool everything.

The more I explored Queenstown and it’s surrounds the more it reminded me of different pockets of Europe. The west coast fiords are very similar to Norway’s famous fjords, flying over the southern alps reminded me of my flight from Oslo to a Tromso in Norway. The snow-capped mountains reminded me of Switzerland and on the ground, the buildings and the whole vibe of Queenstown reminded me of many European towns. Basically, Europe on my doorstep. But its New Zealand, and it IS different to Europe and is nothing like Australia thank goodness!

With Queenstown being only a 3-hour flight from Melbourne I can’t help but think that for too long I have had my head in the sand to have left it until now to make my first trip. There is so much to love about the place, so much that I contemplated the thought that I could be very happy living there. Yep! It really is that good! Queenstown has such a relaxed vibe about it, it is pretty, friendly, happy, engaging, charming and draws your heart into falling in love with it. But it is the views that really leave you spellbound. Everywhere you turn there is something so spectacular off into the distance it is hard to know where to turn next, and it is for this reason that I felt at such peace and so still, patient, happy and relaxed. I guess this is why I feel that a week wasn’t long enough. Queenstown is not only a delight to your taste buds as much as it is to your eyes! I honestly can’t wait to go back to the place that has kind of stole my little Aussie heart.

From Australia Air New Zealand, Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar all fly Queenstown direct. Often there are some decent specials at different times of the year. Peak season is the winter months for the ski season, so prices are generally higher then.

We stayed at the Novotel Queenstown, you can read my review here.

Queenstown for the less adventurous traveller

August 20, 2018October 28, 2022Adventure, Leisure, New Zealand, Queenstown, Road Trips, Sightseeing, Travel admin

I am the first to admit that I am a bit (well a lot) useless when it comes to heights and adventure sports. Let’s not get started on how clumsy I am either (yes, I may have snapped my ankle on both sides one while standing still and wearing thongs on my feet) so anything remotely close to the thrill seeking adventure sports that Queenstown is famous for was always going to be a definite no for me! Strangely though, I absolutely love being in a plane. And now after this trip I can actually say I absolutely love being in a helicopter (more about that in this post about my Milford Sound Experience).

So, what is a less adventurous person supposed to do in the adrenaline capital of New Zealand?

Eat? Yes, we did plenty of that (check out this post on the fabulous food we ate)

Drink? Um, does a bear shit in the woods?

Check out the fabulous scenery? It would be an absolute crime not to!!

While Queenstown may be famous for things like bungy jumping, skiing, heli-skiing, sky diving, Swing & Zip (I don’t even know what that means), and jet boating, there is so much more to the area that doesn’t require your stomach to lurch into your mouth at the mere thought. Queenstown caters for all types and can most definitely be enjoyed by those of us who like a much more chilled pace/value their life!

Upon arriving in Queenstown my friend Hannah and I discovered that one of the tours we had booked had been cancelled. At a cost of $169 NZD this half day trip to Arrowtown and Wanaka was to be our most expensive, so we were happy with getting a refund and sourcing an alternate for the trip. The local bus company Ritchies offers a much cheaper price of $4 return to Arrowtown and $65 return to Wanaka. We just split up the two towns on different days rather than doing it all in one.

The bus to Arrowtown takes about 30 minutes and leaves every hour from Camp Street in central Queenstown. Arrowtown is a cute little gold mining town which reminded me so much of my childhood school excursions exploring Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. Cute buildings, cute shops, cute cafes, cute scenery. Oh the cuteness!!! We spent a couple of hours wandering around and shopping (sorry credit card) before taking the bus back to Queenstown. Plenty of places to eat and drink if you’re looking to.

Arrowtown
Do you think this will go well in Melbourne?

Wanaka on the other hand, is a much longer bus trip and can be done two ways, either via Cromwell which is considered the long way and the way we went to Wanaka, or the scenic route through Cardrona’s snowy mountains, which we did on the way back to Queenstown. Although we’d heard that Wanaka was like a smaller version of Queenstown, I am afraid to say that we didn’t do the place much justice. That morning we were both a little tired, and just wanted a hot coffee and to go for a decent walk around Lake Wanaka. And yes, to see that famous Wanaka Tree.

