First trip to Australia & New Zealand completed

[MMDown Under]

22 hours ago, JJK2008 said:

Thank You for the kind words, but Please don't look upon our trip with shame. Look at it as inspiration to do more. There is plenty in the USA we have not done or seen. That constantly gives us something to look forward to. We and hopefully you as well are very blessed and living a charmed life. There are many people that we know personally, and I'll speculate people you know personally as well, that will never be able to what we are doing every day for a variety of reasons, health, financial, family and more. Enjoy each day, we don't get a do over.

 

We did not see the earthworms. Didn't remember seeing anything about them. I checked the map and see that Gibbsland was east of Melbourne. We flew to Melbourne and then travelled west eventually ending in Adelaide. So, we never passed Gibbsland. Nancy is pretty good at checking out every nook and cranny of a trip. So, it would have been unusual for her to have missed something like that. Oh well, another reason to come back to Oz😄. The reasons to return seem to keep piling up!!! All Good. All of us on here love to cruise, so who knows, perhaps some of us will end up on a cruise at the same time. It could happen. Stay Safe.

 

John  

After driving across the Nullarbor, we camped at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park to discover the most beautiful beach in Australia.  White sand beach with turquoise sea and kangaroos on the beach, plus there were spectacular wildflowers in the sandals just behind the beach. Queensland, the sunshine state, has beautiful beaches but this beach is a notch above!  We met a group who travel across from SA to WA, and camp at Lucky Bay. They told us of all the special features which we missed.  So we checked them out on the way back east.  My younger daughter recently drove around Australia for 7 months in her camper van. Probably visited about 3/4 of the country.  It is a BIG country, so pick a region which appeals to you and visit that region. 

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, JJK2008 said:

I'm 0 for 2. In baseball I get one more and I'm out. Not my first time, I've struck out before.

You would not be on your own, there has been many a giggle, (some times outright laughter) at things I've misspelt.😂

 

[lyndarra]

2 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

You would not be on your own, there has been many a giggle, (some times outright laughter) at things I've misspelt.😂

 

Or should that be 'misspelled'? Ooops😟

No, as an Ozzie you are correct.😉

[JJK2008]

15 hours ago, possum52 said:

The Great Ocean Road finishes just before Warrnambool. The highway through to Adelaide along the coast is the Princes Highway. You would have travelled through my home town of Warrnambool. 
 

Hahndorf is a beautiful town. What a fantastic trip you had. 

Thank You Leigh. For us it truly was a trip of a lifetime. Nancy and I are trying really hard to live life to the fullest as best as we're able. I mentioned in another post that this is what Nancy and I like to do. It's our vice. We live very modestly and love to travel, experience new things and I (this drives Nancy nuts) like to engage people. I'll spend 45 minutes chatting with someone we just met. I've met a number of really good people that way and then some others that I hope I don't see again😆. Some of the Aussies here on CC have remarked that on this trip we have seen and done more than they have in their own country. But that is always the case. We ALL do it. A few years back we took time a couple of years in a row to visit some of the National Parks in the US. In doing so we were surprised and disappointed that 90% of the people we encountered visiting the National Parks in the USA were foreigners NOT Americans. I can't explain it but we all just seem to take for granted what is right in front of us. Often times unless this is actually pointed out to all of us that we're overlooking our own backyard, we remain oblivious to it. Human nature, I guess. OK, so next time we're passing through your way we'll give you a heads-up beforehand and stop and say hello. Or meet in Hahndorf for schnitzel.

