Walking in Australia - Part Two

This is the second part of our Australian walks. There is a separate post for our time spent in Tasmania

Tasmania

4th September. 6.6. miles

We climbed Mount Wellington.

5th September. 5.8 miles

A visit to a museum, a walk on the beach and a nature reserve.

6th September. 4 miles

Bruny Island.

7th September.

Shopping in Hobart and the harbour. 8.1 miles

8th September.7.9 miles

Only 3 days back in Sydney. Monday saw temperatures of 28c and after such a wet winter, it seems that everyone pulled a sickie and pilled down to the beach. 

We planned a circular walking route from North Bondi to Rose Bay, with lots of stops for drinks, food, ice cream and reading as well as a swim in the sea (for me).

9th September. 8.1 miles.  

A day in Sydney and Darling Harbour.

10th September. 6.9 miles.

A day in Sydney, the Australian Museum and Botanical Gardens.

11th September. 8.1 miles.

Just a day of travelling.

We've walked a total of 168.1 miles. With all the walking being mainly coastal we've also climbed the equivalent of 523 flights of stairs.

I've got just over a week until my sponsored walk for Bowel Research in memory of Stephanie. I'm clocking up the miles in Dubai also. I'm just under 3/4s of the way to my target goal and I'd appreciate it if you would share this link on our socials.

Week 37 2025 - One Daily Positive and Project 365. Australia to Dubai.

Our few days in Australia was mixed. We had temps of 28c on Monday and had a dip in the sea. Then more torrential rain, just like when we arrived. The sun broke through the clouds on Thursday afternoon just before we flew to Dubai.

Whilst we were sad to be leaving our son, as we probably won't see him for 2 years now, we were also glad to be going back to our own home and very much looking forward to some heat in Dubai.

Sunday 

Day 250 Up early and out on a photo walk. Sadly my ‘big’ camera was still on moon settings with a long exposure, so no photos came out. Into Hobart for coffee, shopping and lunch. Flight at 7.30pm to Sydney, back at our apartment at 11pm.

Monday 

Day 251 A dip in the sea at Rose Bay with shark nets. Temp 28c and a circular coastal walk north of Bondi.

Tuesday 

Day 252 I visited the koalas and sea-life centre. Peter went for a walk and read his book. Last minute souvenir shopping and over to see child 3 for the evening and out to dinner.

Wednesday 

Day 253 It absolutely chucked it down, full waterproofs on and we opted to go to the Australian Museum for the day to keep dry. it was fascinating and I was particularly taken with the taxidermy of every animal you could imagine, including the DoDo and other extinct animals, which was sad. We then headed out to the Botanical gardens when the rain eased, but we were fooled and had to take shelter for an hour under a rock on the harbour front. Our last night with our son and we joined him and his girlfriend for dinner.

This photo was taken in colour.

Thursday

Day 254 Our son took our bags to his last night and left us a key as him and his girlfriend flew north this morning to a wedding. it was chucking it down and we caught the bus to Bondi Junction for a coffee, then another bus to our son's where we spent the day, repacking, reading, blogging and having lunch. Off to the airport at 4pm for our 14 hour flight to Dubai.

Friday 

Day 255 Arrived at 4am, luggage was in arrivals before we were. Sorted a SIM, got a coffee and arrived at our accommodation at 7am. We dropped bags and changed and went out to our old neighbourhood then onto Ibn Battuta Mall where I had my nails done while Peter drank coffee and read his book.

Saturday

Day 256 After breakfast we headed out to The Beach for a swim and sit and read our books for a while. Back to the apartment for a shower and get ready for the Wanderlust Brunch at JW Marriott Hotel. I had lots of sea food, several cocktails and lots of desserts. Back to chill in the apartment then off to visit a couple of Peter's ex colleagues for more drinks.

Things to make you smile:

On the plane we were sat in front of the galley. The air con was leaking and making a funny noise. The air steward without listening to me properly said 'madam that is the sound of the engines, if we turn the noise off that is irritating you we will fall out the sky' Another air steward quickly put her in her place and offered to move us.

Things that made me happy:

Spending time with child 3 and his girlfriend, seeing koala's and a fantastic 3 weeks of walking, reading, coffee and chilling out.

On the blog this week:

Post Comment Love - Link up with any post written this week.

Word of the Week - Tasmania

The poo machine

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Post Comment Love 12th-14th September 2025. Goodbye Australia - Hello Dubai.

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

We've had an amazing 3 weeks in Australia visiting our son and his girlfriend. We left on Thursday for a 14 hour flight to Dubai where we are visiting our old neighbourhood and seeing a couple of friends if time permits.

