Be Bayou World Tour Final Stop: Down Unda'

We wrapped up our Be Bayou world tour with our final stops in Australia and New Zealand. Despite leaving SFO at the same time, I arrived in Melbourne 11 hours before David... his journey took 29 hours with a detour through Hong Kong (eek), but we both hit the ground running.

Work sent me down unda'-- a rare treat to collaborate in person with my Dublin and Melbourne colleagues (they are usually paying the time zone price for a noon SF meeting!) Seven days of face-to-face time made a huge difference, and I even hired the final member of my team in Sydney. Calling it productive would be an understatement.

Australia was truly a land of discovery and we discovered we both loved the the red curry from Cha Ching down the street from our hotel and I discovered that David has an unhealthy fixation with photographing 'utes in their natural habitat. For those unfamilair, 'utes are like the 1980s El Caminos of the U.S. but evolved over the decades out in the bush. David also put in an ultra marathon worth of miles across Melbourne while I worked, but together we toured the beautiful Yarra Valley wineries, strolled Melbourne’s riverwalk, wandered through its grand library, art museums, and lush botanic gardens, and treated ourselves to some of the city’s finest meals. Safe to say, Melbourne showed us a great time!

Brett and I met 25 years ago at a summer camp in Northern California. We've stayed in touch all this time, from his trip to Boulder to my visit to Melbourne 12 years ago, where he and his lovely wife, Kath, hosted me, and I learned to drive on the wrong side of the road and sincerely enjoyed Vegemite. They hosted us for supper at their stunning home in Yarrow Valley that Brett, an architect, designed.

Katie and I know each other from my days in Denver, and fun twist—we both ended up moving to Sydney around the same time about 10 years ago. She stayed and eventually moved down to Melbourne with her lovely hubby, James. We swapped life updates over mountains of fried pub food that somehow magically appeared before David and I (how did that happen?!)

David left Australia to head back to spend Spring Break with the boys while I soldiered on wrapping up the next leg of our grand tour without him.

Next Stop, Wellington, New Zealand

When I arrived, Mimi yelled, "I MISSED YOU!" and ran to me with a huge hug and smile. Not sure I've ever had a better greeting.

Mimi is David's cousin Dani's daughter, we first met in Budapest 3 years ago... "kind friends" at first sight!

And from there, it only got better. I was welcomed into their beautiful hillside home with a stunning view of the South Island from their deck with a gluten-free, dairy-free honey cake— my favorite cake from Prague (where Jane is from) but, ha--with a few modifications. We placed our be bayou sticker in the Wellington Botanic Gardens, courtesy of Mimi, and spent the day strolling through the peaceful gardens, braving a double-decker bus ride that was hell bent on destruction downtown, and spent a lovely day exploring the Martinborough wine region, enjoying delicious food + wine.

Dani is an illustrator at Weta—Peter Jackson’s company—and has worked on films like Avatar, Avengers, Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit (just to name a few). The boys are so thrilled with the treasures I brought home for them.

Clear blue skies and warm weather (for the most part) the whole time—New Zealand really rolled out the red carpet once again. So grateful for Jane, Dani, and Mimi's kindness and hospitality, can't wait for our next adventure to Tahoe!

Last Stop, Sydney

I had a wonderful 9-hour layover in Sydney. My friend Esther picked me up, and we headed straight to a cozy brunch spot in the lovely Surrey Hills. Funny enough, Esther and I didn’t meet in Sydney, but actually in San Francisco, where we worked together at a startup in downtown SF. She’s such a gem.

Afterwards, I visited my old neighborhood in Annandale. I strolled along the harbor park, enjoying mature trees and beautiful architecture (Annandale is Sydney's oldest neighborhood), and of course, I stopped by my favorite local café for yet another yum flat white (Australia has the best coffee I've had, true story.)

To close out the day, I wandered the coastal trail to Bronte Beach. I swam in the ocean water pool and placed our final Be Bayou sticker. What a perfect way to end our tour!

Love the (true) Deep South, grateful.