Another “must do” on the east coast of Australia is to sail the opal-jade waters of the Whitsunday Islands. We chose a 2 day 2-night budget sailboat called the Mandrake that held 14 people plus 3 crew with a good reputation. Luckily three of the people we had done the Fraser Island Tour with were … More Journey of the Whitsunday’s, Australia: Sailing the southern reef
One of the “must do’s” on the east coast of Australia is the world heritage listed Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island containing giant sand dunes, ancient rainforests, crystal clear lakes, and amazing wildlife specifically Australia’s purest strain of the dingo. The island was sculpted by wind and created over hundreds … More Journey of Fraser Island, Australia: Land of Sand and no showers
Determining that we absolutely loved the freedom of living out of the minivan we continued the 2,800 kilometers up the East Coast. This route is well traveled by many tourist and the coast is set up for it. Freedom camping is allowed all along the highway at rest stops and many other towns for free. … More Journey of the East Coast, Australia: Kangaroos, Koalas and retirement living
We are proud to introduce Woomera, our new home for the next three weeks as we travel up the East Coast of Australia. She may look like a simple mini-van from the outside but inside she is a backpacker’s dream. The entire back converted into a bed at night and under the bed was storage … More Journey of Woomera, Australia: Our new home
A month later than intended we finally made it to Sydney, Australia! Our first night we stayed in Bondi Beach which allowed us to wake up early and complete the Bondi to Coogee Walk. It’s a leisurely 4-mile walk along the ocean with several beaches to stop and cool off and grab a bite to … More Journey of Sydney, Australia: We made it!
To be fair that catch phrase is the resorts and not mine but I could not agree more. For the rest of our stay in Fiji Jon and I wanted a more typical get pampered experience on our $150 a day budget. Bounty Island is a little island that takes 20 minutes to walk around … More Journey of Bounty Island, Fiji: Paradise on a shoestring
After three weeks in the glorious, but modern country, being chauffeured around I figured it was time to get back to some real adventures. Everyone, in New Zealand was raving about Fiji and because it was only 3 hours away we decided to make yet another side trip there before hitting Australia (eliminating our intended … More Journey of the Yasawa, Fiji: The real Fiji experience
As we headed back north again along the eastern side of the South Island the views became no less stunning. We passed through the dry Mackenzie Basin which is a stark contrast from the wet west coast on the other side of those mountains. Mackenzie Basin and random lake along the drive selling amazing fresh … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: Our final days and saying goodbye to new friends
Queenstown was our favorite town in all New Zealand. It is a picture perfect tiny city situated on a lake with the mountains in the background. It has boating and swimming in the summer, skiing in the winter and great nightlife and restaurants all year-round. View of Queenstown. As many of us on the bus … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: Pub crawls and visiting our first fjord
As we headed further South the drives got longer and more rugged and the weather got colder but the scenery was just spectacular. As we drove we stopped at various viewpoints and short walks each more stunning than the next. Jon guzzling the most famous waterfall which by the way tasted ice cold and spring … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: Southern Alps and gorgeous wineries
Journey with Christina 