50 by 50 - Our WIP Bucket list ...incomplete !!

1. The Great Wall of China - The 7m-high and 7m-thick fortification takes at least a day to walk between its battlements, shunning hawkers and tourists for less-visited sections where you clamber up unrestored stairs and through crumbling towers.

2. Siq To Petra Jordan - The rock-carved Nabataean city of Jordan with its century old ornate facades and classical architecture.

3. Whitsundays Island of Australia - The 1930 resort in this island has whale watching in the Antarctic. It is the most beautiful turquoise and green merge of the coastal Queensland.

4. Cherry Blossom Japan - The sakura- zensen in the Kiyomizu-tera in Kyoto, Tokyo’s Ueno Park or the castles in Osaka or Himeji, all of which are lent a dreamlike air by the arrival of the blossom each spring.

5. Galapagos Island Ecuador - The giant tortoises, canoodling waved albatrosses, lumbering land iguanas and Darwin’s finches, to name but a few – each a key player in the world’s most celebrated workshop of evolution.

6. Scotland - The Single Malt taste of the century old barrels.

7. Faroe Islands - 300kms from Scotland the sight of the Puffins in the North Atlantic weather.

8. Italy - There is no reason to miss the Roman Holiday, Pompeii.

9. Myanmar - Every year between November and March, barefoot pilgrims flock to Kyaiktiyo – the Golden Rock – high in the Eastern Yoma mountains. Sometime in life I would want to find my roots. Shwedagon Pagoda .

10. New Zealand - Because we are neighbours and it is beautiful. The South Islands and North Islands

11. Spain - For the Merida, Barcelona, Basilica and Don Quixote. The places like Portugal, Morocco, Gibraltar and Ibiza.

12. Spanish Archipelagos - The Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

13. Luang Prabang Laos - The monasteries of Laos. A tiny mountain kingdom for more than a thousand years and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Luang Prabang is endowed with a legacy of ancient red-roofed temples and French-Indochinese architecture, not to mention some of the country’s most refined cuisine, its richest culture and its most sacred Buddha image, the Pha Bang.

14. Gili (Trawangan,Meno and Air) Indonesia - The pure white-sand beaches framed against the warm turquoise waters.

15. Great Barrier Reef, Australia - The seven wonders of the natural world spreading across 3000kms. It is almost parallel to the Queensland coast, from near the southern coastal town of Bundaberg, up past the northern tip of Cape York.

16. Machupicchu, Peru - Inca city of Machupicchu is the long-anticipated high-point of their trip. 20th Century best-known archaeological site on the continent.

17. Angkor Wat, Cambodia - 12th century  Hindu temple and Siem Reap and Cambodia

18. Dubai - Dune Bashing, Abu DHabi - Great Mosque, Russel Khaima, Food Trail, Dubai Mall - fountain. Fly Emirates A380.

19. Sri Lanka - Paradise of Great food. Re-visit.

20. Leh Ladakh India - Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto,hamin ast

21. Rajasthan India - Go crazy for colours.

22. Madhya Pradesh India - Khajuraho, Gwalior, Panchmari, Mandu, Bhedaghat, Maheshwar, Rathlam, Itarshi, Chambal.

23. Croatia  -  The Dubrovnik Old Town is a medieval landscape where all the buildings were erected over 500 years ago and are designed in the Roman, Gothic and Baroque architectural styles. Plitvice Lake, Hvar Island and Rovinj. Listen to the Sea Organ in Zadar.

24. Nordic -  Denmark ( South Funen Archipelago of Funen, stay in Typical house on Lyø,  Shakespheare's Kronborg castle, Copenhagen-North Zealand, Roskilde, Pearl of the Baltic - Bornholm, Trelleborg Viking Fortress), Finland ( Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Epsoo, Ikea), Northern Lights - Iceland, Norway ( Atlantic Ocean Road), and Sweden

25. Istanbul  - Turkey, Capadocia, Black Sea - Bosphorus, Hagia Sophia, Taksim, Levent, Grand Bazaar, Mahamuttpasha Bazaar.

26. Azerbaijan - Caspian Sea, Armenia, BTAK Railways to Turkey, Baku, Kazakhstan. 

27. Uluru (Ayres Rock), Australia - Just see the world's largest sandstone mass 450kms from Alice springs.

28. Bali, Borobodur Indonasia - World Largest Buddhist Stupa which is ten stories high and measures over 120 meters (400 feet) per side. 

29. Tasmania - For the Cruise and the Lavenders.

30. Great Australian Bight - Nullarbor Plain is the home of  camels, wombats and mobs of kangaroos, or pull off to spot southern right whales from the magnificent Bunda Cliffs.

31. Western Australia - Waves Rock, Bungle Bungle Range, the weird geological curiosities called Pinnacles,  bubble-gum pink lake Hillier on the Recherche Archipelago, Kimberley rocks, Super Pit gold mine of Kalgoorlie, is the biggest open cast mine in Australia, Treetop walkway - Albany, 

32.  Czech Republic - Prague, Karlsbad, Czech Palace, Jankov, Bohemian Paradise, lbe Sandstone Mountains, Prague Jewish Museum, Karlstejn Castle is a large Gothic-style castle from the mid-14th century. 

