July 4 - 8, 2006 If you have not been to Sydney you still probably have very vivid images of it. Every travel agent in America has a picture somewhere in their office of the famous Sydney Opera House. And what would a New Year’s Eve television broadcast be without showing the fireworks over the iron monolith that is the Sydney Harbor Bridge as the new year begins working its way west across the time zones? A note for our friends the Kiwis, if you build some massive public works project from which you can launch fireworks maybe Dick Clark will [View Full Entry]

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Sunday we awoke, savored a few toasties, checked out of our hotel and, headed north-east from the Yarra Valley to Canberra. The weird directions we got from our motel stalled our progress but at least led to a stop for coffee (and new directions). The lady slinging coffee appeared not to want to be held liable in case we got lost and mauled by koalas and would only say that we should buy a map. Once we got the map at the local gas station we discovered both that the directions were simple (pointing down the road would’ve done it) and [View Full Entry]

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Friday We enjoyed some toasties and coffee before heading to the Yarra Valley, a renowned wine region about an hour northeast from Melbourne. Coffee in Australia either means instant coffee or espresso-based coffee. Australians we sadly discovered, particularly after enjoying delicious coffee all around Vietnam, do not drink filtered coffee. We arrived in Healesville around noon and decided to spend the day at the Healesville Sanctuary. Healesville Sanctuary began as a place where they take care of sick and injured animals (approximately 600 per year) hoping to return them to the wi [View Full Entry]

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Great Ocean Road June 27 - 29, 2006 Tuesday After waking up and checking out of our Melbourne apartment we picked up our rental car, conveniently and surprisingly located just a few blocks away. Before beginning our drive west from Melbourne we went back to the Royal Botanical Gardens for tea and scones. The café, which had some of the best scones and fresh cream we had come across, is situated near the center of the gardens with a beautiful view of a lake. This made up for the much more difficult than necessary drive navigating one way streets and tram [View Full Entry]

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After leaving China we were planning on heading to Turkey and Jordan but changed our plans at the last minute after some recent bombings and some discouragement from the State Department’s home page. Left with about three weeks to fill before meeting Amy’s parents, we brainstormed ideas and finally decided to head back to Thailand, an absolute haven for travelers, for a week of relaxing at the beach and a bit of shopping and eating in Bangkok. While we were in Ko Samet the military staged a coup in Bangkok and overthrew the government. We’re back in Bangkok after spendin [View Full Entry]

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Melbourne June 21-27, 2006 Melbourne (or Melburn as the locals call it) is a city you don’t hear a lot about in America. Sydney is the city that gets all of the attention but Melbourne is the city that we loved. If it wasn’t so far away from our friends and family, we’d be packing our bags and settling down here. It is a city with an international flair that has a lot of things to do and interesting neighborhoods to explore but that is also very friendly, laid back and accessible. As great as we thought it was, it was [View Full Entry]

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When we were planning the Australian leg of our trip a very few must-see attractions came to mind. We wanted to see Uluru, the red center of Australia’s outback. We wanted to see Sydney Harbor with its iconic bridge and world famous opera house. And of course there was the massive eco-system that is the Great Barrier Reef, a wonder of the world to be sure. The final must-see attraction on our list was Australia Zoo, the life work and rapidly growing base of operations of The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. As we met other travelers taking in the vast riches [View Full Entry]

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The Price is Right! [View Full Entry]

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We’ve been here for a week and will be exploring China over the next 3-4 weeks. A couple of days ago we went to see the Great Wall courtesy of Ting's Tours and had a fantastic experience. We were able to walk large sections of the original, unrestored Wall, in great condition, and the only other people we saw in several hours were our guide and the British couple we were with. And we only had to drive an hour farther than the people visiting the rebuilt, commercialized sites so popular with travel companies! If anyone is planning a trip to [View Full Entry]

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Alice Springs June 16-21, 2006 Friday We were very eager to reach Australia’s “red center” and bounded off of our airplane excited to explore. The Alice Springs airport is perfectly situated in the rocky nothingness outside of town to whet the appetite for exploration and the uninterrupted view across the dry plains greets you from the moment you climb down from your aircraft. Our lift into town was to be provided by our hostel, Annie’s Place, but was nowhere to be seen. After forty-five minutes sitting in the passenger pick-up lane our mood was beginning to d [View Full Entry]

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