1. Not yet

This is it, the great Mother-Daughter adventure, the grand tour of East Coast Australia. After years of saying we will do this, we are finally -- almost -- on our way.

We will start in Cairns with a four-day snorkeling cruise on the Great Barrier Reef, ending in Townsville. We'll have a chance to do some rainforest hiking and exploring at a couple of islands along the reef.

In Townsville, we hop a train traveling overnight and all the next day to Brisbane. We'll have a first-class sleeper car and hang out in the lounge car. There are short sightseeing stops along the way. During a couple of days in Brisbane, we'll go to the Australia National Zoo and wander a bit.

From Brisbane we'll take another train, just for the day, arriving late Christmas Eve in Sydney. We will pick up our picnic lunch in the morning and spend Christmas Day on Bondi Beach. Lindsay's school friends now living in Sydney have promised to teach her to surf. The next several days will be spent exploring Sydney, including a behind-the-scenes tour of the famous Opera House and a harbor cruise.

For the last leg, we head off to Melbourne to see our friends - Henry, Amanda, Eleanor, Brigitte, Barbara, and Denis! We have much planned in Melbourne, including spending Lindsay's 21st birthday on a real working ranch/winery where we will make bread over a fire and taste the wines. Amanda has planned swanky dinners for the birthday celebration and a great tour of Melbourne. We'll celebrate New Year's Eve at Henry and Amanda's home with the girls, watching Sound of Music and just enjoying being with friends. We hope to spend a day traveling the Great Ocean Road. After a couple more tours of the area, it'll be time to head home.

We will use this space to post photos and comments along the way so check back often.

Can't wait!