Stirling Country House Mount Beauty

... were actually skiing there. I would have wanted to stay in bed.


We drove through Mt Hotham on our way to Dinner Plain. Dinner Plain is the main accommodation area of the mountain. Our first stop was The Dog Sled Tour. It was sooooooo much fun, there was also a puppy huskie called shadow he was really cute. Renee went first, than kath & lastly me. Nae & I had a drive of the sled which was really scary because I felt like I was going to fall off. While we were waiting ...

... and all the colours in between. We encountered family bathrooms for the first time here.. A lovely big bath, shower, toilet and vanity - like an ensuite - but shared with a few others in our section of the park. We had a wonderful spot in the back section of the park - a little away from the rest of the park and only a few other vans in there. Set up camp and had the best fish 'n chips from Rok Salt (yes, even better than Kiama fish 'n chips ...

... of Yackanandah also offered historical buildings and an early gold minning history and of course, the Yackanandah Jam and Preserving Company which excited Cherie. After Yackandandah we visited the great gold mining town of Beechworth. On the edge of town was an historical cemetery where people that fought against Napoleon and who had fought in the American civil wars were burried. Another other site you couldn't miss in the cemetary was the ...

... so dass ich nun leider solch kurvigen Strassen nicht mehr ganz so gut verkrafte! Aber zum Glück war weder die Great Ocean Road noch die Great Alpine Road so lange, dass ich mich so richtig unwohl gefühlt habe. Aber vermutlich haben mich auch die neuen Eindrücke ein wenig abgelenkt, so dass es nochmal gut gegangen ist. Aber ich war froh, als wir dann endlich oben angekommen waren. Ich als Voralpenländlerin war natürlich sehr gespannt auf die australischen Alpen hier! Matt ...

We are getting ready to leave for Costa Rica. Before we go, we have to pack our suitcases. We have to bring colouring in and Christmas presents. We need clothes and swimmers and our toothbrushes and toothpaste and our washbag. Tomorrow we will be driving to Melbourne after school and we will stay in a hotel. In the morning we will go to the airport and fly to Los ...

... Eukalyptusbäume, die einen daran **inn**n, dass man in Australien ist, ab** **staunlich**weise ist es wesentlich feucht** und "europäisch**" als im Rest des Staates. Dah** war ich doch sehr üb**rascht und beeindruckt von dem neuen Bild, das mir von Australien geboten wurde. Binnen ca. ein** halben Stunde gen Norden wurde es drastisch trocken**. Auf einmal sah man kilomet**weit in die F**ne und alles was einem geboten wurde, war auf einmal in den v**schiedensten Goldtönen gehalten und hi ...

Zurzeit muss ich leider arbeiten: Erdbereen pfluecken! Ich hab aber einen ganz gemuetlichen Tagesablauf: 5.45 Uhr: Aufstehen und Fruehstueck 6.30 Uhr: Arbeitsbeginn ca 10.00 Uhr Arbeitsende danach Schwimmen, noch mal schlafen, schwimmen, Kartenspielen und am Abend Lagerfeuer Warscheinlich hoere ich am Freitag auf zu arbeiten, da es zu sehr auf den Ruecken geht und ich nicht genug Geld bekomme. Der Stundenlohn ist zwar gut, aber man kann nicht lang arbeiten!

During our break back in Austalia we managed to spend a weekend with our girls in Bright, staying at Kay and Bruce Reid's house in the Buckland Valley. We were lucky with the weather as it was cold, but sunny. It was great to catch up with Kay and Bruce and find out what they have been up to lately.

... I would sleep it off and be ok for the morning. The next day the 5 of us got up at 5.45am and got ready for our climb. I had my camera ready as I couldn't wait for the views from the top, was very excited!! Unfortunately about 1/4 of the way up the mountain, I developed a bad headache, felt lightheaded and was throwing up. I decided to come down, as I was feeling really shaky and crook, and there's no way I ...

The plane landed on time, the luggage all turned up, we passed through customs like a breeze, our daughter Jean and her friend Tahnee were there to greet us. In a way, I felt that the seamless way this went was symbolic of the trip itself. We had visited 12 different countries for periods ranging from a few hours to a month. We had stayed in 27 different beds over the time, all booked through the Internet or on the spot. We had caught 13 flights, countless buses, trains, ferries ...