A few posts ago I wrote about our trip schedule as it was, a haphazard jumping about Oceania. Since then I’ve changed it significantly to be more linear with less plane time.

So – here it is now!

North Island New Zealand for about a week – agenda is Waitomo caves, Rotorua, Hobbiton, Coromandel, and Auckland.

Sydney 3 days – to do whatever one does in Sydney.

Cairns 3 days – Barrier reef, Daintree National Forest (avoid the crocs)

Uluru 4 days – driving through the outback and camping!

Darwin 4 days – tropical north Australia, beach, again avoid the crocs

Bali for 5 days – whatever one does in Bali. 🙂

Cambodia/Vietnam 2 1/2 weeks total – Angkor Wat, Beaches, Phnom Penh. In Vietnam it will largely be time spent in Da Nang due to the weather at that time of year.

Then to Japan – I’m especially glad I’m doing this post because as I went to check my exact flight I realized that I hadn’t booked this flight, even though I thought I had. Um, oops. Done now.

We’ll be in Japan for 2 1/2 weeks, going from Tokyo to Hiroshima and then flying out of Osaka to…Athens! 3 days in Athens and then on to Timisoara, Romania for the Fulbright leg. Further planning after that is being discussed. We know for sure of a stay in Budapest and one in Bologna and India somewhere over December but haven’t figured out specifics yet.

Total cost for airline tickets thus far is about $12,000, which all things considered isn’t too bad if you ask me!

Next step is booking some places to stay. Trying to do mostly Air B&Bs to have some flexibility with cooking and save some cash that way, especially in Australia and NZ where there isn’t necessarily different local food that we want to try.