Lake Wanaka
THAT Wanaka Tree

So peaceful, so stunning.

Here’s the link to Ritchies bus network

Where tours are concerned another money saving idea is to use the website Bookme. For instance, instead of paying between $130 – $600 on a full day Milford Sound tour (bus – cruise – bus or flights) we booked through bookme.nz a week before we left and managed to get our ticket for $110 per person. We could have got it cheaper by booking a day or two out from when we wanted to go, but this was a tour we were both very keen to do so didn’t want to risk not getting a spot.

And speaking of Milford Sound, let me tell you this was the highlight of my trip, for so many different reasons but mostly for how the tour ended. The day was so epic that it deserves a post of its own. It includes videos. You can read that here.

Not ever being to the snow let alone a ski field, it would have been remiss of us not to head up to one of Queenstown’s famous ski fields. After all that is entirely what some people go there for. We decided upon Coronet Peak over a The Remarkables being that it was closer to Queenstown and an easier bus ride up. For those who don’t ski, you can get a bus pass for $20 return for a day. Easy enough! We chose a day that was of course raining so conditions on the mountain weren’t so great. We literally bussed it up, stepped out onto the snow and then went and sat at the bar people watching before catching the first bus back into town.

Finally made it to the snow
The view from the bar was better

We also took the gondola up the mountain that overlooks Queenstown and The Remarkables mountain range. It’s a steep climb, so I spent a good portion of the ride up with my eyes closed. Although I did open them in time to watch some crazy guy fly down the mountain when we passed the Queenstown bungy jump. No thanks mate, you can have that all to yourself! We were going to hike through the Ben Lomand track but could see storms brewing in the distance and having to get down from the mountain, thought it best to get back earlier than expected.

Think I can see Fergburger!!
Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown Hill

Everything runs super well and on time in Queenstown, and so it should, being a major tourist town. If tours didn’t run, you were looked after regardless. Kiwi hospitality is certainly something that some more popular tourist destinations should aspire to. While I am not an adrenalin junkie, I still do consider myself adventurous enough, and Queenstown was definitely a place where I found enough crazy to mix with my need of chill. Although I am unlikely to ever strap on a pair of ski boots, I will definitely be going back to Queenstown to do more exploring and sampling the regions finest everything!

Milford Sound – A beautiful yet unexpected thrill seeking adventure

August 20, 2018October 28, 2022Adventure, Leisure, New Zealand, Queenstown, Road Trips, Sightseeing, Sports & Activities, Travel, Uncategorized admin

Welcome to the post about one of the most thrilling yet shit-my-dacks-scary travel moments of my life. One that I am still raving about now that I am home.

Milford Sound.

One wouldn’t normally associate fear with the beauty and tranquilness that is Milford Sound, yet here I am.

Milford Sound is a fiord in the Fiordland National Park area of the South Island of New Zealand. It is well known as being one of the most dramatic and scenic parts of New Zealand, where valleys and mountains are massive and the scale of it all is really beyond comprehension. Located 290 kms from Queenstown, Milford Sound can be accessed by car, bus, small plane or Helicopter. The trip is roughly 4 hours each way, but generally longer on the way to Milford Sound as the scenery just compels you to get out and take a good look.

For mine and Hannah’s trip to Milford Sound we used Jucy Cruises via booking on Bookme. The bus picks you up from out the front of the Station building on Camp St at roughly 7.15am and from there is a few hours of watching the sun rise (or sleeping) on the way to Te Anau where we were able to stop for a hot coffee and something to eat. Back on the bus, it is another few hours before arriving in Milford Sound, but those couple of hours are perhaps the most scenic and includes many stops for photos and to stretch your legs. For those of you with a keen interest in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, you are practically in middle earth here so soak it all in. This is where I got to step my feet out on snow for the first time in my life! Whoo!!

Middle Earth
Check out the reflections!

