As the end of 2017 approached I thought that it was about time to think back over my travels in the past twelve months. What I found is that I travelled not quite as much as I had hoped.
As a summary, it looks like I travelled a total of 45 days this year. The travel was over ten separate occasions and did turn out to be a little less than I would have liked. However, did manage to fit in a short cruise and a short road trip.
The Trips
Most of my travel this year has been on short somewhat local trips not far from Brisbane. Half of the trips visited area’s that are an easy day trip by themselves, but it is nice to get away from home for these little trips.
On the other end of the spectrum for the year were two bigger trips. With a South Pacific Cruise and a road trip to Canberra. But still in the scheme of things they were somewhat short for what was involved.
I want to just take a quick look through these trips. I will be able to link to some posts I have written from some of the trips. But the other destinations are something that I will be working on including some more in-depth write-ups in the coming year.
Tweed Heads – 10th – 12th February
As the year begun, I had expected that a South Pacific Cruise would be my first trip away. However, at the last moment on Thursday, the 9th of February a quick decision for a weekend away in Tweed Heads was made.
I cannot even recall much of what we did while on this weekend away. It is one of those rare times that I do not have any photos to show. There is a good chance that I did visit some coffee shops in the area though, as there are some rather good ones nearby. I do think that I may have been a little preoccupied with the upcoming cruise.
South Pacific Cruise – 16th – 26th February
The cruise aboard the Sun Princess was my fourth cruise. Even though I do love cruising, it had been almost five years since my last cruise. You sometimes wonder just where the time goes, but I got to cruise again anyway.
I was cruising with a friend, and we departed from Brisbane on a ten night / 11-day cruise around the South Pacific. The cruise had five ports of call in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Even though a port call to Mystery Island got cancelled, it did not spoil the cruise for me. Some passengers were upset by this, but it is something you can do very little about.
You can read more about my cruise in the following two posts.
Sun Princess 10 Night South Pacific Cruise | Sun Princess Ship Tour
Mooloolaba & Caloundra – 22nd – 26th May
Mooloolaba is not too much further in distance or time than a visit to Tweed Heads from home. However, when you physically get in the car for the drive it does feel like, it takes much longer. Although to be honest there is a good portion of this which could be attributed to detours to other places along the way. Which on this occasion included stops for coffee in Caboolture and Beerwah.
For this trip, we stayed two nights each in two different spots. The first two nights in Mooloolaba and the second two nights in Caloundra. The primary purpose of the trip was to see a musical show that was on at a club in Caloundra. But it can be pleasant to get out and see an area that you do not always get a chance to visit. We took some time to visit areas around Maroochydore, Buderim and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland around Maleny as well.
Warwick – 24th – 25th June
Warwick is a place that I do not remember visiting until sometime in 2013. Since then I have visited the area many more times than I can even remember. Until the weekend of 24/25 June 2017, I had not stayed overnight in the area.
Although I don’t have any photos from this trip, it was an interesting experience. There was a first for me with an overnight sleep out in the car. I did have a tent but left it to late to set up as I did almost consider driving back after the Astronomy Night. I do have a photo from the second one I attended in September though.
Ballina – 16th – 19th August
I cannot be sure, but I think in the past few years I have travelled to Ballina a couple of times. It can be a rather interesting area with a little bit around the town to look at on a morning walk. There are also some nice coffee shops in town, and it can be a great spot to be staying if you want to take a day trip to Byron Bay.
There are also some rather nice areas as you travel inland from Ballina. You can travel through Alstonville and onto Lismore. But there are a few great spots just off the highway to the north and south of Ballina as well. The picture above is the wall at the dam that supplies Ballina with water. Just downstream from the wall is a waterfall that is quite spectacular and provides an excellent little walk for those so inclined (like me).
Tweed Heads – 13th – 15th September
Even though it was only two weeks before we would be revisiting Tweed Heads, we managed to squeeze in a weekend away. The visit was mostly to check out the hotel we would be staying at, as the next visit was a little longer.
Unlike my first visit to Tweed Heads earlier in the year, I had the camera going this time. With nothing else planned there was a visit to a few coffee shops, even if there was a little rain to damp the spirits at times.
Warwick – 23rd – 24th September
One of the reasons for the overnight trips to Warwick is for Astronomy. A friend as some space on a property where it is possible to set up camp, telescopes and cameras to observe the dark sky. The weekends for these trips often coincide with the new moon which offers the darkest sky.
Unlike the last trip I do have some photos from this one including a capture of the Milky Way. The night sky and astronomy photography is something that is of interest to me. But it is also an area of photography that can require a lot of time to achieve good results, let along any results at times. So for the time being it is not a big focus for me.
Tweed Heads – 28th September – 2nd October
In September 2017 my brother got married at a place just outside of Tweed Heads. It was a good excuse to get away for a few days even if the area is one that I have visited a couple of times this year.
Some of this trip was spent around the wedding and spending time with family. There was also time spent walking around the area and enjoying some coffee in a few local spots. Plus one afternoon I managed to capture some rather nice photos of the sunset on the beach.
Canberra Road Trip – 6th – 13th November
Earlier in the year, I had hoped that I might get a chance for a road trip this year. Even though the trip was only eight days, it was a road trip all the same.
The road trip took just eight days, and I travelled with two friends. We took four days going south to Canberra and three days for the return trip with a full day in Canberra. I have a few posts already on the blog about this trip so I will not go into too much more here.
Even though the trip was pretty quick for the number of stops, I made use of every single one. Especially around Canberra checking out some of the great local coffee. The one below comes from Penny University Coffee Roasters.
If you want to read more about this trip, you can find the following posts cover it from start to finish.
Southbound Road Trip | Canberra | Northbound Road Trip
Caloundra – 6th – 7th December
The last overnight trip for the year was at the beginning of December. The trip was kind of a last minute and mainly to make it a little easier to see a show that was on in Caloundra.
Along the way, on this trip, I definitely made use of checking out some coffee shops a little out of my usual area.
2018 Travel Ahead
Well that about sums up my 2017 travel, there were a couple of good adventures in there. As for the coming year, I have no idea what it is going to bring in terms of travel. But there is one thing I hope that some travel will definitely be a part of it.
