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  • Biff
    Speed Bag Wizard

    • Feb 2008
    • 1190

    Back Home

    After 37 days, nearly 24,000 jet air miles, a couple of thousand miles by car/bus, maybe 200 miles by wave runner/boat/ferry/kayak, a few more by foot, many by train, and over 3 hrs in a micro light - the wild ride finally ended.

    I'll break the trip up into several "legs" and add pictures to let everyone see what we saw.

    I hope you enjoy.

    Leg 1 - Hawaii

    We left Newark (NJ) airport at 6:00 am on Feb 6 and arrived in Honolulu in late afternoon that day. Thanks to Mrs. Biff's persistence, I agreed to stop over in Hawaii for a few days to break up the trip across the Pacific. Other than enjoying the beautiful Waikaki beaches and sunshine, my most memorable part of our stay there was meeting and spending 1-1/2 hrs talking with Mr. George Kam. Mr. Kam is 84 years young and has worked at the Nu'uanu YMCA in Honolulu for many years. I posted an earlier thread about him, so I won't go into detail here. I am fortunate to have met him and spent some time talking with him.

    Pic 1 - Mr. Kam amd me
    Pic 2 - Awesome view of Waikaki beach from our balcony
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Biff; 03-16-2013, 05:37 PM.
  • Biff
    Speed Bag Wizard

    • Feb 2008
    • 1190

    #2
    Leg 2 - Deano's Part 1

    We left Honolulu for Sydney on Saturday, February 9th and flew for over 10 hrs crossing both the equator and International Date Line (both firsts for me) and landed on Sunday, the 10th at 5:00 pm. Dean and his wife, Therese, met us at the airport and drove us to their home. After a nice dinner and a few beverages, we crashed after a long day.

    We spent the next several days with Dean and Therese, met most of their family, (including son, Tom, eldest daughter, Kate, and dog, Rosie), and toured all around the area. Dean lives about 70 miles south of Sydney just SW of Lake Illawarra in New South Wales. We visited many of their local beaches and drove up to many scenic overlooks. Everywhere we went was spectacular. I also had an unbelievable 2hr ride in Dean's micro light, seeing his beautiful area from above. One word comes to mind - unreal. We eventually travelled all over the eastern coast of Australia, including Tasmania, and nothing could compare to where Deano lives. Beach after beautiful beach right down the coast, rolling green paddocks along side, and mountains to the west.

    Dean's dad, Ted, and his friend, Yvonne, were our hosts for a day as they took us north and west towards Sydney. We stopped at more scenic outlooks, several beaches, and eventually to Katoomba and the Blue Mountains, the site of the Three Sisters and Australia's answer to our Grand Canyon. Just another Aussie location that has to be seen to be truly appreciated.

    Pic 1 - Dean and Therese
    Pic 2 - Dean's son, Tom and Dean
    Pic 3 - Dean's daughter, Kate (on right) with her friend, Courtney
    Pic 4 - Rosie their dog
    Pix 5 and 10 - view of Dean's neighborhood from his micro light
    Pic 6 - Just one of the beautiful beaches near Deano
    Pic 7 - Ted and Yvonne at one of the numerous overlooks
    Pic 8 - The Three Sisters at the Blue Mountain Park
    Pic 9 - Overview at Blue Mountain of Australia's "green" version of America's Grand Canyon
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Biff; 08-03-2013, 04:56 PM.

    Comment

    • doss darwin
      Senior Member
      • Dec 2012
      • 122

      #3
      sisters

      just wondered if you went down into the canyon--both ways are pretty cool--dd
      the difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limitations

      Comment

      • Zaza
        Speed Bag Guru
        • Apr 2011
        • 2000

        #4
        WELCOME HOME! Looks like you had a GREAT trip. Can't wait to see the footage...wink, wink.
        Art of the Bag - A Speed Bag Story
        http://www.artofthebag.com

        Comment

        • paranday
          Speed Bag Guru
          • Sep 2009
          • 2515

          #5
          Originally posted by Zaza View Post
          Looks like you had a GREAT trip. Can't wait to see the footage...wink, wink.
          I want to take a trip there right about now. Can't wait to see the Footy...wink, wink.*


          * Aussie Rules Football season opens on the 22nd of this month.

