Back in our old stomping grounds - Orlando, Florida. We're gonna miss Oceania, we really liked it down under, but we got to see our son, Colin, and meet his new (to us) girlfriend, Kate. She's wonderful and we adore her. They're good together. We even spent a day at Leu Gardens with them. Of course, Melissa's first...
We finally made it to Hobbiton! What a great place. Of course it rained pretty hard while we were there. But we had some breaks in the weather and it was totally worth it. You have to go by tour - no free range roaming. You meet up at the Shire Rest Cafe and take the tour bus to Hobbiton. The cafe has some LOTR/Hobbit...
We got to go inside a hobbit house! This is a new thing. Hobbiton was high on our must-do list, but the house interiors weren't scheduled for completion until December 2023 (and were already booking up). As this is summer break time for kids down under, we decided to wait until February to visit Hobbiton. As you can...
Last stop in our Hobbiton tour, the Green Dragon Inn. I'll bore you with a few scenic pics along the trail because New Zealand is just so beautiful. Soon enough we arrived at the Millhouse. Cross the bridge and arrive at our destination. The roof was being rethatched. Yes, Melissa managed to capture the one 4-legged...
see the disclaimer Our stay in Melbourne happened to overlap the 2024 Australian Open, so we decided to grab some tickets to the Men's Semi-Finals and the Women's Final. We found out that the cheap daily entry tickets allow one to see any matches not played in the main venues, including practice sessions. The AO also...
Admirals Arch & Long Nosed Fur Seal Colony December 5, 2023 Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island, Australia Admirals Arch is one of Kangaroo Island’s most impressive and unusual natural landmarks. It took thousands of years of erosion to create this distinctive rock bridge near the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse...
Cape du Couedic Lighthouse & Trail Flinders Chase National Park Kangaroo Island, Australia December 5, 2023 According to Lighthouses of Australia, the history of this lighthouse goes something like this….the first Europeans to arrive on Kangaroo Island in 1802 was a group led by Matthew Flinders looking for water and...
Remarkable Rocks...really are Remarkable, Admirals Arch is Amazing and the Lighthouse is Lovely! Flinders Chase National Park Kangaroo Island, South Australia December 5, 2023 We drove a little over an hour and a half to get out to the national park on the west coast of Kangaroo Island...Flinders Chase National Park....
Prospect Hill Kangaroo Island, Australia December 6, 2023 We had been driving all around Kangaroo Island, passing the sign for Prospect Hill, multiple times. We finally decided to go ahead and make the stop and see what it was all about. As it turns out, it’s the highest point on Kangaroo Island which surprised me...
Remarkable Rocks Flinders Chase National Park Kangaroo Island, Australia December 5, 2023 What’s so significant about Remarkable Rocks? Easy answer...they are a geological wonder! Over 500 million years and 33,000 feet below the Earth's surface an elemental assault of wind, rain, sea salt erosion created the magical...