An Aussy Adventure...
What: Part 2: Port Douglas, The Great Barrier Reef & Cairns
Where: Queensland
Itinerary: Port Douglas- Sheraton Mirage Resort - The Great Barrier Reef - Cairns
Part 1: Queensland - January 3rd - January 8th 2013
Following
a 2 hour flight from Melbourne and escaping Victoria's 40°C+ heat, a frightening number of fire warnings and a nasty viral bug, we arrived in
Cairns and travelled straight to the beautiful town of Port
Douglas, the gateway to The Great Barrier Reef. Stunning! Staying at the luxurious Sheraton Mirage Resort, we were spoilt for pristine lagoon-style pools and some excellent fresh seafood platters.
Celebrating the 2nd leg of our Aussie tour in style, we settled in with the locals at a local watering hole and cracked open the bubbles! Happy, shiny holidaying people!
"Lunch with the Lorikeets" at the Wildlife Habitat was pretty cool with some characterful flying creatures that inspired me to think about writing a children's book. We also met George and Jeffery, two sleepy Tawny Frogmouths (in the first picture). We were also terribly brave or possibly foolhardy and allowed some eager Aussie ladies to drape a python around our necks. I have decided to call her Polly to emphasize how not scary she was!
The Wildlife Habitat is a Wildlife immersion exhibit - an open and
interactive environment for guests and animals to mingle in a spacious
and natural setting. Visitors wander along elevated boardwalks,
observing up close a huge range of flora and fauna as birds fly and roam
freely. It was an amazing experience to get up close to the creatures and the tours - Koala, Wetlands- crococodiles and the opportuity to feed the Wallabies was really cool.
www.wildlifehabitat.com.au
Our second trip in Queensland was to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation, our "Tony's Tour" guide was called Randall and he certainly proved a knowledgable bloke as well as extremely chatty. How he managed to keep up a constant stream of ancidotes and relevant environmental information going nonstop for the entire 5 hour trip, I don't know!
We explored rainforest and waterways, took a boat trip along a crocodile-infested stretch of water and managed not to get eaten which - considering the increasing number of croc attacks - I was quite pleased about. We never managed to spot a wild Cassowarie, but we all had a good chuckle at the doctored sign -> encouraging attentive driving.
Port Douglas was absolutely stunning and we were quite sad to leave the super Sheraton Mirage Resort, but leave we must, and so we ventured a little further down south to Cairns to check into the Hilton hotel and to check out the city of tourists. Advertised in our guide book as rather shabby compared to the Lush Port Douglas, we couldn't help but agree. Nonetheless, with only 2 nights to stay, we managed to find 2 excellent restaurants to indulge our new found passion for fish, Barnacle Bills www.barnaclebills.com.au and The Salthouse at the Marina www.salthouse.com.au = excellent options should you find yourself in town and reccommended to us by some friendly locals.
We spent our final day in Queensland visiting the lovely village of Kuranda. We traveled there via the fantastic Kuranda Historic Scenic Railway and returned over the rainforest with the Skyrail Rainforest cableway.The picturesque mountain retreat of Kuranda Village is just 25km
northwest of Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia and is surrounded
by World Heritage Rainforest. Simply stunning!
Next stop Brisbane, The Gold Coast and The Sunshine Coastal drive to Sydney.
An Aussy Adventure...
What: Part 1: Melbourne
Where: New South Wales
Itinerary: Melbourne - Great Ocean Road -Skenes Creek - Apollo Bay - 12 Apostles
Part 1: Melbourne Saturday 29th - January 3rd 2013
We landed at 9am following 24hours of flights and Hotel Royce certainly helped ease the Jet Lag...
The Royce Hotel is recognised as one of Melbourne’s finest designer
five star boutique hotels. With its 100 stylish rooms and suites, award
winning dish restaurant and chic bar, the amberoom, the Royce offers a
unique experience for the discerning traveller.
