This is a tagging Post.
Yep; 
Dace, over at The Long Way Home has tagged me. Please do yourself a favour and get on over to read her heart warming memories. They will delight and reward you handsomely.
The premise of this tag is to write about our travels, to confess whatever our little heart’s desire, and then to tag 3 to 5 others and invite them to join in.
Now, onto the rules:
- Post a photo (or photos) and description(s) of your confession(s) in a new post.
- Tweet your post with hashtag #TravelConfession and follow/tweet @Traveling9to5
- Tag 3-5 other travelers you’d love to see confess and tag them on Twitter.
- (I don’t have a Twitter account so won’t be taking this step just now.)
I’ve got a secret; I love Australia. This is my home, and I’m really happy to live here.
I’ve thought hard and long over this: “What shall I write about? Where have I been in the world that I can tell you about? I’ve been to a few places in countries other than my own. Which one did I enjoy the most?”
And, you know; I couldn’t do it. Nope, I just couldn’t do it. Why? Because I realised that it is here in my own backyard in this country that I love, I have had the most wonderful travels; the most wonderful sense of belonging; the most wonderful days relaxing in my home country: Australia.
I’d like to take you on a few of my journeys. There will be a hotch potch of memories interlaced with beautiful scenery; magnificent culinary delights, and the most magnanimous people.
To start the journey we are travelling 700 kilometres (km), or 434 miles (ml) north to The Gold Coast in Queensland. In fact, we are staying at Jupiters Hotel and Casino, Broadbeach.
The Gold Coast
Queensland
This is where we have stayed every year for the past 4 years for a few days in April. Why do we go there? Because we love it! Primarily we are there because of a dance competition; however, this is merely one of the reasons. We love the weather (it’s now autumn, and the hot summer gives way to warm days with cool breezes). We are minutes away from the beaches and the many fantastic eateries that offer culinary delights to appease all tastes. Added to this are pleasant strolls along white sand, and the sound of children laughing. People are busy enjoying themselves; this is why most are here. Tourists (and natives) are relaxed, and life is mellow and sweet. By day we enjoy the casino ballroom with our fellow competitors with all the glitz and glamour abounding. By night we enjoy noshing it up while watching the ever changing scene of folk living and loving. Oh yes, it is grand…!
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For our next port of call we are heading south to Victoria.
The Yarra River
Wonderful, exotic, entrancing Victoria. This is possibly my favourite. At least once each year we make the journey to Victoria’s capital, Melbourne (1,000 km, or 620 ml from home). Why? Because, you guessed it; dancing, fun, food, culture, green trees that sparkle in the sunlight and the Yarra River running through town with its flow taking the visitor on a journey of city lights and restaurants. What magnificent times I’ve had in Melbourne. The shopping in Melbourne is second to none. Whatever the little heart desires can be fulfilled in this cosmopolitan delight.
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Do you want to travel west to Western Australia? Okay, let’s go 4,000 km, or 2,500 ml.
Kangaroo Paw
It has been many years since I’ve been to W.A. Back in 1987 was my one and only trip. I loved it. W.A. was then very much like New South Wales (my home state), only it seemed to be about 20 years behind us. I enjoyed having someone put petrol in my car, and check the oil, and do those little things that I had once enjoyed in my home state. You see; life was getting faster for New South Welshmen, and those sweet things that people did for each other, well, they were going by the wayside. However, be that as it may, it was wonderful to go to the other side of Oz. The most vivid memory I have is seeing the sun go down over the water instead of the land, as (naturally) it does on the east coast. (Funny, the things that memory highlights!) I can remember being in the botanical gardens overlooking the Swan River (which runs through the capital city of Perth). The picture above highlights W.A’s floral emblem; the Kangaroo Paw. These, and many other W.A. native flowers are grown in the gardens; what a delight it is. If you look closely you may see the little ‘paw like’ fingers of the Kangaroo Paw plant as they come out to greet the sun. I enjoyed that stay. I don’t think I’ll return, sad to say. However, life goes on, and with it come new adventures.
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Are you equipped to go to one of our coldest regions? Put on a cardy, you’ll need it.
Cradle Mountain is spectacular – Pic taken by K.
