Dubai, Australia and Bali

This summer we packed our bags and headed off on a 6 week adventure, and what an adventure it was. We started off in Dubai, which if I'm honest I was not sure if it was going to be my cup of tea! We spent 3 nights at NH The Palm Dubai, which sits just on the edge of The Palm, a wonderful bright, cheerful hotel, with nice airy rooms. We didn't explore too much as we wanted to spend this time relaxing before our epic adventure in Australia. We did though, visit the Burj Khalifa unfortunately the views weren't the best as there was a major sandstorm that day! We also spent a morning on a private cruise around Dubai marina, seeing the city from a different angle. The rest of the time was spent under the umbrella by the pool as it was 45 degrees!! With our minimal time there we have already said we will definitely head back there and this time explore the Souks and markets. Next stop - Australia...................After a 14 hour flight from Dubai we landed in Brisbane, our first time in Australia. We spent a week staying in the Oaks on Charlotte Street apartments, which are in the perfect location to explore the city on foot. Highlights of this element of the trip, catching up with friends who travelled over from New Zealand to spend some time with us, visiting Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, a great morning out, sailing down the river the having a few hours exploring and seeing the wonderful animals there. Obviously Koala's are one of the highlights, but we also saw Kangaroo's, Emu's, Dingo's, Croc's, Tasmanian Devil and I think my most favourite the Wombats - they are just the cutest, cuddling up to their teddies and having a snooze! We spent a day visiting Moreton Island, for some snorkelling around the Tangalooma wrecks, kayaking and sand boarding down 80metre high dunes - a fun packed day. We explored Brisbane, on foot, on scooters and ferry taxi's, it is a great city to spend a few days. Our next stop Cairns, we flew in from Brisbane, and picked up our camper van which was our home for the next 8 days - this was just great fun. We drove down to Mission Beach and spent a couple of nights camping there, Mission Beach is on the Cassowary Coast, and is home to one of the highest concentrations of the endangered cassowary in Australia - we were lucky enough to see them wander around our campsite, Dad and his 3 chicks and Mum doing here own thing! Our main reason for heading to Mission Beach was to do a skydive - this is one of the few places you can jump out of a plane at 15,000ft and land on the beach - wow, what a truly exhilarating experience. Free falling at speeds of up to 120mph and then floating down taking in the views of Dunk Island and the reef before landing on the beach - one of the best things I have done, but I probably wouldn't do it again!! Leaving Mission Beach we then headed up to the Cape Tribulation, in Queenslands Tropical North. Cape Tribulation, this breathtaking coastal region is the very spot where the world's oldest rainforest collides with the spectacular Great Barrier Reef. We spent 3 nights here, in one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Our camp site was on the beach and surround by the rainforest. We explored the rainforest at night with a ranger, showing us the nocturnal animals that live there, and pointing out in the creek, the crocodile that inhabits the area - there are signs saying Crocs on the beach for a reason!! Our next stop Sydney - one part of the trip I had been looking forward to for so long as I was eventually going to see Josh who has moved down under! Oh the Mum hugs were out in force - it had been nearly 12 months since seeing him last when we waved him off on his travels. We visited all the usual spots, Sydney Harbour, Opera House, The Rocks which is Sydney's oldest neighbourhood, some great shopping at The Queen Victoria Building and Pitt Street Mall, walked the Bondi to Coogee coastal trail and wracked up plenty of steps wandering the city suburbs. Transport in Sydney is fantastic but it is good to just wander the streets and stop at the coffee shops and take in the sights. We headed over to Manly Beach one day by jumping on one of the water taxi's from Circular Quay - another great transport system. Whilst in Sydney we took a cruise out to try and find some whales as it was the migration season when we were there, it may have been a bit choppy heading out but well worth it when we came across some families of humpbacks - truly amazing. We took a couple of days out and headed to the Hunter Valley - this was time to sample some of Australia's wonderful wines. The drive only takes a couple of hours from the city and is such a contrast of peace, quiet and tranquillity. The wines are also top notch! Spending our final few days in Sydney we managed to watch Josh play rugby (something that we have missed since his move) - it was great to see him in action and meet his 'new' team mates. Sadly it was time to move on for our final leg of this amazing trip - saying goodbye to Josh and him waving us off this time. We headed to Bali for some complete R&R after a mad 5 weeks of travel. Staying in Sanur which is a quieter area on the island was perfect, we didn't do much at all apart from lazing on the beach and relaxing, wandering around the little markets and eating some of the most amazing beef rendang ever!! This trip has to be at the top of my list of fantastic travels and I can't wait to head back to Australia and visit some more of this amazing country.