Brisbane is the perfect base to explore from. Travel 1 to 2 hours north or south and you have gorgeous beaches and more national parks than you will know what to do with.  We put together a suggested itinerary  for Nikki and Si and thought we would share it with you all.

Day 1 – Head to the beautiful North Coast of NSW. Take the Gateway Motorway south past Tweed Heads then turn off at the Tweed Valley Way for  Murwullimbah and Uki. Camp or stay at Uki for a night and do the hike to the top of Mount Warning early in the morning. You will probably be done by midday so you could spend the rest of the day at the beach or cruising around local national parks e.g. Border Ranges, Minyon Falls.

Day 2 – Head to Byron Bay via the Coast (we recommend you stop at Cabarita Beach and Brunswick Heads). Stay at least 1 night in Byron Bay, 2 if you can afford the time, and enjoy the beautiful beaches and relaxed atmosphere. The Top Pub is great for an afternoon bevy and people watching. Make sure you get away from Main Beach. Try exploring The Pass, Wategos, Kings (if you like nude beaches ).

Day  3 – Drive inland through the Byron Bay hinterland stopping at trendy little Bangalow  for  breakfast, lunch or dinner. Bangalow is a small town with lots of yummy places to eat and shop. For a great meal try Satiate or it’s more casual dining room Ate. When you are full of good food take a tour out to Nimbin. For a peaceful nights stay book into Black Sheep Farm or another bed and breakfast in this area.

Day 4 – Drive to the Granite Belt. This will take a couple of hours but it is a nice drive. Book into a bed and breakfast/camp site then head out for some wine touring or a hike at Bald Rock National Park.

Day 5 – Do a spot more wine touring or hiking  in the morning (don’t drink and drive!) and then head back to Brisbane.

Alternatively/additionally you could head North to Noosa, via Australia Zoo,  which also has gorgeous beaches and will be a bit warmer. You could head further still and go to World Heritage listed Fraser Island.

If you don’t want to travel then Brissy has a lot to keep you entertained. It has a great music scene. Some of our favourites music venues are The Zoo and the Tivoli. There are good markets (West End and New Farm to name a few), great museums and lots and lots of good cafes and restaurants.

Below is a link to a map flagging all of these great locations.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=104751528505320966123.00047337b335b6004e729&ll=-27.054234,153.099976&spn=4.309267,6.047974&z=8

After an amazing 10 days in Japan, our heads are still spinning from the bright lights, fast trains and general craziness of it all. We started in Tokyo, then hit the slopes in Nozawa Onsen and finished off with a cultural fix in Kyoto.

The food in Japan was amazing everywhere we went, from the cheap and cheerful Onigiri at train stations, to a big warming bowl of soba on the slopes, to the rowdy tavern atmosphere of an izakaya. There are so many places to eat and as you can see in our pictures, we ate our way around the country.

We were given a great introduction to the food culture at the start of our trip by attending two of Elizabeth Andoh’s cooking classes. Elizabeth is an amazing women with an intimate knowledge of Japanese culture and food. We purchased her cookbook so we will hopefully be preparing some tasty Japanese meals in the future. Continue reading…

(We’ve been married for almost four months, but thought we’d better finally post about the big day. What better time to do it than Valentine’s Day!)

We had an amazing and beautiful wedding on the beach at Cutter’s Reserve, Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland on October 25, 2009. We had 70 guests including our parents, most of Lakshmi’s aunts and uncles, and many of our great friends from around the globe.

We made it a whole weekend of fun activities including a surf lesson on Friday (unfortunately the surf was flat that day!), barefoot bowls on Saturday, and our wedding and reception on Sunday afternoon.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather, as you can see in the photos. Our guests told us that they even saw dolphins and a manta Ray swim behind us during the ceremony!

We had a delicious reception dinner at Amis Restaurant, and our delectable cake was made by our talented friend Krista.

Thanks to everyone who came and made it an unforgettable day. Click the link to see all the photos!
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Last Valentine’s day my mum surprised us all by proposing to Darren. They planned to get married in 2009 which would be their 20th anniversary. We had many conversations about the wedding over Skype and I witnessed a renewed romantic spark in their relationship. They decided to have the wedding in my aunt and uncle, Lyn and Biddy’s, garden. They chose to make it a double wedding with my cousin Pip and her partner Geoff.

The wedding took place on the 14th of February 2009. It was a great celebration with lots of family and old friends. It was a very special day and many people commented on how good it was to get everyone together for a big celebration.

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This New Year’s Eve we decided to get away from all the hustle and bustle. We picked up our friends Nat and Mike from Caloundra and drove into the sun to find a camping ground. We made our way to Boreen Point which has bushland camping on the shore of the largest lake on the Noosa River – Lake Cootharaba. We stayed at Elanda Point camp grounds which is lovely and shady and has its own resident kangaroos. The campsite has great amenities, but my big complaint is that in spite of their location in a beautiful natural area they do not recycle. At times like Christmas and NYE tonnes of waste are created and sadly, it was all sent to landfill.

The weather was absolutely scorching and unfortunately there was no relief to be found in shallow lake Cootharaba, which felt like a hot bath. Continue reading…

We had an amazing Australian Christmas this year. We were spoiled by Keith and Micky who had arranged a very special celebration at their home in Bangalow, NSW. They have an amazing home and are great hosts so it was a treat to be invited to theirs for Christmas. Bangalow also has a great street party on Christmas Eve with a samba marching band and all! After a welcome cocktail (cosmo of course) we headed down to join the festivities and had a delicious dinner at Ate. On Christmas day there were a few sore heads but nothing that couldn’t be soothed by Mickey’s delicious Eggs Benedict. After a rest we all piled into the car to Broken Head for a picnic (a scrumptious smoked chicken and mango salad with champagne) and a swim. All in all a very memorable first Australian Christmas for Mark and I. Thanks boys!

After Christmas we went up to Dad’s property in the McKellar Range. The property hasn’t been lived on for fifteen years so it was a feat to make it up to the house. The land is completely overgrown and the driveway is not drivable. Continue reading…

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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On Wednesday night we said goodbye to my parents after a great two-week visit. [See below for a big selection of photos from our visit to my grandparents house in Barnesville and the engagement party that my mom and dad threw for us at their house in Columbus last Sunday]. We boarded a Greyhound bus at the Columbus terminal, bound for Cincinnati two hours to the southwest. The bus ride to Cincinnati was uneventful. We had over two hours to kill in Cinci, so luckily Union Station, where our train ride began, is a bit of an art deco masterpiece that has recently been restored and made into museums. Continue reading…