The iconic shells of the Sydney Opera House.

The view from underneath Sydney's Harbour Bridge.

The North Sydney Olympic swimming pool.

We are back home in Stockholm and the sun is shining. Today it feels like spring is coming and that winter has been left behind – the birds are singing even though nothing is blooming yet.

The four weeks in Australia passed so quickly. I have a lot more photos and stories to share from our time there. But I am fuzzy headed and jet lagged just now, so bear with me. And I am trying not to freak out about the fact that the woman next to me for 22 hours on the plane had a horrendous cold and that I feel a bit congested. For now, I will just revel in the sunny day here and the photos of Sydney sunshine I’ve included.

 Sydney morning.

Harry's cafe de Wheels in Sydney's Wooloomooloo.

Harry's meat pies are famous and the business is national trust classified.

Crocodile warning sign in Lucinda, Queensland. The jetty behind it is 5.8 kilometers long and used for loading sugar cane onto ships.

Warning for the deadly box jellyfish.

The beaches of Queensland are beautiful. But like so many other parts of Australia, you never know what is lurking beneath the water in the oceans. These are just two of the many warning signs I saw in Queensland. Where we stayed in Mission Beach, there was a jellyfish net in an area of the beach so that you could swim safely. And when we went snorkeling, we wore sting proof wet suits.

On  lighter note, I could not resist taking photos of the signs below. When I walked up to these restrooms in Queensland, I saw the mangoes sign first and wondered if it was for the men’s or women’s toilets. Luckily, the women’s room provided clarity.

And no mangoes here.

A restroom door sign in Queensland for all the mangoes.

After the snorkel, on much calmer waters.

We’ve been having more adventures involving water. This time, we were n a snorkel trip on the Great Barrier Reef. We were on a pontoon-like boat with about 10 others and the hour-long ride to the reef was rough. We were smacked by the waves relentlessly. And then the rain started. Not too hard. But the waves were white capping.

We finally pulled up to a buoy in the middle of the ocean and that was where we were supposed to get out. It was rainy and the water was choppy and I have to admit that I was not feeling brave. In fact, I did not want to leave the boat. It was chilly and I did not have a life vest. But after being given a noodle, I reluctantly slipped on my fins, jumped in and put on my snorkel. The water was warm and lovely. Looking down into the reef, I quickly forgot about the rain and waves and instead swam with Robert to check out fish in all shapes, colors, patterns and sizes – zebra striped, neon yellow and blue, long and thin, fat and round. Corals were pink and green and there were cobalt blue starfish and purple sea cucumbers. The clams were giant – three foot across. We swam along behind a giant turtle for several minutes. And then we saw a reef shark below us. Luckily, he did not seem interested in us.

It was all so magical. When we got back on the boat, everyone swapped stories about what we had seen on the snorkel. I thought I would be smart and put on dry clothes so that I would not get cold on the ride back in. And then about five minutes into the ride, it started raining. Almost immediately, it was pouring. We had a roof over our heads, but no side covers on our boat and the rain hit us from every angle. It rained so hard that it felt like needles hitting my face. It felt like it was hailing. I put a towel over me to block some of it, but it was all rather miserable. I had to force myself not to shiver. Waves were breaking over the boat and landing on us. It was a long ride. But we made it back safely to land. We were dripping, but happy for the adventure.

We couldn't believe how close we could get to these camels. Then we found out later that they were probably racing camels!

Robert in his new role as camel whisperer.

Yesterday was an epic road trip day, full of iconic outback images as well as some humor, too. We drove “the bilby* way” from Birdsville to Bedourie and crossed over a number of flooded creeks and waterways with no problem. That doesn’t mean that we are taking any crossing for granted, though. In fact, I think I flinch every time we start feeling the grip of the 4 wheel drive on the mud and rocks and as the water starts splashing up over the windows.  Not until we are safely across do I let out a little whoop of relief.