Our bus driver was a real hoot, dropping dad jokes left, right and centre. Some of it was a bit cringe worthy, but mostly hilarious. Regardless of the quality of his jokes Hannah and I quickly came to really respect his accommodating attitude towards keeping his guests happy. On the bus ride to Milford Sound he let us know that after our ferry ride on the sound, the bus ride back to Queenstown would take three hours, BUT there were other options. We could take a small plane that would get us back to Queenstown in 30 minutes, or if there were enough people interested (we needed 4) a helicopter ride that would take 40 minutes and we may be able to land on a glacier, weather permitting. For us, it was a no brainer! Stuff the expense of it, we’d be mad to pass up this once in a lifetime experience! So, with that seed firmly planted in our heads we left it up to the bus driver to get us on that chopper while we jumped on the ferry for the 90 minute cruise of the majestic Milford Sound.

The iconic view of Milford Sound

Heading up to the top of the ferry, Hannah and I were able to take a good position up the front of the boat so that we could really take in the view. And what a view it is! The ferry takes you along the right hand side of the Sound, passing numerous waterfalls and out to the Tasman sea before turning back into the Sound on the other side, again passing the many waterfalls and numerous sun baking seals. Although you’re on a boat with at least 80 other people you can’t help but feel the quiet peace and tranquillity of the place. For some part of the ferry ride, I felt complete stillness as I sat in awe of just how mighty Milford Sound is.

Back on land Hannah and I sprinted back to the bus to see if we were able to get on the helicopter and upon seeing the massive grin on our bus drivers face we knew we’d made it! Then my heart began to race. What the fuck had I just committed to? It is hard to describe in words how I felt sitting on the back seat against the door of the helicopter as it took off, so I’ll just say it was a weird mixture of pure fear and absolute elation. Was I that nervous or that excited I could have vomited? I don’t know. Once we were in the air and cruising over Milford Sound I started to calm down a little and really started to enjoy the experience, every moment was just so surreal to me.

That was until the pilot attempted to land on one glacier area and a gust of wind came in so strong that the helicopter jolted out of the blue. Several times! At this point, you can only imagine how I was feeling! Yep, about ready to vomit. There is actually a video of this happening and all you can hear is my very nervous laughter. Now that I am home I can laugh about all of this thankfully. I guess the pilot sensed my fear as he turned to me and said “please just trust me, I’ve been doing this for a long time, BUT if you do see me open my door and jump then you’re in trouble”. Ah yep, totally trust you mate, I actually did though, he was a lovely man.

Attempt number two to land on the glacier was a complete success huzzah!! But, being totally inexperienced and unequipped for the moment when I stepped from the helicopter and onto the glacier, I managed to sink into the ice, shoes and socks wet. Yay me! Once I got myself sorted and the rest of the passengers got out of the helicopter it was time to have a walk on the glacier. Um, I think I managed about 4 steps before realising that it was much safer for me to stand still and hold onto the helicopter, the ice was incredibly slippery and my shoes were useless for moving about as I had no spikes to grip into the ice.

Look mum, I am on a glacier
No not cold at all!

We stayed on the glacier for about ten glorious minutes, snapping photos and taking it all in. All the while the blistering cold wind freezing our fingers and toes to the point that I don’t think I had ever been that cold before in my life! But when you’ve just stepped off a helicopter and are standing on top of a glacier in New Zealand and the scenery is beyond this world spectacular, who cares about the cold right? After squeezing back onto the helicopter it was a peacefully glorious ride onto our final destination of Glenorchy (about 30 minute drive from Queenstown).

Not a bad view at all!

I’d like to give a big shout out to Heli Glenorchy. At no point in the helicopter ride did I feel unsafe, there may have been a bit of my own fear, but I felt nothing but utmost trust in the pilot. Giving us lots of interesting information of the area throughout the flight the pilot also made sure to check in with all of us to ensure that we were ok. Back on ground we were driven the 30 minutes from Glenorchy to Queenstown by another of their pilots. He was highly entertaining and endearing with his stories and interaction with us. Rather than dropping us off back at our hotel, he happily obliged us by dropping us off at the Fergbakery, such is the accommodating nature of Heli Glenorchy and Kiwi’s in general.

