http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/D MJ Binkley/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from D MJ Binkley en-us Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:59:58 UTC Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:59:58 UTC We landed on the tarmac at SeaTac airport and it was over. Just like that. We found it hard to believe that it could have gone by that quickly. It seemed like Sandy and Jerry had just dropped us off at the airport for an 18 hour voyage to Singapore that would be the start of our grand adventure.The trip was awesome in so many ways itrsquos hard to know where to begin. To try and describe all tha http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/blog-280115.html Packed like sardines in a large tin can the airport shuttle carried us to the Amsterdam airport where we attempted to check in at the airline kiosk. To our surprise we were not assigned seats next to one another. The prospect of sitting apart for over 8 hours was not very appealing so we made inquiries at the luggage drop. We explained that we had around the world tickets on a single reservati http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-260135.html It was a dark and stormy nighthelliphellip.no wait a minute itrsquos 2 orsquoclock in the afternoon. Sure is dark and rainy though. Welcome to Amsterdam in March where the wind howls off of the North Sea and the conditions can change from sunny and breezy to windy and sleeting in a matter of moments. Itrsquos not quite officially spring as we write this but we are sure hoping to escap http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-258505.html Ah London in winterhelliphellipthe skies are consistently gray and a threat of rain is constantly in the air. But yet this city is quite alive despite this onslaught of suboptimal weather. We couldnrsquot wait to land in this great city and take in the sights sounds and smells of one of the truly magnificent cities in the world.As our plane was on approach into Heathrow some 27 year old http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-256745.html A 10 hour flight and a five hour time change later we find ourselves in an incredible place like no otherhellipDubai. Wersquove transported ourselves from the land of OZ to the land of shopping opulence outrageous construction projects and the Muslim religion.Each morning at about 5 AM the call to prayer is heard across the city courtesy of the many mosques. We get up and open the window http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-256071.html After a train ride through the most desolate parts of this large islandcontinent it was good to be back in a large city again. We are both admittedly city dwellers but certainly donrsquot mind venturing out into the lesser populated regions.Perth is a city of almost 1.5 million people. If you looked at a map spotted Perth and looked at its latitude you would notice it was at about 32 degree http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Dongara/blog-253966.html Indian Pacific Railway Sydney to PerthIn the immortal words of Johnny Cash ldquo I hear that train a cominrsquo cominrsquo down the trackhelliphellip. It was time to ride the rails and take a good long look at some of the most remote parts of this large country.We have had the most wonderful adventure taking the Indian Pacific Railway all the way across Australia. The 4352km 2700mil http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/blog-251749.html Hello hello hello Great news we have a new camera and so far we like it a lot. It has a great zoom on it. Irsquom sure it will take us a little while to get comfortable with it so please bear with us. Sydney is as spectacular as you can see from the photos. It is one of the Great cities of the World The Harbour Bridge and the Opera House are outstanding What a beautiful city. It is http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-250419.html Ugh We have just realized that our camera is starting to go out on us. This camera has been with us for more than a few adventures but wersquore afraid that itrsquos tired and the photos will prove that. This group of photos will be marginal at best. Wersquove already bought another camera and promise stunning pictures for the next blog.We are not sure where all the flies have gone but we http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-248038.html Grsquoday Mate here we are in Queensland which is called the Sunshine State. Does that sound like Florida There are some sunny similarities. Take a glance at an Australian map. Wersquore starting the next part of our trip on the northeast coast of Australiahellip Port Douglas to Hervery Bay.In all honesty it was good to flee the heat of Alice Springs and head to something more palatabl http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Port-Douglas/blog-243420.html It is easy to forget how big and diverse Australia really is. Although it is technically a continent it might be easy just to think of it as a large island when you cursively glance at it on a map. The fact is itrsquos a continent and is not that dissimilar in size to the United States. The U.S. however has about 275 million more people. An example of this is we boarded our plane in Melbourn http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Uluru/blog-240134.html Wersquore back on the mainland of Australia after having taken a 6 AM flight from Hobart to Melbourne which included getting on the wrong bus and having to run to catch the right one. With all our luggage in tow It is good to laugh at ourselves.We arranged for a shuttle bus to the airport at 445 AM and they said they would pick us up around the corner from our hotel. While we waited there a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Port-Campbell/blog-237874.html Hi Everyone Thanks again for all of your wonderful emails. You donrsquot know how much we appreciate hearing from you. Wersquove been on the road 178 days and out of our country for 115 days. We miss all of you and appreciate all of your emails and comments. Thanks for keeping in touch. We are very excited to tell you about our time in Tasmania. It is a beautiful island state just http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Hobart/blog-235998.html Hello again from the South Islandhellip.. Wersquove decided that scones are woefully underrated New Zealand offers wonderful scones in most towns. Wersquove decided that America needs more scones. It makes us long for our next door neighbor in Tampa Mildred always made the best scones We also wanted to mention that it is a different experience being south of the equator. It http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-233164.html Beauty Abounds There is so much to see and to do in New Zealand that you will need more than several weeks we have to take a good look. We spent almost one week on the North Island and 3 and a half weeks on the south island and we feel like we are just getting a quick glance. It is a simply beautiful country and the roads curve through hills and mountains and it slows your travel so you can h http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Kaikoura/blog-230433.html Greetings from New Zealandrsquos North Islandhelliphellip..wersquove had a wonderful time exploring the north part of this island nation.New Zealand is much cooler and less humid than Asia and we are seriously enjoying the change in the weather. It is not quite summer here and we actually have worn shoes and sweaters for the first time sincehelliphellipSeattle Some of these clothes we http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Tongariro-National-Park/blog-228609.html Hi We would like to start this blog off with a request challenge. We have a good friend in Olympia who has a son named Jayson. He is currently in 3rd grade and learning about our world. He has recently started a worldwide stamp collection and wersquove been trying to help him by sending a postcard from each country that we have traveled to. I would like to ask that each of you write down hi http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Sanur/blog-226759.html Ubud BaliAfter 5 great days in Lovina Beach we traveled a little over 2 hours to reach the town of Ubud. The drive takes 2 hours but the actual distance is only about 40 or 50 km. The roads wind through the volcanic hills of Bali and through many villages along the way.Bali is a very green island thanks to the rich soil and abundance of precipitation. We are here during the rainy season but it http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Ubud/blog-225606.html Selamat siang from BaliThis blog is one of three we hope to publish regarding our travels in Bali. We are going to be in three different locations in Bali each of which has a distinct flavor.Bali is only one of the 13000 islands in Indonesia which is part of the worldrsquos largest archipelago.Wersquove divided our time in Bali to three locations Lovina Beach in the north Ubud in the cen http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Lovina/blog-224398.html Sun sand beaches beaches and beaches.Hello to everyone and we hope that the holiday was kind to you all and you got your fill.It is hard to believe sometimes that we have been delightfully unemployed for over 4 months and have spent the last 2 months in Asia. At this point we decided it was time to take a brief respite from all this fun Believe it or not all this traveling is a bit tiring a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/Phuket/blog-222245.html