Aussie World Travel Blog

Just to give you an idea, take a look at our neighbourhood Bear that visited us last week. He arrived just in time for afternoon tea…

You know, many people have asked me, “Why did you move from

Australia’s sunshine state to the USA’s colourful Colorado?” Well the

short answer is, it was just meant to be! It afforded Golden some precious quality time with her mother during her last years, and it has give us both the rich experience of expanding our borders in another part of the world. Travel is our passion and we love to help people bring their travel dreams to reality… So now instead of living and enjoying the sunshine state I send people to the sunshine state where they experience a land that is “beautiful one day perfect the next”; or, as the new motto says, “Where else but Queensland”?The next question I am asked is. “But, don’t you miss Australia?” Well yes! …but I have just exchanged Koalas and Kangaroos for Bear and Deer. This was their home before we moved here in southwest Colorado Springs, in the foothills of Cheyenne and Pikes Peak (14,110 ft.). Many do not know that we had a National Parks & Wildlife Licence in Queensland to breed Koalas,

Kangaroos and other native Aussie animals. With that we have become the favourite spot in the neighborhood for all the local wildlife.

At the turn of every season, we captured by the beauty of Colorado. Last week a silent "ice storm" had slipped in through the night, and we woke up to discover this Frosty Morning Magic.

...and our King Buck lazing on the front lawn...

Then, the last couple of days all our boy Deer are visiting us...sharing a drink by the back deck...

Well winter is on it’s merry way and already we have had two snow falls…See you on the beaches of the world or the winter slopes of Colorado.             Anyway, “I still Call Australia home” but this is a great place to put down roots! …Phil Kennedy

Hey guys,

… As most of you know I spent the first half of my summer in Australia playing basketball and touring a little bit. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who helped me get there by donating. Your donations helped keep me fed, pay for gym fees, and do a little bit of sight seeing as well. If you haven’t seen the pictures of the trip I made a photo stream on Flickr of the highlights of the trip that you can check out by clicking here. I also have full albums of a couple of my site-seeing days via Facebook that you can view by clicking here and here if you have time.

As far as basketball goes, I was the leading scorer on my team for the short time that I was there and was second leading scorer in the league at the time of my leaving. I averaged just over 19 points a game and had a really fun time playing out there. The style of play is very different to the style out here, but playing as much as I did was good for me and helped me learn more about the game.

If it weren’t for my supporters I would not have been able to travel at all so I thank you again for caring enough about me and my interest in basketball to help me out. Please email me and let me know how you are all doing.

One last thing, I booked my trip through Phil Kennedy and he did an amazing job for me. He constantly kept me updated with times, itineraries, flight plans, and tour details and would always answer all of my emails quickly and professionally. Since it was my first trip abroad, I was a little nervous about a few things, but his patience in answering questions was greatly appreciated and I would strongly recommend him to anybody thinking about traveling to Australia or New Zealand. He’s got a website and you can reach him by emailing him on the “Contact Us” page. Thanks again Phil!!!             Regards from David Gantt

Well, my wife Pip and I are back in Australia and have settled back into our normal routine. We are both just starting to realise just how amazing the trip was and how well we were looked after during the entire tour. Because we have both travelled extensively around the world, we are in the very fortunate position of being able to compare all of those organised tours, which invariably were coach tours, with the tour that you and AussieWorldTravel provided us with. There is absolutely no comparison between the two types of tours. We didn’t have to worry about a single thing from the moment we left our home to go on our holiday until we arrived back at our home at the conclusion of our holiday. We are telling all our friends that we had a five star American Holiday because that’s really what it was. Because just picture this: In 21 days, after a comfortable twelve hour flight from Sydney to San Francisco, arriving at 7am to a beautiful clear sunny day, we were greeted at San Francisco air port by our Tour Guide Phil Kennedy and his lovely Chevrolet Impala hire car where he then took us for a walk over the Golden Gate bridge. We have always wanted to do this and it didn’t disappoint. From there we could see Alcatraz Prison on an island, naturally we had to go and see it first hand. The accommodation was excellent the whole trip by the way. After a sumptuous seafood meal at Fishermans Wharf and a couple of cold beers upstairs at a nearby jazz bar listening to a lovely old Negro tenor sax player, playing some of my favourite tunes, we called it a night. We caught a ride on one of the famous cable trams, drove down the world’s crookedest street, visited a fantastic chocolate factory and purchased enough chocolate to last the three of us for the entire 21 day trip which incidentally was just over 8000ks and travelling through 8 states. By the way, after all this writing, I have only covered the first 2 days of our trip so I’d better not go into so much detail from here on. After leaving San Francisco we tasted a few wines in the wine growing district in the beautiful Napa valley, visited 9 National parks, which included the Grand Canyon, which was awesome, Bryce, Zion, Yellowstone, where we saw a Grizzly bear, Heaps of American Buffalo and Mule Deer. Capital Reef, Yosemite, Grand Tetons, Arches etc. We loved Los Angeles where we saw Disney Land and Hollywood where incidentally, I picked up a slightly soiled Academy Award in a little Chinese shop for $3.50. An absolute steal I thought. Las Vegas was another standout where we stayed in another great hotel for 3 nights and saw 2 really good shows, Caeser’s Palace, the Dancing Fountain and we also were taken out to Hoover Dam. One of the special places we visited was a beautiful snow resort town of Breckenridge where my wife Pip had a massage and us blokes had a hot spa and a swim in the heated pool. Colorado Springs was another beautiful city that we visited. Our Tour Director Phil even went to the trouble of arranging for my wife and I to have a half hour guided tour of the city on the back of a Gold Wing Honda motor bike which we both thoroughly enjoyed and put us up at his beautiful home in Colorado Springs where he and his lovely wife Golden made us both feel very welcome. While we were travelling down the Californian Coast on the way to Carmel, ( where Clint Eastwood lives)  we came across a beach that was crammed with hundreds of Walruss Seals which was an amazing sight. All in all, my wife and I had the holiday of a life time. Our Tour director Phil even lent me a pair of swimming togs so that could have a swim in the surf at Malibu Beach. Now, I could go for hours telling you about our experiences, but the best way for you to understand what I’m trying to say is to get out there and “just do it”.