Standing on top of that glacier was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life, and certainly one that I will never forget. Once I’d overcome my fear the helicopter ride was absolutely exhilarating, one of those moments where you pinch yourself because none of it seems real. From the air, the views are nothing like what you see on land, it is such a different perspective. I remember getting off the helicopter in Glenorchy with a grin on my face so wide that I couldn’t help but laugh and laugh at what I’d just done. I was so happy to have had that experience that I wanted to get up in a helicopter again, and again. Yay, a new expensive love for me.

I would highly recommend that if you do the Milford Sound bus – cruise then consider either a small plane, or even better helicopter ride back. While it is expensive, it simply is money well spent. I’d definitely do it again.

We booked Jucy Cruises via the Bookme website for a much cheaper rate. Depending on your budget Bookme offers all different experiences for your Milford Sound trip.

Finding Peace & Connection in the Middle of Australia

July 12, 2018October 28, 2022Australia, Hotels & Eateries, Leisure, Road Trips, Sightseeing, Travel, Uluru admin

A dedication to mother earth and my own mother, Mary.

I’d always considered a trip to Uluru (Ayres Rock) and surrounds to be something that I would do when I was much older than what I am now. You know, it’s the kind of tourist destination that school groups, retired people or international tourists visit. Besides I still had the rest of the world to conquer didn’t I?

However, a series of really shitty life changing events over the last two years drew me closer and closer the magnetic heart of this great expansive country. I felt the deepest of yearning to just be there, to find a connection to the deep red earth, the spiritual heart of my own country.

A bit of a back story…

My darling mother was diagnosed with stage 4 (terminal) Ovarian Cancer in early December 2015. Being told that she had anywhere between a year to 5 years left of her life depending on how operations and chemotherapy went was a major blow to all of us, the utmost shittiest heartbreaking news I have ever heard.

Over two years mum underwent numerous types of chemotherapy treatment that was hideously awful in so many ways.

In this period of time there were over 20 emergency visits and hospital stays, ambulance rides and extreme sickness, but throughout all of this, never once did mum lose her ability to laugh or to fight as hard as she could. I only saw her cry twice. I cried lots! She is simply the strongest person I know and big yay to me being her daughter!!

My beautiful mother fought this terrible disease for over 2 years before passing away on Monday 19^th February 2018. I can even tell you the precise time as I was there with her holding her hand.

As her primary medical carer, her life organiser, quite often her ambulance driver, nurse, cook, cleaner and emotional support person and I had a lot on my hands and often my emotional well-being and health suffered. For me it wasn’t a case of looking after myself but making sure that mum got through each day the best she could. It was my role of daughter that was and will always be the most significant and most cherished position I’ve held in my entire life. And in the capacity of daughter I got to ask my mum many things in the last months and weeks that she was alive. You name it, I asked it. And I voice recorded as much as I could. While I can’t listen to those recordings just yet (it’s too soon) the most significant thing that stood out to me was that mum really wished she had travelled more. Canada, Bali, New Zealand and Uluru being the places that captivated her interest more than anything, so in that moment she urged me to travel to those places for her. Starting with Uluru. A promise was made and I so intended on keeping it.

Always smiling and being cheeky!

I have been to Bali numerous times throughout my life and Canada was a bit too far out of reach for me this year, so with those options off the table 2 weeks after mum’s funeral I booked a solo trip to Uluru (2 weeks after that I booked flights to Queenstown, New Zealand yay).