 

Have a Great Christmas and New Years.🎅🎄🥳🎉 

J    

[MMDown Under]

2 hours ago, JJK2008 said:

Thank You Leigh. For us it truly was a trip of a lifetime. Nancy and I are trying really hard to live life to the fullest as best as we're able. I mentioned in another post that this is what Nancy and I like to do. It's our vice. We live very modestly and love to travel, experience new things and I (this drives Nancy nuts) like to engage people. I'll spend 45 minutes chatting with someone we just met. I've met a number of really good people that way and then some others that I hope I don't see again😆. Some of the Aussies here on CC have remarked that on this trip we have seen and done more than they have in their own country. But that is always the case. We ALL do it. A few years back we took time a couple of years in a row to visit some of the National Parks in the US. In doing so we were surprised and disappointed that 90% of the people we encountered visiting the National Parks in the USA were foreigners NOT Americans. I can't explain it but we all just seem to take for granted what is right in front of us. Often times unless this is actually pointed out to all of us that we're overlooking our own backyard, we remain oblivious to it. Human nature, I guess. OK, so next time we're passing through your way we'll give you a heads-up beforehand and stop and say hello. Or meet in Hahndorf for schnitzel.

 

Have a Great Christmas and New Years.🎅🎄🥳🎉 

J    

Yesterday, We did a car trip to Fingal and Kingscliff in Northern NSW.  Like you, I engage with strangers all the time.  At Fingal, I chatted to a young father watching his children playing in shallow water below. I asked him how he was connected to Fingal, a little backwater place on the Ocean and River  He said his family had driven down Friday nights from Brisbane, for the weekend all his life.  

What an ideal childhood!  Looking for the Fingal Lighthouse, I chatted to people along the way.  Not a single sign, you have to ask.  One lady, who used to live in Fingal, was at a family reunion.  She was a wealth of knowledge. 

We have driven across USA several times and I love US National Parks and their sense of history. Once we had booked to stay at the Big Ben National  Park on the border, I think there was a chilli ? festival on.  So the cops were out.  We got pulled over in the dark by two cops, one the good guy and one the bad guy. The bad guy reckoned we had been speeding.  We had a cheap rental car which would have fallen to bits had we gone too fast and I told him so. The younger child started to cry, so time to tell him we were visitors from Aust. Then It all turned on a dime and they couldn't have been friendlier, said to watch out for the bad guys, and sent us on our way. 

[JJK2008]

7 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Yesterday, We did a car trip to Fingal and Kingscliff in Northern NSW.  Like you, I engage with strangers all the time.  At Fingal, I chatted to a young father watching his children playing in shallow water below. I asked him how he was connected to Fingal, a little backwater place on the Ocean and River  He said his family had driven down Friday nights from Brisbane, for the weekend all his life.  

What an ideal childhood!  Looking for the Fingal Lighthouse, I chatted to people along the way.  Not a single sign, you have to ask.  One lady, who used to live in Fingal, was at a family reunion.  She was a wealth of knowledge. 

We have driven across USA several times and I love US National Parks and their sense of history. Once we had booked to stay at the Big Ben National  Park on the border, I think there was a chilli ? festival on.  So the cops were out.  We got pulled over in the dark by two cops, one the good guy and one the bad guy. The bad guy reckoned we had been speeding.  We had a cheap rental car which would have fallen to bits had we gone too fast and I told him so. The younger child started to cry, so time to tell him we were visitors from Aust. Then It all turned on a dime and they couldn't have been friendlier, said to watch out for the bad guys, and sent us on our way. 

I love the story. It is truly amazing what you can learn from people if you just ask. Couldn't agree more. The National Parks in the US are spectacular. I think everyone who visits here AND lives here should visit them. Yellowstone in particular is in a class by itself. Now if you want a chuckle at some people's expense, do a google search on "tourons of national parks" and watch some of the videos. The word "tourons" was created by someone who crossed the words tourists and morons. The videos are of people doing some pretty incredibly STUPID things in the National Parks, like trying to get a selfie with a grizzly bear and her cubs. Nature seems to have a way of dealing with human stupidity. Nancy and I have witnessed some of these types of actions personally. Not all involve animals. We've seen people at the Grand Canyon sitting with their legs dangling over the side. The Grand Canyon averages more than a mile deep straight down. That's over 1600 meters. We ALL do stupid things. I have certainly done more than my share, but some actions defy even the slightest bit of common sense. I don't think I ever fell into that category. I liked the cop story about you getting pulled over. It all worked out. Yes, you have to watch the cops in the USA, they don't have the same sense of humor the cops in Oz have.😉