Well, here we go again, LOL.
Started packing at 4.45 and and finished a couple of hours later, Had a couple of diversions in there, but got it done. So far don’t seem to have forgotten anything.  Arrived at the airport at 11, dropped off the bag and then got that elusive hotel munzee outside which I haven’t been able to find before!

Helen and Gary have been in South Australia fora few days already and Maria flew in an hour or so before me. I had a man next to me who sniffed the whole trip, very annoying, but it was only a 3 hour flight. Even managed a short nap!

Maria had already got my suitcase by the time I got down to the baggage carousel and then Helen & Gary arrived at the pick-up spot as we got outside. Great timing all round. Only a short drive north to our accommodation. Stopped at the shops for a forgotten item as H & G had already been shopping. Helen has found another nice house for us to stay in and after unpacking us 3 girls went for a little munzee walk whilst Gary looked after the lasagna in the oven.

Nice dinner with salad included, and now H, G & M are doing cryptic crosswords and I’m writing this. South Australia is 90 minutes ahead of WA, so it’s time for bed, LOL

Had another late night early morning, lol.

We all went for a drive to cap some newly deployed virtual resorts, and then walked around our event trail as we hadn’t got it capped the day before. Then Lisa, Deb and Duncan walked around the lake and capped those as I had already done them, so I sat and chatted with Geraldine & Pete. From there we went back to the same highway to get more ne resorts and to put some out. Mission accomplished we went back to the hotel to pack and check out for 10. After that we had a treat. Lisa took us out to the farm where her calves are bred. We only saw he latest from a distance as it had been released out to paddock, but there we 3 other babies in the pens. A first for me I reckon, I was around all that hay, and straw and furry things and didn’t sneeze once!!!!!

From there we drove over to the Australia emerald garden so that Deb could get her million points badge, very exciting! And then on to the airport where we said farewell to Deb & Duncan. Deb off to Brisbane and Duncan to Perth but a different airline. Lisa and I sat around for a bit, caught our flight. I slept a bit, had my log book signed and was told that the American Airlines captain from a flight last year was a very famous pilot!

Found the car first look this time, helps having the correct car park, lol, popped into Mum’s and then home. Back at work Monday, sigh. Had a great trip, met lots of wonderful people and saw lots of great things. xoxo

And what’s a better way of finishing off a visit to Shepparton than cow pictures!

Well today was our event, WA Day in SheppZee, to which we had a great turnout, 67 scanned the attendees pin. We got to the Gardens a little after 8 and set up a table with fund raising items on for the Zaidee Foundation and a raffle. Also the all important laptop on which to mark the Eventzee photos.

We had the introduction and instructions and everyone then made their way off to cap munzees and photograph what they thought were the answers to our clues. This kept Lisa and I busy for a long time as we had 59 people submitting photos for 20 clues.

Once most people had returned around noon, we had a cheque presentation to the founder of the Zaidee foundation and lots of thank yous and prize winners and everyone seemed to have had a good time.

We had a very late lunch (no breakfast!) and then took Deb on a capping spree as she wanted the 100k badge, which is hard to get at any other time than an event. Having achieved that we had a short break in the hotel, and then off to dinner with a table of 9. Lots of chat and fun and laughter! From there we headed to the Aussie Hotel to sit and talk more, but the band started playing just after 10 and we couldn’t hear ourselves at all, LOL. A brief interlude outside the hotel and then back to our rooms, another late night!

Trying to find a nano cache the night before

The Zaidee Rainbow cow

Well, won’t get much today, as it’s actually Saturday, what, I’ve seen midnight!!!!!

Had a mixed day. Went out early for a drive to cap the very special rainbow trails that have been created as a fund raiser for the Zaidee Foundation. Had breakfast just around the corner from the hotel, then Lisa went off to a meeting, and Duncan and Ade went off as well, so I had a nice little walk in the park. Met up with both of them and then did some street walking and munzee capping. They were then heading off to far flung pastures and so I returned to the park and sat for a while.

Lisa picked me up and we went and sorted out our Eventzee clues and photos, did some quick shopping and then back to the hotel. I then set to work putting out the virtual munzees for our events.

Left the hotel just after 5 and met up with everyone at the park, where the Mayor of Shepparton opened up our event and talks by various people before we headed off around the lake, meeting other players, chatting and capping.

