Australia - May 2002

I had lived in the US and done a fair bit of travelling with my parents, but I had never been anywhere on my own before, so best to start of simply eh? Not a bit of it! My first foray into independent travel was in May 2002 to go to Australia to visit my friend Marie!

I confined my stay in Oz to Queensland, basing myself in Cairns and enjoying the Great Barrier Reef, Atherton Tablelands and surrounding area. We also travelled 10 hours south to Airlie Beach and sailed on the tall ship the Solway Lass, pictured below.

We had a wicked time and the two and a half weeks just flew by. I can't believe I've been all that way and not been to Sydney - calls for a return trip one of these days.