My family and I did an 11-week trip through parts of the USA and Canada between late March and mid-June 2004. We had a wonderful trip to North America, one that we will remember fondly for many years.

Upon our return to Australia we put together a simple website, with photos and comments on our trip. URL is:

http://dominic.kelly.site.net.au

This is my first attempt at a website, so it is not the most professional effort. I'm aware the pages look different with various
resolution settings and monitor sizes, but hopefully not too bad for anybody.

We also thought that our experiences may be of some use to fellow Australians (and others) planning to travel to North America. Sorry if you've already seen this in other forums! Comments welcome.

i'm normally bored to tears with many of the trip reports here, but I had a great time browsing through your site!

interesting to see your take on the many aspects of American culture. I'm sure its not a surprise to you that after your trip, your family knows more about the US than many Americans.

BTW, your impression was right - Houston is a dump (even before the Bushes).

Thank you for sharing your website. Its terrific. As an American I have to admit I find it mindboggling that you could manage to take an 11 week trip. So many issues like expenses, time off from work and school and being away from home that long, eating in restaurants that much etc etc. God bless you for doing it. What a great experience for your family.

Wow. Fantastic website. I just spent an hour looking at the pictures and reading the commentary. Thanks for sharing.

I really enjoyed your website and your insights into our country. I'm glad you enjoyed the trip.

I am totally loving your trip report...and I've only been through 4 sections!

Thanks for sharing your great adventure. I can't wait to go read some more.

Great trip report! It's fun to see the US from an Aussie's perspective.

BTW - I've never heard that kids Down Under were required to wear hats outdoors. Not a bad idea considering the climate.

Thank you for creating this wonderful web site, a treasure-trove and clearly a labor of love. Should be required reading/viewing for anyone who's planning to visit -- or avoid visiting -- the US!

What a great website, and what an even greater vacation! Thanks! I'll bite, though. How did you do the photos with Bush?

PS. Next time, come visit us in the Pacific Northwest!

Orcas,

I really should make it clear that the photos with W are not for real - I'll add some comments to that page. There is a store in the Old Post Office (I think it was) in DC where they do those photos as a gimmick for the tourists. It's quite clever really. On the other hand, the ones with Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank at Venice Beach are definitely for real. We'd love to visit the Pacific Nthwest - it was one of the areas we were really sad we missed. Maybe next time we'll drive all the way up the Pacific Coast to Seattle, Vancouver etc. Thanks for your kind comments. Dom

Wow, My eyes are falling out of my head, I had to read the entire thing right away! I was amused, entertained, and enjoyed every bit of this report!
Thank you for sharing!

That's a great report. Reading it almost made me late for work earlier today. It's so refreshing to get a fresh perspective.

Here's a link from our trip to Australia. I was in Sydney for 3 1/2 weeks before my family joined me in Far North Queensland. I didn't keep a log, but this comes from my son, who was in Grade 2 at the time.

One of the highlights of that trip was the train ride between Cairns and Townsville. We met some lovely folks on that ride.

http://www.tompete.homestead.com/

thanks again

Thanks for sharing your website. It's been great fun going through the different sections.

I want to just say thank you for all the information you have put down on car rental, something I find quite confusing trying to book in the US. I have always just booked on the US sites before (even though I am based in the UK) and then seen the basic cost go up and up as all the different costs get added on. I will certainly take a look at the UK sites for an all-inclusive price package.

Repete,

Glad you enjoyed our site.

I read your son's account of his trip to Cairns, Port Douglas and Tropical North Queensland in general. Sounds like a great trip.

I see he is only six months older than my daughter, and writes in much the same style as my kids did at the same age!

When I first visited Europe with my parents at age 9 I can remember being fascinated, as he was, with the cars having speedometers that went up to 200! (km/h). This was before Australia adopted the metric system in the early '70s. Showing my age, aren't I?

A long while ago,(1987) a friend and I drove from Sydney to Cairns - a bloody long way, trust me! We also visited Port Douglas.

Since then, I have visited Townsville and Cairns a few times with work, but not Port Douglas and have still never visited Magnetic Island.

Anyway, thanks for your nice comments, and we're glad you enjoyed your trip to Australia.

Dom

Thanks everyone for your kind comments on our website.

I must admit I was a bit worried when I first put it out there, that it was perhaps not as polished as I had hoped it to be.

However, I've had nothing but nice comments, which are very touching. I may do some more upgrades, as I keep thinking of things I should have added, and I'd like to capture these before the memories fade too much...

I haven't worked out how to respomd individually to people on Fodors, if it's even possible. So I'm sorry for responding in this way to everyone, and am more than happy to be told how I can reply to individual posts.

To answer Bennie's comments - yes, we were asked many times by Americans and foreign tourists we met how we'd managed to take so long off. I think some Dutch people told us they simply would not be allowed to take their kids out of school so long, as did some Americans.

My wife and I both work for the civil service in Australia, so we get 4 weeks vacation per year (almost six weeks per year after 10 years). This can also be saved up. That is how we managed to get time off work (and get paid for most of it).

I'll finish by saying thanks to all those who've taken time to send me a comment on our site.

What a great effort and insights...I learned a little about our interstare system too. Thanks M8!

What an interesting insight on a US-Canadian trip. Very neat to see all of this through your eyes. I especially liked the miscellaneous 'ramblings'.

Thank you for sharing!!!
-Sharon

Fabulous, fabulous stuff! It's a joy to read about your trip and your impressions of the US. Your children are very fortunate to have all these great experiences, too!

Thanks for sharing, Dominic!

so great! hope you join us in the states again!

Thank you for sharing your trip--I really enjoyed your pics and comments.

Having lived in Houston, Texas, Louisiana, and Floridan, and a brother at Cape Canaveral (lives in Merritt Island in fact), I you "spot on" with your take on Houston and your love of New Orleans and the food!

I've been to oz and I thought Sydney was a truly beautiful city--I wasn't expecting it to be so cosmopolitan and down-right beautiful. Very international as well and the architecture was a surprise as well.

Will be returning again and hope to see more. Spent too much tme in NZ both north and south islands so limited in time while in oz--hopped plane to New Caledonia--and just hung out in Isle de Pins (island off southern tip) and Loyalty Islands--being French-speaking when we opened our mouths they thought we were aussies, since they get so few yanks! lol

Thanks again for your input.