Blogs from Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania

On Monday morning we left Port Stephens,we drove through Newcastle, close to the port and saw all the coal waiting to the loaded onto ships. From Newcastle it was on to Sydney, we actually drove straight through the heart of Sydney (through the middle, through the Harbour Tunnel) and on to Wollongong. We stayed at a place called Corrimal Beach just north of Wollongong. The drive down into Wollongong brings you down the Bulli Pass, a very steep and winding road, but an excellent view. From the lookout you could see about 10 ships waiting to come into Port Kemblar to be loaded. While here we did a day trip south through Wollongong to see the WIN Stadium, home of the Dragons, then on to Kiama where there is a blowhole. The water gets quite high ... read more

Hey, guys! Well, it's been what, three weeks (OK maybe closer to a month...)? Time's gone by crazy fast and clearly I am inept at keeping up with my blog postings. But here I am! Alive and well, having a blast! Since Cali I've been to Melbourne, Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Nan Tien Temple, and I've actually started classes at Uni. Here, Uni is university, colleges are dorms and school means K-12. If you talk about going to school people are super confused, and think you're like twelve. So after my delayed flight finally arrived I finally made it to Melbourne, where I awkwardly hung out with some guy who got kicked off his own flight. Yep. But we toured Melbourne, had a blast. Moved on from orientation in Melbourne to Wollongong! O-Week is our ... read more

Well, here we are for the next two days at least. Lists continue to grow - just when we think we're getting somewhere! My style mistress (read hairdresser) confided that it sounds more like we are putting the house on the market - rather than just going on a trip of a life time. I must admit the house has NEVER (yes Terri, I know you're aware of this) looked like this and probably never will again. Trial pack went well - still an empty bag to take a long at this point. I'll admit I'm struggling with technology - Steve Job really knew what he was doing - I on the other hand feel like I'm fighting a losing battle with pad, pod, ds, laptop, camera, video camera and assorted chargers. As I said today ... read more

So it’s the weekend and sunny, what should we do… Road Trip!! We loaded up the car with beach towels, sunnies, sun cream and left over food to snack on (Will’s Cousin Ben doesn’t like leaving left over food in the fridge so we have to eat it before it gets thrown out!), jumped in the Ute, and headed south on the Freeway towards Wollongong. It wasn’t long before we spurred off onto the Lawrence Hargrave Drive with awesome views of the sea along the twisty undulating roads, and crossing Sea Cliff Bridge. Initially we stopped at Coledale Beach by Shark Park!! Fortunately we didn’t make the acquaintance of any these beasties, although that was primarily due to us staying out of the Tasman Sea as it was too damn cold, but the surfers seemed to ... read more

Again, I'm nervous the day before I leave for my trip. This is my third solo overseas journey; this time I am visiting the United States of America. I'm sat at home after a visit to my Uncle's, having a cup of chamomile tea to ease the nervousness. I'm reminding myself of the joys of travelling. I know all of this tension is part of the experience, and it's one thing that definitely makes it so special and memorable. I am looking forward to getting out of here, once again. Throughout the year that I've been at home, working and saving up, as well as trying to enjoy my life outside of travelling, I have been preparing myself spiritually and emotionally, and I'm hoping I will learn to look from yet another perspective while on the ... read more

And so before we knew it, our month in Adelaide was over. It would have been nice to have a couple extra days to check a few more areas out, but duty calls, and for one of us (me) that meant a quick 1.5 hr flight to Melbourne for a meeting, and for the other (Brett) a 9 hour solo drive back to Melbourne in the work truck. Not quite sure how that worked out! I think I know who got the better deal though... Although by the time you go to the airport, drop the rental car off, fly to Melourne, get your bags and rental car, drive to the hotel, it's probably only a few hours short of the drive. And I did miss some of the great sights on the way too (see ... read more

Hi guys, this is my final blog. We have arrived home & are still unpacking. We came home a week early as we had had enough of camping. Glad to be home. Take it easy guys. Bye!!!!!... read more

Hi again guys, only 1 sleep to go until we leave. We are packed & raring to go. The rest of the crew coming with us (Darryl, George, Diane, Pete & Janet) have already left & are enjoying travelling up through Queensland in the warmer weather, although the weather has been gorgeous in the Gong recently. Our dog Roxy has been taken to Mark's brother's house for babysitting for 6 weeks. She will have a ball with their dogs. So now it is just a waiting game until Mark finishes work tomorrow afternoon. Our first stop is Bulahdelah then the next night will be somewhere near the NSW/QLD border, there are so many beautiful places to stay up there so we haven't decided yet. Anyway, until next time I get on here, take care. BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... read more