When we landed, a new day had just begun - G'day - and the wonders of the land down under lay before us: Watching a stingray glide before my eyes as I snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef. Seeing little blue penguins muster at nightfall at the Southern Ocean's edge for their ritual march to their nests. Black swans. A wallaby springing across an open field. Up above, the Southern Cross. And bungee-jumping in New Zealand.
My wife and I had left a Maine winter behind to complete a long-unfinished mission. Working as editors on an ocean liner 28 years earlier, Betty and I had sailed to five continents, missing Australia. We decided now it was time to go. We worked in a stay in New Zealand in a package arranged by our travel agent. We have never been much for escorted tours, but with so many attractions spread over a vast area, and limited time (two weeks), we opted for a tour with Globus. And we met nice people, locals and tour-mates, along the way
