Australia 2023

The older we get, the more often Judy and I say to ourselves, “Someday we’re going to have to quit doing these crazy-long trips. We need to settle down and do normal stuff. You know, tour the U.S., hit the highlights of Europe, watch Rick Steves on TV. That kind of thing.”

So maybe this is going to be our last hurrah before beginning to act our age as senior citizens, dozing off in the back of the motor coach as the guide drones on about yet Another Bloody Cathedral. We’ll see.

This time we’re doing Australia. Singapore and parts of Indonesia come along for the ride, plus a change-of-planes in Doha, Qatar.

This is actually going to be our longest trip in terms of distance – literally around the world, flying eastbound to Australia and continuing on to our starting point in Florida. Adds up to 22,183 miles. It’s equal in time to our previous record-setting trip – one month, for the 2016 trip to New Zealand.

This will be a five-part adventure:

• We’ll fly on November 13 from Tampa to Singapore via Miami and Doha, Qatar, 28 traveling hours in all. We’ll spend a day and a half in Singapore, staying at the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel, the two-tower skyscraper you see in all the pictures of Singapore. A highlight will be a six-hour “Eat Like a Local” tour, promising six to eight hawker stops for food – think food stalls in a mall or food trucks on the street.
• Next, it’s on to Bali, where we’ll spend a day and a half touring Indonesian temples. This is a pre-trip extension put on by Viking Ocean Cruises.
• We board the Viking Orion on November 19 and set sail for 17 days stopping at 9 ports along the way. Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef is part of the plan.
• We disembark in Sydney on December 5 and immediately fly to the Australian Outback (no, not the steak house) to visit Ayers Rock and Alice Springs. Then on to Melbourne for a quick visit, returning to Sydney on December 11. This is a Viking post-trip extension, so we’ll be molly-coddled by tour guides who will hopefully keep us out of trouble.
• We’re spending two days in Sydney on our own. The Sydney Opera House is on the agenda. We’ve booked a performance of an Australian choir that is performing “festive” music of some sort. Not grand opera but being at the venue is the big deal; the music is secondary. From there we fly home on December 13, leaving Sydney at 11:30 AM, changing planes in Houston and arriving in Tampa at 3:18 PM the same day, thanks to the International Date Line. It’s in reality a 20-hour trip this time.

I’ve provided two maps to show the lay of the land. One is the world view of the trip and the other is the Australian part in detail.

As usual, I’m going to try to blog each day and post pictures as we go. I’m not sure if I’ll have much to say on the five “at sea” days but we’ll see. How many pictures of Judy drinking Mai Tais, Margaritas and Jagerbombs you can stand to look at (and how many can we drink and keep standing)?

If you’ve received daily emails from me on previous trips, there’s no need to take action for this trip (unless you want me to stop pestering you). Otherwise, shoot me an email and I’ll add you to the list of those who receive announcements each time I make a new post.

Thanks for traveling with us! Your comments as we go are always welcomed and appreciated.