Hey folks, Although it says I'm still in Brisbane, I have made it safely back to the comforts of my own home in Michigan! Both flights went off without a hitch and I was back in time to drop down to Yukon's for a quick beer before returning home to do a bit of writing. Let me start by stating that this trip was a complete blessing for me, from beginning to end. The time spent with Michelle and with the folks I met at Gaia gave me what I needed to start off fres...

My last night in Oz. I arrived back in Brisbane in the early afternoon and made my way to the Hilton. The accomodations were fantastic and the view from the room on the 19th floor overlooked the Brisbane Museum of Art. Had dinner with Ken, Marie and their son, Anthony. I met them last year at my friends home and we got on well together. We set the date before I left the US and the plans came together. We dined at the Hilton's Atrium restaurant and spent a c...

Hey Kids!! I've been having the time of my life at Gaia! Just left there today and had an extremely enjoyable time!! Met a number of very nice ladies and a few fine gents and we spent our meals pretty muchlaughing our fool heads off!!! (Big shout out from Shazzer to my girls: Linda, Isabelle, Richelle, Jane and Sandra and my gent Stuart!!) ONJ was not present but that did not take away from the experience one little bit! Although Leanne, their manager, bore a s...

So, it is 4:40 am on Sunday morning and I'm FINALLY back home. I arrived on a foggy Detroit winter morning to 40 degree Farenheit weather after waking at 6 a.m. on Saturday Jan. 5th in Sydney (which was 1 pm Thursday, here in Ann Arbor) and my day(s) since went as follows: I have been on a plane with an unscheduled stop in Brisbane, Australia (10 am - 11:40 a.m). We deplane in Brisbane as they have to "replace the engine" and handle some "mechani...

So... last night, thanks to Geno who encouraged me to do things I might otherwise not do, I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Surprisingly it was not a hard climb and as I admitted I was an acrophobic, I was pulled to the very front of the line. It is really a shame they do not allow you to take cameras up with you, as the views are totally amazing. It was so worth the money. I did an evening climb for the lights of the city and the Opera House. I'm having trou...