San JuanGoogle map of places - link Stay - we stayed in Isla Verde, a beautiful resort-esque place on the beach of Puerto Rico. You pretty much need to Uber or get a car to get anywhere else of interest, however Hacienda Muñoz - a pretty coffee plantation with fantastic coffee and some light sandwiches just out of the way towards the south end of the island. We opted to skip Ponce due to timing, and instead went to Yauco, a small town that has added the largest outdoor art exhibit in Puerto Rico. Buildings have been painted beautiful bright colors with the Yauchromatic art project. We made a pit stop at Próceres, a coffee shop to get some more espresso. Along the way towards the salt flats, Piraguas Las Muchachas is a street stand that serves shaved ice. Line up in your car and drive up to the counter. Salinas de Cabo Rojo, or the salt flats, is a large expanse of salt flats in the southwest part of the island. Keep going past the bumpy dirt roads (it's better if you have something capable of doing off-road, there were a few other cars scraping their frames unable to get past) to get to this more secluded absolutely beautiful Playa Sucia. There tons of other gorgeous beaches as well. Mar Chaquita beach is definitely worth checking out - it is slightly protected by a rocky entrance, so the waves aren't too bad. It's not all sand, however, so you still want to be careful. Playa Ojo de Agua is more secluded, and the waves are a bit harsher, but it is a great scenic location. Cuerva del Indio is a cave hidden inside a giant jagged rock formation with hieroglyphs from natives. There's $10/person parking after 9:30am on private property near the site, or limited street parking just east or west of there. Walk along the beach towards the formation, where there is a slightly treacherous walk up the rocks towards the cave. The cave is still a questionable drop down and climb in, so we opted not to go in, but many do. Walk east however, along the path of many more rocks and you'll find the most beautiful scene of many arches in a row and more beaches, including Playa Caracoles. On the east side, Playa de Luquillo is a nice beach with lots of food and shops nearby. El Yunque is the national forest on top of many lists of places to visit. We did a quick tour and went to Las Pailas, sliding down a natural waterslide and jumping off some rocks into the pool. Definitely need to add hiking next time. Old San Juan is a must visit - a great walking town with historic forts, a thriving night life on the north end, and lots of restaurants and gift shops. Food - Bebo's BBQ next to the airport has the best pernil ever and amazing BBQ all around. It's a long line that goes relatively quickly. There's no menu that we could find, and not everyone speaks English there, so look up a menu online and have your order ready. The Piñones area just east of San Juan has a ton of street food carts with lots of delicious food. Drinks - La Factoría and Jungle Bird were fantastic. The former is a multi-room craft cocktail/wine/dance bar, and the latter does tiki. Monostereo stood out as well - the bar leads down to another bar which leads into a courtyard with tacos which if you go back around, takes you upstairs to either a no menu dealer's choice cocktail bar or a dance club with a balcony that has New Orleans Bourbon Street vibes.  Hacienda Muñoz  Yauco  Salinas de Cabo Rojo  Playa Sucia  View from Playa Sucia  Lizard? DRAGON???  Las Pailas  Playa Ojo de Agua  Mar Chiquita Beach  View from area of Cuerva del Indio  Walking east form Cuerva del Indio  Walking east form Cuerva del Indio  Old San Juan  Castillo de San Felipe
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For a Google Map list of locations - check this out WeatherWe went in March, where the summer is transitioning into fall, and the rainy season was in the very beginning of transitioning into dry season. This meant that the weather forecast was still rain, rain, and more rain. However, weather can be unpredictable, and we were fortunate to encounter almost no rain, even in the rainforest areas of Port Douglas/Cairns. While Sydney was perfect, with temperatures 60s to 70s, Port Douglas was a pretty hot 80s consistently. SydneyA beautiful city was so much to explore! Some things to note Transportation - It's incredibly easy to get on the trains/buses/light rails. They will take you from the airport to the city, and all over the city. Just tap your credit card/phone/i-watch and you're on. Even the ferries follow the same method. Just remember to tap when you exit as well so you don't get charged extra/fined (for the buses, the tap station is usually at the bus stop). Uber is also everywhere here. The British system - yup, everything is opposite here from the USA. Stand on the left, pass on the right. Look to your right first when crossing the street, driver's seat is no the right. Some highlights We stayed at Circular Quay, which tends to be more of a tourist/business district. This meant, however, easy access to transportation, ferries, and