We're hoping to acclimatise to the time difference over the 5 days we're here as previously when we've stopped over in Kuala Lumpur or flown straight home, it's taken nearly 2 weeks to adjust to the 9 hours lost. There's only a 6 hour difference with Dubai, so it should help.

We've gone from 16c and rain to 40c and humidity. Australia has just come out of winter, but had almost 3 months of solid rain. We've walked around in full waterproofs, we've climbed a mountain in the snow and on Monday the temperature was 28c and I was swimming in the sea.

Apart from our visit to Tasmania for a few a days, all our time has been spent locally, exploring previous places we've enjoyed, discovering new walks and my highlight as always (apart from seeing child 3) are the koala's.

Want to find out more about Post Comment Love #PoCoLo? 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Word of the week - Tasmania

Tasmania is a 2 hour flight from Sydney. Child 3 booked the flights and car hire and his girlfriend booked the accommodation.

We arrived in Hobart at 9am, collected the hire car and by 11am we were climbing Mount Wellington. In the snow. Our son's girlfriend had never experienced snow and she was super excited at the age of 30 to build a snow man, throw snow balls and just enjoy the walk and the snow.

There was lots of reading and I swopped a book in the accommodation.

We visited MONA to see the Poo Machine.

We took a ferry to Bruny Island. The next bit of land from here is Antarctica.

The wildlife was very obliging lining up under their sign.

No idea when we'll see child 3 next. We're planning to travel out here alternative years until we are no longer capable. We're back in the UK on Tuesday, then I start a new job the following Monday. 

The poo machine - at Mona Museum, Tasmania

We visited Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) home to Cloaca Professional — also known as the poo machine, which was used to promote Bowel Cancer screening in Australia.

Like England, Australia offers a free National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) but they start testing at the age of 45, unlike England where the age is 60 and in Wales aged 50.

The machine is hand fed by staff twice a day and you can follow the food through the containers with contain human digestive juices and enzymes to break the food down and turns into faeces.

I was invited by the NHS to take part in the screening. I am 54. My test was negative.

I'm fundraising for Bowel Research UK in memory of Stephanie who died from Bowel ischaemia in October 2024. It kills 3,000 people a year and is difficult to diagnose. 

Bowel Research UK also funds research into Hirchsprung's disease which our 3 year grandson was born with.

If you can spare a pound or two or share this post I'd be really grateful. Just Giving.

Week 36 - 2025 One Daily Positive and Project 365 - Tasmania and the poo machine

It's been an emotional week as we hurtle towards the anniversary of Stephanie's death. It was also my father's birthday on Saturday and 8 years since he died. Plus so many anniversaries from people I know with the death of their child linking in to family birthdays and key dates in our lives. We're also on the countdown to leaving Australia and possibly another 2 years till we see child 3 again. He left the UK in 2017. I was able to visit in 2019 and the last 3 visits in 2022, 2023 & 2025 Peter has joined me. Child 3 came to the UK in 2024 for his sister's funeral.

Sunday

Day 243 A day in the Blue Mountains and a chance for Peter to see the actual scenery, as last time we were here it was really foggy. We walked around 10 miles and climbed the equivalent of 64 flights of stairs. The weather was perfect and the walk was full of parrots and cockatoos. We stopped for dinner in a pub on the way home. After son dropped us off we watched TV in the apartment.

Monday 

Day 244 We caught a bus to near Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly, Shelly Beach and a cliff top walk, stopping for lunch and fighting the Beach Turkeys away from our food and drink. We caught the ferry back and saw the cruise ship leaving the harbour. We had a bit of a walk to catch our bus back. Peter went out with our son for dinner and I had a rest, washed my hair and returned a driving licence Peter found yesterday to a young lad who was staying near by.

Tuesday

Day 245 A slow start to the day followed by two buses to Circular Quay and a walk over the Harbour Bridge to Wendy Whitleey's Secret Garden and a ferry back to the Quay. Into the city for a late lunch and bus to our son's. We all went out for a meal near our apartment.

Wednesday

Day 246 We did some laundry then caught the bus to Bondi Junction for a coffee, some lunch and to buy a few things for our visit to Tasmania. Caught the bus to Bronte Beach then walked back to our apartment. Evening spent packing and watching TV.

Thursday

Day 247 An early start, 3am, and off to the airport for our flight to Tasmania. We collected the car hire at 9.30am and by 11am we were climbing Mount Wellington in the snow. Checked into our apartment around 4pm, popped out for some supplies, take away for dinner and in bed by 10pm absolutely shattered.

