http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/D-MJ---Binkley/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from D MJ Binkley en-us Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:54:56 +0000 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:54:56 +0000 You step off the plane down the steps and onto the tarmac and experience the sweet sensation of megahumidity. Yoursquore still technically in the States but any resemblance to the mainland ends the minute you find yourself in a van where the taxi driver rides along with his companion and copilot which just happens to be a talking parrot named Mango. Welcome to the Conch Republic the end of http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-456380.html helliphellipand chocolatehellip.and mussels Of course you did and we are happy to report that they are each quite kind to the palate.Our travels in Belgium took us to Brugge Gent and Brussels we had hoped to see Antwerp but that will be saved for a future trip as we ran out of time. What we learned while in Belgium is that they have http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-438598.html Leaving Paris was not easy but nonetheless part of the plan. We had entered this marvelous city under the cover of clouds and rain and would leave it the same way. Fortunately for us all the days in between were warm and sunny. Our last hotel was directly across from the train station that would deliver us to our next destination. We boarded the nearly empty train which left promptly on time and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Lower-Normandy/Bayeux/blog-437060.html It is dusk we are in Paris the city of lights love romance and fashionhellipwe find ourselves sitting in a French caf watching the world walk by. Traveling rejuvenates our soul so we had to come. Life is not about the number of years that you live but the amount of life you experience in those years. We have come to live share and experience the beauty that Paris has to offer. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-435739.html The fact of the matter is that you can just sit there for hours just staring at them first the American Falls with the good sized boulders constantly bombarded with the cold water of the Niagara River then just to the right the Canadian Falls or ldquoHorseshoe Fallsrdquo as they are known which majestically tumble into the same river with the constant company of the Maid of the Mist touris http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Niagara-Falls/blog-402833.html Hello again dear friends We are writing to you from the warm and sunny beaches of Florida Sanibel Island more specifically. This missive will start you off with a short history lesson. Dave and I met in September of 1992 and began dating in December by March of 1993 things were serious and we decided to take our first vacation together. Later I learned that Dave was a bit worried because http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Sanibel-Island/blog-385249.html 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