Author Archives: Vera

For some reason, Cairns was a surprise to me. I hadn’t appreciated how much of an international tourist destination it is. It’s so far north that it’s within easy reach of Asia and attracts tourists from there. It’s also the … Continue reading →

I’ve had a busy weekend  here, what with it being the Queen’s birthday holiday on Monday this week. We went to Coolangatta to a classic car festival where about 100 or more cars were parked all along the main road. … Continue reading →

Took a ferry from Mulimby into the city and went to Southbank which is an area re-developed and now having two galleries and a museum. We saw some great art works, including a guided tour of a NZ installation by … Continue reading →

I spent the weekend at Maleny, if you want a tour of where, look up this website for photos of Middlepath. We went to the Maleny Agricultural Show and it was just the same as the Turriff Show of the … Continue reading →

We went in our minibus on a tour right around the island. We know we went everywhere as there’s only one tarmac road and as you can see, no traffic for miles and miles. And looking up that road, it … Continue reading →

No – it’s not what you’re thinking! At 1 am in deep sleep I was wakened by the most awful loud banging and realised that the whole house was shaking. I shouted to my ‘roomie’ who said ‘it’s an earth … Continue reading →

This photo was taken on the day we went to visit a couple of schools to deliver some materials (and a wee bit of chocolate) from schools in Brisbane to schools suffering from post-cyclone loss. We went there with our … Continue reading →

Our first trip to the market was slightly embarrassing as we’d just been to the exchange shop to get some local currency, Vatu (158 = £1), and although we thought we’d asked for small money, actually we had the equivalent … Continue reading →

To see the full description of the Reef House, see the link. It has fantastic views over a bay, with particularly beautiful sunsets. We had two local ladies as housekeepers who even collected all our washing and brought it back … Continue reading →

I inadvertently spent a few minutes sitting in the garden at dusk without re-applying my mozzie spray, so I’m now suffering from big, nasty, itchy, blotches which are slowing turning into something worse. I had already prepared for this eventuality … Continue reading →