Beautiful Bali

Leaving Perth, we took a 3.5 hour flight due north to the island of Bali, which is part of Indonesia. We’ve long heard rave reviews of Bali from fellow travelers so we were excited to experience it for ourselves. We decided to spend our first few days in the beach side town of Sanur. Sanur Read More …

Perth

The penultimate stop on our Australian adventure was Perth, the capital of Western Australia and hometown of Annette’s mother, Diane (and many cousins). During our stay we had a great time reuniting/meeting with family and friends. The fall weather was perfect and we enjoyed spending time outdoors in some of the wonderful parks around town. Read More …

Stunning Sydney

Following our wonderful visit to Uluru, we returned to Sydney for a short stay. On our first morning in the city we set out for a walk to get our bearings, and we were joined by our friend Ann and her husband and son, who is about the same age as our youngest. We met Read More …

Uluru

While planning our sabbatical we had a short list of places we definitely wanted to visit, and the famous red rock in the center of Australia was on that list. At one point in the planning process we entertained the notion of driving across Australia and stopping at Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) on Read More …

Australia’s Blue Mountains

During our road trip from Brisbane to Sydney we made a slight detour to Katoomba, a small town in the heart of the Blue Mountains. Katoomba is a great place to go for a hike; there are miles and miles of trails. Some run along ridge lines, providing sweeping views of the valleys below. Soon Read More …

Coffs Harbour and Newcastle

After a our first week in Australia (split between Brisbane and Gold Coast), we set off towards Sydney. We broke up the 12 hour drive over the course of a week, with stays in Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, and Katoomba. The Big Banana Our first overnight stop was Coffs Harbour, a town on Australia’s “Banana Coast.” Read More …

Brisbane and Gold Coast

Following a brilliant month in New Zealand, we hopped on a flight across the Tasman Sea to Gold Coast, Australia. Our plans called for five weeks on the continent, driving from Brisbane all the way to Melbourne (with a side trip to Uluru along the way), finishing with a hop over to the west coast Read More …