          Comment

          • Biff
            Speed Bag Wizard

            • Feb 2008
            • 1190

            #6
            Originally posted by paranday View Post
            I want to take a trip there right about now. Can't wait to see the Footy...wink, wink.*


            * Aussie Rules Football season opens on the 22nd of this month.
            The National Rugby League has it all over the Australian Rules Football. Much more physical than all the kicking. The NSW folks and the Queenslanders love their rugby. I got to watch the season opener last Thursday on the teli at Deano's.

            Comment

            • Biff
              Speed Bag Wizard

              • Feb 2008
              • 1190

              #7
              Leg 3 - Brisbane

              We left Sydney on Friday, Feb 15th for a few days in Brisbane. We toured the city via the "City Cat" ferry, spent many hours at the Queen St markets, and did all the touristy things. One day we met up with Dean's sister, Narelle and her husband, Peter. They live just outside of Brisbane.

              Since one of our goals in visiting Australia was to hold a koala, Narelle and Peter took us to the Lone Park Koala Sanctuary, just outside of Brisbane. We spent most of the day there, literally taking hundreds of photos and vids of the koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, dingos, beautiful birds, you name it. But the highlight of the day was getting to hold a koala. Mrs. Biff's trip was made! Before saying goodbye to Narelle and Peter, we stopped at another scenic spot overlooking Brisbane, where we had a few drinks and some great conversation.

              Pic 1 - Brisbane River
              Pic 2 - Wheel of Brisbane
              Pic 3 - View from Wheel
              Pic 4 - Roo and her joey at the sanctuary
              Pic 5 - Cuddling a koala
              Pic 6 - Dean's BIL, Peter, sister, Narelle, Mrs. Biff and I at an overlook of Brisbane
              Attached Files
              Last edited by Biff; 04-04-2013, 05:45 PM.

              Comment

              • Biff
                Speed Bag Wizard

                • Feb 2008
                • 1190

                #8
                Originally posted by doss darwin View Post
                just wondered if you went down into the canyon--both ways are pretty cool--dd
                dd - didn't walk into the canyon, but did walk down to the base of the sisters.

                Originally posted by Zaza View Post
                WELCOME HOME! Looks like you had a GREAT trip. Can't wait to see the footage...wink, wink.
                Thanks Zaza. Pretty much back to normal today. I'll give you a call to set up a visit for sometime next week.

                Comment

                • MsDeville
                  Senior Member

                  • Oct 2009
                  • 1301

                  #9
                  WOW! Great pictures of everyone. Deano looks fit. And it looks like his daughter has his smile! His dad, Ted, looks GREAT. I swear he looks younger than the photos from Keyport, NJ in 2010. Does Australia do that for people?

                  And the photos from the micro-lite craft are spectacular! That must have been a thrill. Thanks for posting the pictures, Bif. Australia continues to fascinate me. Maybe someday…
                  sigpic Contact me anytime for information about Deville Swivels Email: DevilleSwivels@gmail.com
                  I'm also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DevilleSwivels | www.facebook.com/SpeedBagAddicts

                  Comment

                  • Zaza
                    Speed Bag Guru
                    • Apr 2011
                    • 2000

                    #10
                    This is all great, but did you have a Vegemite Sandwich?
                    Art of the Bag - A Speed Bag Story
                    http://www.artofthebag.com

                    Comment

                    • Biff
                      Speed Bag Wizard

                      • Feb 2008
                      • 1190

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Zaza View Post
                      This is all great, but did you have a Vegemite Sandwich?
                      Yes!!

