Budget Travel Talk

Budget Travel Talk Married for life. Live to Love. Love to Travel. Greece is a recent favourite. Lived 60 years in Townsville. 10 years on the Sunshine Coast. Hello, I'm Jan.

Currently travelling Australia. My husband Marty and I have been living and travelling together for over thirty years. We were both born in Townsville, North Queensland but recently shifted to Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.. Budget Travel Talk blog is currently focussed on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, dog friendly Cafes and accommodation. Exploring the Noosa Hinterland and

staying with Airbnb. If you love a good backstory carry a n reading. In 1980 after 9 months in the U.K., Europe and Bali, we landed in Perth, Western Australia. Out of necessity we both got jobs and subsequently hatched a plan to buy a campervan. After two years of exploring everywhere within a week-end’s radius of Perth, we said goodbye to our West Australian lifestyle and headed north to the cultural melting pot of Broome. From there we headed east across the top of Australia on the final leg home to Townsville. Our child rearing years saw us waterskiing on Lake Tinaroo, chilling on Magnetic Island and snorkelling on coral reefs. Fast forward to 2008, our first trip out of the country in twenty-eight years was a campervan trip around the south island of New Zealand and once more we were hooked on travel. A three month trip in 2010 saw us dodging bullets in Bangkok, volcanic ash cloud in Italy and arriving in New York the day before the Times Square bombing attempt. In April 2011 we spent a month travelling in Vietnam. Love it or hate it Vietnam is the ultimate budget traveller’s destination. House-sitting is perfect for us and 2 weeks in the hills near Granada, Spain was a wonderful introduction. Just returned from 10 weeks in Europe July 2015. Read about it on the blog. The best surprise was finding Trebinje in BiH. Welcome to Budget Travel Talk
Jan

Ash’s Cafe Karumba.
16/06/2026

Ash’s Cafe Karumba.

To my mind Karumba Sunsets are as iconic as those we experienced at Kuta Beach some 45 years ago. These photos were take...
15/06/2026

To my mind Karumba Sunsets are as iconic as those we experienced at Kuta Beach some 45 years ago.

These photos were taken across from where we are staying at Karumba point Sunset Park on an impromptu after dinner walk.

Last night we stayed at Blackbull Siding, a 20 hour free camp 2 hours east of Karumba.Blackball Siding is on the Gulflan...
14/06/2026

Last night we stayed at Blackbull Siding, a 20 hour free camp 2 hours east of Karumba.

Blackball Siding is on the Gulflander Railway Line and the iconic train stops here for morning tea on its trips between Normanton and Croydon. Luckily or unluckily, the train didn't visit during our brief stay.

This historic station, think corrugated iron shed with prop out iron windows, high solid square rusted water tank that are favoured historically in this part of Australia and a Railway Siding Shed for passengers to wait. It is nearly identical to the one at our local train stop when I was a kid in Wulguru, Townsville so I felt a little nostalgic.

So we pulled up track side a short walk from the foot pump dunny which was very airy (breeze blows through intentional gaps in the floor boards) and is actually disabled friendly with a long ramp.

Two relaxing nights and one action filled day exploring the gorge and doing the washing (had to be done)…
13/06/2026

Two relaxing nights and one action filled day exploring the gorge and doing the washing (had to be done)…

13/06/2026

Cobbold Gorge Queensland

13/06/2026

Boat and walking tour of Cobbold Gorge

Cobbold Gorge mid June 2026 is a beautiful spot to spend a day or three. They offer helicopter flights over the gorge re...
13/06/2026

Cobbold Gorge mid June 2026 is a beautiful spot to spend a day or three. They offer helicopter flights over the gorge reserve, boat/walking tours and Stand up paddle. As swimming is not allowed in the gorge, SUP seems a sneaky way to achieve a dip and it’s the cheapest option🤣

As we are not SUPPERS we had to content ourselves with swims in the resort infinity pool with swim up bar.

A powered site is $57 a night and walk/boat tour $125 each. No dogs allowed on tours so we took separate time slots.

This small group tour is very informative, includes glass bridge over gorge and electric motored punt boat.

The sites are large and drive through and amenities are spacious clean and modern demountable (ours was anyway).

Am I in Georgetown Qld or the Amalfi Coast! Actually I picked them up at Ravenshoe Tourist Information.
11/06/2026

Am I in Georgetown Qld or the Amalfi Coast! Actually I picked them up at Ravenshoe Tourist Information.

Atherton Tablelands Palmerston Highway
10/06/2026

Atherton Tablelands Palmerston Highway

Pallarenda Townsville Ride
10/06/2026

Pallarenda Townsville Ride

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Coolum Beach, QLD
4573

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