a lot of sightseeing Taronga Zoo - It honestly felt a bit silly to go all the way to Australia to go to a zoo and see like... African Giraffes. It was neat to check out either way, and the ferry to the zoo was really cool to take. If you're looking for more of an Australian experience, however, check out Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park! It's only Australian animals, and they let you get close up to and feed a bunch of them. Would recommend that over the zoo, although it's a bit further out of the way. We found a tour that took us there and to the Blue Mountains. Next to the zoo is a pretty little beach called Whiting Beach, and a viewpoint called Little Sirius Point that are worth taking the short hike to and checking out. From Circular Quay, it's a short walk to the Royal Botanic Garden. Get a great picture of Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the Fleet Steps there. Walk around through The Rocks, to Barangaroo, down to Darling Harbour. Chinatown is nearby there. The Queen Victoria Building is a beautiful historic building that's cool to walk through. The shops in it aren't as interesting. Our trip has less focus on the culinary side, but some things that stood out include Chat Thai (amazing thai food), Masala Theory (best butter chicken ever, everything else is also great), Shadow Baking (amazing bakery). Maybe Sammy is doing some cool stuff with cocktails, and Wildflower Brewing is a bit further away but has been making some great wild ale (sour) beers. If you do end up in Merrickville, however, head over to downtown Enmore. The Winery in Surry Hills has a great wine program in a really cool outdoor garden. Bondi to Coogee is a must do. It's about an hour walk, but it is an absolutely amazing oceanside scene. Blue Mountains is also an area full of breathtaking views. Lincoln's Rock and Three Sisters are popular sights. You can rent a car and go, take public transportation, or go via tour. We opted for a bus tour cause it was the least hassle. more below on Port Douglas  Harbour view from the ferry  Koala at Taronga Zoo  Sydney Opera house view from the ferry  Whiting Beach  Feeding Wallabies at Featherdale  Lincoln's Rock, Blue Mountains  Three Sisters, Blue Mountains  Shadow Bakery  Bondi Beach Port DouglasHere's where the rainforest and great barrier reef access is. We flew up to Cairns, rented a car, and drove to Port Douglas. Rex Lookout is a great place to stop and take a picture. Some have luck spotting a crocodile at Crocodile Viewpoint, we we did not. Four Mile Beach is a beautiful beach to walk along, especially during sunrise/sunset. Prior to May however, it's stinger season and warning signs are all over to avoid going in the water. The north end of the beach does have a small roped off area that people were swimming in. Downtown Port Douglas was cool to walk around. This is definitely a fancier resort town come winter, as the summers are quite hot and rainy. Wrasse & Roe is a delicious seafood spot there. Heading north, we left early to get to the Daintree Ferry. For a fee, we parked the car on there and took the few minute ride across the Daintree River. During tourist season, apparently the line can get quite long. We stopped by the Daintree Discovery Centre, which was a great place to learn about the rainforest, although I'm not sure it was worth the admission fee. This might be the last place with a bathroom with garbage cans/toilet paper however. Just past the ferry, stop at Mount Alexandra Lookout. As luck would have it, the day we traveled up was the first day the road to Cape Tribulation was open. Severe weather at the end of 2023 wrecked a lot up here. The Kulki Boardwalk was barely open, and the Lookout was closed at this time. Myall Beach, Dubuji Boardwalk, Madja Boardwalk were beautiful places we checked out. Stopping for ice cream, Daintree Ice Cream Company was delicious, while Floravilla was eh. Of course, the thing to do up here is to take a tour of the Great Barrier Reef. We found a tour that was a total of about 9 hours - it took an hour just to get to the reef. It was worth it - some of the best beautiful sights I've ever seen. Back near Port Douglas, Mossman Gorge is a beautiful place with aboriginal protections and a place for many to take a scenic swim. It'll cost a ticket for a bus ride there and back from the visitor center unless you want to take the walk.  Wrasse and Roe  Four Mile Beach  Mount Alexandra Lookout  Inside the Daintree Discovery Center  Capitulation Bay  Dubuji Boardwalk  Daintree Ice Cream Center  Great Barrier Reef  Great Barrier Reef  Boyd's Forest Dragon (in Mossman Gorge)  Mossman Gorge Just came back from Paris and Bordeaux for 1 week. Here is my packing list!  Weather was going to be (and ended up being) low 40s to mid 50s Farenheight with light rains and some wind. Travel was for 1 week (a few days in Paris, a few days in Bordeaux). Clothing worn on way there not pictured
France pictures to come! The Bag
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