travelling allrite

It looks like the city of Rockhampton in Central Queensland is about to suffer its worst floods in over sixty years . The airport will shut in a couple of days before the flood waters peak. Last time that happened it didn't reopen for two weeks, which means our upcoming Easter trip there would be cancelled. So what better time to recall a time twenty-six years ago in Rockhampton when I almost didn't get to catch my first flights in fifteen years as flood waters surrounded the airport. A Qantas flight out of Rockhampton in drier times "I think that you had better get out tonight." My family moved up to a property 30 km's outside of Rockhampton from Melbourne when I was 10. I never really fit in there, with my love of science and learning. Imagine my excitement then when I was selected to attend the CRA National Science Summer School in Canberra for two weeks in January 1991, surrounded by 144 of my peers, all enthusiasts of science. It was also to be m...

I recently discovered some photos from my second trip overseas, to Malaysia in March 2000 . I've scanned them in an updated the post. On one hand it's sad to realise how few photographic memories we have of the trip. But scanning them in is hard work. Viva digital!

This year marked our ninth trip to Japan. It's difficult to remember that there was once a time when we weren't in love with this second home of ours. B's brother was in love with everything Japanese. He'd dated a Japanese girl, been over there a couple of times and his comments encouraged us to do the same. I had also studied Japanese at junior high school, B during a summer course at university. So when we found ourselves in the second half of 2003 having saved up enough for an overseas trip, but not enough for our preferred destination of Europe, Japan suggested itself as a possibility. B applied for her visa, getting lost in Australia Square in the process. The Sydney office of the Japan National Tourist Office was a useful resource and continues to be so. But at the end of it I really wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that I wasn't impressed with modern Japanese architecture - boxy and plain - and the appearance of their trains, other than some of the ...