Yesterday was pretty hectic by lockdown standards. I had a virtual job interview at 9am. The recruiter rang less than an hour later to say I wouldn't be going through to the next round because my SEO experience wasn't strong enough. Bummer. At least they ripped the Band-Aid off quickly. The youngest literally spent eight... Continue Reading →

Lockdown in Sydney has put me in a very tricky position. There are less distractions, so I’m running out of excuses not to clear out the two spare bedrooms in my house. Somehow I’ve managed to get two spare bedrooms, despite the household now including two teenagers, two dogs and two rats. When I bought... Continue Reading →

As my middle-aged female readers - and their partners - will be aware, menopause is a bitch. And, until recently, no one really warned you about it. Menopause was a hush-hush, embarrassing life stage that you were meant to pretend wasn't happening. So I was excited to hear last week that Kaz Cooke is working... Continue Reading →

Remember the childhood excitement you felt at Christmas? I was giddy each year as I dreamed about the gift I’d request from Santa while getting my annual photo taken at Kotara Fair. On Christmas Eve, I'd make my little sister drink litres of water so she could be my human alarm clock. Her full bladder... Continue Reading →

Strong tides and winds slow the last leg of our journey from Broome to Darwin on the Reef Prince. We arrive in port an hour late for our mandatory COVID tests. Jayden cooks the golden trevally the fishermen caught and serves it with chips for lunch. A nurse arrives on board at 1pm to begin... Continue Reading →

We are surrounded by the ocean on our last full day on the Reef Prince, so we decide to sleep in until 6.30am and skip the sunrise. A lazy day follows, filled with food, snoozing and slide shows. I feel the most relaxed I have in years. The food excesses are outlined on the activities... Continue Reading →

We wake in a beautiful bay on Day 9 of our Kimberley cruise aboard the Reef Prince and I race onto the back deck to catch another sunrise. Then it’s time for an early continental breakfast before we don swimsuits for a dip under King George Falls. We take turns sitting on the front of... Continue Reading →

Day 8 of our Reef Prince cruise in the Kimberley is a scorcher as we explore the wreck of a WW2 plane at Vansittart Bay (below) and a cove filled with indigenous art. I am swathed in my burkha-like head-to-toe outfit of long black skirt, fisherman’s shirt and hat that leaves only my eyes and... Continue Reading →

We wake a little groggy after our partying on the Reef Prince the night before and totter out onto the deck in search of a sunrise, but the cliffs are too high for us to glimpse the pink streaks on the horizon. Our first excursion begins at 6.30am along the beautiful Hunter River, which is... Continue Reading →

I’ve been having trouble sleeping during our Kimberley cruise - I’m not used to sharing a bed and my ageing body prefers a softer mattress. I wake at around 4.30am, unable to drift off again because my hip is hurting from a combination of firm mattress, middle-age, not enough stretching and trying not to flump... Continue Reading →