The arduous task of lodging selection

If it were just Victor and I wouldn't be stressing about lodging in Australia, we are very flexible and really don't mind too much of anything. (Remember our first year in Bangkok? Great appartment, but stinky location, really stinky! and the second year, sort of where we wanted to be but too close for a taxi and just a bit further than we like to walk....) As with our trip to Hawaii earlier this year, I again find myself on the planning side of the equation for a group and feeling a little pressure (self induced no doubt) in trying to meet everyone's needs. My favorite quote this morning was "I won't bitch too much no matter how badly you screw this up..." hmmmmm.

It is a few weeks since I wrote that and here I sit not having made any lodging decisions. I was hoping for something wonderful to drop in out of the internet sky. Perhaps a three bedroom home to rent with 3 baths right in the middle of where we want to be for nearly nothing. Alas, it was not to happen. Well, maybe it still can, we really are still a little over a week away. We do have a fall back plan if needed and will not go to Australia homeless.

Hi Ho---Down Under we will go!

After much debate and research we have agreed to go to Australia and New Zealand for our annual Recipe Research Trip. This destination was decided for several reasons, including the fact that our best selling menu item is our New Zealand Lamb Racks. So, why not go see the land where these delicious racks come from. What do they do so well there and are there any twists on preparing the delicious meat that we could learn from.

This year we will be traveling with friends who are curious about the Lynn & Victor Recipe Research Style of travel to which we assure them they will be very bored! A class here, a field trip there, a dinner here and there....Not all that exciting. We look at dishes, lighting, different bed and breakfast ideas, amenities and the like. We are always looking for ways to improve the traveler's experience while staying at the Hotel Charlotte and visiting Yosemite National Park. Oh, and we spend time distributing our brochures everywhere we stop and to folks we meet along the way. Not that exciting, but if Jack and Jeannie think this is cool, we will tutor them in our travel style.

We will travel first to Sydney for about a week and then to New Zealand where we will hop on a boat to explore the Eastern Coast of New Zealand then off to Tasmania, Melbourne and back to Sydney and then back to home port: Groveland, California.