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Our much anticipated excursion to the Great Barrier Reef from Queen Mary 2 docked at Yorkey’s Knob near Cairns, Australia turned out to be not quite what we had hoped for but did yield an absolutely amazing helicopter experience as we flew above Moore and Elephant Reefs.
Our excursion to Tamborine Mountain National Park immersed us in the history and culture of the Brisbane, Australia area giving us a chance to learn about characteristic and unique plants and animals as well as relaxing and savoring good food and drink. It was a day full of rich experiences.
An overnight stop in Sydney, Australia gave us the opportunity to get to know at least little of the history, culture, and landscape of this young nation melding with native traditions on an ancient bit of earth.
As longtime fans of the tales of Middle Earth crafted by J.R.R. Tolkien, we jumped at the opportunity to visit Hobbiton at Matamata NZ, the movie set crafted by Peter Jackson’s team for the filming of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Trilogies.
From Auckland we traveled west today into the Waitakere Ranges to the Aritaki Visitors Center then on the Piha Beach to
After five days at sea we arrived at the northern tip of New Zealand’s North Island for a day learning about the tiny glow worms and the gigantic Kauri trees as well as an overview of New Zealand history and culture.
Our two day visit to French Polynesia gave us an opportunity to learn more about the cultural and history of these islands. With museums and formal gardens Tahiti gave us lots of insight. On the other hand the less developed nearby island of Mo’orea gave us a peek into the soul of the islanders.
Our stop in Manzanilla gave us a taste of Old Mexico even as the area is a major container port. We enjoying learning about the production of sea salt, tasting amazing tropical fruits, and even participating in the making of mud bricks.
This passage was extraordinary since it was the maiden transit of Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 through the Post-Panamax locks of the Panama Canal and under the Bridge of the Americas. We feel so privileged to be a small part of this historic event.
This isn’t truly our first port of call since no passengers can debark but coming into the harbor of Cartagena, Columbia gave the two of us our first view of the continent of South America. After just a couple hours we continued our journey, heading next to Panama.
Planning a trip? Dreaming of travel? Perhaps some of our adventures could inspire yours! Over the last several years we’ve had the distinct pleasure of many cross country journeys traveling though the Lower 48 in tents and our various teardrop campers as well as an amazing Alaska adventure that did not involve a camper.
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The island nation of Mauritius was unfamiliar to us before we started planning this trip but today we got a wonderful introduction to this volcanic island that’s been peopled for less than 400 years. We drove past sugar cane fields and tea plantations, visited a vanilla farm, and savored a delicious Mauritian lunch while soaking up all sorts of information about the geology, history, and economy of this tiny country.
A visit the the Hindu shrines in Batu Caves involving a climb of 272 steps into an immense limestone cavern and a pewtersmithing workshop at Royal Selangor the world’s largest producer of pewter ware were our two very different adventures near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia made for an incredible day on our first visit to this Southeastern Asian country.
Singapore is an city-state located on an island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia that during its sixty years of independence has carefully and thoughtfully created an ultra modern city that honors its past as it looks to the future. One aspect has been promoting a Garden City to in part to improve livability, public health. Our first visit to this spectacular city concentrated on the incredible gardens here.