Friday

Day 248 A bit of a lie in then off to MONA museum, it's a 'must do' in Tasmania, but after 10 mins I was out and back at the car waiting for the others to walk around. I've never been anywhere so pretentious in my life. We then drove 30 mins to a restaurant I'd found online in a lovely little bay, had a delicious meal and a walk along the beach. Stopped at the mall on our way back, cup of tea and a chocolate bar, followed by a walk around the local area. I had a snack for dinner and was in bed by 8pm.

We visited Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) home to Cloaca Professional — also known as the poo machine, which was used to promote Bowel Cancer screening in Australia.

Like the UK, Australia offers a free National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) but they start testing at the age of 45, unlike the UK where the age is 60.

I was invited by the NHS to take part in the screening. I am 54. My test was negative.

I'm fundraising for Bowel Research UK in memory of Stephanie who died from Bowel ischaemia in October 2024. It kills 3,000 people a year and is difficult to diagnose.

Bowel Research UK also funds research into Hirchsprung's disease which our 3 year grandson was born with.

Saturday

Day 249 We caught a ferry to Bruny Island and drove the length to the lighthouse, stopping at places on the way. Ferry back to the mainland at 4.30pm and into Tasmania Wharf for a fish supper. Video calls with the grandchildren in the evening and watching TV.

Things to make you smile:

Our son's girlfriend experiencing snow for the first time.

Things that made me happy:

Spending time with my son and his girlfriend, exploring new places, meals out, walks and coffee stops.

On the blog this week:
Post Comment Love - Link up with any post written this week. Snowing in Tasmania
Word of the Week - Walks (Australia) Part One
The best bits of August 2025

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Post Comment Love 5th-7th September 2025 - Snowing in Tasmania

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

We're in Tasmania this weekend, flying for 2 hours from Sydney early on Thursday morning. We were awake at 3am and by 11am we were climbing Mount Wellington in a snow storm. My son's girlfriend had never seen snow so it was super exciting for her and for us, a joy to watch.

Want to find out more about Post Comment Love #PoCoLo? 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Word of the week - Walks (Australia) Part One.

We've walked a lot in Australia averaging around 8 miles a day.

Each walk we complete is a walk for Stephanie and a practice for the sponsored walk I'm doing on September 27th in the Chilterns for Bowel Research. I'm at 60% of my set target. I'd really appreciate it if you could share this post.

We can walk 3-4 miles just getting to and from places to start our walks.There's an excellent bus service from our accommodation and a great network of buses, trains and trams to get us around the city and to and from our sons and his girlfriends. 

We're out by 9am and don't get back till late. On top of these walks we've also been out in the evenings.

I'll update the walks as the rest of our holiday goes on in Part Two.

So far we've walked 115.9 miles.

Thursday 21st August Clovelly to Paddington. 6 miles

I caught the bus to Bondi Junction then I walked to Paddington to see my son and his girlfriend.

Friday 22nd August Clovelly to The Crypto Castle. 6.4 miles

Despite the pouring rain we managed half of our walk.

Saturday 23rd  Haymarket and Darling Harbour. 7.6 miles

Sunday 24th Centennial Park. 8.3 miles

Monday 25th Clovelly to Coogee. 10.1 miles

Tuesday 26th Bondi Beach to Clovelly. 6.4 miles

Two buses to Bondi and a walk back.

Wednesday 27th Sydney. 9.6 miles

Thursday 28th Maroubra Beach to Coogee. 9.1 miles

A bus to Maroubra and a bus back from Coogee. The hill to Clovelly is just a step too far as we discovered yesterday.

Friday 29th Spit Bridge to Manly. 11.1 miles

Three buses to Spit, a long walk. A ferry from Manly to Circular Quay and two buses home.

Saturday 30th Paddington and Clovelly Beach. 6 miles

A day walking around Paddington Markets and the town, followed by a walk to the beach and back for sunset.

Sunday 31st The Blue Mountains. 8.6 miles

A 90 minute drive away.

Monday 1st September Manley. 6.8 miles

A bus, ferry, walk, ferry and a walk to the bus home.

Tuesday 2nd Sydney Harbour Bridge. 5.4 miles

A bus and a walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a walk to Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden. Ferry back into the City and a bus to sons, then a walk home from the pub.

Wednesday 3rd 

Bus to Bondi Junction for some shopping and lunch, bus to Bronte Beach, walk to Clovelly. 5.9 miles

I'm promoting my fundraising as we go for Bowel Research in memory of Stephanie.