There were hundreds of pelicans at Eyre Creek.

And when we got to the Simpson Desert Oasis Roadhouse, this cute little bearded dragon was being evacuated from the kitchen.

Our route was often flat, with red dirt and nothing for miles in any direction – no fences, no houses, no roads. Just gibber – the random rocks tossed across the plains. Later, we passed red sand dunes. Distances are marked by happenings on this route – at 35 kilometers is the approximate site where Moonie died, 1895. We passed a sign post in the middle of nowhere that had shoes of all sorts hanging from it – boots, heels, thongs. Then later, we passed a “crossroads” where a toilet, TV, stove, chair and heater were all set up in a cozy circle. Both good examples of outback humor!

Interestingly, we also drove through an amazing wetland and wildlife area on the Eyre Creek called Cuttaburra crossing where we saw hundreds of pelicans, as well as all sorts of other water fowl. Gorgeous. We saw the ubiquitous kangaroos and emus, as well as lots of cattle. There are cattle stations in this part of Australia that are larger than many European countries – Cluny Station covers an area of 1,327 million acres. But most fun of all and for the first time in the outback for me, we saw camels. Camels were brought to Australia during the building of the inland railways and do so well in this desert land that they are now exported back to Saudi Arabia. Very cool, huh?

*What’s a bilby, you ask? It’s a rabbit eared bandicoot – a once common marsupial of inland Australia that is now endangered. It’s a cute little thing that looks a bit like a cross between a rabbit and a hamster.

If the shoe fits.

There's no place like home.

We are in the big cattle country.

Red sand dunes near Bedourie.

We were allowed to drive just a bit further outside of town yesterday so we went to see the waddi trees, one of the local tourist attractions. The waddi (above) are a rare and ancient species of tree with have spiky, needle-like leaves and thick bark and grow in just a few places in Australia. They are interesting looking trees, but somehow I was expecing something more grand after reading about them! After checking them out, we climbed around the nearby dingo caves. While we didn’t see any dingos, they dogs had obviously been around and the caves were interesting – filled with bilby bone remains and with bird nests created on the ceilings. We also saw a very cool goanna on the road who surprisingly posed for us for quite a few minutes.

It's hard to see this goanna thanks to his very cool camoflage coat.

Robert checks out one of the dingo caves.

Back in town, we were waved at and greeted everywhere we went. After four days in town, we know a lot of the locals and they know us. So it’s fun to be here And guess what, we got the go-ahead: some of the roads out of town are now open, so we will be able to leave today. It sounds like we should consider that lucky. Talking to the bartender last night, we learned that Birdsville was surrounded by floodwaters for two months last year. Food shipments could not be made for eight weeks and special airlifts had to be arranged. How is that for an adventure?

Hanging out at the pub of the Birdsville Hotel in Queensland, Australia.

Pub memorabilia.

We’ve spent a lot of time at the pub over the last few days. Basically, there’s nowhere else to go in town at the moment. But luckily for us, it’s a really good pub and filled with friendly local characters and cold beer.

The pub menu for when the chef's not around.

The Birdsville Hotel dates back to 1884. It has a main bar, the Green Lizard Bar and dining room and a beer garden. Every day, a menu for lunch is written on the chalkboard and then changed to a dinner menu. For being in the middle of nowhere, the hotel has offered up some pretty good meals, including everything from a Sunday roast to a Waldorf salad to fish and chips and local beef. In between meal times, another menu is put up and it features what you can get “when the cook has nicked off” – zapp pies or microwaved meat pies, ham and pineapple pizzas and pasties. I had to laugh at the seven course dinner option: a six pack of beer and a pie. All in all, there are a lot of options.

We still don’t know whether we can leave town today. But I’ll say it again: there are worse places we could be stuck!

The Birdsville hot rod, complete with hotel replica on top.

The iconic Sydney Opera House bathed in sunlight.

