Hi, and welcome to 2 Aussie Travellers. I’m Toni and I’m happy to see you here. Why don’t you grab a cuppa and I’ll show you around?
What we’re all about at 2 Aussie Travellers
I started this website, together with my husband Drew, to share our travel photos, experiences and the lessons we learned along the way. Travel budgets are limited for most of us so we’re here to help you squeeze the most fun times and fabulous adventures you can out of every travel dollar.
We live by the philosophy that you shouldn’t wait for the holidays to enjoy yourself, explore and experience new things. Get out and see what’s going on in your city. Take short breaks and get away for the weekends. Even a day trip can turn up a completely new experience and a destination you’d not found before.
I was born in the UK, lived a large part of my life in New Zealand, spent a short time in the USA and for the past 16 years I’ve called Australia home. We’ve travelled to 25+ countries and can claim a passport from three.
Our key travel destinations
Our travel plans continue to focus on Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region.
Australia is our home, Queensland to be precise but we plan to see it all eventually. It’s a huge country and we’ve been fortunate to see so much already but we won’t be done until we have explored all corners and as much as possible of what lies in between.
New Zealand is our second home, it will always have a strong draw for us with many family and friends based there, and we will continue to return regularly. It has so much natural diversity and beauty in such a compact package. A trip ‘home’ to New Zealand is always quite exceptional.
Japan has been my long-time passion. It all started with a school project when I was 7 years old. We’ve been travelling back frequently now since 2010, over 13 years, and we still have so much more we want to see, do and share with you. Another trip with exciting new destinations off the beaten track is in the planning stage and we can’t wait to share it with you.
We hope you’ll find some inspiration, useful information and planning tips that will help you on your own adventures. We’ll also be keeping you updated with what there is to see, do and eat in South East and Central Queensland in case you find yourself passing through our home base sometime soon.
Get in touch
We’d love you to join us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and X (Twitter).
We hope you enjoy travelling and having a bit of fun with us. We’d love to hear from you too. For comments about specific posts and pages, please add your own experiences or questions on the relevant page so the conversation can continue. For general comments or PR enquiries, please use the contact form here.
We really enjoy seeing where our friends and fellow travellers are located around the world and sharing in your adventures too.
Disclaimer
This is a personal blog, the views, experiences and opinions are ours as the blog owners. We don’t claim to be experts on the topics, products or services that we visit and write about, details should be verified directly with the provider or distributor.
When we write about a place, product or event we will always give our honest thoughts. Integrity and transparency are extremely important to us at 2 Aussie Travellers. Any sponsored review or advertised product placement will be clearly disclosed.
Now, why not head back to our home page and take a good look around, we’re here to chat when you’re ready.
Anna Rosenberg
Friday 27th of October 2023
Hi folks, we have been perusing your Japan information and it is brilliant and is taking a lot of the angst out of our planning for a trip in November '24. We would like to use one of the two hotels you recommend in Osaka but would like some advice on which one to choose. We are both 71 and have aches and pains so which hotel has the softest beds please? Thanks for all you great work and I can't wait to get to the Harry Potter exhibit at Universal Studios. I love Harry Potter too. cheers Anna
Toni Broome
Saturday 28th of October 2023
Hi Anna, have a fabulous trip. Almost without exception in Japan we have found the beds are firm to hard. We're fortunate to both find that we still sleep well on them and they don't make us ache but I understand the concern. We've stayed in the different properties over a period of several years so memory may not be totally accurate but I would say Granvia and New Otani hotel beds are always comfortable and are brands we've stayed with multiple times across Japan, the Swissotel was a more recent stay and that was good. The Namba Oriental location we love but the beds were a bit less comfortable and I don't specifically remember the Hilton either way. In general while they were all on the firm end, the 'hard' beds were more common in smaller towns where we stayed in more traditional places (with beds not futon) and business hotels.
Alex
Sunday 8th of October 2023
Hi Toni & Drew, Just found your blog. Interesting and informative. We are going to NZ in April/May 2024. We have booked a couple of nights at Mount Cook in the first week of May. We were wondering what the road is like from Mount Cook to Fox and Franz Josef Glacier? We are not experienced in driving on snow or ice and have never driven with snow chains before. Would it be better for us to take a scenic flight instead from Mount Cook? Many thanks in advance.
Toni Broome
Saturday 28th of October 2023
While the two are quite close geographically they aren't so close by road so it is quite a bit of driving. The trip down via Lindis Pass and back up the West Coast is a good day of driving with a few driver breaks especially with shorter winter days. It's not recommended for driving after dark or early in the morning and while it is infrequent the pass does close several times most winters due to snow. April/May is early in the season so it is unlikely to have snow down low at that time and snow chains wouldn't be required, that said heavy May falls do happen some years. With no experience of using chains or the conditions most would suggest avoid it and waiting for the road to be cleared. Sorry I can't really offer more help
Paul Montgomery
Monday 25th of September 2023
Hi there guys, I used your blog religiously when we went to Japan for the first a few years back an it was invaluable, thanks to you our trip was so remarkable and enjoyable. We are going again in March next year and I am having trouble accessing Hyperdia app, any advice or could you recommend another ? Kind regards Paul
Toni Broome
Saturday 7th of October 2023
The Hyperdia site was taken down while borders were closed but is back now at https://www.hyperdia.com/ - I still like it best on the computer, on phone screen it's too fiddly and the app versions have never been as good. The main funtionality is still there but it has a few less bells and whistles now. Have a fun trip, we aren't back until May, it seems so long to wait.
Fiona
Wednesday 21st of June 2023
Just wondering if you can suggest a place to book into pub camping show grounds or holiday park
Probably need power & water
First ever trip in our vans only learning
Toni Broome
Monday 26th of June 2023
Hi Fiona. Your comment hasn't come through on a specific article, what areas are you looking at staying?
Valda Tout
Tuesday 13th of June 2023
Hello, just found your ginger biscuit recipe, wondering if you are adding the warm mixture to the dry ingredients or vice versa? Doesn’t quite say..
Toni Broome
Wednesday 14th of June 2023
Hi Valda. I use a large saucepan to melt the butter and mix it all in there so dry ingredients add to wet. I do give it a couple of minutes to cool before mixing in the egg. I'll take a look at the recipe later and see if it can be made clearer. Thanks.