Happy New Year 2011!!!

Dear Reader,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy new year 2011. May all your wishes come true and I hope that the new year will bring you lots of joy, happiness, satisfaction and especially good health.

Thank you for following my blog and I hope that you will continue to do so in 2010 too.

Yours
Gordana

Switzerland in December

I had a great time on my recent visit to Switzerland. Visiting family and friends is always exciting for me as I don't see them very often. This Christmas, I stayed in Schaffhausen, a lovely city where I have many friends and where my family lives.

A shopping trip to Zurich is a must - especially before Christmas. All shops display lovely festive decoration which invites customers to spend money :-)

People put up cute decorations and this year I was lucky to celebrate a white Christmas. Usually it snows weeks before Christmas and by the 25th December, the snow is gone.

Unfortunately, the snow did not last very long as temperatures rose above zero degrees Celsius and after a couple of days, little evidence of a white Christmas was left.

Nevertheless, the city of Schaffhausen offers a lot for visitors.

The architecture of the old town is very interesting; the city offers a variety of pretty little restaurants and bars and its rural surrounding is ideal for biking, hiking, walking and sledging.

The Rhein river is great for canoeing, riding kayaks or boats, swimming or simply just walking along the shore to the nearby Buesingen.

Tips for visitors:
Europ's largest waterfall, the 'Rheinfall' can  be found in Neuhausen, a suburb of Schaffhausen and is definitely worth a visit. Every year, ten thousands of visitors from all over the world travel to Neuhausen to see this spectacular waterfall. Click on the link of 'Rheinfall' to see some images I found on Google. For more information about history, facts and figures etc. click here.

--> Photos of my trip to Switzerland in Dec. 2010

SWISS WINTER WONERLAND

  

Dear reader,

I am currently in Switzerland, visiting family and friends and I thought I'd share some of the pictures I took in the last few days.

At the moment we do have snow in Schaffhausen, where I am staying but it rained today and I am not sure if the snow will stay until Christmas. We all hope that it will snow again in the next couple of days as it would be just fantastic to have a white Christmas. The hills have been fantastic for sledging and walking and my friend and I are planning to go sledging next week if the conditions are right.




I also learned that Schaffhausen had a new ice rink built recently which is very exciting. There are now two ice rinks available - an indoor and an outdoor one, both around 1800 square metres in size which is great! My friend and I are planning to go ice skating next week so I am very excited.

I will post more photos of the hills that surround Schaffhausen shortly.

Happy reading and have a lovely pre-Christmas time!

SARDINIA - PART 2

I just discovered that I had more pictures taken in the north of Gallura and Santa Teresa di Gallura, which I would like to share with you.

This photo was taken in Santa Teresa di Gallura. It shows the busy town centre and the main road, leading to the shore.

Santa Teresa di Gallura is a lovely place by the sea and, as mentioned in my previous post, the landscape and nature in this part of Sardinia is breathtaking.


The Torre Spagnola is worth a visit and if the weather is good, you should be having a spectacular view.

After leaving Luogosanto, we headed south towards Tempio Pausania.

Every once in a while we stopped for pictures and simply just to enjoy the beautiful nature. The mountainous landscape is breathtaking and absolutely lovely.

The picture of  Nuraghe Majore, the 'cave', was taken somewhere between Cantoniera Padula and Tempio Pausania.

Just followe the brown signs to the sight. What we found is a stony small cave looking building with a curious looking entrance.

When we entered the 'cave' we noticed that something was living in there. Soon after we spotted bats all over the sealing, hanging upside down and resting.

Some of them were even flying around which was interesting to watch.

Hope you are enjoying the travel report of Sardinia.

Feel free to drop me a line should you have any questions or simply click on the 'comments' button and let me know what you think about my blog or individual posts.

Thanks!

SARDINIA - PART 1

Sardinia is an amazing place to visit.

There is so much to see and to do and I won't even start mentioning the food.

John and I travelled to Sardinia at the end of May for two weeks. The timing was great as it was not as busy as it usually gets in the summer and the accommodation prices are much lower too.

We flew with Ryanair from Edinburgh to Bergamo, near Milan, where we spent a night because the connection flight was not leaving until 6am the next day.