Uluru was one of the easiest trips for me to plan. For the first time in probably 15 years I let a travel company do all the arranging and booking for me. All I had to do was book my flights (Thanks Jetstar for having a sale at the time) and choose what accommodation and activities I wanted. Trips to Uluru can be done in a few ways:

Flying directly to Yulara (Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin fly direct)
Flying to Alice Springs and driving the 460kms to Uluru
Driving from wherever in Australia

Accommodation is also varied from staying in Alice springs and doing the daily drive (that’s a bloody long day in my book), or staying locally at the resort town Yulara at the Ayres Rock Resort complex. The Ayres Rock Resort owns a few properties based on affordability, including:

Ayres Rock Camping Ground (budget – you can bring a tent or campervan)
Outback Pioneer Lodge (Hostel style accommodation – lots of school groups here)
Outback Pioneer Hotel (3 & half Star)
Emu Walk Apartments (4 star)
Desert Gardens Hotel (4 and half star)
Sails in the Desert (5 star)
Longitude 131 (mega fucking expensive but looks amazing)

As much as a night at Longitude 131 would have been a welcomed luxury, I unfortunately had not won tattslotto so I opted to stay at the Outback Pioneer Hotel. I’d read some favourable reviews on Trip Advisor and honestly, being out and about exploring during the day all I really needed was a place to shower and rest my head over night. Plus, and this was a big one for me, the Outback Pioneer Hotel houses the only pub in town. So really that’s a no brainer right. (Read my review of the Outback Pioneer Hotel Here).

The next thing, and this was the hardest part of organising this trip, was deciding upon which activities I wanted to do. I only had 4 days to fit in as much as I could and there are so many options from active walking tours, helicopter flights, camel rides, gourmet dinners, night sky tours, cultural experiences, aboriginal art galleries and more. For the full list of activities click here.

A tour of Uluru was number 1 on my list and I wanted to do this with a guide as I’d heard they are filled with a lot of really great and valuable information based on Aboriginal culture and stories from the dreamtime as well as geological information. You can read my review of the Uluru tour here.

Also high on my list was Kata Tjuta (otherwise known as the Olgas). I’ve had quite a few friends that had been to Kata Tjuta tell me that the place is truly special. That it has a spiritually connected feeling about it that can’t be explained. After the last few years, Kata Tjuta was exactly what I needed.

Nothing prepares you for seeing Uluru for the first time. I didn’t know what to expect and I guess didn’t put much value on how seeing the rock would affect me. I was utterly speechless!! And that takes a lot really. The moment you get your first glimpse of Uluru your breath is simply taken away. It is what you imagine it to be but so much more, and its just so much of a contrast in comparison from anywhere in Victoria (where I live). And it is HUGE. I knew it was but until you actually see Uluru you really dont get the pure scale of the rock itself. And there off into the distance stands Kata Tjuta, even taller than Uluru. I was so pleased with myself that I booked a window seat on the flight. Winning!

Everything runs like a well-oiled machine at Yulara, from the buses that transport you to and from the airport and ferry you around town, to the staff in the resorts. And relaxed! There’s no rushing about, even the flies are slow there (and let me tell you there are plenty slow ones especially in the hotter months). So I was bused from the airport straight to the Outback Pioneer Hotel, checked in with enough time to explore the complex (yes including the pub) before being bused out to ‘A night at the Field of Light’.

The night includes a really yummy dinner as you watch the sun set over the rock and then a walk along the Field of Light open-air exhibition. I managed to meet up with two sassy Melbourne ladies in their 70s (I’d met them on the plane from Melbourne & coincidently they were in the room next to me at the resort – stalkers), an awesome couple from Geralton in their late 40s and a chick from Melbourne who had brought along her French friends. Plied with an abundance of alcohol, we ate, drank, laughed, told stories and stumbled in the dark along the field of light. Was certainly a night to remember.

The next morning the alarm went off at 4am for my next tour, the Sunrise Awakening tour. And yes, I did have a slight hangover. Good one Shae!! But was not missing my chance to get up close and personal with Uluru.

The tour starts early as we were driven out to a sand dune to watch the sunrise over the rock. My oh my those colours I will not forget, nor the quiet stillness of the place. After sunrise we were driven to the base of the rock and had a chance to wonder off on our own for an hour or so. This is where I was able to have some quiet time and lay my hands on this sacred site and let mum know I was finally there. The tour included more highlights which you can read here.

That same night I was booked on the Outback Sky Journeys Astro Tour but decided to spend the night in the pub with my new friends from Geralton. The pub is actually an outdoor pub and as the sky is literally free of light pollution we were able to witness the rising of the milky way in the night sky, all whilst having a few drinks and people watching.

