Top Tips for May

Australia's Natural Wonders 

I was a bit of a weird child.  Like many of my peers, my grandmother looked after me during school holidays while my parents went out to work.  But unlike my friends who were content to play with dolls  and prams and have imaginary tea parties, I fantasised about far off countries. Places where adventures took place with mountains and wild animals and lots of caves to explore.  Of course, I hadn't even been out of the UK by then and it would be many years later before foreign travel was not the norm.  But I'd heard about Australia, a relative had moved out there.  I knew of its vast red deserts and its incredibly warm climate, the kangaroos and koala bears and I was enthralled by the book Walkabout, which we all read in school.

Wild Seas - Tasmania

Down Under Down Under - The Emotional Ups & Downs of Learning to Scuba Dive in Western Australia

What could be more pleasant than learning to scuba dive in the tropical waters off the coast of Broome in Western Australia, where the water is warm, visibility is clear and the sea life is abundant, and mostly harmless, I was assured.

I had imagined embracing the explosion of life and colour in this new environment; swimming effortlessly alongside shoals of coral fish and marvelling at the giant manta rays as they glided effortlessly above my head. But I was brutally wrenched from these notions before I even reached the bottom. 

Meet the Locals at Windjana Gorge

Windjana Gorge in the Kimberley region of Western Australia is an ideal place to see freshwater crocodiles in the wild. So we stopped off there for a photo opportunity on our tour of WA.