ATLAUTZ

From Melbourne I flew to Cairns in the far northeast corner of Oz and the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Into the tropics. The heat and humidity reminded me of Florida. I stayed in a wonderful hostel, Tropic Days. Nice rooms around a quiet courtyard with a pool and hammocks hanging under the palm trees (and free wifi and friendly people!)…..pretty much paradise. The first day I was there was Monday, the night of the big Aussie BBQ. Great fun! They cooked up Kangaroo, Emu, and Crocodile for everyone to try out. All were good. The Kangaroo and Emu tasted like steak and the croc tasted like a mix of chicken and swordfish (sort of). Afterwards, the owner showed everyone how to play the didgeridoo and had a contest. I tried it…..much harder than it ... read more

I stayed an extra day in Auckland because one of the things I wanted to do in NZ was see a rugby game and there was one Saturday night. I toured around the city a bit, checking out the view from Mt Eden (the highest of the volcanoes in the city), went to the top of the sky tower for a terrific view, and watched some cricket on the lawn, before walking with a German girl staying at the hostel to the rugby game. I was expecting tailgating, expensive tickets, and big crowds like an American football game. No tailgating (bummer) and the stadium wasn’t full, but good seats were reasonably priced, the beer was cold, and even though I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, it was great fun! The home team won (Go ... read more

I have finished off the South Island and am starting the North Island adventure. After leaving fiordland, I headed along the north west coast to the glaciers. First Fox and then Franz Joseph. It's a really cool experience to view a glacier from a rain forest and then drive to the ocean less than 20 miles away. I continued up the coast stopping along the way in Hokitika (cute artsy beach town), and Punakaki ( laid back hostel right on the beach - watched dolphins jumping in the ocean while eating breakfast), and then hit the end of the road in Karamea where I found hippie paradise at Rongo's Backpacker Lodge (hostels are called backpacker's here). All of NZ feels like a throwback....college age kids hitchhiking, walking around without shoes, but Rongo's really had that feel ... read more

Thanks to all the travelling I did over the years for work, I built up a nice little frequent flyer account which I used to fly business class to Sydney, Australia to start my trip. Very nice to lay flat in a bed after having a glass of wine and a good meal for the 14 flight from LAX to Sydney! So after arriving in sunny Sydney all refreshed, I was ready to explore the city for a couple of days. It was hot and sunny. The first day I explored the city and got sunburned. Sydney is a friendly, happy city and yes the Opera house is just as cool in person as it is in the pictures! The second day I took a ferry to Manly beach where a lifeguard competition was being held. ... read more

Hello! After a great Christmas with the family and visit with my friends, I am refreshed and ready to hit the road again. I head down under next week! The question I've been asked most frequently is what was my favorite place. There wasn't a favorite place since they were all so different, but here is my summary of impressions (in order of arrival) Ireland: Great pub culture and music, peaceful countryside. Much nicer to visit in July than December! Wales: Great castles, more rugged than Ireland. Canyoneering was awesome and the mountain biking at Coed-y-Brenin was super England: First chance to relax in a real house (nice), York is a great town. Nice driving through the countryside. Scotland: Could have spent more time here. Countryside is beautiful, Edinburgh was a blast during the festivals (Fringe ... read more

I write this last installament of my European vacation, not from a bus, or hostel or train station, but from my parent's living room. I truly enjoyed my 5 months exploring Europe, but I am ready to recharge, relax and spend some time with my family and friends. It'll be nice not to worry about where I'm going to spend the night and how I'm going to get there for awhile! From Turkey I flew to Barcelona, Spain. I had not originally planned to go to Spain on this trip since I didn't have enough time to do the country justice, but I needed to get back towards Dublin for my return flight and I wanted someplace relatively warm since I really didn't have the gear to survive December in Northern Europe. It turned out to ... read more