Tasmania; beautiful, glorious tassy. It’s a hop, step and a jump over the water to this delightful place (1500 km from my home, or 930 ml). Yep; once again, it’s dancing that got us here. Three visits to this wonderful place over the past four years have been a joy. What can be said about Tasmainia? Lots and lots. Firstly, it’s cold. It is only another 3,500 km to Antarctica so woolly jumpers and gloves are a must (at least during the time of year I’ve been here; late winter, early spring). It has an old world charm, and an easy going nature. It sings warmth. It opens its arms and begs you to stay. Oh, how I love Hobart, its capital. Driving is a must, for there are so many country sights to see. One must allow ‘time’ when visiting Tasmania, indeed. If it’s rest and time out, or if it’s adventure and challenge; it can be found here.
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I haven’t ventured to the Northern Territory. Something tells me I won’t. Oh well, it will have to remain a mystery to me; though, I know I am the one missing out..! However, I’m sure that most will have heard of Uluru…
Australia
Picture Courtesy: Wikipedia Author: Stuart Edwards
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Next up: Adelaide, capital of South Australia (1,560 km, or 970 ml from home).
Wine, wine and more wine…
My one and only visit to Adelaide in South Australia was during 1985. My daughter and I visited during one of our many travels around Oz. We (my daughter and I) were best mates (as we are today) and traveled up and down the east coast together. However, this year we decided to go west, to see what we could see. Mainly I saw the road; it was a long way to go! My memories of that trip were watching my beautiful young daughter becoming a butterfly; she grew up quite considerably on that trip. Her father had partnered with a woman who was about to live with him, and he no longer wanted our daughter to visit with him. It was a sad beginning for our holiday. I can remember her little face as she stood outside the house with a rather large suitcase by her side. I didn’t ask her any questions. I put the suitcase in the boot, wiped her precious little face, and away we drove. It wasn’t until the next day that she confided that he’d packed her bag. She knew it was coming. His drinking had escalated, he was smoking a lot of pot, and the numbers of women he’d been bringing home were multiplying. She didn’t ever return; she remained solely with me from that day forward. How happy that made me; it was a joy, and a sadness all mixed into one…!
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South west 450 km, or 280 ml to Canberra, Capital of Australia in the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.).
Hello dancing! Yes, once again we dance. Oh, it’s cold when we tackle this comp. The weather here in Canberra is freezing in winter, though (for me) quite acceptable in summer. June is the moment, and June is our winter… Brrrrrrr…! Being our capital city it houses our Parliament, as well as great Libraries and Museums. My daughter and I have hired bikes to ride around Lake Burley Griffin in years long past, and have enjoyed the solitude of bush walking. In more recent years my partner K and I have twirled around the dance floor in one of Australia’s greatest ballroom competitions, and swayed with those other lovers of dance, food, culture and fun. Oh, how I love Oz.
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Lastly, yet not least is my home state, New South Wales. I think it is best to show you in pictures….. We’re an eclectic bunch…! 😉
Photo by David Iliff License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
One of many such pics taken by K.
Pic taken by K.
without an Aussie Country Pub
Pic taken by K.
And so ends my Travel Confessions: Down the Memory Lane
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Thanks again, Dace, for thinking of me. Thoroughly enjoyed your Travel Confessions, as I enjoy your blog in general, and I enjoy you..!
The bloggers I’d like to see showing us their travel adventures and confessions are:
Dolly @ allaboutlemon – this incredible girl must have many tales to tell, and I want to hear them all… Only if you have the time Dolly.. No obligation 😉
Resa @ Queen’s End – I hope you are not too busy at the moment Resa..! I’d love to hear your travel confessions if you would like to share them with us.. Once again, no obligation (I have every understanding regarding time and its lack). 🙂
Jess @ A Winsome Journey – ‘Cause I think this girl is pretty special, too. Jess, there is no obligation. I know it’s a big ask; you have a busy future coming up, which I can’t wait to read about and enjoy your fabulous pics.. 😉
ABC of Spirit Talk with Carolyn Page 
Wow, I would love to see Australia one day 🙂 You have a very lovely country and thank you so much for sharing your travels and adventures… I will get into this but not right away but I will 🙂 promise… hehehe Thanks Carol… xoxo
I love Australia, though (of course) I’m totally biased. 😉
Have a great weekend when it comes for you Dolly… xoxoxo 🙂
What a wonderful Post Carolyn! You have put tons of energy into this one. It is the most I have found out about Australia, and your dancing is a wonderful thing. How beautiful you are!
Unfortunately, I am a bit busy at the moment. I just got back from Winnipeg (The mom thing). I was there for 3 weeks, and will go back as soon as I take care of business here in Toronto. I also need to finish the Queen’s end Post I’ve been working on.
