It’s summer in Australia, so the sun is high and bright and the beaches call. Yesterday to Redhead Beach, so called because the large outcropping of rock jutting into the ocean features red rock (dare I say duh?), and today an hour north up to Nelson Bay. Both were lovely spots for a walk and a relaxing day. Redhead Beach…
Category: An Epic Adventure
February 18-19: Lake Macquarie and Sydney
Some days just float away and at the end it doesn’t appear that much has transpired, so a post doesn’t seem to naturally come to me. The other thing that’s difficult to ignore is the fact that my first 6 weeks were overwhelming with history and artifacts and relics. Australia is just as old as America, so most everything seems…
February 17: Lake Macquarie & Cave’s Beach
My long days of travel have resulted in a bit of a cold for me, so although a good night’s sleep helped, an easy day was in the cards. Lunch at the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club was delightful, and as the wind picked up the ropes on the sailboats clanged on the masts. Will and I have an ongoing debate…
February 16: To Sydney and Newcastle
A very long travel day and not much to report. Spent many hours in the Singapore airport, then an overnight flight to Sydney. A 2 + hour drive up the coast with my mate Will brought us to Newcastle. The “event” for the day was visiting Blackbutt Reserve to see the Koalas and kookaburras and king parrots. And then a…
February 15: So Long SE Asia
As I sit here in the Singapore airport (the biggest, cleanest, brightest airport I’ve ever seen), enroute to Sydney, I thought I might take a moment to reflect on my 6 weeks in SE Asia. As I began this trip on January 5, I had no real pre-conceived ideas of what I might encounter and what it might be like.…
February 14: Valentines Day at the Beach
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve taken these last two days to do what I do so well at any beach/seaside resort — take in some sun, swim, walk along the shore. I feel guilty for doing what I could do in Florida or California or Rhode Island while I’m here in southern Thailand but the following forces…
February 12: Off to Krabi
A mostly travel day, but worth noting a couple of things. With the full moon, which was last night the 11th here, there comes a Buddhist holiday, which mainly meant for me that I couldn’t order a beer with dinner at the cafe (See You Soon was it’s name — wifi password was “nice to meet you”), but also meant…
February 11: Chiang Rai, The White Temple, Hot Springs
Our hotel last night was home to 5, count ’em 5, tour busses of Thai people. As I was writing the post yesterday they must’ve all arrived as the halls were alive with very, very loud Asians. I worried that when they came back from dinner it would be more of the same, so I wore ear plugs and my…
February 10: The Golden Triangle
We left Doi Mae Salong this morning and what I hadn’t seen in last night’s darkness was the big sign on the hillside reminiscent of the Hollywood sign at home. Of course this one was overlooking a lovely valley, some mountains beyond and a tea plantation. We visited the 101 Tea Plantation nearby for some oolong tea tasting, which was…
February 9: Off to Northern Thailand
After a day yesterday not even worth posting about (pool time and massage!), today I’m off for a 3 day outing to the further northern areas of Thailand — Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle. The tour company is Intrepid, the first time I’ve travelled with them, and I’m joined by a mom and her adult daughter from Wisconsin. First…