Some favorite (Budget) Travel Tips 

   but first....

                      Our Disclaimer and all that legalese   

Things change ... Businesses close ... and peoples' tastes vary. This web page is where we post our "finds" as we travel the globe. Here are some of our favorites in...

Cairns! rollicking good fun and a place we could easily call "home"... it's California four decades ago but with fabulous ethnic food and terrific cappuccino all up and down the city.

Cheap Sleeps: you won't need a car at the All Season's Esplanade (about $US 40. double), & it's close to the Papua New Guinea Consulate too. Also nearby is  the Cairns library, and Woolworth's where you can stop to shop and stock your 'fridge. We had granola, yogurt and fruit every morning... 

Cheap Eats: There is lots to choose from, but we loved the seafood laksa at the Night Market for  US $6.50. It's a rich chicken broth cooked from scratch in a giant kettle, with coconut milk and a bit of a bite, noodles, shrimp, New Zealand mussels and calamari. Then mingle and shop at the stalls.

There is a fabulous array of delicacies at Cairns International Hotel, Coco Reef for a more discriminate dining experience. But still less than US $20.  

Visit Living Waters Church on Lake Street. We've seldom heard better teaching and the communion bread is baked with love straight out of the recipe in Leviticus.

Perrotta's at the Cairns Regional Gallery has an unforgettable breakfast...salmon over a sweet-potato cake for US $  nothing....maybe 5 bucks? Click on their menu and be prepared to drool! www.cairnsregionalgallery.com.au 

and Sydney! Buy the Sydney Pass and ride for a full day on the buses, trains, monorail, ferries and the Sydney Explorer which tours the city with on-board commentary of Sydney's history & culture. Take "the Cat" amaran out to Manley (included) and lunch at Cafe' Brasil for an unforgettable day trip.

Glebe is an Airport Express bus trip ($6.50 Australian) away from the city proper, but it's like Berkeley is to S.F., in other words...quirky,funky, and youthful.

Cheap Sleeps: I got to experience my dream of staying at a youth hostel. And it was great! Clean and quiet, with a communal kitchen and a young at heart international clientele which included plenty of seventy plus-ers. Glebe YHA isn't raising their rates for the Olympics...$US 35. couple per night. For reservations email -   mailto:glebe@yhansw.org.au

Cheap Eats: Glebe's "That's It" has wonderful and authentic Thai food, and watching the chef at work is worth the price alone. They always run specials...and everything is wholesome and fresh. 

Glebeside Indian Cafe has a delicious "mix your favorites plate"  special. The eggplant samball and spicey beef Vindaloo  and chicken marsala plate is incredible, for US $ 3.90! You can afford to try the vegetable pakoras and naan, a traditional leavened bread cooked in a tandoori oven. 

Perth! Get a maxi-rider ticket and a whole family rides anywhere on the TransPerth system, which buys you rides on all buses, ferries, & trains  for a pittance on week-ends and school holidays. 

Check details, you can buy tickets directly on the bus. Use it to travel to Cottesloe Beach and on to Freemantle, where the Swan River empties into the Indian Ocean.