However when things change, I’m sure the invitation will still be here for me to TAG onto.
Carolyn, Thank you for thinking of me!
Yes, I know you are busy… Just thinking about you, and really wanting you to know you are loved….
The invitation remains open forever…. 😉
I’m looking forward to another post from Queen’s End… Take care….
xoxoxo
xoxoxoxo
wonderful Post Carolyn!
Thank You…. Glad you enjoyed..! 🙂
Marvellous post Carolyn and what a dancer !! By the way I don’t tweet, FB, My Space, WordPress 😉 or blog 😉 so I am untaggible (if that is a word!!) Ralph x
Ha ha, Ralph… Thank You, that’s sweet of you to say! 😉
I don’t do any of those things either… tweet, wordpress, etc., etc… 😉
(I know it’s awful to feel obligated to respond to awards and tags. I do enjoy them, I must say.. Luckily enough, because I have a few..!) 🙂
I am glad that you do enjoy awards. I have been offered a few which I would gladly accept but I do not have the time or inclination for the massive added work expected. xx
I thoroughly understand, Ralph. I will remember this when I’m composing the next award nominations…. 😉
Enjoy the weekend to come, and beware the strange farm machinery I see hanging about your blog… 😉 Take care…! xoxoxo
😉
I am not sure how to tweet (what a twit I turned out to be) even though I have an account. But here is an absolutely true travelogue that someone can reblog if they so wish.
http://whoopiebrain.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/moose-trails-and-polar-rails/
I haven’t as yet, Wally; created an account, that is. I guess I’ll have to at some stage however; I just can’t bring myself to do it YET! This ‘Blogging thing’ is taking all my spare time as it is. I doubt that I could expand enough to fit in more… 😉
That was a great read, Thank You… What a great adventure they had..
Oh, Wally, I am so slooooowwwww….
I was just inspired to go back to the link you offered….!
It is YOU…. 😛
What a wonderful time you had… The legs, the flies, the mud!
A wonderful tale about your native land. Kind of makes me want to visit.
Australia is wonderful, Joe, however; it is very large (as you can see from the distances I quoted). Many visitors are quite overwhelmed by this. Unfortunately, because of the sheer mass (and because of the inner geographic being rather inhospitable for dwellings) we are more coastal dwellers. This means to get from one destination to the next, or from state to state, is quite a trek.
One visitor last year thought she could quite easily go ‘coast to coast’ (east to west) until she studied the logistics involved. However, if you plan it well, or don’t expect to see all of it in one go, then it is a wonderful country to visit.
After writing this I have realised that this could be said for most countries…!
You make me want to visit the entire country!
You would love it, I’m sure….. Enjoy the weekend, Jen… 🙂
we have been packing bags for Australia for years but somehow other places manage to detour us. I would love to go to see it as it sounds so beautiful and it looks so like the place I would fall in love with
I doubt that many would be disappointed, Dace. I think you would have to be very hard to please not to enjoy it… However; I am biased, of course… 😉
Wonderful post. Wonderful pictures! I’m green with envy that you dance. Truly elegant picture. Thank you for sharing!
Thank You, Maddie… When I was a young girl I wanted to dance so much, and didn’t have the opportunity. Now, all these years later it is happening. A long wait, though worth it… 😉
I’m so happy for you. I loved watching ballroom dancing before it was the in thing.
Me too… Enjoy your weekend…
Great post, Carolyn! I’ve visited Sydney and Melbourne and the Blue Mountains, but I won’t feel I’ve really visited Oz until I’ve climbed Uluru (I know we’re not supposed to say stuff like that). It’s on my bucket list. I really want to see the Outback, and I love reading about Aboriginal medicine culture. Thanks for this!
That would be a great trip, Yaz. My daughter climbed Ulura when on a school excursion. She loved it, as did all of the students… I hope you can do that one day; it would be a great addition to anyone’s bucket list… 😉
Ha ha – yes! Australia! I’m from Melbourne, you probably know. I had no idea you are from Australia, Carolyn, but I loved your post. You’ll have to bring it up again on Australia Day 🙂
Yep, koalas cross here!! Love seeing those signs. I’d love to climb Uluru….
