Early morning start for flight to Singapore, all went to plan.
7 hour layover at Changi airport then late night flight into Colombo arriving there just after midnight local time which was 4 ½ hrs behind Brisbane so both very tired.
Everyone who has ever been to our place could never imagine the river coming up as high as it did in these floods.
1974 flood level is the benchmarg for buildings in Brisbane - it's now time to re-assess those building codes in this area for the new 2017 flood level.
I remember visiting Milford Sound many!! years ago and thinking wow, this is great. Way back then it was a bus trip from Te Anau and a small boat out to view Stirling Falls from the water. But this morning I heard doors banging in the corridor, wondered what the time was and opened the curtains to see outside. Lo and behold a bloody great 2km high cliff with 3 million waterfalls cascading down!!! Yes, a little exaggerated but my first words were “KEMM - get up!!!!”
Friday was the unofficial start of this big weekend but really only for the celebrities and who's who in town, wasn't us!
Saturday morning we drove 30 minutes north of Margaret River to our meeting point to board the Kimberley Quest for a 'long lunch'. Turned out to be a fabulous day weather wise and also on the boat. We cruised around Goegraphe Bay sipping our way through Evans and Tate bubbles, Chardonnay and Semiilon Sauvignon Blanc but an large assortment of seafood finger foods including mussels, crab and corn bites, boutique burgers etc as well.
Headed out of Perth Monday morning to make our way down towards Manjimup. Stooped along having coffee and lunch along the way and found ourselves at the 'Kingsley Motel' in Manjimup. Booked in for 2 nights as we planned to explore the next day. Dinner at the motel restaurant, not much else around.
Next morning headed south towards Walpole, weather was kind and driving through Karri forest a lot of the way was very pretty. some amazing huge trees in this region. The drive down was just over an hour and on arrival made our way out to the 'Valley of the Giants' an amazing drive through giant Karri trees and out to the treetop walk. The trees here are all 'Tingle' eucalypt trees, many of them now protected in the National Park and absolutely majestic in nature.
Kemm and I flew firstly to Sydney and stayed overnight at Rydges at the airport. Caught the T-Bus from the terminal and had a bite to eat downstairs. Took a wander over to the international just to stretch our legs. An airside room is always good t Rydges as you can watch the aircraft take off and land for hours!
next morning (Friday) we caught the T-Bus back to domestic and eventually boarded Virgin's 777 in business class, their new 'Suites'. Window seats are single only so Kemm sat in 3a and I was in 4a. Delightful flight over to Perth, nearly 5 hours and 2 movies later, into Perth.
caught a cab into the Hilton, nearly $50 cab fare! Met up with a group of AFFer's for dinner at 'The Painted Bird' restaurant.
Tasmania - day 1 Arrived Friday afternoon and got a cab to our accommodation in North Hobart, Rydges'. It's a little out of town but realized a couple of the other AFFers were also staying there. We decided to head off into Hobart to 'Dark Mofo', an annual arts festival of local art, food and wine. We had no idea this was on but loads of people, outdoor open fires, music and a few drink. A great night out. Saturday am
Our final full day on board today and a full day at sea. We are crossing the Timor sea heading up to Kupang in Indonesia to then catch a flight back to Darwin and eventually home to Brisbane. It seems all ‘foreign owned’ vessels must make one of their voyage ports out of Australian territory for whatever reason known only to maritime law. The Captain thinks the whole thing is crazy but as he says, that’s the law!
