Australia & NZ
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Along the Great Ocean Road in Australia
More Details: Along the Great Ocean Road in AustraliaThe trip to see the Twelve Apostles and the Great Ocean Road, near Melbourne, Australia started at Federation Square (across from St. Paul’s Cathedral) where I got to see the possible tour options at the tourism office located there. I returned there to take the bus on the day of the tour and a long…
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Sports Travel: Not My Usual Pursuit but Fun
More Details: Sports Travel: Not My Usual Pursuit but FunI am not much a sports traveler. I don’t chase “my” teams. I don’t go checking off famous sports arenas. I don’t chase big sports events. Heck, what am I saying, I am not much a sports spectator. I do it in big occasions (usually involving Georgia Tech, my alma mater) or when the opportunity…
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Boarding Pass Stories: Christchurch, New Zealand
More Details: Boarding Pass Stories: Christchurch, New ZealandThe destination, the when(s), and the reason(s) After spending two weeks there, I flew from Melbourne, Australia to New Zealand. My entry point: the very livable and lovely town of Christchurch. This was in 2009, so before the large earthquake that did so much damage to this beautiful town. I got to see it before…
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Getting Up High in Sydney- The Amazing Bridge Climb
More Details: Getting Up High in Sydney- The Amazing Bridge ClimbWhen I got to Sydney, Australia to visit friends and finally explore that land down under, one of the first thing my friends told me was I HAD TO do the bridge climb. The Sydney Harbor Bridge climb. I was immediately mesmerized at the thought. Normally, I try to go up any structure that allows…
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Photo of the Week – Sydney Harbor from the Sydney Bridge
More Details: Photo of the Week – Sydney Harbor from the Sydney BridgeI loved the opportunity that arose unexpectedly a couple of years ago to make the long trip to Australia and New Zealand. It is not often I take more than 2 weeks off work at a time so having a month to go Down Under was pretty special – and yet not enough time by…
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Photo of the Week – A Piece of Great Architecture
More Details: Photo of the Week – A Piece of Great Architecture“You may normally see me in bathrooms but here I am among friends in this spectacular piece of architecture with a slightly different coating than my bathroom brethren. I hear the blogger will be re-issuing some writeups about our site, our host town and the neighboring area. You will see me and my buddies in…
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Photo of the Week – I Dream of “Return to Cradle Mountain”
More Details: Photo of the Week – I Dream of “Return to Cradle Mountain”Tasmania was an enchanting place to visit. The greenery, the remoteness, and yes, something different about the Australia and Australians I had seen so far. The natural beauty was impressive. We stayed at the Cradle Mountain Lodge, which we greatly enjoyed, and hiked up to the lake on a winter day in June of 2009. …
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A Very Southern City – Dunedin
More Details: A Very Southern City – DunedinWell, by southern I mean “geographically”. It was the southernmost city I visited in New Zealand and I was expecting it to be frigid but, mercifully, it was not. In fact, we had some really beautiful days though one morning we had minor rain. Dunedin with about 130,000 inhabitants is quite a pleasant town to…
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Random Observations during Trip to Australia and New Zealand
More Details: Random Observations during Trip to Australia and New ZealandAs I used to do when my writing was in email form to friends and family, I am going to share some of the random things I observed that caught my attention in my trip to Australia and New Zealand. These are not earth-shattering observations or anything that is better or worse in the places…
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Criss-crossing the southern island of New Zealand
More Details: Criss-crossing the southern island of New ZealandBesides flying into and out of the country and riding the TranzAlpine train, buses (or coaches) were my main mode of travel. I was surprised that trains were not talked about much in my readings about how to move about the country but it seems buses are the main way to get around (outside of…
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How I Found the North Island of New Zealand Different than the South Island
More Details: How I Found the North Island of New Zealand Different than the South IslandWhen I planned my trip to New Zealand, I decided based on my interests and what was on offer to spend more time in the South Island than in the North Island. However, this does not mean the North Island lacks places to explore. I left the visit to the North Island for the last…
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Experiencing Majestic Fiordland
More Details: Experiencing Majestic FiordlandA Question For some reason, fjords here in New Zealand are fiords. No time to google it. Just sharing… In any event, I left Queenstown early in the morning to see the wonderful site that is Milford Sound in the southwest corner of the south island of New Zealand. As the bird flies, this should…