On our first night in town, we met friends Jenny and Bill for dinner. They put up with our vaguely jet lagged ways and we had drinks outside at Circular Quay, watching the ferries go by and the sun shining on the Opera House.

Chive dumplings at Sailors Thai.

Wagyu beef.

Dinner was around the corner at Sailors Thai Restaurant at the Rocks, a place that our friends knew and loved. We ate at a long metal communal dining table with about 30 other diners. To start, we shared the garlic chive dumplings as our starter. Mains included the Barrramundi fish special fried with chili and lime, grilled wagyu beef with tamarind and chili sauce, spicy minced duck salad with chili and lime juice dressing and crispy pork belly with Air’s sweet and sour sauce. Unbelievably, everything was amazingly good and we could not really decide which dish was our favorite. What a great way to start a trip!

Duck salad.

The pork.

The barramundi special.

In front of Paris' iconic bookstore Shakespeare and Company. Photos by Robert Corkery.

I finally watched the movie Midnight in Paris the other night. About 10 different friends told me that I would love the movie, so I had to check it out. And it was charming and fun and I loved the writing theme even though the film didn’t feature the best acting. But it didn’t need to. It had Paris. From the opening credits on, the movie provides  eye-candy – gorgeous views along the Seine, Montmarte, Moulin Rouge, Shakespeare and Company. I absolutely loved it. And in honor of the movie and its literary plot, I added a few photos from a trip we took to Paris in January of 2010.

The bard himself.

But it got me thinking: what is it about Paris that charms the heck out of so many people, me included? It’s pretty much a cliche to say that you love Paris. Everyone wants to move to the city of lights. (On the other hand, it takes guts to move somewhere cold and dark like Stockholm, right?)

The wall newspaper.

Inside the bookstore, books are packed in everywhere.

For me, Paris is such a combination of things that I enjoy: sidewalk cafes, pain au chocolat and red wine, wide boulevards, beautiful gardens, the Louvre, the long history of celebrating writers and artists, the views from Sacré-Coeur and the Eiffel Tower, that is if the tower is not closed for some strike or another. For a literary geek like me, Paris is a romantic destination that is both pretty and captivating city. And there’s nothing wrong with that combination.

I’ve been back in the US a week now, but I’m still getting adjusted. Quite simply, I’m not used to all the customer service and causal friendliness. Free refills on drinks, waiters checking back at the table to see if I need anything else and chatting casually about the weather or the holidays or whatever. At the movies yesterday, there were even free popcorn refills. At lunch, the waiter brought me a cup of soup to try because my friend had one too.  When I’m out walking in my parent’s neighborhood, just about everyone I pass either nods or says hello or comments in some way. Working in their yard on Saturday, passersby waved or said hi. It feels like home. But also because I’m just not used to all this attention and service in Stockholm, it also gets overwhelming. And that feels weird to me.

In old town Innsbruck, Stadtturm dates back to the 14th century.

TBU did such a fantastic job of recharging my creative energies and gave me some new writing goals. Plus I met so many great bloggers, learned so much and had a fabulous time. The Innsbruck location was perfect too.

The river Inn.

Ruth Haffenden of Four bgb gave great advice on how to pitch to PR and put together a press kit. Danny and Mike of Caliber Interactive provided the lowdown on SEO and your blog with great humor. In a similar vein, Janice of Solo traveler and Keith of Velvet escape talked about monetizing your blog. And Andy of Sharing travel experiences had on-target advice for creating an email newsletter.

I was also inspired by so many of my fellow travel bloggers, including but not limited to
the Travelettes, Budget traveller Kash, Kirsten of Aviators and a camera, Abigail of Inside the travel lab, Lily of Explore for a year and Debbie of European travelista.

The Tiroler Speckerie had a good-looking selection of meats.

If – like me – you’re a big fan of travel, these bloggers all do an amazing job of exploring the world and describing it. Check them out for a little adventure inspiration.