Our Group

Our tour group was absolutely WONDERFUL and our tour guide, Lisa Taylor, was FANTASTIC!! We started off with 39 of us in Australia and ended with 33 in New Zealand. (No, we didn’t kill them off; some did just Australia or just New Zealand.) We all got along great and built such a close bond. It was like being with a really close family on a wonderful trip half way around the world.

We built some great friendships that hopefully will last a life time. We’ve dined together, laughed together, even cried together and saw some amazing places. It was always fun when we had a free day and then got back together and shared our experiences with each other. We couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to spend our journey on the other side of the world with.

Our tour guide Lisa was a sweet and cheerful person that made the trip that much more spectacular. She took care of everything and made everyone feel special. She always had a smile on her face and made everything simply perfect! The knowledge she shared throughout the trip was incredible. She always came off like a duck…calm and cool on the surface but paddling like heck below to make it a most special experience for all of us. A true pro! Everyone adored her!!

Things we found unique in Australia and New Zealand:


Who knows if the toilets spin the other way because they don’t spin at all. The water flows straight down from the front and back of the bowl. The mystery remains.

Toilets had two flush options: one button would only flush half the water tank. The second button flushed the whole water tank. As Lisa said: “A one and two button”.

All electrical sockets had an on/off switch. That took us a little while to figure out.

Cross walks in the cities would beep really fast when it was time to cross and get slower until it would change. So, fast beep = walk and slower beep = RUN!

Yes, they truly are friendly people and no, they don’t hate Americans nor do they blame us for the global economic crisis.

Food: Their ketchup is yucky…too much sugar!!! Pepper is horrible also, too powdery. It just doesn’t seem right to eat a cute furry kangaroo! French press coffee is yummy!

Vegemite…not worth the “experience”. Tooheys Extra Dry beer is well worth the “experience”. We like American Thai much better than Australian Thai.

One More Melbourne Day

We started our last full day of our incredible journey at 4am as we had an early flight from Christchurch, NZ back to Melbourne. The view of the snow capped mountains from New Zealand to Austrailia was incredible.  The mountains peaking up over the clouds was a beautiful sight.

We had arranged for a private tour guide to pick us up at the Melbourne airport and take us to the Great Ocean Drive to see the 12 Apostles. Luck wasn’t on our side as it was pouring rain. We decided it wasn’t worth going all that way in the rain so we ventured to the hotel.

We went to Victoria Market where there was everything imaginable for sale. There was livestock, bakeries, deli’s, fruits and vegetables, meats (including Kangaroo, Rabbit, Emu, etc) clothes, shoes, fabric, watches, souvenirs, etc. We bought some great purses and a few other nice things.

 

The weather began to dry out so we then ventured to St. Kilda where there was a nice beach and boardwalk just outside of the city. We found a great place overlooking the water and a local musician played live acoustic music.

We then went to a cute restaurant at the end of the pier where there were tons of sailboats docked and a great view of Melbourne.

There happened to be a State Kite Boarding competition being held at the harbor. There were Kite Boards all over with guys flipping in the air and flying along the shoreline.

We  headed back to the hotel (walked many miles as there were no taxi’s on the ocean road) and went to bed early to get ready for our long journey home. For some reason we were extremely tired!