Where the heck are we!?

Atlantic Ocean

Birthday post!  Another year gone by and so much has happened!

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Like, a lot.

A lot a lot.

So yeah, um…so we’ve been busy. Really really busy.

Not lots of time to keep up with the blog busy.

Busy how exactly?

Well, we learned how to escape overturned crashed sinking helicopters

 

 

so that’s cool.

 

…and there was that whole “Look Greg!   A 10 foot crocodile in the Everglades!”

croc

 

“Oh lets go canoeing with it!”

 

Canoe

 

Seriously, that’s pretty much how it went.

 

and oh yeah, the boats got bigger.

the boats got a LOT bigger.

boat

and when the boats get bigger the licencing goes through the roof.

Because, as we’ve said before, to sail a private yacht through thousands of miles of open ocean to Tahiti you don’t need a license.

But to even step on a ship at the dock you need the freaking paperwork.

and that paperwork has mostly been what we’ve been up to.

Because, and here I quote the US Coast Guard Licencing Agent at the National Maritime Center:

“The US Coast Guard does not recognize the US Coast Guard Academy
as a maritime training academy.”

…Yeah.

So paperwork.  From the ground up.  and classes.

Classes about Radars.

At least they don’t recognize Annapolis either…

So we’ve been busy.  However that does not mean we have forgotten the blog.

Because that story about how we hung out with elephants on the tropical island of Bali,

20120310C - elephant safari ride (68)

that story needs relaying.

So yes, it’s been a while but yes, we do plan to finish this epic tale.

 

Birthdays are usually Greg’s opportunity for a little introspection – and last year’s wanderings are particularly interesting based on what has happened this year.

About the authors

Greg and Tiffany are traveling around the world on sailing yachts and keep a video blog of their (mis)adventures.  If sailing to Tahiti on a 44 ft sailboat, 3-day delays for wine tastings, getting pooped on by seagullsopening coconuts with dull machetes, sailing past tornadoes and ukulele Christmas carols are for you, then check them out atwww.CoastGuardCouple.com

The imperfect mirror

Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia

One of the things that we love about Australia is that it is, as Greg describes it, “like looking at a imperfect mirror at ourselves.”

20100320 - photo - la cruz marinaOr, yes ok it has been a while since we made a nautical reference so yes, like a reflection in a pool of water.  The point is that reflection is not perfect and there are many differences between our countries but of all the places we have visited Australia is the most like home:

  • We both started off as colonies founded by the same country
  • We are both a country of immigrants
  • We’re both, as countries go, large.  Really large.  As in “Europeans don’t get it” large.
  • We both managed to butcher the same source language – granted each with our own special flair
  • We both have to deal with issues revolving around lethal weapons

We could go on and we assume you get the point: As countries go, our two have a lot in common.  This is what makes Australia so very interesting: how they took a set of similar circumstances and ended up in a different place.  The choices we both made, as a people, and the results those different decisions had on where we both are now.

We didn’t want to bring this up until now because we really didn’t want it to taint our overall reporting, or our memories, of our experiences working in Australia.

At the same time it has happened at almost every place we worked and is especially prevalent at our most recent place of employment so it’s important we document it.  It’s not our best video; we recorded it for the audio so we could get our thoughts in the moment.

This article is about our experiences with sexism and racism in Australia.

Continue reading “The imperfect mirror”

Sailing Around the World: Is It Safe?

Is it safe?

Throughout our journey, many of our friends and family members have been concerned about how dangerous it can be to travel.  Obviously we all know that some things are inherently safe like staying at an all inclusive resort and never leaving the property.

You can stay in your shell like this hermit crab in Fakarava.

And some things are inherently unsafe (think standing on a dark street corner in Tijuana) when it comes to traveling.

One can presume that it only gets worse when the sun goes down. petracross

Sailing can be safe, as long as you’re smart.

Continue reading “Sailing Around the World: Is It Safe?”

Australia National Pride

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

It’s pretty much common knowledge that Australia freaking kills people right?

Tons of venomous creatures, the barren deserts, dingos that do in fact eat babies, great white sharks, etc, ad nauseum.

That’s part of the international community’s common knowledge right?

Well, we knew about it before we got here at least. And, you’d think, the Aussies would kinda downplay it right? Bad for tourism and whatnot.

The most common car hanger here fits under the theme “stuff that will kill you” and yes, Kangaroos count

Nope, quite the opposite in fact.

Continue reading “Australia National Pride”

The Great Australian Road Trip Continues, guest starring Chris

Enroute Cairns, QLD, AU

So ends our snowbound Australian adventure

[fgallery id=16 w=450 h=385 t=0 title=”The Great Australian Road Trip Continues guest starring Chris”]

Now we’re off to the Tropical North and joining us for our Road Trip is Tiffany’s brother Chris.

Chris came out to work with us in Australia when we got him a job at Charlotte’s Pass Ski Resort.  He had a month left before he needed to head back to the US.

So after reclaiming The Beast from hibernation we asked…

Us:  “So, chris, now that we’re done snowboarding in New South Wales where ya wanna go?”

Continue reading “The Great Australian Road Trip Continues, guest starring Chris”

Into the White

Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, AU

One can only get pulled up the side of a mountain by a boat anchor tied to a bungee chord so many times before they start considering the alternatives to the dilemma of Australian Alpine ascent.

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Snowboards and Didgeridoos

Jindabyne, NSW, AU

So why again did we (literally) take a crash course in boat anchors and bungee and their varied use in alpine ascents?

Well, do you have a snowboard video with a didgeridoo soundtrack? ‘Cause we do!

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Picking Fruit

Coffs Harbor, NSW, AU

The Australian East Coast Adventure continues!!

After recovering from the surfboard chafing…

…yes, chafing.  From surfboards.

We decided to embark on our next genuine Aussie backpacker experience:

We went fruit picking.

Continue reading “Picking Fruit”