- hopefully, not exactly where you're standing! It pays to listen to the guide.
Tasmania, Australia
I entered one of my Tasmania photos in a competition. It didn't win, but I had a great time collecting the shots. At Wineglass Bay a seagull tried to steal David's sandwich. The Hobart Botanical Gardens are stunning and there is a clock made out of flowers. I was sick of photographing our feet so I photographed our shadows at Coles Bay instead.
Sarawak, Malaysia
In March 2008 we went to Malaysia for a Literacy conference in Kuala Lumpur. We did some side-trips while we were there, to the mountains to watch bats blacken the sky at sundown, hike in the jungle (I was scared stiff and stayed on the path, but it was exciting and we saw bats, two snakes, stick insects, orangutans, monkeys, lizards ...), to see pitcher plants that eat insects and a woman play the flute with her nose.
Strathalbyn, South Australia
I have helicopters in books such as the Spy/Undercover Girl series. Helicopters are great for quick getaways in thrillers. Jesse is also in danger from bad guys in a chopper in Book 5:
Twisted. So I thought I'd better check out for myself what it's like to fly in a helicopter. We left from Strathalbyn, in the Adelaide Hills, flew over the town and surrounding areas then returned by the famous Coorong and saw a pod of whales from the air.
Scott Creek, South Australia
We had a wonderful hike at Scott Creek in the Adelaide Hills and found Mackereth Cottage sitting beside a creek. The cottage was built in 1838 and was in wonderful condition, considering its age.
While we standing there admiring it, a car pulled up. The woman in the car told us that she'd lived in the cottage as a little girl and her mother used to throw scraps out of the window for the fish. There was one large one, in particular, that was almost a family pet.
Two years later we went back to Mackereth Cottage and were disappointed to find that the cottage was just a shell and was fenced off. A fire and vandals had ruined it. How sad. I'm so glad we got out and hiked that day because we saw the cottage when it was still beautiful.
We also walked into a tunnel that was part of Almanda Mine. You can see the dark entrance on the right of the filmstrip above. It was cool and surprisingly dry. I carried the biggest torch I could find and squealed every time a speck of dust moved, but I loved the tunnel.
Clare Valley, South Australia
The Clare Valley is known for its wineries and the Riesling Trail. The trail follows the old railway line and the old station signs can still be seen along the way. It was the longest walk I've ever done in one day, my new hiking shoes had a fault in the sole and by the end of the day they developed little holes so my feet sank into them. The soles of my feet had red lumps all over them like chicken pox.
I have a thing for old headstones in graveyards. You can learn a lot about a place by reading the words on them. On the Riesling Trail we stopped to look at a small graveyard and I nearly trod on a shiny brown snake.
I've just written a short story set in a graveyard called Midnight. There isn't a snake and it's set at night, but the mother in the story is afraid of snakes and she reads headstones. My trip to Clare sparked the idea.
Western Australia
Check out the 'hippo' mouth cave near Wave Rock in W.A. You can just see David on the right holding up its jaw, which shows how big the cave is.
Vietnam
Hanoi (where we stayed in a street where all the men sawed and chipped grave headstones until late at night. There are whole streets where they sell handbags or shoes and other things, but we had to stay with headstones!
The dancer was in Hoi An, where cars are forbidden in the city centre because of the old buildings. You have to walk, which is great because you see so much more.
The third picture on the right is the famous Halong Bay.
That's me on the far right, trying out a pole which had a basket of bananas each end that the young woman was selling. It was really heavy - after a few hours of carrying that around the streets, you'd have a dent in your shoulder.
Krabi, Thailand 2009
I decided to be brave and snorkel in deep, warm ocean (picture 1 on the left). There were fish all around me, and although it's difficult to yell with a snorkel in your mouth, I managed to shout, 'Help! Fish are biting my bum!' - then felt really stupid when I realised that the tickling I felt was from a loose strap on my life-jacket.
The temple is at Tiger Cave and I walked up over 1200 steps in the heat, then wondered how I was going to get back down. When I was half-way up I took some photos and felt my backpack moving. I turned and found a monkey sitting on the railing, unzipping my pack to see if I had any food in there.
And at a national park, I swam in spring water with friends and a bunch of local kids, who were as at home in the water as the fish.
Filmstrip: Jayson Gatdula, BigStockPhoto