AllisonBrian

AlliBri

AllisonBrian

Tips to Navigating our Website:

When you first get to our AlliBri homepage, you’ll see some icons under the picture of us. One icon allows you to see comments that our friends & family have posted in response to our entries, another allows you to subscribe to our blog (meaning that every time we add a new entry, you are sent an email notification), and another allows you to contact us through email.

Under those icons the homepage displays when we joined, when we last logged in, and gives you the choice of reading from our first entry or from our last entry (both of which you just click on the hyperlink).

If you were to scroll down further, you would see summaries of all of our entries and you can click on whichever entry you want to read.

We plan to upload stories and pictures throughout the trip. Enjoy!

XOXO, Allison

Hartley's Crocodile Adventure & the ALL BLACKS of New Zealand!

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns » Cairns City August 4th 2012

Action Shot!!!

AlliBri

We decided to spend our second day in Cairns embarking on a road trip to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure! Normally, renting a car in another country wouldn't be THAT big a deal - but in Australia, they drive on the other side of the road AND they have LOTS of round-a-bouts that you go around backwards! Anyway, turns out - Brian's a pro at driving on the other side of the road and there was very little traffic to actually make us nervous! While he drove, I was able to enjoy the beautiful coastline of Australia and take some pictures for everyone back home. Once at Hartley's we walked around the park to see the unreal number of crocodiles on the property. Then we got on a lagoon tour (on a caged in boat) to get up ... read more

Brian Driving on the Right (WRONG) Side!

Kewarra Beach Resort in Cairns!

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns » Northern Beaches June 24th 2012

Brian & Me on the Great Barrier Reef!

AlliBri

When we arrived at Kewarra Beach Resort in Cairns (pronounced "Cans"), the first question Brian whispered to me was "What did this place cost?!", to which I replied, "Don't worry about it!" We felt like movie stars. The resort was open air, with views of the beach through the palm trees and they brought us a fresh cocktail while we waited for the bellman to arrive to escort us to our own private bungalow: Bungalow #69! Brian said, "I wonder if they give this room to all the honeymooners!" Anyway, to get to the room we basically walked on a path through a rainforest before arriving at our bungalow. We washed up and then headed back to the main lobby for a wonderful dinner at Paperbark Restuarant. Brian opted for the Kangaroo (since we'd just so ... read more

High Tea @ the Opera House!

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Opera House September 18th 2011

View from the Bennelong Restaurant

AlliBri

The big event for our final day in Sydney was "High Tea" at the Sydney Opera House! I'm not sure if it's because the event was a little pricey or because it was "high tea", but Brian and I were easily the youngest people in attendance by at least 20 years! Anyway, the event occurs once a month in the famous Bennelong Restaurant at the Opera House and runs from 2-4 PM. We got mildly dressed up for the occasion (me in a sundress - Brian in khakis and a button down) and we're pleasantly surprised when we were escorted to one of the best tables in the place! We were essentially right in the middle of the restaurant at our own table for two. The restaurant offers fantastic views of Sydney Harbour, Circular Quay and ... read more

Aussie Wine Tour

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Hunter Valley September 18th 2011

Us @ Pepper Tree Wines

AlliBri

Our second to last full day in Sydney was actually spent two hours outside of the city center. Our full day wine tour gave us the opportunity to get to know another group of people - see the countryside - and drink some Aussie wines!!! Our tour guide, Jason, was a really nice guy. He was a fan of American Football (which is extremely rare for an Australian) and he did a great job of getting the group talking/sharing stories with one another. Since the tour picked us up from the hotel at 7 AM - Brian and I spent a good deal of the ride dozing in and out of sleep. As for the wine tours/tastings - we visited 3 different vineyards and honestly, it wasn't much different from a tasting in the US. We ... read more

Bridges & Beaches

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Sydney Harbour September 1st 2011

People doing the Bridge Climb!

