Location: All Posts

Ramble on...

We revived our original "Duffers Down Under" site from our first trip to Australia back in 2009/10 for our upcoming trip in Jan 2018. Nadja had gone to such a great effort of posting for that first adventure that I just could not bring myself to loose it all. So better to just keep all the old info converted to posts in this new "Web Log" format... (Maybe one day we will add some of our other trips...)

So enjoy our posts on this next great adventure, or take a stroll down memory lane (well our memories)

Cheers, the Duffers.

Newcastle, Tillerman's, Jimmy's and Last evening in Sydney

What a great trip ! THANKS so much to Family Pidcock, Wellington, New Zealand and to Duffy and Bev, Sydney, Australia.

Seal Rocks, Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse and The Gibbers

Hunter Valley Wineries

Today the 4 of us headed up to the Hunter Valley for a 'wine & dine' sleepover while John and Bev went straight to their cottage at Hawks Nest.

Cockatoo Island and Garden Party Lunch with family

John and Bev hosted a wonderful garden party lunch with extended family that we had met on prior visits.

Ferry Views and Fabulous Food

In the last few days we've taken the ferry quite a few times and each time we see more interesting sites and architecture.

Today we went to the zoo in Sydney which was the first time Brandon had ever been to a zoo !

Sydney Botanical Garden & Art Gallery

We went for a walk through the Royal Botanical Garden and onward to the Sydney Art Gallery as well

Glowworm Caves & Themed Gardens

The Waitomo Glowworm caves were discovered in the late 1800's and they were taken over by the government as a tourist attraction in early 1900's

Hobbiton - The Shire

If more of us valued food & cheer & song over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. - JRR Tolkien

Auckland to MataMata

We started with a bit of drama as we had a fire alarm in the hotel in the morning while we were still sleeping. Bolt out of bed, a quick rush down 6 flights, grab a coffee from street vendor and climb 6 flights back up (elevators were busy with elderly and children)...Yes, we are awake now !

Auckland City WalkAbout

We arrived in Auckland this am, picked up our rental car and checked into our downtown hotel.

Laurie was able to take a day off and so we waited till the boys woke up from naps and then headed out to the Wellington Zoo

Wellington & Munchkins

Visit with Fam. Pidcock, tickle Charlie's toes and snuggle Sawyer. Explore Wellington area.

Heaps of Clothes!

Sweet! We have Heaps of clothes bro!

WOW Museum / Nelson

We went to the WOW museum, a collection of Wearable Art and Collector Cars. The Wearable Art is an exhibit of 'costumes' that designers enter into a competition.

Abel Tasman Nat. Park - 3 day Kayak/Hike Tour

3 day Kayak/Hike Tour - Wow what an incredible journey !

Ummm....Where's our luggage ?

It started off as an adventure from the moment we arrived in Nelson at 7:30 pm to discover that our bags did not make it !!!

Sydney for the day

Blackheath / Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains really do look very blue which is like nothing we've seen at home.

UPDATED - (More photos added) We chose these caves over the more popular 'Jenolan' caves as we thought it might be more Aussies and less tourists on holiday and the gamble and drive paid off.

Kangaroo Valley/Fitzroy Falls

Driving to Kangaroo Valley, Fitzroy Falls and end in Wombeyan Caves

Coomes Walk @ Currarong, NSW Australia

Landed in Sydney

Landed in Sydney, quick connect with Duffy, and made our way to Shoalhaven

Waiting in Vancouver...

Spent a nice day visiting with peeps are YVR while waiting for our next flight, should be in the air again by 7:30 pm on our way to San Fran then onwards to Sydney !

And so it begins.

We decided to start the holiday off abit early and stay tonight at the Four Points Sheraton at the Airport.

Australia & New Zealand 2018

Ok, well we are off again to the great Down Under...

Day 26 - 35 - Home for a rest - Christmas in Sidney

Hanging out with Duffy, Bev and all of the extended family in Sydney.

Day 17 - 25 - Brisbane - Fraser Island

We have to say that our 1 piece of advise to reduce stress in Australia is to take a GPS with you when driving in and around Brisbane.

Day 10 & 16 - Cairns - Cape Tribulation

Our first impression of Cairns is that it is a really gorgeous area. The combination of mountains, lush green rainforest and long sandy shoreline make for a stunning aerial view when we flew in.

Day 4 - 9 Top End (Darwin)

The real adventure begins today as we headed off for Darwin and then on into Litchfield National Park.

We arrived in Sydney

Only a slight glitch at YVR with our Visa's but fortunately Air Canada agent was capable and reissued the Visa at no charge and we were on our flight as scheduled

Duffers Down Under 2009-2010

We're getting ready for the BIG trip to Oz. Trust me when I say there's a heck of a lot of things to take care of when going away for 7 weeks from home, pets, family, friends and of course...a business !

Duffers Travel Log

Having more fun than you