Remaining Australia and Home

 Meanderings Abroad  2 Responses »
Mar 082024
 

Well, the remaining six days of Australia were full of more adventure. I’ll try to do a short sum up here and then later prepare another post on the whole trip.

Adelaide
We were mostly here to see P!NK in concert. During the planning of our trip, we knew that we wanted to see the city, if for no other reason than it is the capital of South Australia and we were about seeing the highlights of the country. So, we adjusted our route to hit the concert.

The concert was great! Funnily enough, though, that wasn’t the real highlight of the trip! While we were on the Uluru and Kata Tjuta tour, we had a chat with some other ladies in the group over dinner. They mentioned seeing koalas in the “wild” on a hike outside of town. Well, that decided it for us.

After seeing six in various stages of sleep or walking, we were content with our visit to the south. There was other wildlife as well to make it fun. We also did a wine tour in the Barossa Valley on one of the days along with meeting an old friend of M’s from his hometown. So, it was an excellent stop that might have been just mediocre.

Cairns
What is a tour of Australia without a visit to the Cairns? It’s the more common place to go to see the Great Barrier Reef. While the town itself is a little run down, no thanks to COVID, it has the usual beachside charm expected of such places.

Of course, it did not disappoint with sea life views and sea sickness! I’m very glad that we did the snorkel boat tour, though I fully appreciated land again upon our return.

Sydney
Our trip ended back in Sydney where we did a bit of shopping and relaxing before our long journey home.

Oh yeah, and I added to my tattoo with a little commemoration of our trip. 😁

So, we are now home. It’s a bit of recovery mode around here, but it was an amazing time and now it is nice to be home again.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Australia 14/20 Days

 Meanderings Abroad  1 Response »
Feb 272024
 

We are now two full weeks in. This means just a week left, but still so much to do and see.

Even since the weekend, we have done quite a bit. From Alice Springs, we headed to Darwin which is popular for seeing the crocodiles. Obviously, we made sure that we did a tour.

It was great fun. We also did a hike in the Litchfield National Park, which was very hot, but also worth the visit.

Cascades, Lorikeet, Florence falls, and Cathedral termite tower

Now, we are in Adelaide. More updates on our activities here later!

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Australia Week 1.5

 Meanderings Abroad  4 Responses »
Feb 232024
 

It’s definitely a lot warmer here in Australia than in Italy at the moment. Luckily, the sightseeing has been so enjoyable that it has made the temperatures bearable.

We had a lovely time in Byron Bay after a rather challenging night in Brisbane. We stayed in an area near the airport, which I wouldn’t recommend. It also encouraged us to adjust our schedule a bit to stay longer in Byron Bay rather than rushing back to the city.

It was fortuitous that we did so as M and D got to meet up with a cousin neither had seen, or perhaps met, for years. It was, of course, my first time to meet them as well. So, it was a nice family catchup visit along with the chill vibe of a beach life.

Upon our return to Brisbane, we stayed in a different area at a nicer hotel. Although two nights would have been OK, one was sufficient in giving us a taste of the city and appreciating the luxurious conveniences of life before heading to the middle of the country.

Then, it was off to Alice Springs where we spent two nights. The first full day was a long bus tour out to Uluru (previously known as Ayer’s Rock) and The Olgas, or Kata Tjuṯa. It was worth the long day of travel to see this amazing natural wonder and to learn a bit more of the history, culture of the original people of Australia.

We are now in Darwin – updates on that and our next moves after the weekend.

By the way, click on the pics for the link to our Instagram account where more pics can be seen. Eventually, I’ll try to put together a full Australia tour summary post when we get back home.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Back in Oz

 Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Feb 162024
 

It’s not actually Australia Day, but it was the only image available that worked for the theme. 😜

As our second visit, it is nice to be back. This time, though, we are going to be seeing more of the country than before. It will actually be a busy tour, but that is part of the fun – in my opinion. After the length of the travel to get here (about 36 hours door to door and then having to wait three hours to check in to our hotel room), I am not sure how eager we will be to come again. Of course, if there is a reason, we never really say no to traveling. 😅

Anyway, the first day was just arriving, waiting for our room, and trying to adjust to the new time zone. We did manage to go for a lovely dinner with D and her friend R. Easy and stress-free is the way to be!

Yesterday was Day 2/20 and so went in to the Sydney Opera House area (Circular Quay) where we had a little wander around.

It was a chill day as we were basically just waiting to get our flight out to Brisbane, where we will be heading to Byron Bay for a couple of days and then back to Brisbane for another day or so.

So…not much to add for now, but will try to share a bit here and there as we go along.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Hello from Paradise

 Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Dec 132023
 

My happy place has always been by the ocean. When I started to travel, I learned that there were warm beaches unlike the chillier one of the Oregon Coast, which I still love in many ways.

Still, when given a choice, I would prefer a warm beach, blue sea, and golden sand.

I’ve seen a number of beaches over the years that have come close to this ideal. But, this…this is something else.

We are spending 8 nights in the Bahamas on Paradise Island. Although the island is man-made, the name is appropriate for the water and sand that is all natural.