Ha ha…. Yes, I know from your writings… 😉
Australia Day; sounds like a good idea 😉
There aren’t too many of them (the koala signs). I took that one earlier this year for Betty @ Four Blue Hills. She was curious to see what they looked like (the sign, that is)…
Uluru would be a great trip to do. I don’t think it’s in my future though… Doesn’t matter; we are pretty lucky with all the wonderful things we get to do… I feel really fortunate to live here…
i love india, its such an amazing country! i wish i was a man in that case i would have become a gypsy 🙂
Good to love our homeland; most do I think!
This was great, and a bit longer than your regular posts, but judging from the responses, I’d say I’m not the only one who liked it.
I’ve never been to Australia, but my cousins love it, and have gone several times (mostly to Queensland, I think). And, as such a huge country (it takes up an entire continent!), you could travel Australia all your life and not see the whole of it. I think every place is like that to some extent, and it’s a matter of appreciating it.
I love to travel (but hate to fly)–I imagine I’ll get to Australia some day. There’s still a jillion places in America I haven’t seen, and I’ve been to (or through–I count that!) 49 of the 50 States (someday, Alsaska).
Despite its placement on the globe, I forget that Tasmania gets cold. Does it also get warm, or is it pretty chilly year round. “Tasmania” just sounds HOT to me.
I am so with you there; I would love to travel more however; it’s such a long way to go – almost anywhere…! Just as well Oz is (like the states) so big, with lots to do. And yes, I’ve been to much of Australia, and yet there’s still so much more that I can, and want to do….!
Tassy does have 4 very distinct seasons ranging from 62-73F during summer (17-23C), and 37-51F (3-11C) winter average. As I mentioned, I’ve been there only at the end of winter or early spring when it’s still been pretty chilly. It is best though, to be prepared for weather changes at any time of the year; it can be so unpredictable.
Yes, this one (post) was rather long…. It turned into a marathon… haha… I do love this country; it’s been pretty good to me…!
I was never bitten by the traveling bug, but I really enjoy getting a glimpse of where people live that is such a different place from where I come from. One of my first blogfriends lives in Australia, and she did a post for me once on what it was like to live there! It seems like an amazing place. And I love the photo of you dancing! (you are quite a lovely lady).
I think all we Aussies are a little biased about Oz; just as any native of any country. However; Australia is a great place. 😉 One visitor remarked on the size (we are, in land mass, just a little smaller than the States) and he was quite surprised that we all spoke the same language! He was a European used to traveling short distances to various countries with different languages. I could see his point! 😉
Uluru is one of the best of the BEST place to visit in Australia!! I went there so many years ago, and every time I see pictures of the Ayers Rock it will bring me back memory of the trip. The experience in Uluru is something which can not find in anywhere else. It’s spiritual, silent and magical! To tell you the truth, there are no words can truly express my feelings about it. I really love this place and I hope sometimes in the future I can revisit this place again. 😀 Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos!!!
I just realised I’m not receiving your posts in my reader Cristina; I’ll have to turn you on to ’emails’….! I’ve also read by ‘unfollowing’ and ‘refollowing’, the problem can be solved. I’ll try that first!
Spiritual, silent and magical…! Yes, this is expressed by almost everyone who visits Uluru/Ayers Rock. My daughter was only 16 when she visited and she found it to be a magical experience too. I hope you can revisit, too. 😉
Beautiful work, young lady! I loved this look at your HQ!
So pleased, my dear Hook… It is a great country, and I do love it so…!
I did it finally Carol, and here it is check it out: http://allaboutlemon.com/2012/10/25/travel-confessions-down-the-memory-lane/
Thank you dear 🙂 xoxo
Well done, Dolly… xoxoxo
Reblogged this on OyiaBrown.
Thank You so much for the reblog…
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it..! 🙂
Part grand tour, part personal saga, part Down Under cheerleading at its finest, and part thrilling peek into the life of the Aussie Dancing Queen! I imagine you wear a similar outfit when you’re writing your posts… : P
Hope your daughter’s doing well these days, many thanks for sharing some truly heartfelt sentiments, and a look at your very beautiful country. : )
Thank You, Mark. Yes, it certainly was a little of everything; to be sure…! 😉
Thank You also for mentioning my daughter; she is a woman of whom I am so proud. Her father passed away with sclerosis of the liver as one of the contributing factors in 2000. She ‘took care’ of all the arrangements; he didn’t have anyone in his life who could do this satisfactorily for him.
It is so hard to put into words the love we share; she is truly a magnificent individual… Naturally, I am extremely biased…!
And yes, Mark; I am sitting here in all my refinery…. of course… 😉