                      Have to be honest with you - didn't really do much for me.
                      Attached Files
                      Last edited by Biff; 03-16-2013, 05:07 PM.

                      Comment

                      • Biff
                        Speed Bag Wizard

                        • Feb 2008
                        • 1190

                        #12
                        Originally posted by MsDeville View Post
                        WOW! Great pictures of everyone. Deano looks fit. And it looks like his daughter has his smile! His dad, Ted, looks GREAT. I swear he looks younger than the photos from Keyport, NJ in 2010. Does Australia do that for people?

                        And the photos from the micro-lite craft are spectacular! That must have been a thrill. Thanks for posting the pictures, Bif. Australia continues to fascinate me. Maybe someday…
                        I have video of my 2 micro light flights. Just need to convert the AVCHD format to something that Windows and YouTube like. Hey Zaza, any help here????

                        Dean's entire family is great. Didn't get to meet their youngest, Sarah, as she is in the UK. But we did get a chance to Skype with her. Ted is doing well; he has a milestone birthday coming up in April.

                        Australia is phenomenal. I will be back. I absolutely did not want to leave.

                        Comment

                        • Biff
                          Speed Bag Wizard

                          • Feb 2008
                          • 1190

                          #13
                          Here are some Aussie foods we tried.
                          Attached Files
                          Last edited by Biff; 03-17-2013, 05:55 PM.

                          Comment

                          • Biff
                            Speed Bag Wizard

                            • Feb 2008
                            • 1190

                            #14
                            Leg 4 - Cairns, Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef

                            On Feb. 18th it was off to Cairns (pronounced Cans, as we soon found out!) for a few days, in the very tropical north of Australia. While there, we rode the train up to Karanda, where we spent a few hours, and then took the sky rail back down the mountain. A great learning experience as well as a perfect way to spend a day. Another day we took a bus to Port Douglas where we boarded a wave runner (4 - 2000 hp jet motors) that took us 1-1/2 hr to the outer banks of the GBR where we snorkeled for several hours. No better place in the world to snorkel than the GBR. My only regret was forgetting to purchase an underwater digital camera. DOH! We did manage to get many pix from inside a semi-submersible vessel, but it just wasn't the same.

                            We ate tons of fish and calamari during our stays in both Brisbane and Cairns. There were many varieties of fresh fish that we had never heard of, but everything we tried, we enjoyed. We also ate some crocodile and kangaroo. We were hesitant to eat kangaroo, but it was somewhat like steak. I did notice that Mrs. Biff had a spring in her step the next day! Oh, BTW, the beer in Australia kicks the $hit out of American beer. Their normal beer is anywhere from 4.4 to 6.0, and their light beer is around 3.6! Also, Aussies don't drink Fosters. They hate it. As I was told, they save it for the Yanks.


                            Pic 1 - View from hotel in Cairns
                            Pic 2 - Double rainbow (as you can see from all the pix, we had some cloudy days)
                            Pic 3 - The Esplanade
                            Pic 4 - The downtown pool
                            Pic 5 - The train going up to Kuranda
                            Pic 6 - The SkyRail going down
                            Pic 7 - View from the SkyRail
                            Pic 8 - Area where we snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef
                            Pic 9 - Pontoon platform in the outer reef area

                            Unforunately, we did not get any underwater shots, because some dope forgot to buy an underwater camera. (I could kill her! Just kidding, June)
                            Attached Files
                            Last edited by Biff; 04-29-2013, 12:44 PM.

                            Comment

                            • Zaza
                              Speed Bag Guru
                              • Apr 2011
                              • 2000

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Biff View Post
                              Yes!!

                              Have to be honest with you - didn't really do much for me.
                              Yeah... I didn't think you'd like it much (I tried it once...once)...after all it's made from the by-products of beer brewing. (I'd rather have the beer!)

                              PM'd you with editing help....
                              Art of the Bag - A Speed Bag Story
                              http://www.artofthebag.com

                              Comment

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