A Fond Farewell

The end of an era...all good things must come to an end...the time has come. It is with sadness that I must announce that this will be the last post to The Lankfords Down Under blog. Why, you ask? Or maybe you're saying, "It's about time. You haven't posted in forever." At any rate, the reason is valid...our time in Australia has come to an end. I've been back in the states for awhile now and Phil is finishing things up there and will be leaving for good at the end of next week. Looking back on this year I've come up with my last list. I call it...

If You Ever Told Me I'd Be Doing This One Day, I'd Call You Crazy...Seriously



1. Moving to Sydney, Australia and living there for a year. (gotta start with the obvious)
2. Flying Business Class. Sigh...it's never going to be the same again.
3. Driving on the left side of the road while from the right side of the car. (It's a miracle that nobody was hurt)
4. Living in an apartment building in the center of a major world city. (And one that looked like an Ikea exploded in it)
5. Sitting at a show in the Opera House in Sydney.
6.Watching a cricket match and kind of understanding it.
7. Eating Vietnamese food, Turkish bread and Thai.
8. Flying by myself to Tokyo, Japan to meet Phil at Tokyo Disney for my birthday.
9. Sitting on an open double-decker tour bus while driving through Little India, Little Arabia, and Chinatown while staying in Singapore.
10. Riding the Katoomba Scenic Railway at a 52 degree incline down the side of a mountain while spending the day in the Blue Mountains.
11. Taking pictures of a live kangaroo sitting by the side of the road.
12. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef.
13. Going to a Japanese Fish Spa and having the fish eat the dead skin off of my feet and legs. Truly.
14. Watching the New Year's Eve fireworks over the Harbour Bridge from our balcony.
15. Sitting in a hot springs in New Zealand after a tasty dinner of lamb.

What a year. And while our adventures in Australia have come to an end, our adventures have not. Just stay in Philadelphia and work regular 9 to 5 jobs like everyone else? No, not the Lankfords.

We begin our next adventure this month. Good bye, Australia. Hello, England. Yes...that's right. It's going to look a little different this time. Phil will be in London with weekly little trips to Paris while I'll, for the most part, stay here in good ol' Philly. He'll come home here a week a month and I'll go over there a week a month. I know what you're thinking. That's a lot of time in a plane. But really, after close to 30 hour flights (including layovers) to Sydney, what's a measly 7 and 1/2 hour plane ride to London? I laugh in the face of a little 7 and 1/2 hour flight.

Once in Europe we'll try to get around to as many places as we can. And will this next year and a half be documented as well?? You bet. So head on over to www.lankfordsallover.blogspot.com (thanks, Claire for the ingenious name) and read along as I faithfully leave no stone unturned in our European travels.