I was only being snarky in the last post because I didn't have enough time to explain. Stephen and I were listening to an NPR show about language - callers had questions about the etymology of words or phrases. "Grockle" is apparently an ungracious term for a tourist, foreigner or outsider used in York, England ( Read more... )

I had him sign a legal waiver. Just kidding. Forget the Jack thing. Forget it! We are about to go to Waffle House in Lakeland, Tennessee. Stayed at a Super8 on Huff n Puff road - a palace. Man, I love the names in America. For the record, I am a big fan of the name Bucksnort for a town. I think that was in West Virginia somewhere.

You are on the internet. Look it up ( Read more... )

On this trip, I have decided to bring along my nice digital SLR with a kick-ass, though heavy, lens on it. It's a Nikon D70s with a Nikon AF Nikkor 24-85 with a variable 2.8-4 minimum f-stop and macro focusing. For those of you who care. The last trip I really wanted to just focus on travel, experience and surfing. I didn't want to go to New ( Read more... )

I started writing a long post detailing and exploring all the reasons I was reticent to do a daily travel blog on this next trip. But, honestly, I bored myself. Who cares? I know this is public. I know that anyone who wants to find it, can and will. I just have to keep that in mind. People enjoyed following my last trip in New Zealand and ( Read more... )

One of the first words my 5-year-old nephew, Silas, ever said was "contrail". That's a contraction of "condensation trail," or the cloud-like white lines you sometimes see forming behind airplanes as they arc through the sky. They are almost as wondrous - but not quite - as the hundred thousand pound metal object filled with people that precedes ( Read more... )

Considering the pace of my travel while in New Zealand, I occasionally skipped posting photos of some notable sights. Here are a few from the Waitomo Caves on the North Island. I went here with Roland at the beginning of our trip south together. Incredible to see, even from the very circumscribed walking tracks of the guided tour ( Read more... )

I think he was right.

I know I have tons left to post about the last month of my New Zealand/Australia trip. Especially photos. But let's jump ahead to the present. The adventure continues.

And this is what it looks like:


( Read more... )

I just used US Dollars to buy a coffee and cookie and it felt weird. So the first flight, 11 hours is done. Now comes the hard part, the 14 hour flight. I really shouldn't be drinking coffee, but oh well. New York time right now is 5:30am. So I suppose I could try to just stay up all day (night for me), arrive feeling crazy at 8:40pm in New ( Read more... )

Sydney. A gorgeous, sunny day. Last night in Manly was stormy, but I like storms. I spent much of the evening in my room. At one point, I shut off all the lights, opened the blinds on the generously sized windows onto the courtyard and just watched the lightning. Also did some fuzzy TV watching and in-focus reading ( Read more... )