Late last year I was quietly reading the travel section of the Sunday newspaper, when I came across an article on how well Christchurch was doing since the disastrous earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.
Having visited in 2010, and then again in 2014, and so having a good idea of what had happened, I felt an urge to return to have a look for myself.
I recently crossed the ‘Ditch’ (the Tasman Sea) from Melbourne to New Zealand, to explore what is one of my very favourite places, and in particular, to check out the recovery of Christchurch after the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.
Sorry to anyone who’s been trying to access the photos on my posts. Every photo, it seems, from 1st July back, has disappeared, leaving only a little box to say it had been there.
Having damaged my right foot (that’s my driving foot) badly just prior to Covid, and not having been able to get proper treatment during that time, I’ve since seen a physio, done all the exercises and it’s been feeling good. It was time to test it out with some serious driving.
It’s eight months since my trip out to Australia’s red centre via the comfort of the Ghan Railway (to read about my trip on the Ghan, click here). We stopped at Alice Springs for a tour, and I chose the lovely Desert Park, seven kilometres out of town.
For my second day in Darwin, I organised a full day tour in the Mary River National Park, including a 2.5 hour cruise through the wetlands of Corroboree Billabong.
On the last night of our trip on The Ghan, we were dropped at our hotels in the city of Darwin, capital of Australia’s Northern Territory.
Following on from my last post, The Ghan had halted in the township of Katherine for our last excursion – Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been wanting to visit Australia’s red centre, and also Darwin in the top end, but for various reasons I always talked myself out of it.
Continue reading “The Mighty Ghan-Adelaide to Alice Springs”
I’ve been talking about exploring the Blue Mountains forever, and thought it was about time I got on with it. So two weeks ago I booked a plane flight to Sydney.
Planning to the Nth 