26 Jan 2017, Australia Day.  It celebrated the day Captain Cook landed in Australia for the very first time and claimed Australia for the burgeoning British Empire.  There are some in  Oz who are campaigning for this date to be changed because they think this day celebrates the day the indigenous people (Aborigines) lost their…

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Cairns, where the local time is 1030am and the temperature is 34deg.”  So announced the Cabin Stewardess as we taxied in to the stand at Cairns Airport.  After a year of planning and a lifetime dreaming we are finally in Australia.  That was probably one of the worst flights we…

Our first real day was excellent, what was in store for the second day of our stay? The tourist trade does not really cater for guided walking tours, save for 2, one around Little India and one around Chinatown.  Unfortunately we missed the Chinatown walk but got ourselves to the meeting point for the free…

Having lost the best part of half a day through late arrival we had some catching up to do………sleep. We were shattered and in no fit state to make any decisions other than to sleep. Early evening we felt alive enough to have a local walk to find somewhere to eat.  Our hotel is right…

On the appointed date at the appointed hour we rocked up at Terminal 2 Heathrow for our Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore.  What a pleasant place T2 is for an airport terminal;  not crowded, not rushed, calm yet professional.  Coffee shops and snack bars galore and the usual mix of expensive shops for the retail…