What day is it?

Australia and New Zealand have a love and hate relationship. Both are under British rule and are similar in many ways but they are also very different. Several Aussies said, OK - all kidding aside, which is better Oz or NZ? But comparing the two would be like comparing Alaska to Hawaii.

We didn't see much of Australia other than the east coast but we noticed three differences between Oz and New Zealand: 1)size 2)weather and 3) expense.

Australia is a huge country, almost as big as the continental U.S. but with only 20 million people. The majority of the population lives by the coast. Sydney, the capital, has more people that the whole country of New Zealand with only 4 million people. From what we saw, Australia has the beaches, surf and diving. New Zealand's mountains and outdoor adventures can't be beat.

The southern hemisphere is going into their winter but we hit Sydney at the perfect time. As we headed north we managed to stay in the warmer weather. But even with winter right around the corner, Australia was still so much warmer than New Zealand.

Both countries were very friendly and easy to get around in. New Zealand had a much more laid back lifestyle where Australia was faster paced. We found New Zealand relatively cheaper for travel where Australia was comparable to the prices in the States. Which means expensive for budget travelers like us.

We were fortunate to meet a very generous Aussie who left us a key to his vacation home. We stayed in Airlie beach for another 10 days after Whitsundays. Thanks Perry, you are one of a kind. We did absolutely nothing while we were there. Just lounged around the house and relaxed by the water. Out of our four weeks in Australia, we spent over two and a half weeks in Airlie.

We enjoyed our five months in the South Pacific. I am addicted fish and chips and we are now tea drinkers. A few words have sneaked into our vocabulary: heaps, good on you, cheers and keen.

Our one month road trip from Sydney to Cairns, which was 2639 kms (1640 miles), was nice and lazy. This was the first time that Parker and I wandered around for weeks without knowing the day of the week or the date. All we knew was that we had to be in Cairns on June 5th to catch our flight to the Philippines.