Australia

I've been very quiet lately, I know.  I was busy knocking a big item off of my bucket list.  I had the opportunity to travel to Australia.  We found out in March that Husband was traveling there on business for a month.  I took all of the leave that I have, and flew out to meet him at the end of his business so that we could explore together.

Train Station in the Blue Mountains.

Do you remember the song "I Had the Time of my Life" from Dirty Dancing?

That sums up my experience!  It was amazing!

I've been back for a couple of weeks now - attempting to catch up on laundry, work, and chores around the house as spring slowly creeps into the Mid-Atlantic.  I've got to move fast - because spring changes over to summer so very, very fast!

So, what are my thoughts about Australia?  The flight is very long.  Very long.  Fly at night if you can.  On the way out, we left Los Angeles at 10 pm local time - that's 2 am East Coast time.  Let me tell you, I was out cold before we even pulled away from the gate!  I slept on and off for a good 8 hours.  There were still many hours to go once I woke up, but sleeping for a good chunk of the trip is an excellent thing.  Coming back, we left at 9 am local time - and 13 hours later - just about the time I would have naturally fallen asleep - we landed in Los Angeles - at  6 am.   There really does need to be a better way to do that trip back. 

We stayed around Sydney and used their marvelous public transportation system to go everywhere we wanted to go.  Never once did we need a car, or a taxi.  Our hotel was near a ferry terminal and a train terminal.  Australia has a fabulous public transportation system!

The country is absolutely beautiful, and the people are genuinely friendly.  (And why not?  They live in Australia!!!!)

I'll be posting some pictures and some stories over the next couple of weeks.  I hope you'll join with me as I share. 

You know, I miss having the kids at home, but there are some advantages to being empty nesters.  Being able to pick up and fly out when an unexpected opportunity comes along is one of those advantages!