Australia, Japan and beyond...

Saturday, April 01, 2006 a 9:58am
By jodi

Well I've finally got around to uploading photos from my (or should I say our) trip to Australia back in January, along with a few shots from my brief, but fun stay in Tokyo.

It's been a busy few months for me, with work taking up the best part of 65hrs per week. But as you can see I've managed to squeeze in some much needed travel!

Australia was absolutely fantastic. I went back for the marriage of my friends Amy and Alex, and as you can see from the photos, both they and the day were stunning! I spent the majority of my first week helping with the final preparations, and celebrations before the big day, while Craig went down to Victoria to take in some of Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road.

He may add in an entry of his own, but as far as I can tell the highlights were seeing koalas, kangaroos , "furry" penguins, talking parrots and wombats - he also managed to find time to take a trip down the Great Ocean Rd and to some local wineries - which by all accounts he greatly enjoyed!

After the wedding we headed down to Shellhabour to see my grandparents and celebrate Craig's 26th birthday (he's finally catching up with me!) We then hired a car and drove down the south coast, stopping in at Berry, Gerrigong, Nowra, Longreach, and Jervis Bay. The absolute highlight was staying at the Longreach Retreat, where we rented a converted creamery for three days. Surrounded by bushland, and fronting onto a river, it was the perfect place to relax. While there Craig had his first swim in a river (who knows how you can get to 26 without ever having done that!)and we also enjoyed a mini canoe trip across the river (though due to capsizing and much shakiness, Craig chose to cling to the sides while I did the rowing!) Quite amusing.

Our trip down the South Coast basically brought Craig's stay to a finish, though he did get to celebrate Australia Day in true style - complete with a barbecue and trip to the beach.

After Craig left back to the U.K I stayed on with my relatives in Shellharbour, and then caught up with some cousins in Sydney. All in all it was a fantastic 3 weeks and I struggled with the idea of leaving again.

I did leave however, and on my return trip I stopped over in Tokyo for two nights. I was very fortunate to have a personal tour guide (thanks Will!) who not only took me to the best sushi restaurant in Tokyo (and perhaps the world), but also showed me the bright lights and gave me the chance to belt out a round of songs at a Karaoke bar (who would have thought singing could be so liberating!).

Since being back - well it's been hard getting used to the idea of being back! But I'm doing my best. We currently have trips planned to Wales, Scotland, Egypt, Rome and a couple of other yet undecided destinations, so still a lot to look forward to...

And that's about it for now. I'll add some more photos once we get back from our trips.

Entries from Apr 01, 2006:

Apr 1, 2006

Jodi