As soon as we arrived in Alghero (around 8.30am), we picked up our car at the airport and headed north west. The road along the coast went through some lovely villages where we stopped and took photographs.

The scenery is amazing and I could have stopped every five minutes to take a photograph of something interesting.
The first night we spent on a farm B&B, in the middle of the woods, 1.5km from Luogosanto, which is a small village in the hinterland of the Gallura.

We just wanted to stay somewhere in the nature, nice and quiet. Somewhere from where we can go walking and discover other places.





The B&B we stayed at was called Stazzi La China B&B. Have a look at their website for more information and for prices.

John and I went for a walk after we checked into the B&B. As mentioned before, it was in the middle of the woods, away from civilisation.



All we saw that evening was a tortoise (see photo) and the B&B's guard dog.


The next day we went for a drive in the northern part of Sardinia to explore the north a bit more. We only had a couple of days in the northern part but we managed to visit some towns and sites.



One of the sites we visited was the 'Necropolis Le Muri'. This is an archaeological site, dating back to 3000 B.C.


Click here for more information on sights in and around Olbia.

We also went to Santa Teresa Gallura for a day visit, where we had a lovely lunch (pasta per favore).

Sardinia is a beautiful island... the nature is breathtaking and it is almost a shame to stay in one city only. There are so many beautiful places to discover. Two weeks is not enough time to see it all, but it is enough to explore this lovely island a bit.

This is only part one of our trip so watch this space! The next post will follow shortly.

A photo album on facebook will be available at the end of the Sardinia series.

EDINBURGH 2010 - WINTER WONDERLAND

So far, Scotland has been getting all the snow in the world. 

It's been snowing in the past few weeks like there is no tomorrow and it will continue like this next week.

I love walking on snow and feeling the snow crunch under my feet but I do not like the slush at all. 

Nevertheless, I went for a walk a few days ago and took some photos of Edinburgh and surrounding. 

The Edinburgh Castle looked particularly gorgeous, all covered in snow.

Hope you like and enjoy the photographs as much as I do.

Have fun!

LUXOR

I just looked at some photographs from my trip to Luxor and I thought I'd share them with you.

Luxor is a very interesting city with an amazing history and architecture and a population of just below 490,000. It is sitting on the banks of the river Nile with a view over the Valley of the Kings and Queens.

It takes only approx. five and a half hours by plane from the UK and it is a good base for trips to other places.

We spent only 5 days in Luxor but there is so much to do and to see that you can easily spend a whole week or longer in and around Luxor.

I was fascinated by the Valley of the Kings although the tombs were mostly empty. All mummies and valuables are either in the museum in Luxor or in the one in Kairo.

The Temple of Deir El-Bahri, better known as the temple of the Queen Hatshepsut, also left a great impression on me. Also, you cannot stay in Luxor without visiting the Karnak temple.

The museum in Luxor is also a must-see. It showcases architecture and other interesting ornaments and valuables that were found in the tombs, as seen in the following photographs.

The Sonesta St. George hotel was our hotel, located  in the middle of Luxor. Staff were nice and it also had a swimming pool which was a nice thing to have as temperatures can get very hot.

Sunset on the river Nile...

John and I were visiting Luxor at the end of November and it was over 32 degrees Celsius. So if you are looking for a nice getaway and to escape the winter, Egypt is the place to go. It does get cooler in the winter thou but not as cold as in Europe.

A lot of my friends went on a Nile cruise from Luxor to Asswan and they absolutely loved it! I would like to do that next time I visit Egypt. There are some fantastic places to discover and the Abu Simbel temple as well as the pyramids of Gizah are on my list of things to see before I die :-)

To find out more about what to see and what to do in Luxor, click here.

Unfortunately, all my other photographs were taken with the non-digital camera, hence not more photographs of the other places I have mentioned. But I will try to scan them and create an album in the near future so watch this space!

Tips:
Don't accept the first price offered on taxi rides or other transportation. Haggling is the major activity in Egypt so go ahead and haggle yourself silly :-)  John and I managed to get a taxi for $25 for 5 hours!!! The driver took us to the Valleys, the Hatshepsut temple as well as the Karnak temple. He waited for us in his taxi while we did sight seeing.

