Two is enough — I love planning my own trips — the full itinerary — researching where I want to go, how to get from point A to point B, and booking my accommodation. Bus travel is my least favourite form of transport. I love trains! If there’s no train, I’ll hire a car…

How? — Pene Hodge prompted me to write how I fly overseas so frequently on a tight budget. The Qantas Frequent Flyer Program Here is why I don’t pay for overseas airfares — well, actually I pay the tax, not the flight. I joined Qantas Frequent Flyers in 1994 even though I was anything but a frequent…

Basic Rules of Travelling — I’m not usually one to give advice but some people obviously need it — not you, dear readers. Number One: Don’t lose your passport as soon as you enter the country. Number Two: Plan how you are going to get from the airport to your accommodation. Don’t expect your host…

Believe it or not — it’s my real name. G’day. I thought I had better start with that although I never actually say g’day in real life. But at least you know I’m an Aussie. Yeah, we do say Aussie, not Australian. I have been described as “a riddle wrapped…

Turns out I’m not as much of a woos as I thought. I’ve been having painful teeth for a couple of weeks. I diagnosed myself with sensitive teeth aggravated by the methotrexate injections I have to have now. But the pain has been keeping me awake at night and I’ve been putting sensitive toothpaste on the affected area plus placing an ice pack on my jaw. The earliest I could get into see a dentist was today at two-thirty — I’m sure they keep that spot free for people who have “tooth hurty”. The good news is two and a half hours later, the bad tooth is gone, the abscess lanced and my gum stitched. The bad news is I can’t take painkillers with methotrexate.

What would we do without them? — Let me tell you something you may not know. When you see large families, you think how lovely they are — think The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. Everyone gets on for the most part — siblings don’t hate each other or with the other dead. This is what…

Why do I let this happen? — Why is it my mood seems to be dependent on men? I like to put the blame firmly on a man’s shoulders, but the blame really belongs to me. Why do I permit it to happen? I’m my own person, aren’t I? Why do I let men affect me so…

The hotter, the better… Onsens in Japan 2006 I fell in love with hot water in 2006 in Japan. My eldest daughter and I went on a road trip around Northern Honshu in a borrowed car. We packed a tent so we didn’t have to sleep in the tiny car as we had no…