John Cornhill

Hello all well here I am in Merimbula with Mike and Maureen and what a wonderful place they have chosen to retire its got miles of golden and white sands on loads of beaches all sizes from sweeping bays to small coves with forest or bush as backdrops, incredibly blue and green sea very clear no pollution, also lakes, rivers and lots of restaurants. The land mostly rises from the sea and lakes hence most homes have amazing views including M&Ms which looks over lake with forest behind. Walked along lakeside boardwalk with Mike into town passing loads people all say Hi/Hello/Gday (yes they do say Gday) and nobady tries to knock you off the boardwalk into the mud/mangrove very nice people here too. Mike has driven me all over, yesterday Tura beach, Merimbula and Panbula beaches, today Wednesday with Maureen to Eden, a former whaling port, now mainly fishing and tourism and whale spotting, walked out to Haycock Point and 'The Pinicles' where views beautiful and fantastic all on such a large scale there is nothing comparable in the UK, had lunch in a recently renovated old pub in Boydtown (was Richard ever here?) Stopped by Wowacki River took some more photos. M&M understandably very happy here play lots of golf Maureen drove me round their 27 hole course on buggy didnt fall out once not nervous at all kangaroos everywhere beautiful maybe Ill take up golf excellent clubhouse great community spirit. Travelling to Torquay Friday 3rd Sorry Im missing the carnivals in Somerset, Gday, John John Cornhill

John Cornhill

Had a very good evening with Bing, took me to a restaurant/coffee bar on top of a hill overlookinmg Brisbane very impressive. Hope to meet up with Bing again one day maybe in UK. Train journey to Sydney quite enjoyable sat close to buffet car saaw bush, creeks, forest gradually give way to fields with cows and sheep almost like england a real contrast to north with bush and sugar cane crops.. One poor guy presented his ticket to be told it was for yesterday he was a day out in his reconing also missed connecting flight he was distraught.
Synney a typical city except waterfront which is teriffic goes on for miles including Sydney Opers House and the bridge of course. Went on boat trip around the harbour lots of headlands, inlets, coces, beaches, bays and inner harbours. Had a good look around botanic gardens they make it very interesting with lots of info on boards asnd plaques. Booked tickets and went to a concert in SOH SAT EVE gABRIEL fAURE REQUIEM BRILLIUANT ALSO Peter Sculthorpe requiem local guy incorporated indigenous theme including major input from William Barton didjeridu very moving huge applause. conductor David Porcelijn dutch with Sydney Philharmonia symphonic Choir and Orchestra. A very memorable experience I really enjoyed it. Went to aquarium well unbelievable sights crocadile 5m?, huge fish, duck billed platypuses, living reefs with loads of fish, underwater viewing of sharks, very big turtles even bigger rays ansd in another tank (of couise) frolicing seals.. Also visited NSW parliament building, the Rocks a historical area, Manley beach famous for surfing there were loads out doing it (surfing) and vollyball everywhere. also went in The Garrison Church very old for Aus. Ive decided I like Sydney. Off to Merimbula next. 5 comments from 3 people so far, great. Best wishes to all, JohnJohn Cornhill

John Cornhill

Hello all, enjoyed bus journey Hervey Bay to Brisbane, saw sunshine coast long streches of gorgeous beach. Been in Brisbane 24 hours now. Walked around 4 hours last evening, botanical gardens very impressive, including boardwalk thru mangrove on boardwalk that extended for a mile or so along riverside lovely then went into Brisbanes Chinatown had meal there. Slept well last night! Today missed boatride so took bus to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary 130 koalas including kindergarden, 'retired' ones in their own sanctuary, nursing mums with joeys hanging out of their pouches, southern ones which are bigger and darker. Also Wombats (theyre ugly) a Cassowary (lots of concern about these dying out they get hit by cars) 2 dingos (also a worry because few pure bred left due to interbreeding with ferral domestic dogs) dozens of kangaroos in a field where you can walk among them and feed them they are very tame) eagles flying about with handlers including a huge sea eagle 1.8m wingspan, sheep dog 'trials', with 2 dogs herding about 15 sheep into a pen then sitting on the sheep which is what they do when sorting them for shearing, an echidna but only saw its backside in a log very prickly, crocodiles but only small 2m ones, emus, parrots, bats, monitors, lorikeets a very pleasant day. Bus driver on way back just returned from world travelling holiday including a stay over in Torquay Devon also visited Paignton chatted to him all the way back its like that out here. 6pm now, am meeting Bing later who I met on dive on Great Barrier Reef off Cairns. He lives in Brisbane we're going for a pint. Train to Sydney tomorrow. Been here 4 weeks now, only 2 left in Aus not enough Best wishes to everyone, John ps checkout www.koala.net/photo/2510006534.htmJohn Cornhill

