Waiting for our plane in LA. Click here to compare us leaving for Europe (June 2003)

(New Zealand) First stop -- a Maori "Sacred Place" where we saw our first fern forest up-close.

The Maori meeting place in Whakarewarewa Village/thermal area in Rotorua (where sulfur is everywhere & everything smells like rotten eggs!).

More Whakarewarewa....

Steam rises from the hot pools & out of the ground everywhere....

A view of the Maori village beyond some of the hot pools.

More Whakarewarewa....

Lady Knox Geyser in Wai-o-tapu. They force it to erupt everyday at 10:15 AM by pouring soap into the mouth. This way, they can sell tickets & tourists don't have to wait around hoping to see a geyser erupt.

Lady Knox Geyser erupting.

This looks like a river, but there is hardly any water flowing over the siliceous sinter (dissolved silica deposited as the water evaporates). This is the largest sinter terrace in New Zealand and is considered very fragile.

Crystallized sulfur above one of the fumaroles (where stinky steam comes out of the ground).

Kristi above the waterfall leading to Lake Ngakoro.

A view of the steaming landscape with a large geothermal power plant in the distance (hard to see).

The bubbling Champagne Pool -- the temperature in the pool is about 165F. The bubbles are due to the release of carbon dioxide, and the colors are due to the many minerals contained in the water.

This is the natural color of this pool. If this color was found anywhere near a factory, we figured it would be closed immediately!

A beautiful day! This is Waitomo.

A tree Brent liked. He's next to it on the left.

Looking upward into the fern trees.

A nice walk through the forest.

A stop at Bridalveil Falls between Kawhia and Raglan.

Brent hiked to the bottom of the falls.

Driving along the Coromandel Peninsula on the Firth of Thames.

We only saw tiny starfish.

A tree growing precariously out of the side of the road.

Brent walking along the beach looking for shells.

Another beautiful day with incredible scenery!

Our first sunset in Australia.

The campervan did a good job of collecting grasshopper specimens on the way to Adelaide.

Michael & Brent at Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island.

"Hey gringo, you think you're tough? You think you can lick me? You jist turn round and I'll show you tough. Yeah, I'll show you who's tough!"

Cape Willoughby.

Where else but Seal Bay (they are actually sea lions).

A large bull relaxing in the dunes.

Michael & Bonita with Brent at Seal Bay.

Humpback whale bones -- moved far enough from the water so the tide wouldn't carry them out to sea.

An interesting stalactite in Kelly Hill Caves.

This type of stalactite is called "bacon".... Quite fitting!

Kangaroos at Parndana Wildlife Park (still on Kangaroo Island). quicktime clip

Another kangaroo hoping for some food. quicktime clip
quicktime clip - scratch my tummy
quicktime clip - wallaby

The only live koalas we saw. They aren't easy to spot in the wild.

The wildlife park had many, many birds....

Brent enjoyed feeding the ostrich.

Back at Bonita & Michael's house, getting ready to head for Melbourne -- Brent & Tess inside the campervan watching for cats or other animals that would be fun to chase.

Our campsite at Lake George in Beachport.

The Umpherston Sink Hole in Mount Gambier.

Brent thinking how fun it would be on that island....

...and it WAS fun.

Brent wading back to the mainland.

Kristi likes this picture. Can you see the row of birds on the ledge to the right?

Another beautiful sunset.

White Ibis & Black Swans on a river near one of our campsites.

Brent at the river outlet.

Brent being stared down by a cow.

We played mini-golf in Warnambool, and Brent got his name on this board for having the lowest score of anyone from the U.S. (You'll just have to trust us, it's there!)

"The Arch"

A panorama taken while walking around Loch Ard Gorge.

Brent at the Twelve Apostles (you won't find twelve).

Someone actually took a nice picture of the two of us.

The view from the hotel room where we stayed in Apollo Bay. Our one night of luxury -- hot showers, a real bed, pillows, and coffee....

One stop along the way. We collected many seashells at this beach.

The rock was neat. Volcanic?

We saw a couple of octopuses. Looks like a starfish with 8 points....

Some quiet-time for Brent.

Miller's Landing in Wilson's Promontory National Park. We are in the middle of this picture.

A view of Miller's Landing.

Brent with a big smile because the sleet had stopped & the wind had died down.

A kookaburra -- they are everywhere that campers and picnickers are....

Pillar Point -- Trying to show just how windy it was that day (notice the straps on Brent's bag).

Rosellas -- very pretty birds as common as kookaburras at campsites.

An evening stroll at Cape Conran Coastal Park. Probably our favorite campsite.

Cape Conran sunset.

Moon over Cape Conran.

Very strange...a blind rabbit.

The start of our hike in Croajingalong National Park (after the horse fly, but before the rain, the mosquitoes, and the mouse).

A stop near Baragoot Lake.

Same stop -- Brent watching the waves crash on the rocks.

Another sunset? NO! Believe it or not, it's a sunRISE! The only one Kristi saw (Brent missed them all).

Remember all of the grasshoppers the van picked up on the way to Adelaide?! All of them.... GONE!

The Blue Mountains near Sydney.

Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains.

The stairs down to the valley near the falls are shown in this picture.

You may not be able to see them, but there are people in this picture and the next.

Another view of the falls.

The "Grand Canyon" of the Blue Mountains.

The map Brent used while taking the long way to the meeting place. It turns out the trail he was going to take was closed. He was 2 hours late meeting Kristi & sick from exhaustion the rest of the night.

He did get some nice pictures though.... quicktime clip - part of the descent (Warning: taken sideways)

The view from the valley floor (that neither of us were supposed to see).

More in the valley....

Our last afternoon -- the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

The Opera House.

A panorama with a view of both....