Author: Susan

Magnetic Island, affectionately known to locals as “Maggie,” is a tropical island located just 8 kilometers off the coast of Townsville in North Queensland.  Sitting within the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef marine park, over two-thirds of the island is protected national park.  Read more →

We moved just two hours north of Slade Point to the Airlie Beach suburb of Cannonvale.  Airlie Beach is a vibrant coastal hub considered the tropical gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, and the reason we wanted to stay here.  The town itself is your typical beach town Read more →

I mentioned in my last post about staying in Agnes Water because there are large gaps along the coast with no Airbnb’s.  This was certainly the case as we continued our journey north, driving 7 hours to the town of Mackay.  Slade Point is a coastal suburb of Mackay, Read more →

As we made our way north of the Sunshine Coast, we arrived at the serene coastal communities of Agnes Water and the Town of 1770 (also known as Seventeen Seventy).   Can you guess why the town is named Seventeen Seventy?  Thats right, it’s where Read more →

Leaving The Hunter Valley we drove to Sydney, returned our rental car and hopped on a plane to Brisbane where we picked up another rental car and drove 2 hours north to Maroochydore.  The day ran like clockwork, now we can settle into a relaxed 68 day road trip up the East coast to Cape Tribulation. Read more →

The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest wine region with many of these vineyards featuring vines that are over a century old.  We based ourselves in the small town of Cessnock, in the heart of the wine growing region.  With roughly 120 wineries less than 30 minutes from our house, Read more →

We came to Sydney for a little ‘vacation’ to celebrate a friend’s 70th birthday.  David and Di live a few hours south of Sydney and when we knew our Australia dates I messaged them to arrange getting together.  We had hoped to spend a few days with them but they were leaving on a two month travel adventure.  Read more →

Getting to Canberra became a challenge with increasing fuel shortages and flight cancellations in this part of the world.  I don’t know why Air New Zealand cancelled our flight from Auckland to Sydney, Australia with 18 hours notice but it got us scrambling.  Read more →