Mike and Jan’s Australia and New Zealand Adventure Journal

10/10/06 – The End. As I write this final entry in my journal it is hard to remember all of the adventures that Jan and I have just experienced. In the past 35 days we have stayed in 16 hotels, motels, lodges, resorts and spas; been transported by: planes, trains, automobiles, vans, buses, err, “coaches”, boats, ferries, alpine gondolas, swimming fins and helicopters. We saw rain forests, the barrier reef, mountains, desert, tourist icons and a lot of asphalt. Our weather was mostly wet, but we did have some beautiful days in beautiful places and the desert was hot. We came across warm, friendly people, met some new friends from America and renewed our love for each other. Not much more you could ask from a vacation, I would say.
We hope you enjoy this photographic memory.
Mike and Jan

9/6/06 - We took off from the SW Florida airport on time headed for Miami to catch our connection to Los Angeles. Somewhere over the Everglades the plane started to circle. The pilot announced that we were in a holding pattern due to weather in Miami. Little did we know what a holding pattern it would be. After about 45 minutes he came back on and reported we were being diverted to Key West to get refueled and wait for clearance in Miami. So, ironically, we entered the Conch Republic as our first international destination. We finally arrived in Miami about 5 hours late. To our dismay, we missed our scheduled flight to L.A. To our delight we found that American had rescheduled us for an 8pm flight. Our luck continued to hold as we ended up with just the two of us in a 3 seat row. The 5 hour flight was uneventful and we arrived at the LAX Radisson around midnite, which was 3am eastern. We slept, got up early and had breakfast at the hotel.
9/7/06 - To kill some time we hired a car and were taken to Beverly Hills. I was able to pick up an a/c adaptor for the Macbook (hopefully, the only item overlooked) and we then went to the Urth Café in Beverly Hills. We got a photo of me with the poster for the gorilla coffee and then sat down with a Latte and hot chocolate. As our further good luck was with us, it turns out the owner of the Urth Café was in the shop and we recognized him from a video we had seen on the web. I introduced myself and, after a moment to connect the dots, we ended up having a great chat. It was kind of fun to get his perspective. He was very complimentary of my photos and indicated the gorilla coffee had quickly sold out. We met his wife and the shop manager and left with gifts of Urth products.
We then hopped back in the car and the driver gave us a mini tour of some of the homes of the movie stars in Beverly Hills and Bel Air. It was fun to see how the other half lived, although most of the homes were almost invisible with fencing and foliage.
Back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon. Watched the US Open Tennis tournament, had dinner in the hotel grille and then headed over to the airport. Check in was a breeze and here we sit waiting to board as I write this.
9/9/06-We arrive in Sydney after a 14 hour flight.