The Photos
Honeymoon Photos NOTE: Click "Tiffany & Ravi" on the lower left to return to the site.
a honeymoon down under
True to form, we decided to take a little time after the wedding before embarking on our honeymoon. As soon as we had recovered from the wedding (a mere 7 months later!), we boarded a flight to Australia for three blissful weeks. The decision to go to Australia didn't come easy. It was a toss up between New Zealand, home of the illustrious Flight of the Conchords or Australia, land of Kath & Kim. Although we are sure that Kath & Kim could take Jermaine and Bret in a cage match, the tie breaker was our good friends in Australia, Steve and Simon, who we were anxious to see and who were wonderful hosts during our trip.
Carins
After a brief twenty-six hour flight, we landed in Cairns in North Queensland. Cairns is the tropical gateway to North Queensland's most famous attractions: the Daintree Rain Forest and the Great Barrier Reef. In my eagerness to shave a few dollars off the honeymoon budget, I booked our first night at the delightfully inexpensive Coral Tree Inn which, despite the pictures on the website, had an ambience half way between minimum security prison and freshman year dormitory. Early the next morning, after stints of jet-lagged sleep, we made our getaway for greener pastures -- the wonderfully quaint town of Port Douglas.
Port Douglas
When we arrived at the Marae Bed & Breakfast, we knew we had begun our honeymoon in earnest. Nestled at the edge of the Daintree, the Marae is a two room bed and breakfast that feels more like a visit with your favorite aunt and uncle than a traditional accommodation. The proprietors, John and Pam, took wonderful care of us and made their architecturally stunning country home feel like our own. During our three nights at the Marae, we thoroughly explored the sea town of Port Douglas, trekked through the lush, prehistoric rain forests of Daintree, and explored the brilliantly vivid aquatic habitats of of the Great Barrier Reef. Port Douglas is the only place in the world where two UNESCO World Heritage Sites meet, and we were awed by its beauty. But we say without shame or reservation that one of the highlights of the three days was waking up to the breakfast perfectly prepared by Pam and John each morning including the most delicious croissants we have ever tasted.
South Long Island
Port Douglas whet our palette for the beauty of the Australia coastline, but nothing could have prepared us for the five nights that we spent at the South Long Island Nature Lodge in the Whitsunday Islands. The island is only accessible by helicopter or boat, so it offered a getaway completely secluded from everyone except for a handful of lodge guests, a small, attentive staff, packs of wallabies, and Edgar, a precocious bird who arrived sharply at 6:00 pm each evening for cocktail hour.
Each day, the resort's catamaran took off for an excursion in the Whitsundays. We visited Whitehaven Beach, a beach of incomparable beauty that consists of miles of pure white sand that looks and feels like baby powder, hiked the windy bluffs of South Molle Island, and explored the various inlets, channels, and tiny islands of the Whitsundays. The sailing was exquisite, but the highlight was certainly our helicopter tour over the great barrier reef. We flew so low that we could sea manta rays and sea turtles swimming beneath the surface and we could make out each complicated detail and subtle color of the reefs. Each day passed in the blink of an eye, and all too soon, we were hovering over the resort on our helicopter transfer back to Hamilton Island.
Sydney
Nine days away from a major metropolitan center was beginning to give Tiffany a rash, so we were happy to be on our way to Sydney, a top candidate for the most beautiful city in the world. During our first hours in Sydney, we performed a Tiffany & Ravi vacation ritual -- we scoured the city frantically for a cheap, somewhat dependable looking, full service laundromat. Apparently a stackable washer-dryer unit didn't fit into South Long Island's ecologically friendly formula.
Having found our laundromat, we spent our first day in Sydney checking off the list of the city's top tourist traps: Darling Harbor, the Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, the Sydney Aquarium, and the Harbor Bridge. We had a wonderful pizza lunch at Nove on the Woolloomooloo Wharf, but our gastronomical adventures were about to take a much wilder turn for dinner.
Above all else, Sydney-siders take pride in two things about their city: the beautiful Sydney harbor and the abundance of great food. Steve and Simon treated us to dinner at Tetsuya's, not only one of the best restaurants in Sydney, but also one of the most acclaimed in the world. Tetsuya's is an oasis of avant-garde Japanese cuisine tucked away in Sydney's central business district. Five hours after stepping over the restaurant's threshold, we were filled to the gills with a ten course degustation menu, more than our share of wine, and a new appreciation for the merits of pairing pea soup with chocolate sorbet.
Our culinary tour of Sydney continued the next evening at a dinner party thrown by Steve and Nick. Nick out did herself with an Indian feast, and we had an enjoyable evening catching up with old friends and new. Tiffany was thrilled to be seated next to Steve and Nick's son, Razzy, a delightful dinner mate and a very proper Australian gentleman.
Hunter Valley
Our final days in Australia where spent with Simon, Steve, Nick, Razzy, and Lani in the Hunter Valley. The Hunter is filled with rolling hills, quaint vineyards, and gourmet restaurants. Think Napa Valley down under. With Razzy and Lani as our playmates, we explored the vineyards, played some putt-putt, and dodged the intermittent rain showers. And with Simon as our guide, we sampled the wines of the Hunter Valley and toured the countryside in his new Mini. The food was extraordinary, the accommodation luxurious, and the company perfect.
When Simon, Steve, and Ravi worked together, Steve promised to take us to Cottage Point Inn to celebrate the completion of our project. Unfortunately, that day didn't come, but we still have an abundance of things to celebrate. So on our way back from the Hunter Valley, Simon, Tiffany and I met Steve and Nick at the Cottage Point Inn. It proved to be both a fabulous meal and wonderful capstone to our trip.
Farewell Australia
Our last day in Australia was April 25th. Every year on April 25th, Australians celebrate ANZAC Day to commemorate members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. As luck would have it, our hotel was in the center of a multi-block area that had been completely closed to motor traffic due to the festivities, so we had to be shuttled, by golf cart, to the edge of the celebrations.
As we hurdled and bounced through the crowds, we got to see what few tourists do -- Australia through the eyes of Australians. The streets were brimming with proud, uniformed soldiers, the pubs were overflowing with raucous crowds despite the morning hour, groups of men, three generations strong, laughed and drank together, and strangers greeted each other like old friends. Although Tiffany was disappointed to learn that the celebrations weren't for her, they made us appreciate the last three weeks.
Farewell, Australia. We'll miss being in a country where the sun shines just a little bit more and the people smile just a little bit more.