John Cornhill

Whale watching wow For a long time we could only see a black 'log' on the surface some distance away then the boat moved closer to one and the huge Humpback jumped out of the water nearby like dolphins do then came right up to the boat and rose vertically out of the water I was looking into its eyes it was only 10 feet away then it went under the boat and swam close by for a while all with calf in close attendance brilliant amazing another real awsome. Met Brian and wife from Adelaide retired at 55 been travelling for 9 years. Told me birds on South Molle Island are Curlews and 'croc' I saw on Cape Trib beach was a Goanna a big lizard! oops. Back in Hervey Bay saw hundreds flying foxes at dusk in trees what a sight and noise.
Now still in Hervey Bay just back from 2 days on Frazer Island124km long, 5 to 27 km wide all sand except a few rock out crops near one end Lots of rain forest, some bush, internal lakes we swam in two Bus specially designed 'MAN' for driving on sand tracks very soft in places bumpy great ride driver Richo in Aus 33 years from Kings Langley knows Bovingdon well great guy. Met Pete a writer and Dave and Caroline on hol live in London, some german girls a dutch couple a french couple a great group. Stayed overnight in a camp site IN FOREST Richo did excellent bbq. lONG BEACHES AROUND ISLAND AND SAND 'DESERTS' and lakes inland. Saw Red Backed Eagle, White Bearded Eagle, Wagtails and nest Green parrot with red markings and a 15cm lizard with no legs poor thing very bright black and white colouring nearly trod on it got my camera out but selfishly it disappeared. Came accross exhausted Gannet type bird sitting on beach Richard stopped to check it out we got to within a few feet and it flew a few meteres into the sea so left it. Probably the dingos will have it for dinner. Didnt see a dingo but ither bus saw 2. Walked accross sand desert amazing experience trees of forest in the distance. Catfish in lake water warm to swim in maybe 26 degrees. The other lake had very low ph about 3. Also black stuff looks like rock but not it is compressed vegetation, a form of coal , just broke off in your hand. Also saw seams of iron/ferrous some of which were sticking vertically out of coal where the sea had eroded the coal before the iron. It looked man made but was entirely natural. Got stuck in sand once, Another time had to clear a tree fallen accross the track a real adventure! got to go, JohnJohn Cornhill

John Cornhill

Hello again had a great trip on a catamaran around Whitsunday Islands with about 60 others. The islands are all shapes and sizes covered in trees with lots of beaches. Went snorekling twice a brilliant experience to see all the different coirals blue, all shades of brown, white, gold and the fish! you are swimming in amonst them sometimes shoals of them very close all colours, patterns and sizes. I followed one fish for about 5 minutes it went up and down a bit and round in circles but it didn't seem to moind my close presence sometimes less than a foot away.(300mm if you are under 40!) Also saw 1 turtle! Accomodation on South Molle Island in a chalet. Some of the chalets are right on the beach lots of facilities for visitors. bliss. long legged birds walking round didn't find out their name saw another big white parrot. at breakfast there were 100's lorakeets (squeakys)pinching bits of egg and bacon. 3 landed on my wrist and cup and started drinking my orange juice as I held it bin my hand. They are beautiful birds but a nuisence there. Met Karen who runs a backpacker hostel in Amsterdam called Piggies and her friend Siska who is a psychotherapist working for a unit that is an call for emergency situations a bit like the AA or fire brigade but for psychological crises she is also on call to travel anywhere in the world to collect and bring home dutch travellers who have breakdowns while abroad, usually under insurance situations. I think the dutch might be ahead of us in this area. The trip also Went to Whitehaven beach glorious 8km almost pure white sand very fine another paradise. Some visitors came by seaplane watched one take off. Back to chalet, walked along beach and nature trail to next beac and along causeway to next island tide coming in just met accross causeway as I walked (quickly) back. Went to water the horse under a tree on way back heard a noise listened more carefully heard it again think it was probably a snake hissing at me it was getting dimpsey couldnt see it but sounded quite close and still had to retrace steps along nature trail so didnt hang about. brown snakes had been seen in the area and they are very dangerous some snake bites kill in 5 minutes so every one very careful. Some of the others came accross a snake on the path through the chalets. Met Arastou who is Iranian working in Adelaide spoke english better than most english. Food on boat very good and plenty of it. A few people sick off back of boat when it got rough but otherwise everyone had a great time. Host was Jamie from Canada Skipper australian applying to join south seas coastguard which is highly rated job due to russian and korean factory ships illegally fishing; apparently its a war zone down there between aus and antarctica. Saturday morning now, just arrived in Hervey Bay going whale watching this afternoon then a 2 day trip on Frazer Island recommended by lots of people. I do like Hervey Bay it even has a township called Torquay within it and a very long beach which I am about to go and sit on. All the Best, John John Cornhill

