WalkAbout 18…Koala Bears, Kangaroos, and Crocs., Oh My …Brisbane here we come…

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…

Later…RoadGliding…

Walkabout 18…Melbourne Bound…Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas Anymore…

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.

Beautiful, colorful tall glass spires. They framed a striking scene, that really took me by surprise.

   Melbourne was a bustling city. During the day the sidewalks are full of young urban profesionals. The men especially all looked very similar. Dressed in dark blue suits, ties, and black shoes, walking briskly to thier next meeting.

At night the bars and clubs were filled with these same people looking to let off some steam.

The Yarra river runs through the city and flows into Port Phillip Bay. Restauants, bars, hotels, and casinos line the waterfront. Great shopping and The Melbourne Star Observation Wheel top off the Dockland area.

However, it was outside the city that we really got to see what this part of Australia looks and feels like.

 We took one full day to drive the Great Ocean Road southwest of the city.
If you are ever in Melbourne this is a must see! Miles and miles of incredibly beautiful coastline. Very rugged and not very populated. Really Cool!

Another day, we had an oustanding drive around Port Phillip Bay, taking a ferry from Queenscliff Harbour to Sorrento.

 The area around Sorrento is ruggedly beautiful, scattered with some outragous homes hanging on the cliffs.

Melbourne is a fun, energetic, and youthful city, that we thoroughly enjoyed.

But it was time to move on. Brisbane was calling…

Later…RoadGliding…

Continue reading “Walkabout 18…Melbourne Bound…Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas Anymore…”

Walkabout 18… A Night at the Opera… House…

Leaving beautiful New Zealand was hard. But seeing Sydney Harbour with the iconic Opera House seemingly floating on the water, got us primed for our Australian Adventure!

Australia is really big and we only had two weeks to see as much as we could. So, we decided to hit the east coast and use Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as stopping off points.

   This may seem as a real touristy thing to do, but like I said, Australia is a big country and we wanted make sure to hit all the biggies.

Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour with the Harbour Bridge were right on top of our list.

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.

Oh well, the cruise ship left each afternoon, having happy hour on the balcony was a lot of fun…At least we got some good pics at night.

We spent several days in Sydney and we 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.

The Harbour area is a really fun place. It is full of street performers, tourists and some interesting birds. Not far from our hotel was a area full of restaurants and cool shops. We hung out there a lot.

We took a cruise around Sydney Harbour and checked out the different areas like Manly beach and Watson Bay. There are a lot of cool spots around the harbour that I would like to revisit.

The last night we were in Sydney we were able to go to the Opera House and see Evita. Even though we thought the place was spectacular, Evita was underwhelming.

One of the things we wanted to do was to climb over the Harbour Bridge. This is where you walk over the top of the bridge for some amazing views, however, they wanted $300.00 per person. So much for climbing the bridge.
However, We were able to walk over it and scale Pylon Lookout for free. Also, we got some excellent pics.

One night, while we were there, a company projected images on the Opera House and a group of protesters gathered outside and shined flashlights and lasers to try to disrupt the presentation. They objected to using a World Heritage site for advertising.

Despite the controversy, we were able to get some unique pictures of the Opera House with it’s sails lit in different colors. Brilliant !!!

We really enjoyed our time in Sydney. The Opera house and the Harbour were spectacular.

We will be spending our last night in Sydney before returning home.

We made reservations for dinner on top of the Sydney Tower. The perfect way to end our WalkAbout.

On to Melbourne !!!

