http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Matt-and-Heidi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Matt and Heidi en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:40:12 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:40:12 +0000 Thailand Continued Part 2...After all the pool beach and diving time we headed north to Chiang Mai to enjoy some 'real' Thai culture and see the jungles. On our way north we picked up our good friend Shaun who we know from Sydney he's now living and working in Hong Kong and the three of us landed at the Chiang Mai Airport where we were met by our Cornell friend Josh Plotnik. Josh has be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-417738.html Welcome to Asia We finally made it out of Oceania for a 12 day trip Thailand. We did a lot in 12 days and took A LOT of photos so we had to split this blog into three parts 1. Phuket 4 days at the beach with Heidi's best friend Melissa and three other friends from NY 2. Northern Thailand Almost a week visiting elephants in the jungle with our friends Josh and Shaun 3. Bangkok http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-421058.html Happy Easter As always we're a little behind on our blogging but better late than never...Since Easter is a 4 day weekend here in Australia we decided to take advantage of the free vacation time and head up to the Far North Queensland and finally see the tropics. We flew into Townsville on a Friday morning and over 4 days made our way up the coast stopping along the way at Magnetic Island http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Great-Barrier-Reef/blog-400992.html Welcome to South Australia a new Australian state for the travel blogThe last leg of our visit by the Harpers was a spectacular finale and finished off the coast of Adelaide on Kangaroo Island. This relatively unspoilt terrain about a third of the island is national parklands is Australia's third largest island and is full of wildlife and impressive land formations and views. Although the i http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Kangaroo-Island/blog-376928.html It is considered one of the top scenic drives in the world and we had heard it compared to the Pacific Highway along the coast of California before we embarked. With all the hype we had high expectations to say the least but it lived up to them and more as we drove along the southern coast of Australia from Melbourne heading towards Adelaide.We headed out in our minivan and had a leisurely brea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-376917.html Hello allAfter an excruciating 3 weeks back at work following our trips with the Barnes' we were saved by the arrival of the Harper family where a whole new adventure began and another week on vacation. We started in Sydney showing everyone around our digs and had a great evening out that started out with a picnic in the botanical gardens with fresh seafood from the Sydney Fish Markets and fini http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/Rod-Laver-Stadium/blog-376898.html After 9095 degree in the Whitsundays we were in for a surprise when we landed in Tasmania. Wearing shorts tanks and flipflops we were met in Launceston by 60 degree temperatures Launceston is in Northern Tasmania about 3 hours north of Hobart the biggest city. We arrived late to Tasmania and after 5 nights on a boat we were all excited to have a good night sleep in a stationary bed http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Cradle-Mountain/blog-377644.html Our first Christmas in Australia and what better way to spend it than travelling around the country with family and friends On December 21 the Barnes family and Heidi's friend Sme descended on Sydney to start off their two week whirlwind Australia tour. After 3 days getting over the jetlag in Sydney our group of 8 boarded a plane to Hamilton Island.Hamilton Island is part of the Whitsunda http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Whitsundays/blog-377639.html Matt here just to give you a quick peak into the life of an entomologist in Australia. Normally these blogs are reserved for vacation and activities Heidi and I do in our free time but I wanted you guys to see what I am getting paid to do as well. Just before christmas I headed southwest to Australia's most popular ski area the Snowy Mountains. This isn't Colorado but the tallest mountain http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Snowy-Mountains/blog-372233.html Happy 2009 New Years Resolution 22 Write more blogs and catch up with all the old ones that still have been writtenWe've gone missing for a while but only because we've had so many visitors in the past two months that there hasn't been time for Blog writing. Before we get to the blogs on our holiday travelling with the Barnes family we feel the need to do some catching upSo what is the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Australian-Capital-Territory/Canberra/blog-336703.html Hello EveryoneToday we take you to the underworld of Australia and the Blue Mountains with our visit to the famous Jenolan Caves. Heidi and I have wanted to visit this network of caves for a while and with one of our friends on vacation and us left to carsit his ford falcon we headed up to the Blue Mountains for a day of spelunking. We decided to take two different tours during our day trip http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Jenolan-Caves/blog-340826.html Here in Australia apparently size does matter....Not only do australians have an affinity for big landscapes big beers and big people recently ranked the 1 fattest nation in the world but they also love making largerthanlife road side replica's of the things dearest to them like koalas bananas lobsters and even macadamia nuts. You could spend your whole life touring the country look http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Goulburn/blog-336701.html Hi Everyone We know it has been a while but we are trying to quickly catch up on the blogging its getting to be summer and we've been getting lazy with writing and promise to get better.So at the beginning of September Heidi got a new work assignment in Melbourne. Luckily enough it worked out that she had to be there on a Friday and a Monday for meetings and it turned out to be cheaper for http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/CBD/blog-318959.html Well we're back in action to give you the exciting second edition to our whirlwind trip around the South Island of New Zealand. If you were able to make it through our lengthy Part 1 to this story you should be able to pick it right back up below as we leave Te Anau and head a couple hours NorthEast to Queenstown...Queenstown's an active town and is known for it's skiing during the winter an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-318921.html G'day Apologies for being a bit behind on our blogging we've been too busy travelling working moving apartments and admittedly a bit lazy. But don't fret we're back and we have lots to report Some exciting news at the end of July Matt's company decided to officially sponsor him for his longterm work visa. As good as that is what was even more exciting was that in order to apply for http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-318524.html Welcome back sports fansI come to you with another exciting sporting event that is unique to Australia. The sport which is most popular in Melbourne is best described as a form of rugby where the ball is advanced either by kicking to teammates punching the ball from your own hand or running with it while you bounce it on the ground every so often. There is a lot of running involved and the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-313835.html Hey Footy FansWe write to you today about our first rugby game... and what a game it was. Every year during the Rugby League season there is a State of Origin series between New South Whales and Queensland. We soon realized that these are 3 of the biggest and most important games of the season as the best players are hand chosen from the entire league to represent the team from where they grew http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Olympic-Park/blog-299584.html Just a quick entry about a really great art exhibit we went to here in Sydney. The Sydney Biennale is an International Contemporary Art exhibit that goes on every other year hence the name. This year the art show took over a place called Cockatoo Island which is in the middle of Sydney Harbor. The island itself is really fascinating it was originally built as a prison way back when and t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-290551.html This walkhike is an extension of our earlier walk from Bradley's Head to Balmoral. You can actually walk in a complete circle around the Sydney Harbor and up and down the norh and south coast line which is what we are doing in small sections. The Spit is a short 10 minute bus ride from our place in Neutral Bay and you can walk along the coastline for the next 8K all the way up to Manly Beach http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Manly/blog-290549.html June 9th is an Australian holiday recognizing the Queen's Birthday We aren't actually sure of the significance since her real birthday seems to be in April but regardless it means that it's a three day weekend. To take full advantage of the Royal weekend we decided to take off an additional two days for our first extensive vacation. We flew on Friday morning from Sydney to Coolangatta Airp http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Burleigh-Heads/blog-290269.html