AlliBri

We got up bright and early on Monday morning to make it to our Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, scheduled for 9:15 AM. The Harbour Bridge is one of the city's pride and joys - right behind the Opera House of course! When we got to Australia we were unsure whether the bridge climb would be worth the cost - and now...having done it, we're still pretty indifferent. We don't necessarily feel like it was a waste of money, because it was a cool experience to have, but at the same time - it took up half a day and YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO BRING A CAMERA! But I'm getting ahead of myself...I'm sure half of you are wondering what the climb actually consisted of, so here's the deal. For the first hour, we got prepped for ... read more

Woolloomooloo to Circular Quay - Putzin' around Sydney

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Sydney Harbour August 24th 2011

Sydney Opera House!

AlliBri

Sunday was the first day we had sans any official plans or time constraints - so of course, we slept in! We woke up around 9:30 and made sure to make it downstairs by 10 for the complimentary breakfast provided by our B&B. The breakfast buffet consisted of fresh fruit, cereal, hard boiled eggs, an assortment of meats and cheeses, and breads with various jams/spreads. Brian was quite proud of his breakfast sandwich, which consisted of a piece of toasted bread, mustard, meat and cheese, while I fell in love with crumpets! Crumpets essentially look like a “Lego my Eggo!” because it’s a piece of chewy bread with holes all in it which allows it to hold any jam or honey you spread on top! It’s delicious. I also enjoyed the fact that whether I opted ... read more

Manly Adventures & Rugby Match

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Manly August 21st 2011

View from Cliffs 1

AlliBri

On Saturday we made plans to meet up with Brian's cousin Dan and his two kids, Kobi and Ella, at Manly beach. How do I put this....the trip was...interesting! Haha, no, we had fun. I was a little put off by the vehicle that looked like the Scooby Doo van and, as Ella put it, "smelled strongly of petrol," and the fact that Dan took us on a hike that was definitely off the beaten path and started at the sewage dump! BUT the end result was definitely worth it. After essentially hiking through the Australian bush - we found ourselves on a cliff overlooking EVERYTHING. It was gorgeous - we even saw some whales from up there! THEN, we made our way down the cliff face....yes...we scaled a cliff face that had nothing but a ... read more

Our First Day and 1/2

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Sydney Harbour August 19th 2011

Champagne & Chocolate!

AlliBri

YES! We did in fact arrive in Sydney after just 24 hours of continuous travel and so far we've had an action packed trip. Our first day here, we arrived at 11:30 AM and basically wondered around all the wrong parts of the city before grabbing a quick bite to eat and passing out for the night at 6:30 PM! Yes - we fell asleep - for the night - at 6:30 PM. On our first full day, I had booked a tour to the Blue Mountains, which are about an hour and half from the city center. We were picked up at our hotel (which is ADORABLE, by the way) at 6:50 AM and didn't get home until 7:30 that night. The tour was actually much more than we expected. The company is run by ... read more

Off to Australia!

North America » United States » Maryland » Baltimore August 12th 2011

Dancing in the Sun

AlliBri

After a fairytale wedding and a relaxing week at the beach with the McCarty/Link family - Brian and I started our journey to Australia for Honeymoon Part II. We left for BWI airport at at 4 PM to catch our 6 PM flight to LAX. The plane ride was uneventful - which I guess is the best possible type of plane ride to have! Upon arriving in LA - we had a couple hours to kill before catching the 15 hour 30 minute flight to Sydney, Australia. The only highlight of this lull was seeing the guitarist, Dave Navarro, in the airport. He's the one who wears a ton of make up and used to be married to Carmen Electra. Anyway, our flight to Sydney took off at 11:30 PM on Tuesday night. We flew the ... read more

Stop 24: Home

North America » United States » Maryland July 24th 2007

RECOVERED

AlliBri

Driving home the next morning was bizarre to say the least. It was weird seeing signs for MD and then actually recognizing the landscapes around us. We tried to imagine what we'd think of Olney if it had been just another stop on our trip, but it's too hard to make unbiased decisions about a place when you've lived there all your life. All in all, Brian and I had an amazing time. In five weeks we saw how huge, diverse, and beautiful this country is; we visited family; we indulged in all the food specialties of each region; and we did all that with only one fight! (I know you’ve all been dying to know, don’t deny it!) Practically all the places we visited were enchanting for their own unique aspects, and we would ... read more

Joined	June 1st 2007	Trips	2
Last Login	March 5th 2023	Followers	1
Status	BLOGGER	Follows	0
Blogs	35	Guestbook	34
Photos	535	Forum Posts	0