Greetings and happy new year, L'ORIENTals. Lots to report and to preview. We've been back to the US, made huge plans, and, of course, spent kilo-dollars on travel and L'ORIENT.
Brisbane Airport........you get used to stuff like this in Australia
To catch you up, we took the short, convenient, and inexpensive (sarcasm alert) flight from Brizzy to LAX and on to Chicago. After catching our breath, we then went to Wisconsin to visit Kirstin's dad. We were greeted by brisk midwestern temperatures (sub zero)........remember it's trending toward Summer in Australia so our limited inventory of winter clothes was required. An early snow at the beginning of December tested our very rusty snow shoveling skills, as someone close to us had inexplicably bought an electric snow shovel which only worked on dry snow less than 4 inches deep. Unfortunately, the actual snow was wet and far deeper. No hard feelings, as Kirstin and I recovered the use of both frost-bitten hands later, in Charlotte. My occupational therapist expects me to make a full recovery although my decision to not pursue concert pianist as a vocation has turned out to be a good call.
Just another morning in Wisconsin
Friends since the Nixon administration! That's the midwest, in a nutshell
Birthday wishes are best with bubbly
We then had a quick visit with our Tobacco Road relatives in the Carolinas. As my alma mater the University of Virginia (UVA) was involved in a conference championship game with a college football playoff spot on the line (that's how the national championship is decided), Kirstin and I went to chilly Bank of America Stadium to watch the mighty Cavaliers play Duke with Ryan, a UVA super fan. UVA managed to steal defeat from the jaws of victory while we shivered in the 35 degree temperatures. Now that colleges are paying players, it became apparent that UVA's alumni and boosters must be less financially successful than I assumed, based on the quality of play I witnessed. I, for one, plan on continuing my donation boycott based on this hapless performance. It was fun, but brutal. Fortunately, UVA's typical football prowess means that championship football is a once in 100 years event, so won't be doing that any time soon. Wah-hoo-wah!
The long faces behind us speak volumes about the game
Lost feeling in my hands and feet before half time (the game went to over-time)
Next up was our pilgrimage to Nashville to see Ryan. Some yummy food, a hockey game, and lots of play with our grand-puppy Heidi ensued.
Only thing better than one big dog............two !
Then on to Jacksonville to visit..........you guessed it.........a REAL PRINCESS. Emily took us to see her NFL team - the one she works for - and we cheered our lungs out as the suddenly resurgent Jaguars demolished the hapless NJ Jets. More wining and dining was on order, as Emily has now mastered her surroundings in Jacksonville and the surrounding area. We even met her dizzying array of friends........there were so many 30-somethings about that it felt like we were in a beer commercial but it was fun.
Everbank stadium and it's suddenly loyal fanbase.....13-4 does that !
Being an NFL big-shot, Emily always scores us great seats and Jaguars swag
We made a quick drive south to see my doctor in Miami, then west to Naples and my mother. More eating out.......too little exercise........and I achieved the impossible. After losing 35 lbs through careful dieting in Australia, I gained 8 lbs back in 5 weeks in the USA. Ugh. I think that's 20,000 sit-ups.
Mexican food with mom
We also were able to buy some wheels for mom, who was having difficulty with the walk to the dining hall. The solution? A motorized chair. After some pushback and trepidation, not to mention a commitment to "never raise the speed above 1 bar", she's now happily zipping around her place at 3 bars. "Why do all these people walk so slowly?" Nobody adapts as well as my mother.
Mom test driving her new wheels; mastered it in about 20 minutes
I think we drove about 2500 miles during these five weeks. Somehow, Kirstin and I never run out of things to talk about after almost 24 years - weird.
The iconic Sydney Opera House
So, to ring in the new year with a bang, Kirstin and I flew from LAX to Sydney to see the fireworks and be among the first people on Earth to celebrate 2026. Sydney has two different fireworks shows centered on the bridge over the harbor and on barges floating around it. For lack of a better descriptor, it was breathtaking. But the functioning of the city itself was equally amazing. Over 1,000,000 people come to Sydney as tourists for this event. The police and municipal workers quickly erect crowd management fencing, signage, and viewing areas........mostly at the last minute.