Although I am still sick, we are slightly jet lagged and the weather is as temperamental as my partner’s moods sometimes 😅, it is rather amazing to see the blue of the water and the glow of the sand when the sun ☀️ shines.

With that, time to get back to enjoying paradise. More to come.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Japan 2023: Days 8.5/13

 Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Nov 172023
 

We are back in Japan for a visit. It’s been just over three years since we left during the early pandemic/shutdown days.

When we left, we didn’t quite know what we were doing but the timing seemed right to try to move with the freedom of online work. Turns out we rode the wave well – thank you Universe. 🙏🏽

Since it was a somewhat unplanned decision and M was still working in his job, he didn’t get to say a proper “cya later” to people. Also, I have never gone longer than a year or two between visits, so it was time to come back.

This time, we stayed in Ginza for the first part. I took a girls’ trip to Kyoto with my BFF and are going to spend the rest of our time with her and family.

It’s been fun to refresh our tastebuds with Japanese cuisine and revisit old haunts for nostalgic purposes. Also, we have done some shopping given the euro-friendly exchange rate.

So, more on everything next week when we are back in Italy for a bit before we continue our winter travels. ❤️

In the meantime, here are a few pics.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Palma Majorca (Oct 28-31, 2023)

 General, Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Nov 062023
 

Ladies’ trip with the fabulous A.N. in Palma Majorca (Mallorca) is a wrap with wonderful memories, lots of laughs, much chit-chat, and as an overall amazing experience.

First, about Palma – the Spanish capital of the Balearic island of Mallorca (Majorca in English spelling). It’s an interesting city with a mix of flavors in architect and dishes that come from European and Moorish influences. Even good ol’ Gaudi has had his hand on some of the sights. It’s a smallish town that can be walked around in about an hour, but there’s enough to entertain for a short holiday whether a sightseeing history buff or one in need of some retail therapy.

A and I were keen to catch up and decided a little trip might be just the ideal opportunity to do just that with a bit of travel as well. The four days flew by really and we had a great time seeing Palma, taking the train and tram through the mountains to the northwest side where Soller (soyer) and the port are located, doing a bit of pampering at the Hammam and eating some delicious food – some local and some not.

Overall, I would go back again as we did skip going into some of the attractions as we weren’t so into hopping on or off, but if I never went back I wouldn’t feel as if I missed anything major either. It might be a nice little Spanish getaway for a long weekend and worth exploring the other side of the island another time, but … I’m glad I went and I enjoyed it fully, but don’t necessarily need to go again. 🤪

Here’s a link to all the photos and videos, if you’re interested: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cUtNU7iSA7382PTM6

~T 🔥🐉♋️

A Bit of Holiday in Western France

 Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Aug 082023
 

Although our lives are admittedly in the realm of “every day is a holiday”, we did take a week to really be on holiday. M has always wanted to surf in the Atlantic, so we headed that direction from our place in the Var, France.

To break up the journey a bit, we revisited a few places that we had been to before when we first got together and M brought me to France for the first time to see if I would like it here. Remember, this was always meant to be our “final destination” – that was before Italy hit our radar. So, we stopped for a night in Carcassonne, which is a wonderful medieval town. We stayed within the castle walls this time as well, which was rather amazing.

From there, we headed for our almost week-long stay in Biarritz. This is a well-known seaside town for surfing and seafood. It was a great town even if the weather did not cooperate for the entire time. We still got a few days of surfing 🏄‍♂️ (for M) and beach bumming (for me) in before a storm came through with wind and rain that made the waves 🌊 too big for those who care about their lives. 🤪 We probably could have stayed one or two fewer nights there, but it did give us a chance to explore around a bit more.

One day, we drove into Spain to visit San Sebastián. It was a bit too grey to fully appreciate, but it was still a cute seaside town as well. Of course, us being as fickle as we are briefly considered whether or not it was somewhere we could live. Fortunately, neither of us were overly enamored with that particular place, so we said no. 😅 However, it was nice to hear some Spanish and feel the flair for a couple of hours.

On our way back, we stopped in a town called Espelette – famous for its pimentos 🌶️ . Apparently, it’s one of the only places that these can grow in France due to its particular climate at the bottom of the Pyrenees mountains 🏔️ . So, we explored the town and, of course, bought some pepper products. 😬

I’ll try to get some more pictures posted soon, but am still editing at the moment as my vacation-mode has not yet fully turned off. 😜

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Carnevale di Venezia 2023

 Meanderings Abroad  1 Response »
Feb 212023
 

Matt has always wanted to go to Venice and I have always wanted to see a proper Carnival experience, so our always wantings merged into the perfect time to go.

Away we went for the weekend to see the last weekend of a two-week period where people dress up in various styles of costume and wear masks wandering around the city. Some had traveled near and far to join in the festivities, either as a spectator or a participant.

The costumes and masks were both creepy and amazing. Here are some of my favs:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SJFTwmbAPs4SH4ir5

While there isn’t that much to do in the city of Venice itself, we wandered the square, at good food, did the gondola ride and had an overall wonderful time!

You can see all of our pics here.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

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