From there we went to dinner at the Aussie Hotel and had a gift thank-you ceremony for Rob and Louise who came out from Texas & England respectively for our events. Had a nice meal and then walked a couple of blocks with other WA players. Back at the hotel we sat and talked about all sorts of things. Eventually found a nano geocache outside the hotel, very much a group effort, lol. From there we headed back to the hotel, sorted out Munzee, Eventzee & raffle prizes. I finished off deploying virtuals for our big event tomorrow, typed this and as it’s 12.45 it’s definitely time for bed! xoxo

Lilydale Lake 25th

Lilydale Lake 25th

Hot air balloons over Melbourne 26th

Albert Park 26th

Port Phillip Bay 26th

Sorry, this is going to be another photoless entry, it’s 10.45 and I need to shower and get to bed as we are going out again at 6!

Anyway, we left the Melbourne hotel just after 7.30 and headed down the hill to Avis for the car. We stopped at Albert Park for a very short time and then made our way over to Elsternwick Park for the big munzee event. Didn’t have time for breakfast! We got a great parking spot and then headed off to the streets to get some prize-wheel munzees before heading back to the event. I discovered I didn’t have my Fitbit on me, and thought I might have lost it, but when finally back at the car the phone found it so I knew it was in my suitcase somewhere for much later unearthing, LOL

Did a lot of walking around the park, then down to Port Phillip Bay, and then back to the park. It actually tried to rain 3 times, but only amounted to a tiny sprinkle, but having it overcast for most of the day was good! Had a sausage for lunch at about 2 and then did a little socialising, won third prize in the event munzees (a premium membership) and also a raffle prize, a jar of vegemite and some munzees, LOL.

After saying goodbye to everyone and noting that several of them we would see again tomorrow, we headed out of Melbourne and took the highway up to Shepparton. Drove around a bit munzeeing and then got to our hotel just before 9. A quick trip to the local kebab place for dinner and now it’s nearly 11 and time to get organised!

I promise some photos sometime, LOL. xoxoxo

Will have to add photos later as it’s really late and we have an early morning tomorrow.

We had a busy day today, after a late start.  Breakfast at around 10 in Degraves St which is a collection of cafes whose tables are all out on the street. Very nice hotcakes!

Walked around the CBD for a little while and then back at the hotel for a quick sit before Geraldine and Redman picked us up and took us for a long scenic drive. We stopped off at Lilydale Lake and had a lovely walk around it, got a little sunburnt on the arm!

From there we went back to Geraldine’s for a drink and then on to the restaurant for the first event of our trip. Had a great meal of spare ribs and salad! Capped a few munzees in the vicinity and went back to Eric & Nats place for a cuppa, then Geraldine drove us back to the hotel, It was a long trip back it’s 11.30 and we need to be out by 730 tomorrow! Just over 8 kms today!

Up at 3.30 as normal, and started packing at 4. Having a list to work from makes it much easier. Fed Lucy at 5.30, packed the car and headed for the airport. Parked the car and caught the airport bus at 6.30, and met Lisa in the Business Lounge. Had pancakes for breakfast! Plane took off just after 8 and arrived in Melbourne at 14.15, just under a 3 hour flight.
Duncan met us at the baggage carousel and after a long wait as a Sydney flight had landed just before us our cases appeared. I caught a hotel drop-off bus as Lisa said there was a big hill to walk up to the hotel which would have been difficult pulling a case up it! Not a bad trip though, managed to get a lot of munzees along the route.
After check-in we went for a walk down to the tram stop and then off at Fitzroy Gardens. Went for a lovely walk around the gardens, lots of munzees. Cook’s Cottage is in the gardens. From there we caught another tram down to Federation Square, where we had a very nice Japanese meal at the Chocolate Buddha. The tennis was playing on a big screen. We then had a nice walk along the Yarra river. Walked back to the hotel and Lisa & Duncan are relaxing with a gin and watching the cricket! Just under 9 kms today!

Lets see if I can remember what we did as it’s a long time ago now, LOL.

