Well, we are finally back in the states. It’s always nice to get away, but somehow nicer to get home. Having visited Sydney once before, I think it’s safe to say it’s a place where we could easily live, if it weren’t for those pesky immigration laws… Auckland on the other hand, would require another visit to be sure.

Coming back from Sydney via Auckland is a fifteen hour plus journey, and it afforded me plenty of time to reflect on our trip. Below is a list of the more interesting tidbits we learned over the course of our stay…

1. Pedestrians seem to have no rights in Sydney, and Auckland fewer still.
2. There are so many Thai restaurants in Sydney, it’s clear they are running out of names… some of them include: Thainatown, Thainesia, Thaifoon, Spice I Am, Bad Thai Kitchen… I could go on.
3. Aussies and NZ love their football, err I mean rugby, err is there a difference? And after catching a few games on the tele, it’s easy to understand why.
4. Weather men (and women) are just a clueless as they are back home. Maybe more so.
5. And on the odd chance they did get it right, the showers were never scattered, they were simply “odd”.
6. No one has an iPhone. No… really.
7. Choose your lodging carefully – internet access can be a bitch.
8. A decent brekki will run you $20 minimum.
9. The hosts on the NZ morning shows are a surly lot.
10. Unfortunately the Kylie Minogue Museum is in Melbourne, not Sydney

Well, that is all. I hoped you enjoyed the posts and pictures during our trip. Now it’s back to business as usual.

Hillary… why are you still in the race? 🙂

We have safely arrived in Sydney, with thoughts of New Zealand still fresh in our minds. Auckland is an amazing city, reminiscent of San Francisco and Vancouver, its denizens friendly and gracious. There’s almost a 1950s feel to the place, not that I was around at that time to say for sure.

Since it is winter (they seem to skip the fall entirely), the weather was a bit dodgy and we were unable to be as adventurous as we would have liked. Hobbiton and the glow worm caves were unfortunately out. So we decided to stay close to Auckland and the local environs.

To the right you’ll find a few snapshots from our travels. Some of the highlights include Skycity Tower, Rangitoto Island and the black sands of Piha Beach along the western coast.

The updates should be coming more frequently now, so, it’s off to the Sydney Opera House. Toodles!

We’re off again! This time to New Zealand and Australia (not the whole continent mind you, just Auckland and Sydney) for a much needed holiday. It’s my second trip to the land down under, and Chad’s first. Joey, a friend of Chad’s since college, will be joining us as well. Finally we will have someone around to take pictures too. 🙂

As usual, the plan is to post pictures and write about our travels daily, (weather and energy level permitting), so hope you will check in often. To receive updates by email, click on the “Email Udates” link to the right to subscribe to the blog.

Until next time… Chookas!