3 countries, 2 weeks and 1 man

Last family photo in front of our beloved home for the year, Stonehaven. :)

We will always miss this place!

Oh the miles these shoes have seen. We are all ready for new clothes and shoes. We wore our things out this year since we didn't buy much (expensive in NZ!) and we wore them over and over.

Ben was overseer of the packing of the house. What a sad day. Ben had a really long week since we were gone and the house was so quiet. I think he was ready to move on to the next item on his agenda.

Hopefully our things will arrive in 6-8 weeks!

Ben left Wellington early early on Monday, July 18 and flew straight to Sydney. There he was to tour the Sydney Melanoma unit and check out their facilities and practices. He was able to do a bit of sight seeing as well. What a beautiful city Sydney is!

Sydney at night

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where Ben visited the Melanoma Center while in Sydney.

"Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) was named after Queen Victoria's second son, His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, later Duke of Edinburgh. During a visit to Australia in 1868 Prince Alfred was the victim of an assassination attempt while on a picnic in the northern Sydney suburb of Clontarf.

Australians opened a public subscription fund to build a hospital as a memorial to his safe recovery. The prince authorised his coat of arms to be used as the new hospital's crest. King Edward VII granted the hospital its Royal prefix in 1902.

More than 125 years of Service

RPA opened as a 146-bed hospital and received its first patients in 1882 at the Missenden Road site. During that year 1069 patients were admitted.

Now widely acknowledged for its tradition of medical innovation and leadership, RPA is responsible for producing many of the country's top clinicians. Its national and international reputation for excellence has long been established through the efforts of staff in patient care, teaching, research and support services, making it one of the State's premier tertiary referral hospitals." courtesy www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa

Stuff left behind...too much to haul around so someone got lucky!

On the way to St. Mary's Cathedral

"St Mary’s Cathedral stands in the centre of Sydney as a Christian statement of grace and beauty. Generations of artists have bequeathed to it their magnificent gifts in stone and glass, designing a unique space of solace and prayer within this vibrant city. This Cathedral represents the spiritual origins of the Catholic Church in Australia. It is one of Sydney's most treasured historic buildings and one of the finest examples of English-style gothic churches in the world. William Wilkinson Wardell, the 19th century architect, dreamed of a gothic structure shaped from the local yellow-block sandstone on which this city is built. The building was finally completed 100 years after the architect's death."

courtesy of http://www.stmaryscathedral.org.au

Sydney Opera House from the Manly Ferry

Self portrait on Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia.

After a few days in Sydney, Ben flew to Taipei and into the Land of the Unknown.

View of Taipei from Ben's room

Bed fit for a king, a 4ft king that is! Ben had a little trouble sleeping in this tiny dorm bed. I can't imagine why! :)

After a few days in Taipei, Taiwan, Ben made the decision to come home early. He has many stories of his travels and several reasons why he chose to leave Taipei. It's just time to get our lives started, get settled and move forward.