Happy 50th Birthday Mum!!!

Oh my god who would've ever believed that you were so young!!! ha ha ha

I hope you are having fantastic birthday festivities!! I know you enjoyed your meal last week and am now in Amsterdam to book..... You will also by now of had the surprise of having a few people join you for dinner in Amsterdam on Saturday night - hopefully this has been good and Dad didn't push your whole "I don't want to do anything for my birthday" too far!!

I really wish i could be there to wish you a happy birthday in person but hey its just not that convenient for me right now, although I wish I was getting to come to all these events! Might've even got a free trip to Amsterdam! Well at least I am going there next year.

On another slightly exciting note.....only 3 weeks til Robbie and 4 until Christmas!!! Ohhh this is exciting! And of course only 3 and a bit months until you guys will be in Perth - it'll be great.

Anyway I'll let you get back to your exciting time, no doubt I will speak to you on this special day.

Lots of Love and Hugs

Dawn

xxxxxxxx

Adelaide to Perth Tour Booked - to meet the folks!

So this is the tour I have booked - the only one I could find actually!! Check it out though because it looks good!

The 9 Day Adelaide to Perth travels through the Southern Flinders Ranges and onto the Eyre Peninsula. The tour then crosses the Nullarbor and into Esperance and the South West of Western Australia.
This tour has a focus on the South West of Western Australia travelling along the coastline of Western Australia through to Porongurup and then inland through tall timber country and into Perth. The journey is approximately 3800 kilometres - Some days are more driving than others but on average each day is about 400 kilometres.

DAY 1
Our adventure begins north from Adelaide. Depending on the weather conditions we include a bush walk in the southern Flinders Ranges.
We stop off along the way to take in typical rural cities and towns. At the end of the first day’s journey we stay either in a bush camping setting or during winter an Aussie farm retreat staying in updated shearer’s quarters.

DAY 2
After a short drive we board the MV Investigator for a 4-5 hr cruise (own cost at $100 Inc GST). It’s a relaxing day viewing and swimming with dolphins and Australian sea lions. We visit the famous Murphy’s Haystacks – the weird and wonderful - 100,000 year old granite inselbergs shaped by the sands of time.
Time permitting we head back to Coodlie Park Farm Retreat to view a spectacular sun set at a secluded beach. Our hosts Hassie, Jo and family then conduct a nocturnal spotlighting tour looking for Australia’s National Emblems – Kangaroos, Wombats and Emus.

DAY 3
Optional Experience – Scenic Flight - 120 Kilometres of magnificent rugged coastline between Coodlie Park and Ceduna [$140.00 per person minimum 3 people] We travel further along the West coast of South Australia, and after a short stop at Ceduna we check out the surf at one of Australia’s best surf beaches “Cactus Beach’.
You can do a coastal walk along some rugged coastline or relax with a book on a remote beach. Later in the afternoon we head for the tiny historical settlement of Fowlers Bay, adjacent to massive sand dunes. We finish off the day with some extreme fun sand boarding.

DAY 4
Leaving Fowlers Bay behind we cross the dingo fence, travel through Yalata Aboriginal lands and drive onto the Nullarbor Plain.
Outside of the whale season you will not be disappointed with the spectacular coastline and viewing platforms that showcase the majestic Nullarbor Cliffs. We stop at the famous wombat/camel/kangaroo road sign and call into old Eucla, a telegraph town buried by sand dunes!

DAY 5
Get ready for some adventurous caving (bring a torch) because today we are going deep beneath the Nullarbor and you can even have a swim in an underground lake. We travel through some real outback country and it will certainly give you a sense of the size of the vast and ancient land.
Please note:- Caving as been stopped for the interim by CALM – Western Australia’s National Parks on account of floods and overall safety. Nullarbor Traveller are looking for another caving alternatives. In the interim the tour includes playing part of the "Nullarbor Golf Links" an 18 hole golf course that starts at Ceduna and ends in Kalgoorlie – playing golf in the middle of nowhere! - Bloody Golf!!!!

