Cheers from down under! The 15 hour flight to Sydney went by surprisingly fast. Both of us got 4-5 hours sleep, which made a huge difference for day 1. We decided a while ago that our best plan of action was to not stop moving to ensure we adjusted to the time difference as quickly as possible, so we hit the ground running. Grabbed a taxi from the airport,  got early check-in at our hotel, dropped our bags, and went out to explore Sydney. We walked around the Rocks area, grabbed lunch, and took in the harbor bridge and opera house.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge

While there, Joe saw a few guys with really nice cameras and decided they would be the right guys to ask to take our picture. As I looked them over, it occurred to me that they were really nice cameras, and there were a ton of them. As the guy took Joe's camera, he looked at what settings it was on, flipped out the screen and started to play around with it. Joe started to direct him. "Don't worry about that man, you don't need the flash," or "You don't need to see the screen, you can just look through the viewfinder." The guy didn't respond, but he and his friends started chuckling. After he quickly snapped maybe 15 photos in a way that made me feel like he was a fashion photographer and we were his models, he walked over and gave Joe a lesson on his own camera. This is why a flash is better in this situation, this is why I was looking at this, etc. As we walked away we saw 4 or 5 more photographers show up, and some kind of an event planner walk over with an ear piece and start corralling them. Who knows who they were, but I laughed for a few blocks recalling Joe trying to tell the pro how to work a camera.

After the harbor, we caught an uber over to Bondi beach which is about 15 minutes from the city center. There are lots of stores and cafes to walk around, and you can just walk onto the beach and hang out which is great. We had a little picnic of sparkling water and edamame, and watched surfers grabbing (or trying to grab) some pretty large waves (probably not large by bondi standards, but certainly larger than the Jersey shore).

Then we walked a portion of the coastal walk, which runs from Bondi to Coogee and is beautiful. We were too tired to do the whole thing, so we got a taste and walked back to town to check out Icebergs for a cocktail and to take in the view.

Joe walking on the Coastal Walk just outside of Bondi Beach

From right outside Icebergs, looking out at Bondi Beach

After that we sat down at a local spot a few blocks off the main drag for burgers and beers, and I nearly fell asleep at the table. The food was delish, and we were totally spent. It was a very successful first day.

Our favorite thing about Sydney: Bondi beach

Wednesday morning we woke up and headed to the airport for the next part of the journey.

JFK ⇾ LAX ⇾ SYD ⇾ HTI ⇾ CHC ⇾ QST ⇾ WLG ⇾ KOALA ⇾ Picton (via ferry) ⇾ BHE ⇾AKL ⇾ LAX ⇾ JFK.

Hamilton Island is on the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef, and is about 2 hours by boat inside the reef. We're going to take a boat out to the reef tomorrow (Thursday) for a few hours of snorkeling which we're both really excited for. We were able to book a boat out to the reef, and we're taking a helicopter back. Apparently there's a pontoon landing pad or something in the middle of the ocean that we'll be taking off from. Neither of us have ever ridden in a helicopter before. Adventures!

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening yesterday lounging around the hotel, walking the beach, and sitting by the pool. The birds here are very interesting and bold. A cockatoo who considered taking our chicken sandwiches from our plates but thought better of it. We got out of the pool at dusk, and while we were gathering our things I noticed a huge bird fly into the tree right by us. Suddenly Joe says, "Is that bird upside down?" As he said that I saw two more huge birds fly overhead... only they had webbed wings. They were bats. Huge, huge bats. It was pretty much like batman was flying in the sky. Funny thing I learned about my husband in that moment - he hates bats. He is terrified of them. Ha - who knew? As we walked back to our bungalow we looked up and saw thousands of them (this is somewhere else in Aus, but you get the idea). They were everywhere. They're called flying fox bats - these are the black variety. They really do look like batman. As it turns out, they're called macrobats, and are one of the largest in the world. Their wingspan is 1-2 meters. But they're totally vegetarian, so you know, there's that. Here, have a look!

Our bungalow is very relaxing, so on that note I'm off to lounge in the hammock.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

I miss Lily. I digress.

Here we are - ready to embark on an epic adventure together. Neither of us have ever taken a trip like this and we're so excited. Three weeks ago Joe and I were sitting in our apartment talking about when we might like to go on our honeymoon. On a whim, we tried Thanksgiving weekend and suddenly we were calling my Mom and Jackson to see if they could watch Lily (which they graciously agreed to. Huge thanks to both of you!!).

We tossed around ideas and landed a (mostly booked) itinerary, and away we go. We have completed our 1st of 10 flights on this trip (JFK ⇾ LAX), and are now sitting in LAX waiting for our 10:40pm flight to Sydney. Our itinerary looks like this...

JFK ⇾ LAX ⇾ SYD ⇾ HMI ⇾ CHC ⇾ QST ⇾ WLG ⇾ KOALA ⇾ Picton (via ferry) ⇾ BHE ⇾AKL ⇾ LAX ⇾ JFK.

I didn't hyperlink JFK or LAX for obvious reasons. There are a few transitions in this travel that aren't flights, but I including them in the city list anyway since that's the order of travel. That translates to a day or so in Sydney before heading to Hamilton Island and the Whitsundays, then connecting through Brisbane to Christchurch, NZ. From there we'll rent a car and drive to Queenstown where we'll hang out for a couple of days. We've only seen pictures but already know it's a region we'll want to come back to for at least a couple of weeks, because, I mean, come on.

Travel is one of my absolute favorite things in life. You get to meet new people, learn about different cultures, explore, open your mind and breathe in the world. Leaving a little bit to the unknown always makes for an even more exciting trip, so we're *mostly* planned, but have a few final things to book.

I'll add pictures and updates to this as we go, but to tide you over until then, here are the 4 places we'll be spending most of our time. We can't wait!!