Alternatively, you can book a tour in air-conditioned buses with tour operator that will charge you slightly more. We would have paid around $100 per person for a trip to the sights. If you don't feel comfortable doing it on your own, book with the tour operators but if you are travelling on a budget, get yourself a private taxi. You don't have to miss out on anything!

That's all for now - if you have any questions, send me an email and I will try to answer it :-)

Have fun!

AVIEMORE - PART 2

In January, Aviemore hosts the annual Husky competition which is great fun and a must see for dog lovers.

John and I went to see the competition twice and believe it or not - last year was the first time in 15 years where the race took place on SNOW! Check out the BBC report for more information.

I know, it sounds strange but they haven't had any snow up there during the race weekend for the last 15 years.

Nevertheless, it is good fun to watch those lovely dogs racing.

My favourite part is to walk around the car park and to cuddle the dogs :-)

I hope you like the pictures I took a couple of years ago. As you can see, there is literally no snow. 

Hard to imagine, after all the snow we've had so far in Edinburgh! I am sure that this year will be different altogether where lack of snow won't be an issue.

For those who are interested in attending, the next event will take place from 22 January - 23 January, 2011 at Loch Morlich, Cairngorms, Scotland.

As mentioned in the previous post, Aviemore is popular with skiing.

Every year thousands of people take their ski up to Aviemore for a weekend or during the school holidays so if you want to visit Aviemore in the wintertime, make sure you book your accommodation in advance.

For more information about skiing in the Cairngorms national park, check out the Cairngorm website.

Do you have any tips or recommendations of accommodation or restaurants? Drop me a line and I am happy to publish your comment, tip or advice.

 --> More photos about Aviemore and the Husky event

AVIEMORE - PART 1

Recent posts of mine were covering stories about travelling to warm countries and I am the one to blame for people wanting to escape the cold (sorry guys).I have therefore decided to write about winter activities rather than snorkelling and scuba diving in the next few posts.

The following pictures were taken in and around Aviemore, where John and I went snowshoe walking.

This picture of a frozen lake Morlich was taken on the way to the ski slopes.

We were lucky that day as the snow was ideal for snowshoe walking and and the scenery was breath taking and we did not come across many people either.

It was very romantic and idyllic with a phenomenal view.

Very often you can spot deer in the distance so don't forget to bring your binoculars.

Meall a'Bhuachaille, with an altitude of 810m (2657 ft) is the hill, also called a Corbett, you see in the photographs. That's the area where we went snowshoe walking.

Only 3 1/2 hours from Edinburgh and approximately half an hour east of Aviemore, this area is considered one of Scotland's gems. It lies within the Cairngorm national park and is well known for its skiing and as a winter holiday destination.

Accommodation is easy to find as there are many bed and breakfasts (B&B's) as well as hotels in and around Aviemore but I advise you to book in advance to avoid disappointment as Aviemore is extremely busy in the winter. 

If you are interested in what the weather conditions are like in the Aviemore area, click here.

In my next post I will report about the annual husky competition, taking place at the end of January in Aviemore. Definitely an event to attend if you are a dog lover.

--> More photos of Aviemore

SARDINIA info

Posts will follow soon - watch this space!

Your feedback is important

Dear followers, friends and occasional readers,

A big thanks to all of you who have left honest feedback and comments on my blog - I really appreciate that.

I am constantly improving my blog and posts and with your support I am hoping to create a unique blog that will hopefully attract more followers and readers.

Therefore I kindly ask you to respond to this post and to feed back about just anything that you think is worth mentioning.

Thanks a lot for being part of my project!

Yours
Gordana

SIEM REAP

Siem Reap is an amazing place! I wish I had more time to travel in Cambodia but, unfortunately, this was our last destination of our honeymoon trip in Australia and South East Asia. We spent more time in Vietnam  so we had only 5 days left in Cambodia.

I wanted to see Angkor Wat and that's the main reason we decided to fly to Siem Reap from Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam. We knew that we would not be able to see much in five days but it is enough time to visit Angkor Wat and the other temples nearby.

How glad I was we did decide to go. It was the highlight of our trip! I absolutely LOVE Siem Reap and the people there. What a fantastic country with people who's heart is on the right place. After all that Cambodians went through in the past, they truly are remarkable people.

We met a very nice guy called Samisok who took us around the Angkor Wat and who did a day trip with us to different villages around Siem Reap. Sami, that's what we called him, also took us to the Cambodia Land Mine Museum.

