I’ve finally arrived in Cairns. Total damage done: nine days, four World Heritage Sites, and 3,030 km (1,882 miles). I’m staying in Cairns for five days to catch up on my photos and get my things together for Papua New Guinea. I’ll also be able to spend ANZAC Day in Australia, which should be interesting. …
Buzz Aldrin described the surface of the moon by saying it was “Magnificent Desolation”. That phrase could probably be used to describe the part of Western Australia I’ve been driving through the last three days. Since I’ve left Darwin, by my trip odometer, I’ve put on about 2,200km (about 1,400 miles). Western Australia is EMPTY. …
Located just one island over from Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on the island of Maui, Haleakala is Hawaii’s second national park. Haleakala is a dormant volcano which reaches over 10,023 ft (3,055 m) above sea level. What makes it more impressive is that the base of the volcano….is at sea level. It is one of …
In February of this year I was invited by New South Wales tourism to attend the Australian Open of Surfing in Sydney, Australia. I’m not a surfer and I had been to Sydney several times before, so I wasn’t really that interested in attending and suffering through a 16 hour flight. However, having read my …
Over the course of the last five years, I’ve been able to explore more of Australia than most Australians have. I’ve been to every Australian state and territory and have driven over 20,000km throughout the country. My recent trips to New South Wales and Victoria this year have given me a new opportunity to see …
The island of Lana’i is one of the smallest and least visited of Hawaii’s islands. With only 3,000 permanent residents, it has a very small-town feel and avoids the crowds and tourist trap aspects of places like Waikiki Beach. (Locals call it the Mayberry of the Pacific) It also has some of the most interesting …
I am writing this on the Sunday Morning of the finals of the Rugby World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. Tonight’s final match will be the New Zealand All Blacks vs Les Bleus of France. I was last in New Zealand in 2007. I spent 3 weeks driving around the country and the one thing …
Here are a collection of random thoughts about my current trip to Fiji: – The tourism industry, especially the budget tourism industry, is expanding. This time around I noticed that Base Backpackers, the big hostel chain from New Zealand, is now in Fiji. The FeeJeeExperience, which is owned by the same company which does the …
I’m off to Darwin in a few hours to begin the western half of my Australia adventure. I’m going to miss Cairns because the weather here is so amazing. This is the second nicest weather I’ve encountered on my trip (#1 being Honolulu). I get bombarded by advice from Aussies when I tell them I’m …