Ideally located on Australia’s most famous boulevard, St Kilda Road,
the Royce is within walking distance to the fashionable shopping and
restaurant precincts of Toorak Road and Chapel Street, Melbourne CBD,
Royal Botanic Gardens, Shrine of Remembrance and Albert Park Lake. http://www.roycehotels.com.au/
Headed out to St Kilda and checked out the creatives at the Boulevard market, great stalls with a broad selection of products following an essential sun hat purchase (see below) we enjoyed wandering along the market admiring all manner of ceramics, jewellery and fashion accessories, my favourite products included jewellery made from cutlery -spoons et al! St Kilda is definitely worth checking out for its kitsch retro feel.
www.stkildamarket.com
The Royal Botanical Gardens were stunning and the heat and sunshine certainly helped with the jet lag too. Wandering among the trees and flowers was so relaxing. The picture below shows nature versus modern and old architecture on a beautiful summers day with the perfect refreshing breeze.
My favourite Melbourne district was definitely Fitzroy and Brunswick street. A whole road of funky little shops and bars. A really inspiring area and I certainly picked up a few ideas for my future retail adventure. The perfect location for a little bit of shopping and coffee or two. Melbourne city also has lots of graffiti decorated allies like the photo below. Very cool!
Dinner was enjoyed at Longrain a fabulous Thai restaurant before heading to the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, possibly the best place name ever.
A resident of one of
the world’s most vibrant bar capitals, Longrain Melbourne’s bar was
voted one of Australia’s best bars in the Australian Gourmet Traveller
magazine’s prestigious ‘Best of The Best’ edition. A central point of
the restaurant’s space, the bar is dramatically set at centre stage
cleverly dividing the cocktail lounge and the restaurant’s main dining
area. The bar opens early each evening until late, making it a great pre
and post-theatre spot.
We headed off down The Great Ocean Road on day 4 and were overwhelmed by the views. Australia really is an incredible country! 1 nights sleep in a lovely campsite in Skenes Creek was magical. Star gazing at night on the beach is an Ocean Road must!
and on the way there we met a few cute Koala's!
A Bakers Dozen of Melbourne and the surrounding area essentials:
1. St Kilda for the fabulous boulevarde market. www.stkildamarket.com
2. Fitsroy & Brunswick St -Shopping heaven.
3. Long walks along Yarra River into and out of the city.
4. The Royal Botantical Gardens for some peace and meditative quiet.
5. Roaming the lanes in the city and stopping for coffee.
6. Federation Square and the ICMA and The National Gallery. www.fedsquare.com
7. Soaking up the views and enjoying coffee and delicious Lemon tarts at the Splitpoint lighthouse in Aireys Inlet. www.splitpointlighthouse.com.au
8. Koala watching along the road to Cape Otway Lighthouse. www.lightstation.com
9. A fishy dinner at Vista in Apollo Bay. www.thevistaseafoodrestaurant.com
10. Great Ocean Road views and beaches.
11. Drinking gorgeous Australian wine on the beach whilst star gazing at night.
12. The 12 Apostles seen by helicopter www.12apostleshelicopters.com.au
13. Spending time with special friends, multiple thanks to Jeni & Tom for welcoming us and being such fabulous hosts. Cheers!
next up Cairns, Port Douglas and The Great Barrier Reef...
2013 A Baker's Dozen Bucket List
Where: Australia, Russia, Spain, Germany & England so far...
When: 2013
Everyone who knows me, knows I love to plan everything well in advance. For me firm future plans help keep me excited about what's to come, I thrive on things to look forward too. So expect some blogging around these activities and Happy New Year to you all.
in no particular order...
13. Australia tour - Dec 30th - Jan 25th
12.A Baker's dozen of interviews with some top dogs across the areas of retail, design, interiors, pr and music and marketing.
11.Top 13 Berlin week
10. Yoga retreats- escape to the zen
9. A tale of a Russian Wedding
8. How the Spanish do it.
7. An English woman in New York
6. Advanced Jewellery Skills: A how to or not to.
5. To Mother with Love: The Royal Chelsea Flower Show
4. fingers crossed... An African Safari Extravaganza
3. Achieving a stamp: CELTA qualification
2. Exploring Germany- Q3 Adventures.
and perhaps the most exciting ...
1. A Retail Journey: The opening of A Creative Retail Space in Frankfurt, Germany
Bis Gleich,
xx
A