John and I met Aki Ra, the founder of the 'Cambodia Landmine Museum Relief Fund' and a former Khmer Rouge child soldier who is raising money with this project in order to help land mine victims in Cambodia.
Aki teaches volunteers how to dismantle land mines as there are still tens of thousands of land mines all over Cambodia and accidents still happen on a daily basis where people, especially children, loose arms and legs while playing in the fields.

CLMRF is a great organisation and if you want to help, visit their website to find out more about this project. Also, Aki's story is very interesting although heartbreaking and sad. For general information about Cambodia's history, click here.


On a more positive note - when we visited different villages outside Siem Reap, we had some great opportunities to talk to the local people.

Once we were invited to visit their houses and they showed us what they do for a living. As mentioned before, people there were lovely and very friendly and they openly talked to us about their lives. Luckily, our driver spoke English and translated the conversation for us as we wouldn't had understood a word :-)

That day a family in one of the villages was making sugar out of palm juice. It was interesting to watch how they did it.

It's hard work but it pays off eventually as the people make sweets (tablets) out of it and wrap it nicely in leaves and then sell it to passers by next to the main road.

In my next Siem Reap post I am going to tell you about our visit to Ankor Wat, the most beautiful ancient site I've ever seen.

Become a follower and sign up via RSS feed so you don't miss out on the updates and future posts.

Happy reading!

--> More photos of Siem Reap

FREE WEEKEND - ST ANDREW'S DAY 2010

Are you looking for something to do this weekend?

It's the 'FREE WEEKEND - ST ANDREW'S DAY 2010'.

Don't miss out and check out their website for more information.

Happy St. Andrew's day!!!

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

I could not believe I was back in good old Perth, Western Australia when we finally landed on the 24th in the evening. The weather was brilliant (as expected) and I could not wait to check into our hostel and explore Perth again. This was my fourth time in Perth and every time I arrive, I feel like I am coming home. To me, Perth is the most beautiful place to live. There are so many beautiful suburbs, shops, parks and so much to do and see. 

Our excitement went down the cellar when we checked into our backpackers and found out that this place was everything but clean and comfortable. I stayed in backpackers most of the time when I travelled around Australia in 1998 but I never came across anything like this. 

I don’t mind if a backpackers is simple with no luxury at all but I do mind when I open the cupboards and the first thing I see are cockroaches en mass climbing in and out of cereals and other food that was stored there. 

I couldn’t even count them – there were so many of them! And did I mention our bedroom at all? 

Not that it is worth mentioning but I have to say that the room had a large window which was locked and could not be opened at all. As we were on the basement, it would have not been the best idea anyway but there was no air conditioning in the room and with almost 50 degrees Celsius it was impossible to breath, let alone sleep in this room. 

Looking back, I don’t know how we managed to survive this ordeal.

Unfortunately, accommodation was pretty much nonexistent during that week because it was in the middle of the summer holidays and because of Australia Day which is the most important Day for Australians and therefore a big celebration. People from all over Western Australia come to Perth to celebrate.

Nevertheless, we did enjoy our stay in Perth as the weather was fantastic and we never stood still. 

A friend of mine lives in Perth and so does my great uncle so I arranged a visit with them. My friend showed us his business and then he took us for a lovely ride in the late afternoon to the beautiful Swan Valley, definitely worth a visit. The beautiful vineyards left us stunned and the villages in between vineyards were lovely too.

My friend also took us to suburbs where the rich and wealthy live and the houses we saw were phenomenal. There are golf courses everywhere and when people leave the golf courses, Kangaroos take over and you can spot them all over the courses, relaxing on the lovely green.

Australia Day is a public holiday and is on the 26 January. Everybody was dressed up and there were thousands of Aussie flags, huts, flip flops and people’s faces had the Australian flag painted on. 

The atmosphere was amazing and the weather was incredible! It was 42 degrees Celsius and at 11.00pm at night it was still 34 degrees! Pubs were all crowded and must have made a fortune that day. 

A concert with an Aboriginal band was among the performers as well as dancing and kids entertainment. 