DAY 6
We arrive in Esperence (our first bit of civilization for some time) and while we restock supplies you can look around this beautiful seaside port.
We set up camp for the next two nights only metres away from a picture postcard beach in the cape le Grand National Park, and the sandy beaches and crystal clear water.
A late afternoon hike up the granite formation known as “Frenchman Peak’ rewards you with fantastic views of the bays and islands of the Recherche Archipelago.

DAY 7
We have another full day to enjoy this beautiful spot and it’s totally up to you how you want to spend your day.
There are some stunning coastal walks, you may like to swim, boogie board, snorkel, fish or just relax while lying on a pure white sandy beach (you might have to share the beach with a local kangaroo or two).

DAY 8
We leave early and head for the Stirling Range or Fitzgerald River National Park, where we will do one of the many walks on offer.
We like to keep today flexible as there are so many great spots to visit, the guide will decide the best route on the day.
We arrive into our overnight destination at Porongurup before sampling some award winning wines and settling down to a vineyard platter.

DAY 9
The landscape changes dramatically as we head into the heart of the southern Eucalypt forests of W.A. We walk the talk on the tree top walk at the “Valley of the Giants”; a unique structure that takes you up into the canopy of a very ancient and special eucalypts called Red Tingle trees.
In the afternoon we climb one of the giant Karri trees that once used as a fire lookout. Our last bit of the nearly 4000 km journey gives you a chance to reflect on the experiences over the last nine action packed days as we head for Western Australia’s capital Perth.
And so there it is...exciting eh!! I should arrive in Perth on 1st March whic will give me time to have a look at what we can do when the parents arrive. Can't wait to do tour or to meet up with my parents. It is all going so fast because by then I'll only have a few months left!
Well I hope everyone is well and jealous!!
Love
Dawnie
xxxxx

Arrived in Melbourne safe and sound....

Well after our final day in Darwin, not doing much except packing and eating, Emma left on Sunday evening to catch her flight to Melbourne and I got up on Monday to prepare for my flight. I got on an airport shuttle around 10ish and after alot of pick ups we finally got to the airport at 11ish. I checked in for my flight and then chilled until boarding time at 12.05pm. I jumped on and had an aisle seat with noone next to me....bonus!!
I was fed some pasta then chocolate while I watched You, Me and Dupree so it was all quite comfortable. After the 3 or so hour flight to Adelaide I had to hang around at the airport until my next flight to Melbourne at 19.20. I had a couple of hours but it went quite quickly. The second flight only took about an hour but we still got dinner. Some chicken thing with mash and veg and I got a free glass of wine. Again another relaxing flight.
When we had landed in Melbourne I offered to help this lady with her stuff, as she had 3 bags and 2 young kids, so I carried a bag to the baggage collection area. She then said she could try to drop me off in town if I helped with her luggage...so I agreed. It turned out that she had 2 trolley fulls of bags etc!! I went with her to get the hire car - which seemed to take ages, and then she dropped me by Flinders Street Station which was really nice of her. It turned out that her husband had died just 6 weeks ago and she had a 5 year old and 2 year old with her and a one year old at home, she was here to see her parents. It is quite sad - I was pleased I had offered to help her.
I then text Emma to say where I was and she was nearby so we met up and jumped on a tram to our hostel on St Kilda Road. It was quite a new hostel but our room was a tip, 10 bed dorm with all girls. It was ok but we figured that we would be better to be in town more so after two nights in this hostel and one day wandering to look at hostels we moved to Melbourne International Hostel on Elizabeth Street which looked ok. Well it is ok but not great, we are both on top bunks and aren't getting much sleep but we are only there for a week so it will do.
We have emailed various places about work, I dropped my CV into the cinema but haven't heard back from anything yet - which is annoying. They seem to be a bit like this in larger cities. So we have had rain most days and hail a couple but it has been ok.
Today the sun finally appeared so we decided to do one of the city walks. We went with number 2 - Secret Gardens. So we headed to Federation Square as this is where all the walks seem to start from. We walked round Queen Victoria Gardens, down past the Kings Domain, checked out the Shrine of Rememberance, walked round the royal botanic gardens, by the ornamental lake, past where the Make Poverty History concert was playing today and back along the Yarra River. We walked on to South Bank and had a hot drink there. It was a nice walk although the map wasn't really good so we didn't always walk the right way!! What a beautiful day, still a bit fresh but lovely in the sun.
We headed back over to Federation Square and then headed into St Pauls Cathedral which is currently having renovations done on some of it so we could only see a bit. I gave a donation, lit a candle for Nana and took some photo's. We didn't stay too long. It is quite a nice catedral though and someone began playing the organs as we were leaving.
We just headed back towards to hostel and took a few photos on the way. It is still sunny out and hopefully the weather will stay much the same while I am here!!
Not sure what the weekend plans are, maybe another walk? Have to contact more agencies about work so that we will get something soon.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Love
Dawn
xxxx
P.S. I have to apologise about some of my pictures....I had it on a silly mode and so will probably walk that way again and take some better ones!!

