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When we arrived at Geoff & Denise’s house in sunny Townsville, I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. Their pad is huge and pure luxury. Geoff had left a comment on the blog which I think translated as “my house is your house” and of course we feel the same but I very much feel we got the better end of the deal. This is place is HUGE; yes okay we’d seen some photo’s before we agreed to swap but I think our Geoff was being rather modest in his descriptions. Our house in the cul-de-sac must feel like a shoe box in comparison.

But I get ahead of myself and must back track to our arrival. Phil picked up an email from Geoff before we left the motel in Bowen asking us to telephone Denise’s mum on her mobile. Phil did phone and left a message but he dialled a wrong digit so Jean didn’t get the message and had no idea of when we’d be arriving. In previous correspondence we said that we thought we’d get here between 2 – 4pm but in reality it was just after 1pm. We found the house with the help of the crappy sat nav and as soon as we parked up in the hire car, Phil checked our paperwork and dialled Jean to say that we’d arrived. Not more than 10 minutes later she was outside letting us in with the keys. She gave us the guided tour which as you can imagine took a while because this house has so many rooms and was very helpful and patient answering Phil’s 101 questions in the midday heat and humidity. When she left Phil programmed the sat nav to take us to the Europa office to hand back the car.

We got a taxi back to our new home for the next 3 weeks with no problems whatsoever. Phil read through Geoff’s information notes (which were excellent by the way Geoff) and then after that he got his laptop set up. Talk about priorities! I, in the meanwhile, got on with unpacking and hanging up our clothes. Denise has left us loads of rail space and so few clothes have we, we haven’t used even half the space. As we were bringing the bags up I spotted Andrew the next door neighbour who was watering his garden and we made our introductions. Andrew said to call on him if we have any questions or problems, which was very sweet of him. They are so friendly these Australian folk.

It was very tempting to get our kit off and jump in the pool for a swim because was it warm but we decided to check out the local Woolworth store and get a few supplies. Not that we needed anything mind you because Geoff & Denise had already stocked up their fridge for us. They’d even got Jean to come in earlier that morning with a huge stack of fresh prawns along with a cocktail sauce and fresh lemon. How good is that?


After a quick trip to the store we got back ‘home’ and sat and downed a beer on the beautiful upstairs terrace even thought it was only just a little after 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Both Phil and I were feeling shattered after our Whitsunday island trip. In case you’re wondering I did enjoy the sailing on the tall ship. I wasn’t too enamoured with the cramped cabin and the shared bathroom and the one minute shower. The shower thing was the worst actually but once I got used to the idea that I wouldn’t be able to wash and dry my hair, exfoliate or de-fuzz and accepted the fact that I would look like a real tramp for the entire weekend, I was fine. It was easier to accept the situation and go with the flow and go with the flow I did. The Irish lads were great; funny, friendly, and generous and gave us all the entertainment we could possibly need. Of course, I had a chance to clean up and sort myself out at the motel but you can imagine just how pleased I was when I got in the door to Geoff & Denise’s house, I was in my element.

The house is on a really spacious piece of land (not sure of the actual) size. The landscape on the ground floor consists of a gated drive, a small deck out the front, driveway, pool and decking area covered in with a glass partition and an undercover port storing all of the garden furniture. Then you have stairs which lead to the main deck area with table and chairs and BBQ. This area has double French doors which lead to the lounge, kitchen and main bedroom. Phil has had much email contact with Geoff and from what he’s shared with me over the last few months; I admit I did have high expectations about his house. I was not disappointed. The kitchen is modern with every mod con-cum kitchen utensil you could possible need. Everywhere you look there are magnificent wooden floors all except the modern bathrooms which again are huge and have ceramic tile flooring.

All the walls are white which contrast well with the wooden floors, they do have internal doors but everywhere has a light airy open-plan feel. I am not sure whether this is typical of an Australian home but I’m guessing not. G&D have some great pieces of wooden antique furniture which gives the interior a very French feel. The house has a colonial ambience yet gives it is also an infusion of the modern. And that’s just the first floor, I haven even got to the ground level. This seems to be the places where Geoff’s kids hang out. Again its massive, 3 double beds, bathroom, lounge, laundry with the access to the pool area and lower deck. I don’t think we will have any need to use this area except for the laundry and I may not be able to resist borrowing some of the books to read whilst I chill out in the pool. Needless to say every room is immaculately clean. G&D, you certainly have great taste and style.


Geoff’s son Chris popped round to say hello and to check if we were okay. A charming guy and he has promised to look after the house whilst we take a 4 day trip to Magnetic island. Geoff notes mentioned what to do if we get a cyclone and I’m a little worried if this happens whilst we are not here. Actually I’m also a little worried if it happens when we are here but if in any doubt we have lots of numbers that we can call for help. I would rather be safe than sorry and have G&D come back to any disasters. And believe me, if any disaster is lurking nearby, it is almost certain to find me and Phil. Why is that I wonder?

Did you ever watch that filmed called The Holiday’ starring Cameron Diaz who plays Amanda Woods and Kate Winslett who plays Iris Simpkins? Well, if not, it’s about two beautiful women Amanda & Iris who both find themselves at the end of failed relationships just before Christmas. They both decide to take a 2 week vacation and both surf the internet. They meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Iris moves into Amanda’s L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Corny plot I know, but needless to say both women find what they are least expecting at the other end. For Amanda, a broken down cold ruin in the middle of nowhere and for Iris an executive multi million pad with an LA lifestyle to match. I remember that when Iris gets the keys and steps inside, she runs round the place screaming with joy. Well, that’s how a little of what I felt as Jean showed me around our new home. Perhaps a slightly OTT description of my exact emotion but you get the gist. Let’s just hope that Denise doesn’t feel too much like Iris hey. Thank goodness the snow has finally melted!!

Last night we scoffed nearly all the prawns with a light salad and huge chunks of bread. We drank the wine that was in the fridge (and very nice it was too) watched a bit of telly then headed to bed for an early night. It was probably the best nights sleep in a long while but I knew that Geoff & Denise were due to arrive any minute in the UK so I was up early and logging on to my email. Sure enough there was an email from Emma to say that the flight wasn’t delayed, the airport transfer had connected without any problems and G&D were safely in our house. About an hour later Geoff emailed Phil to confirm that all was okay from their end. Emma was promptly out the door to meet and greet them, they’d had a bit of trouble getting our shower to work but succeeded in the end; Geoff said they were absolutely cream crackered and were shortly heading to bed having been awake for near on 24 hours. Let’s just hope the jet lag isn’t too bad and they manage to enjoy their long awaited holiday.

I just want to say thanks to Emma for cleaning the house from top to bottom, changing all the beds & towels, stocking up with supplies and collecting our post from the PO Box, dealing with all the queries and just generally, for keeping everything at home ticking over. She’s also had to put up with my never ending demands by email and is always very quick to come back to me with a reply. So thanks Emma! you a true star and we will see you right when we get home.


We had a leisurely start to the day, with fresh fruit salad and yoghurt and a lovely cup of coffee from the machine. After dealing with emails and posting the blog we put on our cosies and went for a dip in the pool. It is very warm but still refreshing and I can see us in here quite a bit. When we were showered we headed into the city for a general nose around town. The plan was to walk The Strand but we’d had a late start to the morning, it was very hot and humid and we ran out of energy and decided to head back home. For lunch we polished off the rest of the prawns and then read our books by the pool. A very easy day, which after weeks being on the road, living out of backpacks and sleeping in motels, hostels and boats, made a very nice change indeed. I am liking Townsville already.