Darwin, Northern Territory

G'day sports fans, now in Darwin and it is really, really hot. Houston has got nothing on Darwin, as a matter of fact, Houston folks are just a bunch of commie pinko bedwetters compared to the folks in Darwin. Darwin is also a city that is rich in history from WWII. Lots of monuments and tours of the underground oil storage facilities. It's a nice place to visit but wouldn't want to visit it in the summer again, after about 11:00 AM it's just too hot to go wandering around outside. I'm planning to take in a crocodile feeding exhibition in the next couple of days, already got 2 geocaches, but plan to spend the hot afternoons in pursuit of cooler activities. Did I mention how good the beer is down here. Cheers

Cairns

Cairns was bustling for the first two days, but now it's Sunday and things are much quieter. Spent the whole day yesterday geocaching and only found about 5. There are an amazing number of mountains around here and it's very difficult to find the roads that lead to where you want to go. Fortunately, I have the GPS with me so I'm never lost. Just this morning I hiked up a trail over the airport to find a cache and took several shots of planes taking off, just to give you a feel for how high up the cache was. Also this morning I hiked a half mile up a trail to Barron Gorge, only to find that the guy what hid the geocache did a real good number. Wasn't one of my brainier days as I did a bit of mountain climbing and dangling over precipices to find the thing, but I eventually got it. Note to self; not as young as used to be and should be much smarter in the future. Tomorrow I head out in late afternoon for Darwin and more fun. Hope all is well for you folks in the real world. Somebody say happy birthday to Nick for me, it's Dec 2. Also, Bob and Jess if you're reading this and heading to Cairns, I recommend staying at the Novotel in downtown Cairns if you want some up close experiences with flying foxes. There are a couple thousand that roost on the hotel and library grounds and come sunset they are quite a distraction as they argue and fly. And the beer is still damned good.

Trinity Beach

Okay folks, it's a problem trying to upload pictures, as nobody seems to have picasa to upload images. On a new computer now and will see how that goes. Otherwise you folks may have to wait until I can find an internet connection for my lap top.

Trinity Beach is awesome. Forget Cairns if you're looking for a nice place to stay and good grub to eat, Trinity Beach has it all and it's quiet. Will post photos of the restaurant that has the best Thai food ever. Yep no exclusions. You say you want pizza, well there's also a place here that has pizza that is better than New York pizza, it's not the best because it's missing Wisconsin cheese, but it's damned good. You say you like fish and chips, well there's a little corner bar that has incredible Hoky or Spanish Mackerel and it's cheap to boot. Also having a blast geocaching and visiting the great northeast corner of Australia. I've seen a snake up close and personal, a couple of giant spiders, and almost ran over Skippy, but forging on. Watch for the pix. Oh yeah, the beer is better than in the States as well.

November 21, Life is Good Again

Well hi sports fans. Just checked in and found out Wisconsin won and Green Bay won, the weather in Detroit is about 30F less than here with about 4 hours less sunlight and beer that isn't nearly as good. Yep, things are looking up. After a very rough start, things are finally starting to roll along. I still have to correct some reservations after losing flights with Qantas, but that hopefully won't be too horrible. I will also post some pictures when I am on my personal computer again, right now I'm in an internet cafe.

Thus far have 2 geocaches in Australia, and have released the Archmeister travel bug. I staying in a little town north of Cairns called Trinity Beach, and have only sampled Victoria Bitter as of this posting. Hopefully, that number will go up significantly. I constantly worry about all the work left behind and whether Chris Tanguay will still be alive when I get back (there's nobody there to protect him). Hopefully as I increase the number of cleansing ales intake, these worries will go away. If any of you are planning a trip to Australia, don't exchange money until after you reach Australian shores, you'll get about 5% more. I already made the mistake that I won't repeat.

November 17th, Uuuugggghhhhh

Today is not a good day to live vicariously through me. Started out good as JB got me to the airport with lots of time to spare, but took a dive when United Airlines (worst care anywhere) forced me to miss connections, which means I'm still in the US. Also, when I didn't get to Qantas on-time for my flight (there is only one per day to Brisbane, and others to Australia, but they all take off at about the same time) I was considered a no show, and all my Qantas reservations were released. Running low on sleep and patience, have most of my schedule back, but not sure if I have a hotel to stay in on first nights in Australia, and must rebook hotels because I couldn't get one of my original flights back. Positive spin, met a hindu guy at hotel for night, he too hates Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, and has a lot of answers to problems in US. Certainly wish I could have videotaped his replies for DO and DB. Oh, and Wisconsin won, Packers hopefully will too.

So You're Gonna Live Vicariously Through John eh

Australia Here I Come. Yep in a few days I'm off to sunshine, warmth, cold beer, fresh seafood and the great outdoors. First stop is Cairns, gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, but I doubt I'll do the reef this time. First stop, rainforests and beach, and just wandering. Sit back, relax, and hope you enjoy the pix and posts.