Final Weekend in Darwin - Finally

Ok so I have now finished work...yippee!! Kerstin and Sarah left for Broome early Friday morning, Emma leaves for Melbourne late tomorrow night, I leave for Melbourne Monday afternoon and Sylvia will be here another couple of weeks I think!
So my last week at work was ok. The heat is getting even worse though so I cannot wait to get to Melbourne although I will prob need to buy a coat of some sort!
Emma and I went to Crocodylus Park here this morning as they were celebrating 12 years being open so it was only $10, instead of $25!!!
This was a stressful event, especially after the hassle it was to get there. On the website it says can get the number 5 bus from Darwin so off we went to catch it and then looked at the timetable - its doesn't run weekends!! We asked a bus driver and he said we should get to Casaurina(sp??) and then get the number 9 to the park so we jumped on the 10 to Casaurina and then once there we sat where the number nine should pick up from but there was no timetable for it so we didn't know if it would come. We sat for quite a while with Emma getting bored and me making up little songs which seemed to be embarrassing Emma!! Ha ha. Finally a bus pulled up - a number 1, we heard a lady (very loud lady) who got off saying she was going to Crocodylus and they would be getting back on that same bus. Everybody started to get on and eventually Emma and I decided to venture towards the bus and then asked the lady if it was the right one, she confirmed it was!! We jumped on and probably arrived at the park at about 11.40am, almost 2 hours since we had left Darwin!!! We got there anyway...it was getting really hot by now.
Well we weren't too impressed with the layout or the animal enclosures and to be honest it all seemed a bit make shift!!! However, I am uploading some pictures from our very sweaty experience. I can't believe people normally pay $25 to go as it is so small. We got to see a tiger being fed, which I don't really like (unless they stimulate them a bit), and all the lady did was hold meat to the bars and the tiger took it through.... All the big cats seemed far too hot - tongues out, trying to cool in the shade or in water, poor things. It didn't take us very long to walk round the place so we headed off around 1pm which bought on the whole bus back thing!!
We eventually found the bus stop and waited there about half an hour before the bus came and we were lucky that at Casaurina there was a number 10 just waiting for us so we got on. We were home by about 2.30pm - most of the day spent getting to and from the park which is not easy if you don't own a car!!
So anyway I have showered and wandered down here to upload the pics and do a quick blog to get everyone up to date on what is happening.
Emma and I are going out for dinner tonight to somewhere that is always busy so we hope its good!!! I am so excited about going out to eat somewhere nice.... We sat in last night watching Starsky and Hutch - which was good except for the adverts!!
Take care and I will let you guys know how Melbourne is!!
Dawnie
xxxxx
Yes I know - more picture of tigers...