Australia,
by the reef.

Sydney for four, Melbourne for three, with a Great Ocean Road afternoon on day six the studio routed in because they thought we'd like it. They were right. The hotel side in Sydney looked at the Opera House across the cove, which the studio had assured us was worth the few dollars extra. It was. Lara at the desk answered the phone at six in the morning when we needed a restaurant table the next night.

We came for the reef and stayed for the Twelve Apostles. The studio's Cairns skipper was who we now tell every friend about. He ran a quiet, expert day with two snorkel windows and a private deck for our group. The Melbourne lanes were a slow third night the studio had built in deliberately. Nine nights, three cities, no flight in less than a half-day of buffer.

Sydney to Cairns to Auckland to Queenstown, in that order. The studio's note before we left. That this was a long trip and we should plan the third week off after we got home. Was correct. The South Island week was almost a second trip in itself. The Tibro Auckland hand-off was invisible in the way it should be.