One thing we have quickly learned about Sydney is that the weather is much like it is in San Francisco. Unpredictable. The promised forecasts have rarely come true, and for the most part we’ve been lucky. Thanks to the lack of rain we have been able to walk all over the city, visit the Sydney Opera house, and take a ferry out to Manly Beach. Finally toward the close of yesterday did the storm clouds roll in, with the promise of much rain today.

But this morning we woke up, nary a cloud in the sky. Our plans of taking in a movie during the inclement weather seem to have been dashed. My vote is for the botanical gardens… we’ll see.

To the right, please enjoy a few of the photos from the past few days.

We have safely arrived in Sydney, with thoughts of New Zealand still fresh in our minds. Auckland is an amazing city, reminiscent of San Francisco and Vancouver, its denizens friendly and gracious. There’s almost a 1950s feel to the place, not that I was around at that time to say for sure.

Since it is winter (they seem to skip the fall entirely), the weather was a bit dodgy and we were unable to be as adventurous as we would have liked. Hobbiton and the glow worm caves were unfortunately out. So we decided to stay close to Auckland and the local environs.

To the right you’ll find a few snapshots from our travels. Some of the highlights include Skycity Tower, Rangitoto Island and the black sands of Piha Beach along the western coast.

The updates should be coming more frequently now, so, it’s off to the Sydney Opera House. Toodles!

We’re off again! This time to New Zealand and Australia (not the whole continent mind you, just Auckland and Sydney) for a much needed holiday. It’s my second trip to the land down under, and Chad’s first. Joey, a friend of Chad’s since college, will be joining us as well. Finally we will have someone around to take pictures too.

As usual, the plan is to post pictures and write about our travels daily, (weather and energy level permitting), so hope you will check in often. To receive updates by email, click on the “Email Udates” link to the right to subscribe to the blog.

Until next time… Chookas!

Well, truth be told, we’ve been back for some time but it’s always difficult getting back into the swing of things.

For those of you who don’t know we decided to go domestic this time around and went on an “east coast tour.” We started in Atlanta and ended up in New York by way of Washington D.C. It was a fun trip despite the abnormally hot weather, and it’s always good to spend time with old friends. I’ve posted some pictures from the Washington D.C. portion of the trip, with New York and Atlanta to follow.

D.C. is a walking city, and there is much to be seen on foot. The architecture and monuments that surround you are both amazing and formidable, their scale more than a little symbolic. And it’s hard not to feel a sense of reverence for the history and sacrifice that envelopes every monument and every historical document, as you stand where MLK gave his famous speech, or look down on the fading words of the Declaration of Independence. For a moment you forget the politics and you’re filled with pride — pride in what we as a people, now and in the past, have accomplished.

That is, until you get back to the hotel and turn on the local news. But that’s another story…

Now, back to the swinging.