Flying north from Melbourne, we were excited to experience Brisbane.
After a few days in Brisbane we will be flying to to Lady Elliot Island, where we will be spending the night on the southern border of the Great Barrier Reef.
After that we will visit the Gold Coast for some beautiful beaches and some great surfing.
Before we left Melbourne, we were checking the weather in Brisbane. At First it did not look so great. So we started to look at changing our schedule and fly to Carins instead.
Carins is a great place to start your visit to the Great Barrier Reef and we looked at changing our schedule.
However, we could not change the flight to Lady Elliot. So we had to stick to our original plans and hope that the weather changes for the better.
Fortunately, mother nature smiled at us and the weather was great for our stay. Whew !!!
Brisbane reminded us alot of Melbourne. Beautiful skyscapers of glass and the Bribane River running 
thru the city.
One of the really cool things about the river running through the city are the water taxis. Most are free and operate from early morning to late at night. We were able to use them to visit different parts of the city.
The ride was a lot of fun and really pretty at night.
The riverfront was beautiful with many restaurants, shops, museums and casinos.
They have even created a beach with Lifeguards!
We had an extraordinary day at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Took a water taxi a couple of hours up the Brisbane River, past some cool homes and bridges.
We arrived in Brisbane during the peak time for the Jacaranda tree blooms.
Strikingly, colorful purple trees lined the banks. A real treat !!
The Koala sanctuary was pretty cool. Not only did we get to hold a Koala, we also were able to walk around with a group of kangaroos, which we were able to feed. Brilliant !
There were other animals there to. Including Wombats, Tasmanian Devils, and Crocodiles !
The next day we were off to Lady Elliot Island, on the Great Barrier Reef. Where we will spend 2 days and a night.
We are Super Excited…
As we were driving into Melbourne from the airport, the skyline started to appear. I was struck by how much it reminded me of the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz.
Bay. Restauants, bars, hotels, and casinos line the waterfront. Great shopping and The Melbourne Star Observation Wheel top off the Dockland area.
We took one full day to drive the Great Ocean Road southwest of the city.
Really Cool!
The area around Sorrento is ruggedly beautiful, scattered with some outragous homes hanging on the cliffs.
I went for a room with a view of the Opera house and had a good view. Unfourtunately, there was a tv antenna on top of a building and a cruise ship that was right in the way some of the time.
afternoon, having happy hour on the balcony was a lot of fun…At least we got some good pics at night.
got to see a lot of the city which is full of beautiful parks and churches. Also, we went to the top of The Sydney Tower, which has a really nice restaurant and a viewing area where you could see the entire city and
Harbour.
hotel was a area full of restaurants and cool shops. We hung out there a lot.
different areas like Manly beach and Watson Bay. There are a lot of cool spots around the harbour that I would like to revisit.
flashlights and lasers to try to disrupt the presentation. They objected to using a World Heritage site for advertising.
So Far New Zealand has been one great discovery after another. A cool, unique mix of Switzerland, Ireland, and Tropical Rainforests. 
other outdoor experience you could imagine. 
the surrounding mountains, laced with many beautiful waterfalls.
still recovering from a massive eathquake back in the early 2000’s. 
All things must come to an end and Bora Bora was no exception.
where the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed. My wife never saw the films but she still loved the experience. Really pretty special spot and a must see if you are in NZ.
The areas we drove on the North Island were very green with beautiful rolling hills and alot of cattle and sheep. You know it’s spring here because of the abundance of baby sheep !!
We finally got to sleep! This place is truly paradise. The water is 100 shades of blue and the island is a green emerald surrounded by a coral reef. Really the coolest spot on the planet.
The rest of our time here will be spent catching some rays an