I was looking forward to spend Australia Day in Perth as they always have loads of entertainment and a very special firework display. (I have now experienced Australia Day three times in Perth and it gets better ever time!!!) So if you happen to be in Australia on 26 January, make sure you book your accommodation in advance and stay in a bigger city where you can experience the great atmosphere and watch the fireworks. I don't know what they are like in other cities but the ones in Perth are outstanding! If you go to South Perth early enough, you might find a place next to the river from where you can watch the firework display and have the best view of Perth skyline (see picture above).

The next day we went to my favourite beach, the Cottosloe Beach. We took the train from Perth city which took us to Cottosloe in 25 minutes.

My friend picked us up later in the afternoon and we went to his mothers place for dinner. B. is a good cook and completely spoiled us. Luckily B. offered us to spend the night at her place after hearing our horror story about the cockroaches in the hostel.

Fremantle was on our list of things to do and see so we decided to visit Fremantle the next day. 

Locals would play the didgeridoo (see picture) while tourists would stop and listen to this very skillful entertainment.

I absolutely love Fremantle! The town centre is gorgeous with lovely restaurants, cafes and pubs along the main street. At the end of the street is the Fremantle market, where you can buy everything you need to cook a lovely meal. 

Shopping in Perth is so relaxing and good fun. The shops are lovely and, very important - they were air conditioned so we spent a lot of time in shops cooling down.

The next few days we relaxed, went to the beach and got organised for our trip to the south west of Australia. We hired a car for 3 weeks and the plan was to go to the south west, return to Perth for a night and then head north.

I took John to a famous pub called the Brass Monkey in Northbridge on the night before we headed south. Northbridge is the entertainment area where you can find all kinds of restaurants, pubs, clubs, bars and games halls (pool, billiard etc.). That’s where most people go out on the weekend.

In my next post about Australia, I will take you to the beautiful south west to places like Margaret River, Esperance, Denmark, Augusta and many more. 

Western Australia truly is a magic place if not the most amazing one in my opinion. Australia as a country is so versatile – you have beaches, more beautiful than you can imagine, rain forests, deserts, cities and mountains (although not many). Flora and fauna could not be more beautiful and the amount of wildlife you can see is enormous.

So read on and be inspired! And please feel free to comment on my posts. I would really like to hear what you think about my stories.

--> More pictures of Perth and Fremantle 

  

MARRAKESH

In my last Moroccan post I mentioned our stay in Marrakesh which was interesting and exciting.
We only spent one night in Marrakesh when we arrived as we had booked our rental car for the next 5 days but we stayed another 3 nights in Marrakesh in a different Riad (Moroccan accommodation/hotel) after our round trip.

So, the first night was an interesting one as we did not know what to expect. Having been to Egypt during Ramadan, I had a feeling of what might happen when the sun goes down but this definitely exceeded my expectations. Our plane landed around 6pm and by the time we got our luggage and a bus into town, the sun went down. In Morocco, the world stands (almost) still for about an hour.

When we arrived at the Moroccan House Hotel, we were asked to take a seat near the reception. We then figured out that the staff was having their dinner. Of course, they haven't eaten all day and once the sun goes down and they did their required prayers, they are allowed to eat as much as they want.

After a while we were taken to our room, a lovely decorated but simple room on the 3rd floor. I instantly liked it and thought it was good value for money. We only paid around £35 for the room for the night, including breakfast. Tired but excited, we decided to go into the old town centre to get something to eat ourselves. It was a short taxi ride to the Place Jemaa el-Fna, a square where everything is happening. You will find street performers, storytellers, juice and food stands and lots of restaurants and cafes. The Moroccans love their tea and it is tradition to offer sweet mint tea to customers or friends.

John and I did not have to go far - as soon as we entered the food square, we immediately found ourselves sitting on one of the many tables outside, holding a menu in our hands. The food was delicious and the olives were AMAZING!!!

Freshly squeezed orange juice was sold at stands near the food area and it was refreshing and cheap!

Beside the Place Jemaa el-Fna, you can find the souks with its large market. It's almost unbelievable how many languages the sellers speak! Their French and English is good enough to persuade you to buy something from them :-). Everything from food to shoes, jewellery, pottery, clothing and music can be found in the souks. But be aware of the hundreds of small streets - we got lost a few times - in only one night! Having a map does not do you any favour as the street signs are either in Arabic or they are no signs  at all.

