“Any one home?”

We had contacted Gerry, a couchsurfing host, and he had kindly said we could stay at his place while we were in Cooktown. Couchsurfing is a great organisation and a great way to meet people. Staying with a local person gives you a better insite into the town and information on where to go and what to see.

Gerry was a charming host, originally from Germany he has lived in Cooktown for 10 years.Every Couch surfer we have stayed with has an interesting garden and Gerry was no exception, he described his garden as “my little piece of rainforest”, it was only an average size suburban section but you could lose yourself in the tropical vegetation.

 So for 3 days we had a comfortable bed and as Cooktown is only a small township and Gerry’s house was only one block from the main street we could walk every where, with one exception, that was going  to the top of Grassy Hill  lookout point. The 360deg view spread from the Ocean round to the Endeavour river and up to the distant mountain ranges, it was a stunning view, but the wind was gale force, the wind blows all year round in Cooktown. We stayed to watch the sunset. It was a very steep pull to the top but Matilda, when down in bottom gear, chugged steadily up. The Down hill was a white knuckle ride taken in very low gear….

Gerry’s rainforest garden

Gerry’s rainforest garden

View through to the next door section

 

Inverleigh Australia day 2011. Couch surfing again…

Inverleigh Australia day 2011, originally uploaded by gypsy woman1.

We were staying at Inverleigh, a small town 20km west of Geelong, with a population of approx 1500, on January 26th, Australia Day. Christine and Keith, our couch surfing hosts, were among the organizers of the community breakfast to celebrate Australia day. So we were invited to go along.

This is one of the very best parts of couch surfing, you get to join in with the family and community you become part of for a few days. This is a way of really getting to know an area. Seeing the tourist areas and Australian icons is an important and interesting part of travel but meeting and talking to people is what brings Australia alive.

I went along early with Christine to help set up the hall, chop fruit etc. It is a very friendly community and we were made to feel very welcome. Approx 300 people turned up. Last year was the first time they had run this event and this year more turned up so they had to rush off at one point to get more bacon. The children enjoyed face painting and the jumping castle. When every one had finished breakfast they rounded up all the cubs and girl guides and they sang “Advance Australia Fair” and every one joined in.

It was another of those special moments that happen when you are travelling and I felt quite emotional standing there sharing it with this lovely community.

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Couch surfing again…

Carroll and Jacks house, originally uploaded by gypsy woman1.

5 years ago I stayed with Carroll and Jack for the first time. I met them through “Global Freeloaders” back then and in the 5 days I stayed in 2005 we made a lasting friendship that lasted with the help of the internet.

It was Jack that introduced me to “couch surfing“. He has used it for 3 years with great success, both hosting and staying with hosts.. I’m so pleased I found it as it is adding a whole new dimension to travel for us.

I was pleased to be able to introduce Jack to them. Now Carroll’s name is spelt the same as my surname, very unusual, and we both have men called Jack… so Carroll called “my Jack” , “gentle Jack” and I, of course, just said “Hey “my Jack””

“My Jack” fell in love with their home.Carroll being artistic and a collector of all things different and artistic, every where you looked was something interesting to look at, from the art on the walls to the view out of the window. Carroll’s Jack loved all classical music and so the back ground sound of our stay was the beautiful sound of the classics.

We enjoyed 7 relaxing and interesting days with them and it was a sad farewell, but, who knows what is in the future, maybe they will come to couch surf with us one day…

Me with Jack and Carroll

The view through the window was like a painting

Great to sleep in a very comfortable real bed for 7 days

Jack preparing a meal

I help Carroll in the kitchen

Shady side deck for relaxing

Perth, couch surfing

Perth, originally uploaded by gypsy woman1.

We are now about half way around and have found a great place to stay for a few days. We found John on the couch surfing network and he has a large double section so there is plenty of room for us to park in the back yard. John has created a mini urban farm using grass clippings, waste, cardboard and has worm farms in old baths and 4 chooks roaming around. The soil here is pure sand but Johns veggies are very healthy. Remember the tv show “The good life” well this is a WA version of it. We are loving it here.

The house is on the Canning Highway and right next to a bus stop, 20 minutes one way to the CBD and 45 minutes the other way to Freemantle.

We had a number of things to do ie, blood tests, eye tests, new tyres on the van etc so have spent the first week getting all these things done. We are all, including Matilda, now fit and ready to carry on the next leg. We will stay here for another week. Perth is a beautiful city, the weather is fantastic, the flies have disappeared and there is a lot of things and places to explore.

We get the red carpet treatment

Jack fixing old tools

John in the front veggie patch

Toowoomba, the big smoke

We loved Nobby a very friendly and vibrant little town. We now need to visit a town as we have found we need a few essential things ie. a longer power lead as you cannot always get close to the power source. So we now head for Toowoomba. On the way we come across a memorial to Steele Rudd, it is a collection of slab huts with the original fence posts.All free and open to the public to just wander around. We had a cuppa and Jack did a sketch of the slab hut.

Details of Steele Rudd’s memorial hut.

We found our way around Toowoomba with Jack navigating and me panicking,a bit. We found a huge Bunnings and did all our shopping, then visited “Grand Central” and found a Telstra shop to buy a prepaid Dongle before going back to a free rest area just 13 km south of Toowoomba, called Federation Park, clean toilets, BBQ’s, no showers or power and next to the road, but we were tired after our exciting day in town and slept like logs….

Free travel accommodation

Globalfreeloaders what a great organization this is. 

I first stumbled across it when travelling around Australia on the Greyhound buses in 2005. It was an invaluable resource to help the budget stretch out to 5 months of memorable travel through the wild flower areas of Western Australia, across the Nullabor, and experience the iconic Ocean Road. Staying with locals in different areas enhanced the experience. As it is, for me, the people you meet that stay in your mind and heart the most.

Beautiful and interesting walking country.

Taken from a helicopter showing some of the 12 apostles

Amazing rock formations

These are some of the iconic Australian places I saw during my 2005 trip.

Why I am including it today is because we  had a lady from Singapore contact us via GFL and she has arrived to stay with us for 3 days. A charming and very independent person, she is a joy to have as a guest.

During our coming travels we intend to once again use GFL to have short breaks from the road and also meet local people.

Check it out if you are travelling, it may be for you too

Tasty, easy lunch recipe….

Have you ever tried couscous? NO? well it is a very easy and quick ingredient to use. Ideal for travellers…

Tuna and Tomato Couscous Salad (serves 2)

Ingredients…

• 2/3 cup couscous
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 185 gram can tuna
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 95 gram can corn kernels, drained
• 1/4 cup chopped mint
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs lemon juice

Method…

 1…Combine the couscous and water in a bowl and stir with a fork until the water is absorbed and then let cool.  

2…Drain and flake the tuna and stir into the couscous with all other ingredients.

Serve on a bed of lettuce. Yummy…..

If you have more easy to use recipes to use when travelling I would like to try them. Please leave them in the  comment box.