Sleep in on morning 3 as my helicopter ride had been cancelled. So I decided to spend the day walking into the main part of Yulara and visiting Maruku Arts Market Place and the Visitors Centre. After lunch I treated myself to an hour and half massage at the Red Ochre Spa, Sails in the Desert resort. Pretty sure I fell asleep and probably entertained the masseuse with my blissed out snoring.

My last and final tour for this trip was out to Kata Tjuta. Probably the one I had been looking forward to the most. After being bused the 40 minutes out to Kata Tjuta and after going to a viewing platform to take photos, we were able to hike through one of the many valleys as a group. It took approximately 45 minutes to walk through as the terrain is pretty rough and rocky. Me being one of the clumsiest people you’ll ever meet I really had to be careful navigating may way through Kata Tjuta but happy to say I came out unscathed!

On the way back to the bus, the guide gave us the opportunity to have some alone time so I let the rest of the group pass and found a rock to sit on and sat in silence. Listening, reflecting. Naturally thoughts turned to my mum and just when the tears started to flow from the sadness of losing her and missing her so much, the wind picked up and howled through the vastness of the valley. It really was so loud. I could feel my mum all around me and in that moment I felt that she was there with me and always will be. I couldn’t help but smile and thank her for showing up when I needed her the most and found myself feeling so fortunate to have some sort of connection to her.

Kata Tjuta is such a wonderfully connected place where you can’t help but feel overwhelmed by its beauty, it’s history and the peace it brings. It really was what I needed.

I really didn’t expect to fall in love with the Uluru/Kata Tjuta area. But I did. Four days was nowhere near enough time to truly immerse myself in learning more about Uluru, the area and its people. I most definitely will be going back, this time taking a lot more time out to take it slow and meet some of the indigenous community. As great as all the organised tours were, I feel that next time I go to Uluru there will be less of that and more of just discovering.

I will be forever grateful that in a time where I was feeling overwhelming dark and emotionally exhausted Uluru was a bit of a spiritual saviour and mood uplifter for me. The place gave me a sense of purpose, of belonging to a country that, for most parts, is magnificent and of course, a connection to my beautiful mum. With all my years of travel I don’t know if I have ever been to a place where I have felt such connection to people, land and spirit. Uluru gave me all that and so much much more!

Yulara

The township of Yulara is approximately a 20-minute drive from Uluru. Kata Tjuta is about a 40-minute drive from Yulara. Both are situated inside the Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park which is protected land that covers approximately 130 square kilometres (500 plus square miles). The Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town Yulara was built in the mid 70s as a way to curb the unmonitored tourism that had built up around the base of Uluru. The town itself is small but accommodates all needs and has all amenities. The tourist centre is fabulous for booking any tours and the art galleries are a must.

Uluru / Kata Tjuta

The area around Uluru was settled thousands of years ago, and although it was ‘discovered’ by the white man in the 1800s, Uluru and Aboriginal culture are very much entwined today. In fact, Uluru is Australia’s spiritual heart. Aboriginal culture dictates that Uluru was formed by ancestral beings during Dreamtime.

Anangu own all of Uluru and Kata Tjuta and lease it back to Parks Australia to be jointly managed as a national park. This arrangement first came into place in October 1985, in an historic moment known today as handback.

Where the hell is Paraburdoo? My humble beginnings as a traveller.

June 11, 2018October 28, 2022Australia, Beaches, Leisure, Road Trips, Travel admin

I was born in a town called Bunningyong, approximately 20 kms from Ballarat in country Victoria, Australia. At the tender age of 3 my very brave pioneering parents, Mary & Peter decided to pack up our little family (at that point I was an only child) and head off in the search of endless sunshine over in the wild Wild West of Australia to a tiny little outback town called Paraburdoo in the Pilbara area of Western Australia.

My father had previously spent a few years in the iron ore mines in Dampier in the 70s before heading home to Ballarat and marrying Mum. His love for that area was so great that he somehow managed to convince Mum that uprooting our family to this far off distant place that no one in Ballarat had ever heard of was a fabulous idea. Go dad!!

