Turkey... how can we give you an idea of this diverse and fascinating country? NUMBER ONE: Turks smile broadly when they find out we are Aussies and then tell you about their aunty in Sydney, uncle in Melbourne or girlfriend in Canberra - that's before they try to sell you something!! But they do it so nicely.... PRECONCEIVED IDEAS: The little we have seen has been amazing and we keep learning new things as we go. For instance, we always thought it a dry country, but Turkey exports lots of water to arid neighbours and in the south we got used [View Full Entry]

---

---

What a difference a day makes! Our 5 days in Heviz were so relaxing and quiet after the busy bussle of being tourists in Vienna and Prague. The four of us just stopped and enjoyed a holiday in this small spa town at the end od Lake Balaton. If you haven't experienced a European Spa then it is a memorable thing to do if you ever get the chance. Heviz is famous as having the largest European hot spring lake (the biggest in the world in is Rotorua) and the whole town is devoted to providing for people who come to [View Full Entry]

---

---

I added a short video ( to see if I could) and to show you the waterfront at Hvar below the castle. Your virtual trip are getting more realistic all the time!! Fom Hvar, we went by fast ferry to Split on the mainland and to Diocletian's Palace. What an amazing place, over 18 centuries old. Our apartment, on the top floor and on the edge of the Roman palace, faced the water with foot thick walls on 2 sides. We picked up a car the next day and drove up the coast of Croatia to another Roman town, Zadar and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi all We left you full of beautiful food in London. Well, then we flew to Budapest and continued our journey by train and coach to Dubrovnik. Whilst the beautiful coastal drive south of Split is well known we were blown away by the train ride from Zageb to Split. It takes seven hours on a tilt train travelling through the mountains and high valleys of Croatia. We couldn't stop oohing and aahing on the scenery and the comfort of the modern fast train. Finally about 8pm we descended the last steep mountain to Split- it felt as if we would [View Full Entry]

---

---

In the two weeks since we left Sydney we've seen and done a lot. In fact this is the first chance I've had to take breath and write about our journey so far. Our first stopover was in Dubai for four nights. It was hot (but not as extreme as it can get in summer) there but well airconditioned -even the bus stops are cooled. Our accommodation was great. We had decided against one of the high rise tower hotels that abound in Dubai and booked into the Orient Guest House, a B&B in the Bastakiya area of Dubai. It was [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi all This seemed the best way to send images from yesterday. We have video as well and I'll create CD's as soon as we get back to share with the family. Because I took video during the ceremony there are no still photos of the actual ceremony- the official photographers did lots of still shots then which will come later from Phil and Tara. It was a lovely personal ceremony and the whole day went well for them both and they looked really happy and excited. The weather was mixed but not too hot and then right around 6pm rain [View Full Entry]

---

---

We’ve been on three overnight train trips since we last sent you a blog and traveled from DC to the US west coast, just inland from Oceanside near San Diego. Our Amtrak experience was great. Each section of the trip differed in clientele, staff and scenery - but on each the service was good! On the DC to Chicago leg, we saw much of the Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania countryside that we already knew. From Chicago to Denver we crossed the Mississippi during daylight and saw lots and lots of flat plains, corn and wheat fields. The last leg from [View Full Entry]

---

---

The title will make more sense after we retrace our steps across the States by rail. Hopefully this will be more interesting and relaxing than being force fed through airports with little time to spare between flights and then sitting knee to neck on crowded planes - time will tell. Los Angeles for 3 days- what can we say about somewhere that is usually a transit stop between flights! Lesson 1 was how to get around the place because we weren’t actually in LA but at Burbank near the airport. Given the geographic isolation of Burbank, what do you think two [View Full Entry]

---

---

After six or so trips you’d think we would run out of things to say about Japan and if we kept going to the same places each time that might be true but Japan is a country of many contrasts and Tohuku (northern Honshu) proved to be different again to anywhere we had been before. They had had a very hot summer (as many oher areas of the world thse days seem to) and even though it was late summer when we were ther it was still reasonably hot and humid away from the mountains. In late summer, the rural and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi, I bet you thought we had forgotten you since last December or that we had given up travel altogether! Neither is true and we are setting off again tomorrow for 2 months in the States - to see Phil and to explore the USA with Amtrak. Not sure how often the blog will get done this trip but if you like to keep watching the email notification and most likely updates will appear. Col will celebrate his 70th whilst we are away and so the family and I organised a party for him last night. Having seen him in various [View Full Entry]

---

---