Travel & Expat Blog

Australia, Destinations

Fitzroy Island Day Trip From Cairns: Snorkelling and Hiking Guide

26th July 2021
Snorkelling on Fitzroy Island, Great Barrier Reef- Cairns // Travel Mermaid

Discover the best secret snorkelling spot.

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Australia

The Best Walks and Hikes In Cairns

13th July 2021
White Rock Lookout hike in Cairns // Travel Mermaid

Get to know the best side of Cairns.

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Expat Life

Is this paradise? Living in Port Douglas, Australia

9th July 2021
Rex Smeal Park at sunset in Port Douglas // Travel Mermaid

This is one of those places where people always return.

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Australia, Destinations

Best Things To Do In Port Douglas (2024)

15th April 2021
Rex Smeal Park in Port Douglas, Queensland // Travel Mermaid
Rex Smeal Park, Port Douglas

From rainforest to reef, waterfalls, remote waterholes & adrenaline sports, here’s a three-years-in-the-making list of…

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Meet Travel Mermaid

I am Travel Mermaid // TravelMermaid.com

Ahoy! I’m Shezz, a London-born School Teacher who left Blighty behind 10 years ago with my Sailor. After stints in Prague, Thailand, Melbourne & Malaysia, we’re now based in Australia’s Tropical North.

On the blog, I write about adventure travel & expat life, with a passion for nature, good food and sustainability. Through my travel stories, destination guides & photography, I hope to inspire your next adventure!

Find out more about me here, or stalk my social media channels below.

Stalk me on Instagram

  • With over 12’000 species of blooms, Western Australia has one of the largest collections in the world 🌼⁠⁠When we ran The Glass House in WA, two Scottish botanists stayed with us for a week during wildflower season. They worked at the Singapore Botanic Gardens and were holidaying in the Midwest to view the blooms that sprout in abundance during winter. ⁠.⁠The inland route from my old house is known as 'Wildflower Country' 🌼 ⁠ and it's a tourist trail with some of the state's most diverse array of flowers. ⁠⁠In my latest Perth to Exmouth article, I've added my favourite wildflower hotspots along the Coral Coast, including a walk the botanists recommended, and believe me, these guys know their stuff!⁠⁠#flowerpower #fieldsofgold #wildflowercountry #pompomflowers #wildflowerswa #wildflowerseason #coalseam #mingenew #kalbarri #mullewa #coalseamconservationpark #perthtodo #westernaustralia
  • I can't believe it's our last month in Australia! ⁠( Again, I know 🧜🏼‍♀️ )⁠⁠Back in January, I was thrilled to be offered a new teaching position at a wonderful International School.⁠⁠We've spent the past few months getting ready for the move and making the most of our time in Southeast Queensland. There's a lot I'll miss about living here, but it feels like the right time to spread my wings again and take on a new challenge. We're both really excited about the next chapter. 🧡⁠⁠Can you guess where we're heading ..⁠⁠🔎 We'll need to practice the art of crossing the road.⁠ 🫣⁠⁠🔎 The cuisine is fresh, fragrant and aromatic, and it was one of Anthony Bourdain's favourite countries.⁠ 🤤⁠⁠🔎 I've been told that the locals are inquisitive and enjoy bantering and laughing with foreigners. They may ask you questions like 'How old are you?' 'How much do you weigh?' and 'What is your salary?' ⁠😆⁠⁠🔎 About 86% of households own at least one motorbike 🛵 (big clue)⁠⁠🔎 The weather in the city we're moving to is currently 32°C, with 80% humidity, and 80% chance of rain.⁠⁠Shezz.x⁠⁠⁠#expatlife #internationalschoolteacher #cityscape #brisbane #queensland ⁠
  • What makes the east coast of Australia special for me isn’t the beaches.It's this.The Great Dividing Range. It’s an absolute gem on the east coast. It's basically an enormous chain of mountains that stretch from the northern tip of Cape York in Far North Queensland, all the way down through Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It’s what I missed most about living in Queensland.Since we’ve been back, we’ve hit the trails hard. We’ve probably been in the rainforest nearly 100 times in the past 10 months!These Eastern Highlands are covered in beautiful tropical and subtropical rainforest, harbouring a network of hiking trails, swimming holes, charming villages, waterfalls and wildlife. It’s weekend, after work and holiday fun, all year round.For me, it’s become more than just exercise, it’s a reset button and a connection to nature. I could get lost inside all day. Sometimes we do.Here are some highlights from the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.x#southeastqueensland #hiking #sunshinecoast brisbane #thisisqueensland
  • Iron Knob.⁠Scented Knob.⁠Wanka Creek.⁠Fiddletown.⁠Big Dick Bore.⁠Sausage Gully.⁠Delicate Knobby.⁠Chinamans Knob.⁠Cockburn.⁠⁠All real places in Australia 😂 🇦🇺⁠⁠#eyrehighway #southaustralia #roadtrip
  • Back in writing mode after a couple of years off the blog, inspired by the funky vintage caravan I'm temporarily living in! There's a heap of stories stockpiled in the old noggin, hoping to drop this baby soon. xo⁠⁠#nullarbor #roadtrip #australia
  • We celebrated an exciting milestone last week.. after 10 years since first arriving to Australia (24 years for the Sailor) we've officially been granted citizenship!! 🇦🇺🦘⁠⁠On Tuesday we had a lovely ceremony in Noosa with fellow newbie citizens from 16 other nationalities, and it was such a gorgeous morning. I didn’t expect to get emotional but it’s been quite a journey to get here, and we're so stoked to finally call this awesome country our official home. A special thanks to Hannibal at @thamesmigration for making the process of getting our permanent visa a breeze back in 2014, and still helping us along the way since then. ⁠Thanks for adopting us Australia! ❤️ xx⁠⁠#oioioi #aussiecitizenship
  • Sometimes all you need are cuddles with Mum 🥰#koalababy
  • View from our new halfway house in the Noosa hinterland. After two years away, it feels so good to be back beneath the canopy in Queensland ❤️⁠⁠#sunshinestate #australia

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