Singapore

At the end of our trip in Oz, we popped over to Singapore for a couple of days.  First impressions?  Hot, hot hot and really really clean!  The public restrooms were the cleanest I've ever seen and they were all extremely kid friendly.

A great way to see Singapore, if you are only there for a short time, is the Singapore Flyer.  A huge big wheel that gives you views of Singapore.  Malaysia and Indonesia can also be seen in the distance.  The kids loved being able to run around the huge big cabin that we were in on the Flyer.  If we ever have the opportunity to go back, Singapore is a county I would love to explore further.  2 days just wasn't enough!

I should also mention that Singapore airport, Changi, is also a great place to stop over!  They have koi ponds, mediation rooms, game rooms and even a small cinema.  A nice place to relax before heading on the next part of your trip :o)

The Outback

No trip to Oz is complete without a visit to the Outback.  Of course, I was expecting to land in the Outback and discover Crocodile Dundee sitting on the nearest rock!  It was not at all what I expected.  For one, there was alot more green, and the ground was very red.  The distances driven were huge, and for hours we could drive and not see a single car.  It makes you realize that you need to be prepared, as if you break down, you can't count on someone driving past to help you out.  We had a momentary heart stopping moment, when our car got stuck in the mud (a wee bit of rain and your dirt road becomes a mud road).  Thankfully hubs was able to work the 4 wheel drive and get us out, but even so, my heart didn't stop banging for the the next hour!

We decided, for our trip, that we would fly into Mildura, on the outskirts of the Outback, and then drive up to Broken Hill.  Next to Broken Hill is a town called Silverton, although it's more like a ghost town now.  Although the name is not well known, the town is, as it's the town most widely used for movies set in the Outback.  It's also used in many Australian commercials.   The Silverton hotel, a bar, is still open and has the car from Mad Max II parked in front of it.  

Just past the town of Silverton, you can drive to the lookout that oversees the Mundi Mundi Plains. From here you can see multiple days drives, on a clear day, it's awe inspiring the distance you can see.  

What started off as a day trip was our drive to White Cliffs.  Our intention was to drive there (3.5 hours) and then drive back to Broken Hill in the afternoon.  With all the wildlife, it's not advisable to drive after dusk.  Getting hit by a kangaroo is not fun!  With rain clouds in sight (a drop of rain can close the one and only road) I was a little nervous, however once we arrived in White Cliffs and did a tour of PJ's Underground B&B, we decided to stay there for the night.  White Cliffs is an opal mining town, whose temps rarely get below 40C (104F).  To counteract the sometimes unbearable heat, the residents mainly live underground in the used mines, where the temp remains at a pretty constant 22C (71F).  PJ's is a B&B, but also an active mine.  Access to the mine is either through the 'roof' or through one of the bedrooms!  It was definately exciting to stay in an underground B&B, but when they had a power outage in the middle of the night, it was very dark and hard to get around.  Thankfully the iPhone has an app for that!! Hubby's flashlight app came in very handy.  

Our last stop was Mungo National Park.  Lake Mungo is an important site, as it's where the remains of Mungo Man (oldest human found in Oz) and Mungo Lady (oldest person in the world to be ritually cremated) were found.  The lake itself dried up over 15,000 years ago, leaving it's dried up banks, known as the Walls of China.  The lake is home to a lot of wildlife that has no qualms about crossing the road in front of your car.  Definately have to keep your eyes open while driving here!  

Note the 'big red' who was giving us the eye as we drove past.  Wouldn't want to cross him!  

On our trip we also stopped by to visit the home of the Royal Flying Doctors.  I thought it was just a TV show!  These amazing doctors bring medical aid to the entire Outback, often flying and landing in some pretty unusual conditions.  Nothing like a kangaroo bouncing down the runway!  

Another fun thing about the Outback ... locust swarms!!!  Not just something that happens in the bible! Driving down the road listening to splat, splat, splat as the locusts fly into our windshield.  Leaves quite a mess and can even cause your car to overheat ... too many bodies in the radiator!  That's definately something I won't miss. 

Alas it's time to return home as our adventures in Oz have come to an end.  Who knows where the Roaming Richmans will end up next!

Tasmania

Before leaving Oz, we really wanted to see more, so we headed to Tasmania for a quick visit.  Tassie is a beautiful, green, laid back island that really deserves more time to explore.  Alas we only had 4 days, but we packed in as much as we could.  Definately the most beautiful part was Cradle Mountain with an ice blue Dove Lake in view, but the rest of Tassie was pretty awesome too, (especially the fact that they serve normal sized coffees!).

After Cradle Mountain we drove to the beautiful Wine Glass Bay.  As we had the little'uns with us, we decided to only hike up as far as the look out ... although that in itself is an hour and a half hike.  Our peanut amazed us all and did the whole hike herself, while the little guy rode in style on daddy's shoulders.  Lucky him!!  

A nice little day trip is a visit to Bruny Island.  It's only accessible via boat (that carries cars too) and takes about 20 mins to get too.  It's a very small island, or technically two islands, North and South, connected by a thin strip of land.  It has a population of 600 but I think that the tourist industry is starting to suffer there.  It is, however, still a beautiful, quiet place to visit.  

I love that Oz has pies like back home in the UK.  Most pies are some form of beef (beef and bacon, beef and onion etc), although I generally have the vegetable one.  Hubby eats the meat ones and I like to have a bite.  I should have been suspicious when he didn't tell me what kind of meat pie he was eating, but I tried it anyway.  Then he flipped over the bag to show me what I was eating .. Wallaby!!!  Oh no!! At least he got me an apple pie too :o)  

Although our time in Tassie was short, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the Salamanca Market in Hobart and a drive up to Mt Washington to admire the views.  On our last day we stopped in at Port Arthur to see where all the convicts were taken, before we headed off to the airport.  Another great trip over :o(

The Gold Coast and FNQ

At the end of March, we were lucky to have Nana and Pop Pop come and visit us.  We decided that a trip was in order!  We set off for the Gold Coast spending a few days at Seaworld.  The kids loved it!  We stayed at the Seaworld Resort and were able to walk to the park.  Very handy when you have little ones.  There was a great section especially for the young'uns called Sesame Beach.  Much fun was had by all.

Then we jetted further North to Port Douglas for a visit to the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.  I should have known that a tropical rainforest would be wet and steamy, but of course I was not prepared ... a raincoat would have been handy!

At the rainforest, we took a gondola ride over the tree tops to the village of Kuranda.  A quaint little town with plenty of gift shops to browse through, and a great market to find some local wares.  The highlight for me was finally getting to hold a koala.  Princess was the most docile koala ever and I just wanted to keep cuddling her forever <3  Alas I had to put her down, but not until everyone in the family had a chance to get a photo!  

Our last stop, even though it was a wet drizzly day, was the Great Barrier Reef.  The only way to reach the reef is via boat, so we took the Quicksilver boat out to one of the pontoons that floats on the Reef.  Armed with our underwater camera, we snorkeled out to see what we could see.  If the weather had been better, the Reef would have been a lot more colorful, but even if it was not super colorful, the shapes and beautiful designs of the coral was clearly evident.  

The blue wet suit is not the most flattering thing to wear!!

Our peanut surprised us all by suiting up, donning her mask and snorkel and diving into the ocean.  Clearly not phased by size of it!  We obviously have a little fish on our hands :o)

This was definately a great trip, one we would all love to do again one day.  Hopefully next time, we will get to the Reef on a nice sunny day.