Ta-da.........just in time crowd control systems (and importantly, porta-potties)
And the "first movers" staking out a viewing spot
Portable bathrooms, food truck, information stations.........nothing is left to chance. And by about 10:00 AM the next morning, it's all gone. Abracadabra........normal Sydney again. Not a soda bottle, hot dog wrapper, nothing in sight. As if by magic. This feat of logistics was almost as impressive as the show itself.
A travel tip for doing New Years Eve - Stay at The Pier One Sydney hotel on the water next to the Harbour Bridge. OK, it is a bit of a bucket list splurge, but it is a wonderful hotel and they throw a great party. Camping out 12 hours before the fireworks go off in an alcohol free zone is not the way we roll. (check your volume before clicking on the below video - kaboom!)
This bridge must require megawatts on Dec 31
Some high rolling Aussies........driving "stink-pots"
More like it........a fake tall ship.......very festive
Jaw dropping pyrotechnics
There is much more to Sydney than just fireworks. For example, plant thiefs. We have been to numerous botanical gardens on this sailing adventure, but the below sign was a first for us. We talked to an employee of the amazing Royal Botanic Garden and she had firsthand experience catching a ne'er do well with a trowel digging up a favorite plant. Ah, to only deal with plant crimes - a dream place.
Australian crime wave, apparently - but you can see why people want these plants
Bondi Beach had been in the news for several weeks due to the recent mass shooting. The New Years Eve fireworks featured a moment of silence before the show and everyone around us at the party was absolutely quiet. We hiked the amazing Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach cliff walk with what seemed like everyone in Sydney. It is truly a stunning walk and another feat of Australian park infrastructure. These are the beaches you always see when Sydney is mentioned and now we know why.
Nice urban hike with 1,000,000 of our new friends
Sydney is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world
Some "spendy" condos overlooking the beach
Salt water pool in case you don't want a shark encounter
There are some world class properties on this stretch of beaches and it just reinforced what we say almost daily while here - Australians really have an amazing quality of life.
Not a Hilton in sight
Swim at your own risk
Alas, we had now been away from the boat for six weeks and on our 11th hotel of the visit so it was time to start heading back to the boat.
The drive from Sydney to our marina in Scarborough is just short of 1,000 kilometers, or 10 hours by car so we needed to break it up. First stop, Shoal Bay. Known for its hiking, beaches, and huge sand dunes, Shoal Bay was quite a find.
More unspoiled stunning coastline
Virtually ever person in Australia lives along the coast. It's 120F degrees in the outback right now
Safe from sharks and crocs; just snakes, lizards, and leeches to watch out for
Camel tracks........in Australia
Stockton Sand Dunes is the other big draw in this area. It is the largest coast dunes in the Southern Hemisphere and goes on for 20 miles. We were tempted by the availability of camel rides. Alas, we didn't go for it this time, as the pasty white tourists in line didn't realize that the camel track was merely a large circle near the parking lot........a far cry from our camel rides in the Sahara in Morocco years ago. We passed on it. Stunning spot though - sand as far as the eye can see.
Australian version of Six Flags
This is a continuous sand dune
It seems to go on forever
Shoal Bay reminded us to pass along a little insider knowledge to you about traveling to Australia. Don't come here between December 15th and the end of January. Why? Every school child has this time off for winter break and thus it seems like all of Australia is on vacation at once. Caravan parks, jammed. Hotels, full to overflowing. Restaurants, make a booking well in advance or you are eating chips for dinner. We discovered this last year when traveling with Emily and Shoal Bay brought it all back.
Aussies LOVE camping; some of their technology is amazing
Bondi Beach - mass shootings and sharks don't keep Australians away
We drove on to Dorrigo, the quintessential Australian small town in the mountains. Way more cattle than people. How small? None of the Aussies in Queensland had even heard of Dorrigo. "Where's that, mate?" Despite the obscurity of this place, we enjoyed the national park and saw five waterfalls. Dorrigo's draw is that it is a world heritage rainforest and it felt a bit like walking through Jurassic Park The hiking was excellent, if challenging to those of us who don't enjoy heights.
