Happy Thanksgiving - and a download of the last few weeks

Greetings from abroad my friends and family! Today is Thanksgiving in The United States and I'm writing this on Black Friday in Bangkok. The time zone is pretty brutal for reaching home. There are only a couple of hours in my morning that are reasonable to call the US in your evening, especially with my kids on the east coast - but we are managing to stay in touch via WhatsApp.

I have a lot to catch folks up on and it goes almost without saying that I am grateful every single day for living this new and exciting journey. Everyday has been an adventure and I can now confidently state that I have the BEST travel partner of all time. Matt is taking exceptional care of me, and I hope he feels the same of me for him. It's not only how thoughtful, patient, and fun he is - he also has an almost infallible sense of direction. I'd literally be lost without him.

The cruise finished up with 4 days in Fiji and a day in Vanuatu before reaching Sydney. Matt and I really loved Fiji. It is a full of friendly people, interesting food and gorgeousness. The beaches we visited were pristine, the towns completely chaotic in the best possible way, and we Visited some really wonderful attractions while we were there. We went to the Botanical Gardens that were donated to the island by Raymond Burr. He bequeathed his nursery outside of Lautoka and many of the hybrids were his own. We also had a volcanic mud bath and hot spring clean-up. Super fun! Feeling very detoxed we then went for lunch at a beach resort called First Landing. Everywhere you go you are greeted by "Bula" - a friendly hello. After visiting the cities of Savusavu, Suva and Lautoka in Fiji we arrived a couple of days later in Vanuatu. We were tendered to a small, uninhabited island in the archipelago to enjoy the beaches and snorkel. We were later told on the ship by friends that it was some of the best snorkeling they'd ever done. The reef was so healthy and alive there. We left with hot new sunburns and smiles. A few days later and whammo - we woke up to the sunrise coming up as we entered Sydney Harbor, with the iconic opera house to our left and the Harbor Bridge straight ahead. It was breathtaking.

That was the end of our sea journey, so we made our way to the Occidental Hotel on the fringes of the central business district (CBD) and spent the next several days enjoying the city. Downtown Sydney feels like being on a movie set. Everyone is young, beautiful, dressed sharp, walking with purpose, and in super fit shape. It's a really interesting mix of grand old sandstone building that are perfectly preserved and still in daily use, and modern skyscrapers. There are also roads with these little two-story homes with ornate railing hat make you feel like you are suddenly in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It is a beguiling city. We also took a tour to the Blue Mountains and a total highlight was a side trip on the way there to a wildlife park. We saw so many unique creatures. Just amazing. I wish we could have spent the whole day there! The mountains were also gorgeous but the place was crammed with many unhappy tourists as 2 of the 4 ways to view them were unavailable so lines were horrendous. We flew the 5 hours to Perth. It does not have the same beguiling nature as Sydney - but seriously, Syndey's a tough contender for any city I've visited. It's much more of a working city that Sydney and felt much more 'real' - which we appreciated. There was a lot of diversity of all kinds - body shapes, races, walks of life - than what we saw in Sydney which was really nice. We stayed in a condo right next to Jacob's Ladder, stairs that go straight up to the park. There is a lovely little Vietnamese cafe at the base of the stairs that we visited several times for coffee and a bite in our short time there. I was so excited about our day on Rottnest Island, but most of the quokkas seemed to hang out right in tourist central where the eateries were, hoping to get some crumbs. This made them feel much more like giant rats than the adorable little marsupials they are. Still, we had a lovely time on the beaches and exploring parts of the island before heading back with a lot of sand in our knickers.

We flew another 5 hours to get to Singapore from Perth and spent really just 1 day there. It is like driving through a botanical garden. Flowers line the streets, everything is clean, and perfectly landscaped. We visited the botanical gardens and I've never been more impressed. Wow. Just. Wow. The orchid gardens were absolutely beyond. Incredible. I'm going to stop here because I want to start a new post for Thailand. We've been here for about a week now and it deserves space of its own. I'll come back and add photos to this post later. For now - I hope you have all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am absolutely drowning in gratitude for this life with Matt. We are off now to get to central Bangkol for a tuk-tuk tour of some of the highlight sites. Love to you all!