Snapshots from DownUnder Deetour

From September '09 until April '10, I was able to see a lot of Australia. Some old haunts, some new ones. When not on the road, I took time to explore my own backyard and uncover some secrets of Sydney.

Here are some of the Queen Dee in Queensland and the Island Nomad in Tasmania, the largest island of Australia.

Where are you now?

I get asked that a lot by folks back home. Sometimes I have to stop and think!

This week, I'm at home in Sydney glued to the tube for the Winter Olympics. I toured the Whistler Ski Village two years ago, and was supposed to be living and working there during the excitement, but alas I'm full with work in OZ.

My downunder deetours since I wrote last include the sunny-state-of-mind Gold Coast Australia, arid Adelaide and SA Wine Country, and lagoon-surrounded New Caledonia.

For R&R, I have trips planned to Melbourne for the Food & Wine Festival and a visit with my cat Harley in Kaye's care, and to my beloved Tasmania. After that, it's a return to USA.

If you miss me back in North America, make your reservations now for my return. California, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Vanouver, in the quiet aftermath of the exciting games. I'm at the Pride House in spirit.

Dee Farrell currently lives and works in Australia, Canada and the US, as the weather suits.

The Devil Made Me Do It

Both I and my server are nicknamed The Devil. We hail from Tasmania and are friends with a few Tasmanian devils. No names or marisupials mentioned.

I recently did a road trip following the East Coast Escape itinerary I helped develop when I was a food & wine tour operator from 2003-2007. It was my first time in a campervan and travelling solo without paid passengers.

Much better to go at my own pace so I could perform some rituals... and those do not include a flashlight search for the noctural devil, a nasty and noisy animal to say the least.

First, I donned my shell necklace I made from a seashell I picked up on my last day in Tasmania two years ago. Then I put on my Florida Apalachicola Bay Oysters t-shirt to have my photo taken on the foreshore of the Great Oyster Bay . Then I opened a local craft beer called Hazards Ale and sat myself down to enjoy the seascape at the foot of the Hazards Mountains for which it is named.

Then I had goosebumps, but it wasn't from the 10 degrees or the rain-grown giant mosquitos, rather from admiring my renewed Tasmanian Driver's License. I found my spiritual home and am becoming a Tasmaniac again!

Reviving Older Blog with New Diversions and Destinations

My business and my first blog were self-titled as Dee-Tours Down-Under. Being the adventures of an ex-pat named Dee, on a four-year dee-tour around OZ and under downunder. DeeTours DownUnder's DBA was Vino Ventures on Vespas, a food and wine tour company through the vines.

I kept the blog fun and frequently updated during the 4.5 years I lived in OZ and played in Kiwiland. But after two years living back in the USA, I completely forgot how to access that blog. So now I have decided to revitalize it here in the new blogger software, under the new title Dee Touring. BLURRING THE LINE BETWEEN TRAVEL AND LIFE.

I came back just weeks ago, and started my 5th journey/exploration of my adopted homeland. i hope you enjoy the tales.