Dad was from a family of 5, Mum was one of 12 kids (yes! Irish Catholics, obviously no tv!!). On my mothers side no one in her family had ever left Ballarat at that point, not even for a holiday so you can only imagine how that news went down. I’m sure there were plenty of wtf moments.

I remember vaguely the day we left Ballarat, our entire home packed up and put on a truck with everyone from both sides of the family gathering to see us off and wish us well on our new adventure, not knowing when we’d be seen next. So off we drove west towards the sun taking in north west Victoria, driving into south Australia, into Western Australia over the seemingly endless Nullabour Plain to Perth where we then turned the car north and headed up the majestic coast of Western Australia. Finally reaching our new home in Paraburdoo a very long 5 days later.

For those unfamiliar with the vastness of Australia a trip from Ballarat (an hour west of Melbourne) to Paraburdoo took us approximately 5 days of solid driving. And by solid driving I mean, only stopping the car for wee stops, a quick bite to eat or to rest our heads overnight. Ballarat to Perth is approximately 3300kms (or 2000 miles) and Perth to Paraburdoo another 1500kms (or just under 1000 Miles). Yep! Australia is large! That’s pretty close to 5000kms. My mum and dad are legends for doing that drive, one that our family did a few times after our move up.

We arrived in Paraburdoo tired and weary with a huge case of cabin/car fever. Only to find out that all of our belongings hadn’t made the trip and was stuck in Perth. There had been flooding at some part of the journey that we somehow had missed on our way up, so we literally had nothing except what we’d brought with us. The roads in that part of the country being quite unsafe when flooding occurred. The Paraburdoo community rallied together to welcome the newcomers (the fresh blood) and suddenly we were equip with all that was needed to start our new life in the sun.

That trip obviously I don’t remember much at all, you know, being a 3 year old and all so I’ve relied upon my dads memories to tell most of that part of this journey.

Paraburdoo is a classic outback Australian town built in the 70s for the purpose of the booming iron ore mines. The dirt is red. The deepest red you can find on earth, it’s the iconic colour of the Australian outback and trust me, it gets in everything! When it rained, everything was red sludge. We experienced the after effects of many tropical cyclones, the days were hot as hell and in winter, surprisingly the nights were cold. Well as cold as it can be that far up north. A huge contrast to our life in Ballarat!

We lived in Paraburdoo for close to 7 years and in that time my life as an only child ended as we welcomed the arrival of my brother Richie.

My grandparents on both sides made the trip up and we had visits from other Ballarat family. I remember vividly a visit from dads brother and his wife. Memorable for a trip out to a waterhole where us kids, mum and Aunty were happily frolicking around in the water and the brothers thought it a brilliant idea to throw rocks at a sleeping water snake! Well the snake got so pissed off for having its sleep interrupted that it dove into the water at high speeds at the unsuspecting water frolickers. I’ve never seen my parents move so fast!

Life in such a small (the population was approximately 2000 people) but tight knit community of people who had an adventurous zest for life and adventure was nothing short of incredible. We met many wonderful people in our time in Paraburdoo, there wasn’t a weekend were a backyard party didn’t happen, there were gutter parties, roof parties (I know, weird!) any type of party.

Pool parties were the best though. Our backyard upright pool was always a source of endless fun for our friends and our parents friends. you name it we had it! Our backyard was often transformed into a sea of 20 somethings of the tragic but immensely fun 80s. There was crimped hair, bright make up, singlet tops and thongs, endless dancing, singing, laughing and plenty of beer. Often we’d wake to a sea of empty bottles of booze and people camped out in our back yard or lounge room.

My bmx bike was my best friend. It took me all around Paraburdoo on mini adventures with my school friends or kids that lived in my street. I learnt how to make mud pies, my neighbours had chickens, I had a black cat who was the town tart (many litters of kittens that populated the town) and the value of the local swimming pool (champion swimmer at 6 years) was soon learnt as was the theory that certain patterns in the dirt meant that a snake had paid us a visit.

