Dear Steph & Ty ...

This entry is dedicated to little sis Steph and her husband Ty, who will be following their dreams in Jan 08 and going to live in Atlanta ... I suppose we should be clear that their dream is not to live in Atlanta per se, but rather Atlanta will be where Ty's band ("Revive") will be based for a while, as they've been given a fantastic opportunity to seek to become more widely known in the USA!

So, what were our impressions of Atlanta (and why did we include it as part of our world trip in the first place)?


Well the good news for Steph & Ty is that, at least visually, Atlanta is like Chatswood on steroids. It is also the home to cultural icons such as Coca Cola and CNN as well as the world's largest aquarium (we have no doubt that they included the giant fast food area when coming up with that calculation) and more parks and shopping malls than you can poke a stick at. So Steph & Ty should feel right at home and will have plenty to keep them busy ... well at least for three days anyway (which is the time we took to do the CNN tour, Coca Cola museum, aquarium and the best malls and parks!)


And finally, what were we doing here? Well it's quite simple: it's where Rory's dad and stepmom (and step family) live. And whilst there, we got to meet the newest addition to the family - one year old Kai, who is Rory's step sister's (very cute) son!

Chilling in the Big Apple!

Aaah New York. The city that never sleeps. Where the underground is the subway, the footpath is the sidewalk, and restaurant service is so quick that your (very large) main course is slapped in front of you before the last forkful of your entree has even met your mouth (although is that really a good thing?).

As we've both been to New York before we didn't feel the need to spend much time on touristy-stuff, but instead enjoyed a taste of New York life by hanging out with lots of friends who've been living here for a while. So we enjoyed dinner and drinks at a trendy West Village bar with Nicola, Simon, Daniel and Jen and the New York institution (we love it!) of Sunday brunch with Marie and Paul. Also got to visit Justin and Laurel Moffatt's church which was awesome. The weather was gorgeous so a cycle around central park (another feature of New York which we wish we could take home with us) was a must.

So, it's now time to leave the Big Apple, loaded up with a new pair of jeans, a little too much junkfood in our stomachs and a lot more insight into what the hype is all about (and our verdict is that it's generally warranted). The only mystery that remains is the authenticity (or otherwise) of one of our favourite TV shows Friends - how DO twentysomething New Yorkers with minimum-wage jobs afford spacious apartments right on Central Park and $200 haircuts?? Oh, that and the technical definitions of words like "Schlep", the New Yorker's ability to insert the words "awesome", "like" and "so" ["You are so moving"; "You are so dead"] into almost any sentence, why the question is always "are you done?" instead of "are you finished?" and why it is now more common to say you are standing "on line", not "in line" (what the?!). Although, when we reflected on a large portion of the Australian vocabulary, we realised we can't really criticise.

See youse later...

Bordeaux and Belfast ... naturally

And the relaxation continues. This time the setting is a gorgeous vineyard in the south of France, just over an hour's drive from Bordeaux.


The general theme involved wine, cheese, crème brulee, rugby, pottering around little villages and vineyards along the River Dordogne and the good company of family and friends. We also managed to muster up the energy for a quick side-trip to Paris.

And just to make sure we're really really ready to go on the move again, we've just spent a few days in Northern Ireland with Rory's mum Rosie and step-dad Don, where we were quite literally refuelled with hearty Irish fare, and were able to fit in a quick road-trip along the beautiful north coast (including a stop to cross Carrick-a-rede rope bridge and check out the Giant's Causeway). It was a lovely way to spend a few days before tackling a new continent. Stay tuned...

Time to refuel ...

When planning our journey to Sydney-via-a-million-other-places, we decided to insert a much needed (only now, post dodgy-middle-eastern-stomach-bugs, do we appreciate just how much) "Welcome Break" before venturing to the other side of the Atlantic. This basically encompassed a massive Family Reunion in the UK and southern France. We all met in London, where we had the opportunity to show off some of our favourite haunts to the Jones', Sievekings and Tookers, and then headed to Cardiff for a huge weekend of rugby. All good.

Before heading to Bordeaux, we made a quick detour (what would we do without Ryan Air?!) to Dublin for the wedding of our close friends Nick and Trish. It was a fantastic day - we really enjoyed catching up with the gang from Rory's school days in Belfast, and were stoked to be able to share in Nick and Trish's big day.

Jordan

Its been a while, but we have finally found time to write about our short visit to Jordan - which was a fitting finale to this part of our trip ... We spent the first couple of days near the famous ruins of Petra, but it was only on the second day that we actually ventured out to visit the site. This was Rory's 'fault' as he was still laid low by the bug which he picked up in Turkey! However it was worth the wait and we will let the pictures do the talking!

Next up was the Dead sea and the lowest point on the earth at 410m below sea level. This place was fun and the high salt content of the water (something like 30%), meant that it was impossible to sink! It also means that no life can survive in it and you don't wan't to get any of the water in your mouth or your eyes!Rory was still sick at this point and so we finally call Dr. Jones, who prescribed some antibiotics that Amy had stashed away, which did the trick!

On our final evening we visited what is believed to be the site were Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist (see Matthew 3: 13-17 and Mark 1:9-11). This was slightly surreal as it is on the river Jordan which acts as the border between Jordan and Israel, hence you get escorted to the site by armed guards!

Overall, we really enjoyed Jordan and we were sad that we did not have more time to visit some of its other famaous sites, however, London and the Rugby World Cup was calling ...

Turkey - Istanbul

Istanbul - it has to be said, the jury's out.

Granted, the Blue Mosque is impressive, but other than taking a few snaps of the outside it was a site we weren't inclined to emphasise (we obviously weren't comfortable with the idea of going inside, which meant we kinda missed out on the "blue" bit). I suppose it lacked a personal resonance compared to the sites of Ephesus for example. While it is important to learn about and experience new cultures, it was similar to, but not as interesting as, our Moroccan experience earlier in the year (although check out the dude with the leeches that we saw at the Spice Market - that's certainly something you don't see every day!). So it could be said that our criticisms boil down to the fact that we are spoilt travelers! Plus, Rory managed to pick up a horrendous bug that is still with us a week later.... not good.



But, on the upside - shopping. There was the Grand Bazaar (where Rory put his talent for bargaining to the test on jewelry and fake handbags) as well as a huge "modern" shopping district. Only I could manage to purchase an entire new outfit (including handbag) while backpacking! Fortunately, our 48-hour London pit stop is just around the corner.

Turkey - Ephesus

We decided to brave the 40 degree heat and venture to the ancient city of Ephesus. A lot of sweat and a few Nestle Iced Teas later, we found ourselves sitting in the middle of the massive Roman ruins at the site, reading an eye witness account of events that took place in that exact spot in Ephesus in 1st century AD. Not quite time travel but still a bit of a spin-out.

What most grabbed our attention was walking around the grand theatre, the same one where the people of Ephesus gathered in a huge protesting riot when they heard Paul saying that gods made out of silver are no gods at all (which makes sense – how can it be a god if I put it together?), because it meant not only that their favourite goddess, the great goddess Artemis, was being disrespected (we saw her temple too and it was pretty sizeable), but that their local friendly silversmith would be out of business! See Acts 19 for more details…