 

 

Later… RoadGliding…

Continue reading “Walkabout 18… A Night at the Opera… House…”

Walkabout18… Southern…Man, What an Island…

So Far New Zealand has been one great discovery after another. A cool, unique mix of Switzerland, Ireland, and Tropical Rainforests. 
Next, we headed to the South Island, starting with Queenstown.
The Adventure Capital of the World is the birthplace of bungy jumping and the home of just about any other outdoor experience you could imagine. 
It sits on the shore of beautiful Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by some majestic, snow covered mountains like the Remarkables and Coronet Peak.
The next day we traveled to Milford Sound (not a sound but a fiord) and Fiords National Park. 
Absolutely one of the coolest places on the planet. Snow covered peaks surrounded by rainforest vegetation.
We were able to cruise around Milford Sound and view some incredible waterfalls. The weather was a little rainy and you would think this would be a big negative.
However, the rain creates many waterfalls that would normally not be there on a sunny day.
I’ll take the waterfalls anytime !!
We then drove west and spent a few days in Franz Josef. This town sits on the west coast of the South Island. It is named for the Franz Joseph Glacier that sits right outside the city.
As it has melted, it left behind a large cut in the surrounding mountains, laced with many beautiful waterfalls.
Again the weather was a little rainy, and like in Milford Sound, it not only enchanced the existing falls, it created many more, the effect was amazing!!
Next, we drove to Christchurch for a day. A very cool town that is still recovering from a massive eathquake back in the early 2000’s. 

New Zealand is truly a beautiful majestic country, with some of the wildest landscapes I have ever seen. 
We will definitly be back !!

 

 

But for now… it’s Australia Here We Come !!!

Later….RoadGliding…

Walkabout 18….Time for something New… Zealand…

All things must come to an end and Bora Bora was no exception.
We had an unbelievable time. The people were so friendly and the island so beautiful it was hard to say goodbye to paradise. But we were ready for the next stop on our adventure.

   We flew to Tahiti for a night then went on to Auckland NZ. We stayed for one night in Auckland, a really cool city, and then road out to Rotura.
We stopped along the way and visited Hobbiton. This is the set 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 next morning we went to see the Glowworm Caves in Waitomo, on the North Island. Pretty cool but we were very disappointed that we could not take pictures inside. Wish they would have made that clear before we went! Hope to find some more later so we can get a few pics.

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 are loving New Zealand but will only be spending a few days on the North Island. Will be flying to Queenstown, on the South Island, for the next leg of our stay in New Zealand.

Later… RoadGliding…

Walkabout18… Bora Bora… Beautiful Beautiful…

Walkabout18… Bora Bora… Beautiful Beautiful…

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.
Yesterday, we swam with Sharks and Rays which was cool and our guides Noho and Mari, with Bora Bora Onoku, kept us constantly entertained. They really made it a lot more fun !!
The rest of our time here will be spent catching some rays and sucking down some cool island drinks. And maybe, just maybe, we might eat a little too.

 

Later…. RoadGliding

WalkAbout 18…Baggage Downsizing…

 Walkabout 18…Baggage Downsizing…

 

Getting very excited and nervous about our upcoming trip ! We’ve made all the arrangements. Now we have to figure out how to get a months worth of stuff in just one suitcase and one carry on each. Not an easy task.

 

 

 

We’ve bought some items on Amazon to help squeeze in as much as possible. So wish us luck
I also purchased a new camera for the trip. A Sony A7riii with a Sony FE 4/24-105 G OSS lens. It is a real jump in quality from what I am used to. I am very excited but also nervous. Although the pictures should be way better than before, this camera is alot more complicated to use. So I really need alot of practice before we leave.

 

 

Later…. RoadGliding…

Out West Again The Jeep is Back…Maybe !!!

Out West Again      The Jeep Is Back… Maybe !!!

I called today and guess what !! The Jeep is Ready !!
We had a great ride yesterday. We started in Salida and rode up to the top of Pikes Peak. 
A really cool ride that I could only describe as Exciting , Fun, and Challenging.  The kind of ride that you would remember !!
My best memory of Pikes Peak is how really good a rider that my wife is !!! Everytime I looked back,  She was right behind me, all the way to the top.

Damn I am a lucky guy !!
We had a really nice ride back, Sorry I didn’t stop to take pics  We were having to much fun !!!
Rode 24 west from Pikes Peak and went south on 9 to 50 west thru the Arkansas River Canyon back to Salida. One of the best days of riding I have had in a long time !!!!

Later…

RoadGliding