If you don't know where you are going and if you look lost, it won't take seconds before young guys start to approach you, pretending to be helpful and showing you the way out or in, depending where you want to go. Beware of them as they are not just extremely friendly - they want money for their 'service' as they call it. Whether you ask for help or not, they'll tell you where to go, then follow you and demand money for their service. Be strict and say 'no thank you' in a clear manner and walk away.

Don't get too stressed out when they follow you - which I guarantee they will. Just ignore them and go your own way. If you are still not sure, stop and ask someone inside a shop as this person is unlikely to leave the shop to show you the way. Usually older men don't ask for money, we noticed.

As you might know, Ramadan is a special time for Muslims. During the day, no drinks or food are allowed so towns are usually quiet if there is not a market taking place. But once the sun goes down, it's a different world.  Everybody is eating and drinking and having a good time.

There's one thing you will struggle to find during Ramadan: alcohol! Large International hotels usually do serve alcohol during Ramadan but most of the Riads we stayed in wouldn't sell any alcohol at all.

A fantastic picture was to watch thousands of men and women run to the mosque's in Marrakesh. Everything would stand still for a while and even the cars would stop because of the mass of people crossing the road to get to their mosque.

I wish I had been able to take photographs of the happening but the majority of Moroccan's don't like their photos taken. I am not sure if this is only during Ramadan, but I noticed that women in particular never want their photo taken. They turn their back at you if you try to take a picture or they turn their heads away from the camera. Nevertheless, some people did not mind to have their photo taken but always ask for permission as you don't want to upset people.

The picture of a pink building with a beautiful door is the entrance to the Grand Mosque. Unfortunately we were not permitted to enter the mosque as non-Muslims but we tried to take a shy glance into the mosque just to get an idea of the interior, with little success. People were walking in and out all the time and we could not block the entrance as this would have annoyed them.


The photos of the terrace and the pool show our accommodation in Marrakesh in the old town, also called the medina, our last 3 days in Morocco. The Riad is called Riad Moullaoud and is a very beautiful Riad in the middle of the medina. Run by a French manager, this gay friendly place offers tranquillity, good food AND.... yes - they serve alcohol!!!

Staff is extremely friendly and I can highly recommend this place if you don't mind staying in the middle of the old town.


When you choose your accommodation, do your homework and find out where the Riad is located before you book. If you don't want to stay in the old town, there are plenty of alternatives outside the medina, in a more modern environment where hotels such as the Hilton, Ibis etc. are located.

You will  also find plenty of Riads outside the medina and it's usually a short trip by taxi into town or you can even walk, depends on where you are staying.



My recommendation:
Stay outside the Medina if you

a) have a rental car
b) don't want to be hassled by the locals for money for offering their 'services'
c) want peace
d) if you don't feel comfortable being surrounded by locals

The Moroccan House Hotel is situated in the new town of Marrakesh. It is a simple but beautiful Riad, located in a very quiet area. And I can also recommend Riad Moullaoud, if you want to stay in the old town. Both are nice Riads but very different. The first one is run by Moroccans, the second one by a French.


Also, check out the Jardin Majorelle, a luscious garden built by the late Yves Saint Laurent.

Personally, I believe that 3 or 4 days are enough time to explore Marrakesh. There are other lovely places outside Marrakesh, which I will tell you all about it in the following posts about Morocco.

--> More photos of Marrakesh

Poll #2 results

Dear friends,

Thanks a lot for participating at my last poll. The question was:
Where did you hear about my blog?

73% have answered 'Facebook' which is not a big surprise as I have advertised a lot on Facebook. 6% said 'Word of mouth' and the other possible answers got only 1% each.

This shows how powerful Facebook is as a promotional marketing tool.

Thanks again for your time and effort and don't forget - there is another poll out there waiting for you to vote. It is a bit different from the previous ones but this one allows me to ask different questions.

The evaluation of Poll #3 will be used for the final analysis of my weblog for my marketing report which is due on 10 December so please leave your feedback as soon as possible as this is a very important survey and every vote counts!

Many thanks.
Gordana

THE BELLS OF VINISCE

A friend of mine from Vinisce in Croatia has put this together - check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BH7y9ZkfLo

So nice....

