Category Archives: Travel

Port Douglas

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Four Mile Beach from the Coastal Path

We went to Port Douglas to escape the cold of an Adelaide winter. Our escape to North Queensland was well timed as Adelaide’s winter seemed to want to cling on.

It had also been a very hectic few months. We had been consumed by family matters. There were no major crises but just a series of bumps. We hoped Port Douglas would be the remedy and weren’t disappointed. It was hard not to immediately be aware of North Queensland’s relaxed lifestyle. All pretension is lost. It’s so refreshing compared to the angst of city life. I have a running theory that the further you are from the centre of the city the more relaxed lif is. 

I hadn’t been to Port Douglas since 1987, which was the year the infamous Christopher Skase opened The Mirage. On that occasion, I had a spare day on a work trip in Cairns and, with a work colleague, drove up. My chief recollection was having a Mocka Pie. You can still get them, but in 2023 Port Douglas is a thriving tourist town where Mocka’s  Pie Shop is a modern bakery just off Macrossan Street.

There are no dress codes, except that restaurants and bars seem to demand men wear a shirt!

We arrived in the evening and so didn’t take in the sites of the coast drive from Cairns airport to Port Douglas. It’s a drive of about 55 km and an hour’s duration.

When we planned this trip in December 2022, we were Northern Queensland novices. We had a basic understanding that the choices were Cairns, Palm Cove or Port Douglas.  We decided against basing ourselves in Cairns, and so I asked a friend about Port Douglas or Palm Cove. Continue reading →

A few days in Brisbane

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With the Adelaide winter clinging on and the desire for warmer weather too much to resist we headed to Queensland for a 10 day break.
Although we left Adelaide on a day when the temperature was in the low 20s the forecast for the remainder of the weak was at best bleak!

With all that behind us, we arrived in Brisbane to a sunny afternoon with the temperature in the mid 20s and a similar forecast for the 3 days we had in Brisbane before we head further north to Port Douglas.

We’d had a few days in Brisbane last year and were very much looking forward to coming back. Brisbane is certainly no longer a big country town, as had been its reputation in the past. It’s a thriving modern wonderful city. It’s a city with a spring in its step and why not – great weather, a vibrant lifestyle and a city set on the Brisbane River.

Our accommodation in the older part of the city overlooked the Botanic Gardens and was just a short walk to the Brisbane Mall, Southbank, and the Riverbank.

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A few days in the Coonawarra – Day two wine tastings and lunch

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This post follows on from A few days in the Coonawarra – Day one tastings and lunch

Eric’s Shed, the old tasting room – Brands Laira

We decided that a reward for looking after our grandchildren would be a second day’s wine tasting and lunch.

So after farewelling our daughter and family it was into the car for the 30 minute or so drive back to Penola. We made a quick stop to pick up a takeaway coffee from Bricks and Mortar which over our short stay in Mt Gambier had become a favourite.

Our second day in the Coonawarra was again with Coonawarra Experiences. When we arrived, Simon was there to greet us.  He had put our first day’s purchases in our apartment and with that, we were ready to start the day.

Our Sunday tastings were arranged to be a little less hectic than our first day to allow us to recharge from the couple of days looking after our wonderful grandchildren.

Our first stop was at Patrick’s , a second generation family winery whose grapes are sourced from within the Coonawarra and the nearby Wrattonbully region.  Continue reading →

This time next week I will be a Doctor!

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I have spent the morning ordering a bound version of my thesis and organising my academic gown. The puffy hat will finally be mine!

Last Monday, I received advice that I had fulfilled the academic requirements for my PhD and that conferral would occur on the 31st of July. As I read the letter, I had a feeling of joy and my favourite person one of relief!

It is the culmination of the first chapter of the journey thatI entitled “What’s Next” when I started this blog. It’s a theme I have returned to since, as a fifty-something, I contemplated retirement from the professional firm I had been privileged to have been a partner for more than 20 years. With the completion of my PhD, I feel that the transition is complete, and a new chapter of What’s Next will begin.

When I commenced the journey with the assistance of Michael and Tim, I had no idea where it would take me. Through many conversations with Michael and Tim and the benefit of Hermina Ibarra’s book “Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career”, I am now just over 7 years into that journey.

Across that time, my favourite person and I have been lucky enough to travel to Italy several times; I have seen my first EPL game live and walked the beautiful beaches on the Isle of Sandy in the Orkney Islands. Other highlights have been attending my first large academic conference and becoming a published academic author. Across that period, there has been the joy of two of my children marrying, the arrival of three wonderful grandchildren and my youngest daughter’s graduations.

So “What’s next”?

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Take the turn off – Mundulla & Dimboola

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With travel still restricted, we are all being encouraged to travel locally. Australia is vast and highways mean so many of the little towns are a detour off the highway.

In this post I pick two that are definitely worth taking the turn off for. We have!

Mundulla is a delightful Australian country town going through a serious rejuvenation. It’s a few kilometres off the Dukes Highway on the Adelaide side of Bordertown. A detour of just a few minutes.

The town has been a multiple winner of the best small town and sustainability awards, all very much due to the efforts of an active local community.

The town’s centrepiece is the Old Mundulla Hotel. It is everything a country pub should be: a friendly publican, a few locals, and some travellers like ourselves. The hotel has accommodation that includes a B&B, a newly built self-accommodation home, and three small modern cabins. At the time of our visit, the B&B was under renovation and the home in the final stages of completion. We booked one of the small cabins. Check-in is at the pub. Our cabin was modern, small and adequate – just the spot for an overnight stop-over.

My suggestion is to drop your bags and head to the pub. If it’s a warm day the beer garden out the back with its big grassed area with a verandah is just the place for a beer or glass of wine or two. If the weather is less inviting stay inside and perhaps settle in by the fire with a glass of red from the nearby Coonawarra.

We visited in late summer and sat outside before heading inside for dinner. We had a table in the window that looked across the main street. The bar behind us had a few people settling in for dinner. The food is simple and excellent – the atmosphere delightful.

It’s definitely worth going for a walk around the town. The old council chambers weren’t open on our visit but the building has been restored – the chambers were only used for a couple of years. It was quiet and the dusk light made the walk a delight. There is a nature walk through the scrub on the town’s perimeter.

Council Chambers

The pub is not open every night although the accommodation is.

The general store does a great breakfast from around 6.30 am every morning. Good coffee and a pretty traditional Aussie breakfast menu. They also sell Frances Strawberries Strawberry Jam!

My second detour is a short stop in Dimboola just a few kilometres off the Western Highway near the South Australian – Victrorian border.

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