On behalf of my wife Pip and myself, thank you Phil and Golden for a wonderful adventure that we both will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Regards,

Bob and Pip Hamilton

Bellingen, nsw, Australia.

VIP Very 1st Passenger on VAustalia 001...After flying high on the Vaustralia Launch, Phil gives Golden a "lift" up the rocks overlooking Sydney Harbour!

Phil is Aussie born & bred and I am a Missouri girl.  We share a great passion for people & travel, and pretty much spend our days exploring new ways to build into those passions.   We love helping people achieve their potential &  (re)discover their dreams and purpose in life.  We also love traveling the world, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures.  We especially love it when we can combine the two, helping  people experience the world as they turn dreams into reality.

We’re so excited about our latest trip to Australia that we just have to tell you about it.  First, we got 48 hours’ notice from DUA that two (yes, two!) seats had our names on them for Vaustralia’s inaugural flight from LA to Sydney.  In true Aussie fashion, Phil picked himself up off the floor and decided to seize the day!  48 hours later we were on our way to LAX, filled with anticipation and smugness for having been lucky enough to live this spontaneous lifestyle where we could just pack and go.  For those of you who are passionate about travel, you know what I’m talking about.

The anticipation was exceeded only by the experience… We were greeted by “The New Crew in Town” who made us feel a part of the family from the beginning, and the check-in crew made their way down to the gate in time to see us off with smiles and waves just like they were sending off their Mom and Dad.   (Yes most of The New Crew in Town are young enough to be our children!)   When we arrived in Sydney, another New Crew in Town was at the gate to meet us.  Incredible, we thought.  Obviously this was special treatment for the historic Inaugural Flight.  But we were wrong, because when we returned a week later, we received exactly the same treatment.  We were blown away when the young lass who checked us in at LAX walked up to us at the LAX baggage claim a week later and said, “G’day Mr. & Mrs. Kennedy.  How was your flight?”  It’s true, mate, fair dinkum.

Both flights were outstanding!  Seated comfortably in Premium Economy (truly equivalent to business or first class on most domestic airlines), we were offered a glass of “bubbly” while waiting for take-off.   Now you all know how routine the pre-flight safety instructions can be; not so on Virgin!  You’ll have to see the cartoon video to appreciate it and all the crazy characters, including Sir Richard Branson himself.  Once in flight, the true blue Aussie crew offered us choices of fine Australian wine and cuisine for dinner.  Then we propped our feet up on the foot rests, laid back in our luxurious leather seats, popped on our headsets (these are to die for) and selected from the smorgasbord of new release movies and entertainment.  (Even the children had their special channels and games on their own personal touch-screen monitors.)  A couple of great movies and a few hours’ sleep later, we were awakened by the aroma of coffee and a delicious hot breakfast…

What was our return flight like?  Just ditto all the above then add in that we are now feeling a part of the Virgin family….and we were dressed in style as on the inaugural flight we received a smashing Virgin wardrobe (hats, t-shirts, singlets).

We have always been intrigued by the Virgin brand, and had opportunity to experience them in their early days.  The thing that impresses most is they have come so far and incorporated total sophistication into their products, yet still they remain competitive; and to experience Virgin service is to be embraced by the camaraderie and sense of fun that is the Virgin trademark.  (Speaking of product sophistication, camaraderie, competitive pricing, and lots of fun…we just want to say how thrilled we are to be partnering with DUA Travel!  This is an innovative team of empowered staff, a credit to their visionary leader Kirk Demeter.)

Hope our travelogue has made you dream a little.  But don’t just dream about it… Pack your bags and join us in the great Dreamtime Down Under!