John Cornhill

Journey to CapeTribulation fascinating saw a field full of grazing kangaroos before going up through rainforest and Daintree National Park. Went on a river cruize and saw white egrets, 2 freshwater crocs, 2m and 1m and a beautiful but very small Azure Kingfisher. The rainforest is 175million years old but much logging for hardwoods such as red cedar and for arable farming mainly sugar cane has much reduced the forest on the plains. Also they grow tea here so had some of thelocal brew. Stayedd at PKs atCape Tribulation walked along beach waded accross estuary to get to path to Cape Tribulation Beach which was exceptionally beautifaul laid on the beach for a while, saw and photographed small croc 1m laid on beach for a while then retraced steps to first beach including crossing stream again only to be told back at PKs that a 2m croc had been laying out by the estuary all day. also went to bat 'hospital' got real close to flying foxes quite big they are and on forest walk where saw huge white cockateal and various other strange birds. Some of the others swam in rock pool. had kangaroo stir fry very tasty but mine was a bit tough, next day went on couple more forest walks and this time I did have a swim in a river pool very refreshing1. Met a israeli girl, americans but mostly british on this trip..On way back stopped to look at mouth of Dailntee River and saw Islands where Steve Irwin took his last dive. Saw magnificent Oeprey Eaglenesting in Areal Tower. Stayed overnight and had 1 day in Port Douglas a v nice small up market resort town with a perfect 4 mile sandy beach (but all beachs up here have stingers (box jellyfish) in the sea in summer their stiong can kill and certainly hospitalise). Beach 5 mins from Dougies where I stayed; walked up to headland with amazing views, walked around marina and town. very good market that day had meal in Court House Hotel whaic was only building left standing after hurricaine early 20 century then laid in beach. (Have to use lots of sun protection up here) Back in Cairnd today Mon, off the Whitsundays Wed travelling to Ailrlie tomorrow. All the best to everyone, JohnJohn Cornhill

John Cornhill

Hello again, Thursday evening now. Had a very relaxing day, planning the rest of October and reading Bill Bryson (very good) Decided to try the hammock and was very pleased with myself to ascend and insert myself with little difficulty. Descending turned out to be a different matter. For several minutes I couldn't work out which part of me should exit first. The eventual parting of company with the hammock was most undignified and unbursarlike. Hopefully nobody noticed. Two chicks were wandering around the yard here today looked like turkey chicks to me but were too small to eat.

Cairns has a natural sandy very nice beach streching for about a mile along the front from the harbour at the mouth of the estuary to a headland . It also has a man made lagoon just inland from the beach with some sand and lots of grass around it. On a sunny day, the lagoon is packed with adults and children. But never a soul on the beach. Can anyone tell me why?

