MizDownUnder

Sydney is currently having a lights festival called Vivid Sydney. Although they have different smart light displays around the Rocks, the main attraction (as always) is the Opera House. They have lights shining on the Opera House in different color schemes that change every 10-20 minutes. It is hard to tell exactly how long, it seems like some are up forever, while others seem to change fast. It is definitely a cool display, as I have always complained that the Opera House is too dark at night. This steps up the bar...and seeing the patterns of blues, oranges, greens, etc. on the Opera House is awesome! The lights on the Contemporary Art Museum (across Circular Quay from Opera House) are equally impressive. Check out Vivid Sydney's website (http://vividsydney.com/) and enjoy my pictures (taken from a regular ... read more

We left Meekatharra quite early and headed about as far north as the trip would take us (approximately 1,000km north of Perth). We planned to stay overnight in another small town called Tom Price, from here we would have easy access to Karijini National Park. Karijini was not something we had originally planned for the WA Trip, but we had days to spare and it was part of the pleasant spontaneaity that we enjoyed. We left Tom Price early and it paid off... we did not have fly nets and relied on just bug spray. But mid-afternoon the flies were so annoying, however for the better part of the morning they were not around. So personal bug nets for your hat are a MUST! We planned to spend a full day hiking and exploring and began ... read more

Mid-Semester break had arrived and on this Saturday I was up unusually early. I left my city studio aparment early and met up with my two travel mates to catch a taxi en route to Sydney Airport. We had booked the 6am flight out of Sydney, heading to Perth to begin one hell of a road trip. The 6am flight was obviously the chepeast option on Virigin Blue, but more importantly it got us to Perth around 9am so we would be able to get a full day of driving in. Our plan: one massive road trip covering almost 6,000km in 12 days, driving North through the heart of the Western Australian outback, to the coast to swim with WHALE SHARKS, and eventually a long haul down the land gripping the Indian Ocean and into the ... read more

The Great Barrier Reef...yes the world-renowned Great Barrier Reef. Now this was going to surely be an experience of a lifetime! I want to first note that although I am not a marine biologist or a scuba/snorkel junky, I have an impressive resume of snorkels. I have been out in the Caribbean several times as well as the Galapagos Islands. So on to the GBR! Man was I excited...and later somewhat disappointed. I guess I can't be too negative, it was cool.. However it did not live up to my wildest dreams. I had to snorkel as diving was not an option because of certain health requirements, i.e. asthma, sinus problems. So we booked a large boat tour from Cairns as recommended by the travel agent we spoke to in town. I later came to ... read more

After the Grotto we decided to head on a more direct route to Adelaide and stray from the Great Ocean Road. We first took the road to Warrnambool and then cut in a more direct line towards South Australia (SA). We did not plan on seeing the Grampians on this trip, as most people do on the drive. They were too far out of the way and would cause us to lose almost a day getting to Adelaide. After Warrnambool we took the a shorter route to Mt. Gambier. For this it was my turn to drive, and I was excited as I have never driven in Australia before. Earlier on the GOR there were signs to stay on the LEFT. It would turn out to be easier than I though and adjusted pretty quickly. The ... read more