Christmas Card 2022
After two years in the “most locked-down city in the world”, we were determined to get back to travelling as soon as the doors started opening. The timing worked out so that we were able to celebrate the New Year in Hawaii with Todd’s parents and we just kept going from there.
Even though the lockdown ended and we were vaccinated, Kelly got Covid while Todd was travelling in the US for work early in the year. Don’t worry she survived and Todd has managed to avoid Covid completely even with his travels.
Within Australia this year, we made two trips to Queensland, one to New South Wales and one to the Northern Territory. In Queensland, we visited Noosa for Easter. Noosa is a popular tourist destination we heard about and wanted to see for ourselves. Then we headed to Magnetic Island for a creative retreat that Kelly signed up for and Todd tagged along to enjoy the hiking and beauty of the island.
For Kelly’s birthday, we headed to Byron Bay, in New South Wales. We saw waterfalls, and picture-perfect beaches and enjoyed a brief carefree time camping and travelling around the area in a VW campervan, which was a bucket list item for Kelly.
In August we finally made our way to the Northern Territory of Australia, this trip had been cancelled twice because of Covid restrictions; the third time was the charm. We explored Darwin for a couple of days and then spent two weeks camping in the outback amongst the kangaroos and crocodiles. We hopped around the parks that the NT is famous for, including Kakadu, Nitmulik, Katherine Hot Springs, and Litchfield. We enjoyed the magnificent sunsets and got in plenty of water time with all the swimming holes, kayaking and hot springs that were available. The only negative was a flat tire along the way. We lucked out as a delightful retired couple helped us out by loaning us their industrial-sized jack as our small one that came with the rental kept sinking into the sand. We rewarded them with a free campground spot for a night, as we had just changed our plans last minute to switch campgrounds and it was too late to cancel our current reservations. And since it is a small world – we encountered the very same couple two more times during our wanderings through the outback.
Exploring outside of Australia started when we headed to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This was a work trip for Todd as his work responsibilities were expanded to include the Middle East. Kelly went along and got to check off another bucket list item as we flew via Emirates airline and they had a stand-up bar on the plane that we got to enjoy! While the heat in Dubai was stifling at times, the trip to the UAE was rewarding. We spent the first part of the trip in Dubai and experienced the shopping paradise and the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building). Then, for the second part of the trip, we celebrated our anniversary in a resort in a nature conservation area in the middle of the desert. We walked and drove amongst endless sand dunes watching oryx and even got to ride camels! Later in the year, we also made a quick trip to Auckland, New Zealand. It was also a work trip for Todd that Kelly tagged along on. We had a long weekend to see Auckland and visit the famous Waiheke Island, known for its beauty and wineries.
We’re also grateful that this year has enabled us to spend time with family as we spent more time in the US and Kelly’s brother, Michael, made the trip to Australia. Our trip to the US (Todd's 2nd and Kelly’s only trip this year) was both a work and family trip for Todd. He had meetings in Florida, so we planned some extra time for Todd’s first-ever visit to Disney World. Our friends Erin and Brandon, who live in Orlando and are official Disney experts, showed us around Epcot which happened to be having its yearly food and wine festival. They spoiled us with fast passes and secret club access and inside details on all that we experienced. That is the way to do Disney.
We plan to wrap up the travel this year with a camping trip, slowly making our way up Victoria’s coast and into the mountains of New South Wales. Now that we’ve been in Australia for a while, we are slowly investing in things like a tent and a new (bigger) car, so we are looking forward to trying out our new toys and exploring more of the country.
Non-travel related; we moved, again. That was move number 15 for the Burke-Haba’s if you are keeping count. With this move, we got away from the city and closer to the beach, down the coast in Mordialloc. Our new house is in a lovely area that is close to the beach, shops, restaurants and trains for an easy commute back to Melbourne. As an added benefit, our house has a backyard, garden and lemon and olive trees! Dharma is in heaven; she’s never had a backyard.
And now for the biggest news…. In September we became Australian Citizens! That’s right, we are now sporting two passports! We have fallen in love with this country and its people and think we are going to stay for a while.
We hope everyone is doing well and wish you all a very Happy Holiday season!