Away for 3 days now, hope you all have a great weekend,
John John Cornhill

John Cornhill

Rainforest a wonderful experoience. visited 2 huge fig trees, with names Cathedral and Cutrain. these fig seeds land in the top of trees and send rioots down to the ground, eventually surrounding the host tree. the hardwood tree live 150 - 200 years but these figs were around 1000 years old so the host trees had died off having been strangled anyway and the fig holds itself up by its by now huge roots and just gets bigger and bigger. The cathedral was formed by the host tree falling against another tree and the fig putting continually more roots down. The fig has no trunk, just roots going down from the canpoy. Went swimming in a pool below a waterfall where the hair shampoo advert was made where the girl flinks her hair. went night canooing with a group of 10, I was in canoo with Evan and Kelly from Misoori it was black but we had a torch and saw tree kangaroos (2 in a tree and a group on a grassy bank) and an eastern water gragon on a branch just above the water its a lizard about 1/2 metre long the guide picked it off the branch poor thing and we all stroked it!!(the dragon not the guide) also went platy-puss spotting and just saw a couple in the water they are like otters with duck type bills not like a cat at all. Also saw bush turkeys and a huge colourful butterfly landed on my shirt. Stayed in Youngaburra for 1 night next day went to Lake Eacham (a crater lake), conooed agin in lake tinaroo(man made) this time with a german girl very nice. this time I steered and hit 3 other canoos, a tree and a buoy but no-one fell out. saw a heron and looked for cassowaries but didnt see one but I think there is one in Paignton zoo so didnt matter. walked up a creek to find ocre stones that aboriginees paint their faces with and painted each others faces. I am a real tourist now. went on a bike ride 18k with the group saw some big egret like birds. Had a huge burger lunch with lots of salad and home made scones excellent. Back in Cairns now, Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas over 3 days starting tomorrow Going to relax rest of today. Best wishes to everyone, John




John Cornhill

John Cornhill

Just had 2 very relaxing days in Cairns. Highlight was the discovery of A fish and chip shop where you can choose the fish from a display of all sorts of wetfish on show then have it breadded, grilled or battered. Unfortunately when I got back to accomodation with it I squirted tom sauce from australian squeezies pack just missing fellow guest's white shirt. He was american, I thought they had a good sense of humour. Not this one. Going into rainforest for 2 days tomorrow.
Best regards to everyone,John Cornhill

John Cornhill

What a great day Started at 7.30 collected from accom. to boat, then muffins and tea, then 90 mins to green island then snorekling then a 20 min dive wqw what an experience hundreds of all sorts of multi coulured fish, a turtle that one of the (girl) divers stroked, a multitude of different corals a justifiable use of the word awsome then fruit, a visit to Green Island which looks like paradise itself to me then back to the boat for cheeze abd buscuits and cake all very nice then back to port. met a guy from Brisbane going to meet up for a pint when I get there, a really nice couple from Londan and 2 lovely ladies mum and daughter from Byron further down east coast of Aus hoping to meet up for coffee if i can get there which they say I should. A greaty day. next 2 days relaxing in Cairns then a 2 day excursion into rainforest.
Hope everyones fit and well
All the Best.
John
John Cornhill

John Cornhill

Thursday now, and have spent one day in Cairns =north east coast of Aus. Walked along the esplanade, very long, then lazed by the lagoon which is a public area with a large play/relaxing pool with sand and grassy areas around to lay out in. Have booked a day trip to the reef to snorkel and do an accompanied dive with air. You get muffins and tea when you board the boat lunch and cake all day. Also booked a 2 day trip into the rainforest including volcanic crater lakes, spectacular water falls walks and a fig tree? picnic lunch and tea and swimming at dinner falls and plattypus spotting? plus a mountain bike ride and going in canoes. Should be quite good. Oh and lots of wildlife it says.
Perth with Anita, Tim and all was great, this looks good too.
All the Best to everyone, John Cornhill

John Cornhill

Hello all. Haven't been able to get into this blog til today, my last day in Perth. Had a wonderful week with Anita and Tim plus Rebecca, Emily, Nathan and Clarissa plus Jedda the dog. Visited Kalamaunda, Fremantle and Perth Centre, cycled for 2 hours on a trail thru the bush and done lots of relaxing and reading in the garden. The bungalow is in the hills behind Perth and it's like sitting in the middle of a zooological garden with all the different birds and their songs. Met a few neighbours and friends, all very hospitable and friendly. In Fremantle visited wrecks exhibition and the Maritime Museum and local market and had squid and chips on the quayside. Perth has a brilliant museum plus Kings Park which was full of different trees and shrus and parrotty type birds. The Swan river through Perth and Fremantle is spectacular. Got some photos and will try to find out how to put them on the blog later. Flying to Cairns tomorrow. Keep in touch, John Cornhill