Poll #3 - IMPORTANT - PLEASE VOTE

Hello,

This is a very important poll and I will need your vote.

Please participate and tick the boxes of all the ones that you agree with (multiple choice possible).
The results of this poll will be used for my assessment analysis so please everyone respond honestly and let me know what you think about my blog.

I can only improve my services when I know what I need to improve.

Thanks a lot for your time and honesty.

Yours
Gordana

CAIRNS & CAPE TRIBULATION

In my previous post about my Australia travel I finished the report with John's Birthday bash in Airlie Beach. I also mentioned that we skipped Magnetic Island as the weather was not good at all and we decided to go further north. First of all, we stopped over in Cairns where we met our two lovely German friends again.

We met Alex and Jens in the afternoon at the visitor centre in down town Cairns to discuss opportunities for snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef, sometime in the next few days. We came to the conclusion that the best place would be off the north coast of Cairns, an area called Cape Tribulation.

It is supposed to be less crowded and less spoiled then off the coast of Cairns. That's what we believed so we went to book a one day boat trip with RUMRUNNER. (I have tried to link you to the Rumrunner website but it looks like they have gone bust as their website is not accessible).

Alex and Jens offered us to drive up to Cape Tribulation with them in their car which we happily accepted as another bus trip would have cost us a small fortune. We arranged with the backpackers to store our big backpacks and just take small ones for those 3 days, until we come back.

The next day A and J picked us up we headed north. On the way to the Daintree National park we stopped in Port Douglas for lunch and groceries shopping.

We also spent some time at the Mossmann Gorge which is a very beautiful place to visit. It was very hot and humid and the mosquitoes attacked us as soon as we stepped out of the car. During the wet season they seem to be particularly aggressive.

On the way to our camp ground John and I went for a one hour boat ride on the Daintree River, the home of hundreds of crocodiles. We spotted 3 crocs and a big Python snake, rolled up on a tree branch. Nice one!

In a discussion about Australias wildlife, Alex mentioned how nice it would be to see a Cassowary (big birds, similar to Emus) but the chances are small as there are only 65 of them left. But guess what - two Cassowaries, the father and a chick crossed the road, just a few minutes after my friend had mentioned them! We were so lucky to see them at all!!!

Later on we checked in at the camp ground and cooked dinner together with Alex and Jens. I love barbecue's and Australia's camp grounds all have BBQ facilities. Bliss!

The next morning we were picked up from our camp site by a shuttle bus who took us to the beach where we went on our boat, the RUMRUNNER for our snorkel trip. We sailed out to the McKay reef and got briefed about the reef, Marine life etc. John was getting ready for snorkelling and I decided to go scuba diving.

This was the first time in 4 years I went scuba diving again. It was a bit scary after such a long time but I was desperate to dive the Great Barrier Reef (finally). I had a great time! The corals were fantastic but the diversity of fish was not that impressive. John was not very impressed with the marine life either. I guess the reef is not as active as it used to be. A lot of corals were dead, unfortunately.

We were suppose to sail to another reef after lunch but the weather was not ideal and the wind picked up so we had to stay where we were to avoid strong currents in the water.

Our trip ended around 5pm and we were dropped off at the camp site. The weather totally changed and it rained like crazy during the whole 2 nights we were there.

It was almost impossible to walk around in this rain and therefore we had to cancel our plans to do a night walk in the rain forest. Originally, we have planned to stay 3 nights but it rained constantly so we changed our plan and returned to Cairns a day earlier. The best time to visit Cape Tribulation is from June to October.

The last 3 days John and I spent in Cairns. We were not doing much, just relaxed, checked our e-mails and got organised to fly to Perth on the 24th of January. The flight to Perth had been booked in advance so we had to hang out in Cairns until our departure. I was not utterly impressed with Cairns. It is a good place from where you can do trips to the Great Barrier Reef but other than that it was just another party town, very commercial.

The hostel was very nice and the kitchen was surprisingly clean, which is an unusual case as the majority of backpackers we stayed at the East Coast would have never passed the health, safety and hygiene regulations in Scotland.

My next posts about travelling Australia will cover our 4 weeks in Western Australia, my absolute favourite place in the world. I love Perth and the whole of Western Australia is simply the most amazing place on earth.  So watch this space!

--> More photos of Cairns & Cape Tribulation