The immense heat meant that sometimes school was cancelled. Doors were never locked, there simply was no crime and sometimes things just didn’t work. Like air conditioners breaking down, or home phones not working. We only got the abc on tv so our viewing pleasure was very limited, and you had to rely on the school library for something to read. Needless to say there was a lot of just making shit up in my childhood.

In outback australia the night sky is absolutely stunning. In Paraburdoo you could witness such clarity and experience the vastness of the universe right from your backyard. The Milky Way, so vividly pretty and unobscured by light pollution, I even remember the famous Haley’s comet paying us a visit. Due to the immense heat of that part of Australia, many nights were spent outside star gazing and moon watching. I think this is where I developed my love of the night sky and Astro photography.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the wildlife in Paraburdoo. So here goes! Yeah there were the iconic Australian animals, the kangaroos, koalas, wombats and often loud symphonies of cockatoos. But the ones most overseas travellers are scared of, we had a plenty! Snakes, yes, and yes the deadly ones. I did watch dad kill more than a few (my hero). Spiders bigger than your hand, or those pesky little red back spiders that could do a lot of harm, those were the kind of spiders that could creep into your shoes if you left them outside or build a web under your bike seat. Always check your bike seat before you ride, no one wants a bite on the arse from a red back spider! Ouch. Cockroaches, omg! Big and black and let me tell you the sound of those little bastards being slammed by a thong is all kinds of gross! Crunch! And goannas! I remember a huge black one walking me home from school one day, he’d have had to have been at least 2 metres long. Seriously though, do not let all of that deter you from exploring this part of Australia. Most of them WONT kill you contrary to common belief.

On weekends, if the parentals were not partying we would go out camping at waterholes, dry creek beds, mountain areas and the like. Right out bush. Our we’d take longer time away from Paraburdoo and head to the coast to Exmouth or Onslow where the beaches are so beautiful, the water crystal clear and the sand so white sunglasses were a must.

Paraburdoo being such a small town with not many facilities and shops, we’d often drive and hour away to a town called Tom Price to hit up the Chinese restaurant where we’d either eat in or take away… yep, an hours drive home with that glorious smell playing havoc on your hungry stomach was pure torture. There’s nothing ‘local’ about an hours drive for take away food! Dad tells me that they used to gather a group of families together and order KFC to be flow in all the way from Perth. Now that is just crazy! We’d also have to drive to bigger towns for any kind of shopping that wasn’t food related, or head down to Perth (you remember how far away that was 1500kms) to buy things like clothing, furniture and even cars. We did buy a car in Perth once. Dad ordered it over the phone and a few weeks later it arrived. Our new car, unseen by us upon purchase.

We did the drive home to Ballarat once for a holiday, taking 6 weeks off work and school taking in the western Australian coast line, dropping into my Aunty’s farm in a small south Australian town called Lameroo before finally making it home to Ballarat. Unaccustomed to the coldness of southern Australia it came as a complete culture shock to us kids, hey we were too used to dry hot days, endless sunshine and outback adventures. Not many people I know got to experience that kind of life.

Which brings me to the purpose of this post. I can’t think of any one of my friends or family, except of course my brother, that had a childhood like mine. It was completely innocent and a lot of fun. Being brought up in a remote outback Australian community was honestly the best start in life I think we could have had. I believe that my early years really opened up my eyes to a life of adventure and not confirming to the ordinary when it comes to a life of exploration. It was a simple life in Paraburdoo but a diverse one where we mixed with kids from all areas of the country, some were born there, some were from other parts of the country, others were from indigenous communities from around the area. It was a life where we really had to band together as a family to make it, and to deal with life without some of the comforts others had in the rest of the country, but it was our normal and we loved it.

I’ve done a fair bit of travel since those formative days of my childhood and I honestly think that having that experience at such a young age endeared me to a life of experiences and expanding my world. Although my parents haven’t travelled overseas as extensively as I have, they are true pioneers of their generation and without them taking a chance on that life away from the comforts of home and the people that they loved I doubt that I’d have such a passion for travel as I do. Thanks Mum and Dad x