Often while traveling we discover that we are a day too early or too late for a special event in a given city. By luck, our visit to Takayama coincided with the two-day Spring Festival, which is considered one of the most beautiful festivals in Japan.
We continued our adventure through Japan by getting some hotel rooms in the middle of Tokyo, ideally positioned for checking out all that this humungous city has to offer.
Yokosuka is best known throughout Japan for having a large American Naval Base. For us, Yokosuka was a place to visit our friends for a wonderful introduction to Japan, where we would be spending the next three weeks.
After getting open water certified in Thailand, we knew we had to make time for diving the Great Barrier Reef while in Australia. To maximum our diving time and have a new adventure, we booked a 2-night, 10-dive liveaboard scuba trip off of the coast of Cairns several weeks prior to our arrival Australia.
Sydney is a beautiful city with a lot to do. Luckily we had a great tour guide, Jon’s cousin Marilynn, who was studying abroad.
Stopping at coastal towns and beautiful views on our drive north to Sydney was sure a treat, but more time and better weather would have sweetened the deal.
Geelong was a special stop on our trip for us. It was one of the rare times when we really got to see a city through a local’s eyes and experience a place beyond the way a tourist does.
Melbourne was the first metropolis we’d visited in a while and it appeared to have a cool urban vibe to it. Street art and food are king in Melbourne and both can be found down the alleys and laneways which Melbourne is known for.
In a beautiful lakeside setting, Queenstown has become known for bungee jumping and backpacking. However for us Queenstown was about exploring the nearby region of lakes, wineries, and glaciers.
To recover from our hike, we took a few days to drive leisurely down the coast of the the South Island of New Zealand. The well established Southern Scenic Route had lots of options for activities along the way ranging from hikes and wildlife preserves to historic lighthouses and fishing villages.
Herr We Go 