As are most things in life, it's not about the end result but the journey you took to get there. The trip we have been waiting for so long has finally happened.
It took us on the longest trip we've ever done together in both distance and duration. It included flights across the US and over the Pacific. It also included quite a few other flights, van rides, boat rides, and hikes within The Sunburnt Country.
Let's just say that the trans-Pacific flight, Gillies highway in Queensland, and the fast boat ride back from the outer Great Barrier Reef almost got the best of us (one of us more than the other).
While there were those few challenging pieces, the majority of our travels were a breeze as Jolene did the majority of the coordination. There is something about traversing a country where everyone speaks your primary language, has a solid infrastructure, and is full of helpful, pleasant, outgoing people that makes everything seem nearly effortless.
We decided to be clever and take advantage of the long travel by utilizing a long layover to cross another country off our list. We had about 12 hours in between our morning arrival in Auckland, New Zealand and evening departure to Sydney so we made the best of it. (I had read about someone taking advantage of long layovers to enhance a trip so I made an attempt at it). While our bags stayed at the airport, we were able to take a bus downtown early that morning and enjoy a day in the city. While the day started with a little bit of rain it quickly cleared after breakfast and we were able to go to the top of a Sky Tower to get a great view of the lay of the land and the harbor. We also visited Albert Park, Kia Ora (Art Gallery), the maritime museum, and had a great lunch at Degree on Hobson Wharf where I got to cook my own meat out of all local ingredients.
After Auckland our route was a clockwise journey through Sydney, Melbourne, Uluru, Cairns, and then back to Sydney.
It took us on the longest trip we've ever done together in both distance and duration. It included flights across the US and over the Pacific. It also included quite a few other flights, van rides, boat rides, and hikes within The Sunburnt Country. Let's just say that the trans-Pacific flight, Gillies highway in Queensland, and the fast boat ride back from the outer Great Barrier Reef almost got the best of us (one of us more than the other).
While there were those few challenging pieces, the majority of our travels were a breeze as Jolene did the majority of the coordination. There is something about traversing a country where everyone speaks your primary language, has a solid infrastructure, and is full of helpful, pleasant, outgoing people that makes everything seem nearly effortless.
We decided to be clever and take advantage of the long travel by utilizing a long layover to cross another country off our list. We had about 12 hours in between our morning arrival in Auckland, New Zealand and evening departure to Sydney so we made the best of it. (I had read about someone taking advantage of long layovers to enhance a trip so I made an attempt at it). While our bags stayed at the airport, we were able to take a bus downtown early that morning and enjoy a day in the city. While the day started with a little bit of rain it quickly cleared after breakfast and we were able to go to the top of a Sky Tower to get a great view of the lay of the land and the harbor. We also visited Albert Park, Kia Ora (Art Gallery), the maritime museum, and had a great lunch at Degree on Hobson Wharf where I got to cook my own meat out of all local ingredients.After Auckland our route was a clockwise journey through Sydney, Melbourne, Uluru, Cairns, and then back to Sydney.
Let the journey begin.
1 comments:
what a great story about your trip. Loved it. I have to put a copy in my vacation file.
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