It’s starting to get “real” that I’m actually going to be heading to Australia in about three weeks. Up until tonight it has just been something that I knew was coming, something in the future, but tonight I made my first hotel reservation while in Sydney, and now the trip seems real. I still don’t know where I’m going to visit except for Sydney for at least three days, after that it’s either north to Brisbane or south to Melbourne.  Brisbane is the best place to access The Great Barrier Reef, while Melbourne is the best city-scene. Brisbane’s a little further away but it may be worth it to do some snorkeling. I still have reservations about traveling during the holidays, but what can I do?

One of the great things about being a professor is the amount of time that I have off during the year, and with the upcoming break I’ll have more than two weeks to get lost somewhere in the world. This year it’s going to be Australia.

I’ve got mixed emotions about traveling down under though. The main reason is that I usually like a “culture shock” when I travel and I’m pretty sure I won’t get that during this trip. It will be fun, and I’m definitely looking forward to it, but it will most likely be more of a “got to see it” vacation.

The basic itinerary for the adventure is to fly into Sydney (already have my tickets) and make my way up the coast to the Gold Coast known for being at the Great Barrier Reef, if I understand it correctly. I expect about three days in Sydney, and hopefully four days in the Gold Coast. With travel that makes nine days, the remaining time will be doing whatever I want, even it that just means vegging on the beach.