Had breakfast about 8 and then packed up the car. Once again it was cold! There were a few virtuals in a shopping mall just north of the motel which we had thought of doing in the morning, before heading off to the airport. The virtual resort had the intriguing name of ‘Zombie Mall’, but we just thought it was someone’s sense of humour. However when we got there we discovered that was exactly what it was. A huge mall and car park that had been closed down early 2014 and was just sitting there. There was a movie theatre and one outlet shop still alive in the entire complex, but that was it. Everyone else had moved over to the new mall across the road! Brendan and Rachel turned up to say hello as it was their munzees scattered around the mall.
From there we headed off to another small area of virtuals and then decided to head for Dallas/Fort Worth airport. Even though it was about 11 and out flights wasn’t until 8, we wanted to get there early as there were masses of virtuals just sitting around waiting to be capped! Just as well we did as it turned out. I directed the GPS to their airport offices and that’s where she took us, not to the drop off point, so we had to get the proper address and yeah, dropped off the car. She was rather dirty poor thing, and from the receipt I received, we drove 2419 miles, 3893 kms. I obviously hadn’t remembered the correct mileage when we picked her up, LOL.

We caught the shuttle into the airport, over a mile away, and started on the electronic check in. Got our boarding passes but then it wanted $25 for each suitcase, so we went to the counter. Well, just as well we were early. Apparently because it was an internal flight, we weren’t allowed to check the baggage all the way through to Brisbane, but had to collect it at LAX and then go through customs etc and recheck in again. When she saw the flight we were taking and that we only had about 90 minutes between landing and takeoff again, we were told we did not have enough time and it would be best to take an earlier flight. So we opted for the 3 pm flight which entailed an extra $75 each to change to, plus we still had to pay the $25 for the luggage. Just as well we were early. Anyway, found our gate, had a bite of lunch and then sat in the monorail 3 times around the circuit capping munzees all the time.

I think that about a 4 hour flight, it’s all blurred in together, and then we had a long wait in LAX because we had to take off 2 hours because of the time difference between the states. The flight took off about 11.30 pm and was just over 13 hours flying time. Not much sleep, and completely lost Tuesday, but did get to watch the new Star Wars movie. We actually landed in Brisbane at 6 am, an hour earlier than expected. Collected the suitcases and through customs, and then just did a bag drop as my case was already booked through to Perth. We had to wait a little while for Ron and Anna to appear, traffic not good that time of the morning.

Found the Qantas Lounge, have had breakfast and thought I may as well finish off my blog now as had 4 hours before my flight, which is 5 hours duration. Added up the Fitbit and have basically walked 250 kms whilst away. So this is it, catch you later once I’m home again, I have lots of unanswered emails & Facebook messages and all sorts of other things to sort out, but I will be home, always a good place to be. Thanks for joining us, be good and take care, L 🙂 xoxo

Well our last full day on Texas soil, and it’s still bitterly cold!!!!!!

We were both woken up at 3.45 by someone knocking on the door next to ours and it was hard to go back to sleep, so we had a latish breakfast. Chatting with the guy on reception (while eating breakfast, which is in the reception area, lol), who has family in Lilydale, Melbourne. He was there last year and he was going to show us all his photos, but he had removed them from his phone. With promises of bringing in his laptop tomorrow so we could see them ringing in our ears we made our get-away whilst someone else occupied him. Will see what the morning brings, lol.

Headed off to the Cottonbelt Trail, which proved to be a nice pathway behind some very large, expensive looking houses (with their own private park between them and the fence) and a railway line that didn’t have a single train go by on, but that might have been because it was Sunday or something as it didn’t look disused.

Even though it was once again blue skies and sunshine,the wind was very nasty, but we enjoyed the trail itself, lots of birds, but not a squirrel in sight! Probably sensibly staying in their dreys!

From their we visited a couple of other small parks and then headed back to the sports grounds where last years Christmas event had been held. Did that lot, then popped into Walmart for a cup of popcorn shrimp for lunch and for Maria to grab some t-shirts. Sat and ate lunch in the nice warm car and then kept driving. We ended up at the end of a 7 km impoundment road. It had been a through road once upon a time, but was obviously closed for quite a while to judge by the vegetation growing through cracks in the side of it. It separated a large grassed area and houses from what we assumed would be a large water body during heavy rains. Munzees where on the guard rails on either side of the road, so we zig-zagged up it for about 1.5 kms before turning back. It was very English looking the countryside, lol. We then drove to the other end and found the body of water!

From there we drove back to the motel, sorted out our packing and then walked across to Taco Bell for dinner. Very nice it was too.

I probably won’t be able to add anything tomorrow, but will try and write a finishing post when I get home, with our final mileage and kms walked! So will catch you then!