The words “I can’t believe we are moving to a city neither of us know” were the first to come out of my mouth as we flew into Brisbane. All of a sudden I felt very nervous and disorganized. “Where are we going to live… where am I going to work?”. Reality is a funny thing. I had been so busy dreaming about our move but didn’t actually have a concrete plan. Thankfully everything came together for us at the last minute. Michelle was a saving grace and offered us a room for our first few nights, and Nat’s uncle rented us his flat in Morningside until we found our own place (into which we have yet to move…).

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We flew into Sydney as the sun was rising and the city looked spectacular – the harbour was sparkling and the icons were all on show. I couldn’t help but feel a bit choked up. We had a quick stopover in Sydney for my best friend Beth’s wedding. Unfortunately, the holiday was over for Mark: back to work (in internet cafes!); but we did sneak in a few nice Sydney things. We had sushi (several times) and a picnic in the botanical gardens on a picture perfect day with Nat and Mike. Since arriving in Australia we’ve had catch up after catch up with old friends. It has been so exciting to see everyone and people have been so accommodating and helpful to us. Continue reading…

Our adventure continued on Amtrak from Omaha to Denver, Colorado, where we stopped and spent two nights with Derek, Debbie and Dylan. Derek is one of Mark’s good friends from childhood (and he hosts this site for us on his server!). He had a great itinerary planned for us. After dropping our bags at Derek and Debbie’s beautiful new house we took off for brunch in the happening university town of Boulder. Man, we have eaten well this trip and Colorado offered us another great feast. We had brunch at the gorgeous Boulder Tea House which served a nice fusion of brunch dishes. We followed this up with a walk around Boulder and a short hike in the foothills. In the evening Debbie and Derek took us to a fabulous Korean BBQ restaurant where we ate lots of pickled things and barbecued tonnes of different meats. The next morning we rose at the crack of the sparrows and drove with Derek into the Rocky Mountains. We did a 5-6 mile hike in the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park, where we saw Elk and squirrels and were rewarded at the summit of our hike by a stunning view of a crystal clear lake full of trout, backed by snowcapped mountains. Then back to Denver and out for another yummy meal – local hosts make traveling so much easier.
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