The jungle puts 5 lbs on you
View from Dorrigo's mountains........nice sunset
The National Park had a helpful warning to keep an eye out for leeches on the path that crawl up your shoes before embedding into your leg for a tasty snack.
Not what you think of when imaging Australia
A suspension bridge so tourists can walk behind a waterfall? Aussies spare no expense.
With only 28 million people in an area the size of the US, a lot of unspoiled beauty
By now I was done with waterfalls and wanted happy hour
The hotel room was memorable for being forgettable. There was exactly one restaurant open for dinner in Dorrigo (think Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show for context). Surprisingly this restaurant wasn't bad and had a surprisingly diverse menu. The whole town closes at 8:00 PM. Everything. Very Australian........up at 5:00 AM with the sun, asleep as it gets dark.
The only restaurant........no booking required
Kitschy place for brekky (using the local lingo is key to getting anything here)
Australia's relatively high sales tax comes back to you in the form of national parks and infrastructure. Expensive bridges, walkways, parks (all looking brand new) everywhere - even places nobody's heard of. We recommend Dorrigo, if you can locate it.
The few thousand people who can find this place enjoy millions of dollars in infrastructure
Having had enough of the mountains, we headed for the coast again and Yamba. Yamba is a laid-back seaside town with mid centrury motels, campgrounds, and a working class on holiday vibe to it. We rather enjoyed our few nights there. We found a placid patch of water in the bay and lounged in the ocean for hours on end. What else would you do at a beach, you might ask? In Australia you generally look for a pool that gets you close to, but not in, the ocean. And that would be because of the sharks - four shark attacks occurred in 48 hours around the Sydney area over the New Years Eve period and that gets your attention. This is an area where Australians excel - Yamba is lucky as you have your choice between naturally occurring salt water pools and fresh water pools plus a man-made seawater pool. While we are freaked out by the constant coverage of sharks and attacks here, Aussies seem to take it in stride and have a rather fatalistic attitude about it all. Staying away from the water is just not the Aussie way.
Trying to keep the sharks out of the pool
Shark proof tidal pool
Next to the ocean but not in it - excellent idea!
By the beginning of the 2nd week of January, we had been away from the boat for almost seven weeks. We had checked in and out of 14 hotels and, to our knowledge, not left anything behind. We were still hauling 200 lbs of boat parts and dirty clothes that we were mixing and matching to create color and relatively stain-free ensembles.........in short, it was time to go home. Reuniting with L'ORIENT is always nerve wracking after this long off the boat. Especially after our neighbor four slips away alerted us that an electrical storm had damaged his boat. We unloaded our gear and went about testing everything on the boat that had a capacitor or circuit board (in short, almost everything). As of this writing, no damage.......yet. Whew.
So what next?
We've committed to seeing Oz properly this year..........at least until August when we leave for Indonesia. So next week we're leaving for Tasmania to tour Australia's most alluring area. Three weeks of driving around and exploring nature, wineries, and beaches.
March will bring us to the Outback, Australia's wild (and desolate) west. We felt like we can't leave Australia without an outback experience, so we're headed to Alice Springs, Uluru, and the surrounding area. Should be amazing.
And best of all, THE PRINCESS is making an encore trip to Oz in June/July. Emily was so smitten with her earlier trip here that she is following through on her vow to return. The Whitsunday Islands will be our destination as Emily gets her feet wet on L'ORIENT again. We will have to tidy up her cabin........we've put some spare parts on her bunk since she's been away. We're hoping to get her to Magnetic Island (just north of the Whitsundays) where they apparently have 800 wild koalas roaming free. We will definitely do a head count and bag check to be sure she doesn't remove one and take it back to Jacksonville. You'll recall that during her earlier trip to the Brisbane area, Emily developed personal relationships with these cuddly critters during her parent-subsidized "special snuggle time" add-on at the koala rescue zoo.
So buckle yourself in, L'ORIENTals. No more lolly-gagging for two years everywhere we go. The pace of our travels will be dramatically quickening as we try to get back to the Caribbean quickly. We begin in Scarborough but hope to take you to Malaysia (or Thailand) by year's end. We wish all of you a fantastic year of adventure!
Australia Day (their 4th of July)........they have something here to be proud of