33. Italy -  The endless list of everything which we will do in a career break.

34. Central Europe - Austria (Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz, Durnstein, Villach thermal bath) . Germany ( Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Dresden, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Saxon), Hungary ( Budapest, Denube, Balaton), Slovania ( Triglav National Park, Bled, Kopar), Poland (Warsaw, Nightlife, Wroclaw)

35. Dublin - Trinity College - Book of Kells, Guinness Pub Crawl, 

36. South India -  Temple tour, Beaches, Goa, the green belt.

37. Coastline Australia - Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane to Gold Coast.

Mt. Donna Buang - VIC

Away from the famous locations and resorts that pinch your pocket to have fun, I looked into an infamous town to see the snow.

Located 96 kms away from Melbourne city, the Mt. Donna Buang is located ahead of the famous Yarra Valley wineries. This place is ahead of the beautiful Warburton town a passer-by’s beautiful experience of snow on the way to Lake Mountain, Mt. Baw Baw or the very famous Mt. Buller. Note, there are no snow resorts, expensive boutique experience of snow in this place. This is an experience of snow by the nature.

Preparation: - As first timers, there are longs lists of retail engagement that everyone thinks is a must for snows. However, my answer is No. Your 2 layers of jackets and a windcheater should do us good. The snows are not killing cold. A benny, a woollen scarf and hand gloves should be great from your regular closet. What is a must for this experience is a PVC flat heel boot as we call them. You can pick up the starter from Kmart for about $15-$30. Do carry tissues and hand sanitisers.

We left home at 8AM on a Sunday morning, however, I realised snow is most beautiful when fresh. An early morning start at the onset of the sunrise is the perfect time.

The Route – Melbourne City Centre –> Richmond -> Collingwood -> Exit into Eastern Freeways through M3 -> Exit to there right from the Freeway golf Course -> Koonung Reserve -> At Eastlink take the Ringwood exit and head into the Mt. Dandenong Road -> slow down to enjoy the Yarra Valley and get surprised with the beautiful ranches and Kangaroos, horses, Lambs and cows.-> Yarra Junction -> Warburton -> Warburton Holiday Park -> winding roads to the Mt. Donna Buang.

Things to see -> The Mt. Donna Buang is walk to see a handful of things. Prepare to go slow as this is a regular route and would often have a lot of cars, families and children. We stopped at the Rain-forest Gallery and parked the car around. The snow fall is very heavy here, however, the roads are slushy. Get into the gate opposite to the public toilet opposite to the Rain-forest Gallery and follow the snow path. The further you go; there is a natural hot spring and the Donna Buang observation centre. There is a picnic area as well. If you carry picnic, you can grab a bite by the snow. We stayed there for a good 2 hours.

We came downhill back into the Warburton Town centre. There are some beautiful stores like – Warburton Candy Emporium, Earth ware handmade store, Warburton bakery, the fresh Donut food truck, the tennis court and the Green festival Venue Park. We went to grab lunch at the Riverside Café and the Yarra river flowing right there in through the backyard. There were king parrots which have red wings in the tree across the street and few minutes later the lazy sun was covered by the passing cloud till it started raining hails. We sat down to enjoy the rain from across the glass doors over lunch. We grabbed a heavenly slow cooked Lamb shank, Salmon & prawn grill and some delicious coffee.

We picked up from home grown wine as well. We walked around the town, spoke with the locals to learn about their daily life and got into the car to head back. On the way back, there are a couple of organic home farms; we picked up fruits and vegetables way back. 

Let us promote the farmers and their effort to give us fresh produce. It was a beautiful all day experience of snowfall in the Victorian mountains. Yarra Valleys have my sight on for a visit during springs next.

The Journey - Down Under !!

The flight took off and slowly the city lights started fading away into the clouds. I am not fascinated by the window view of anyplace other than the Himalayas when flying from Delhi to Kolkata and the descending of the flight in Sydney. I have never loved a breaking out from the clouded sky so much.

It was then that I realised that I have packed up for good, that it was the moment of my life that I waited so much. It was that moment when the running tears from my eyes could not justify if I would want to be in the flight or jump out, will I regret it for all the organised chaos I will not be a part of henceforth or am I going to phase out into a different human being who would search for solace. I knew life is not easy in the other side, but well, I was not warned that it was not doable.

I flight attendant extended her smile with a wet tissue and I thanks that existing good world who are ready to absorb my sadness. After the 18 hours with transit and break and change of flight and change of the contour of human physiology, I finally rush out to win the fight of surviving claustrophobia towards the end of the journey. It is 8:45PM here which is the busiest time of the day in any airport across India. We are in a deserted, quiet with hardly anybody. We followed the arrow bridge and walked a long way till we came to the escalator and then directly into the immigration section. “Hey Mate… this way please.” The friendly Aussie airport security staffs on duty calls out. Security check was done and we were out of Melbourne airport within no time.

This is another beginning, another adventure and another journey. This one has one difference than the rest… there is no going back. I remembered the Jamaica song, “I got to say, I am on my way and won’t be back for many a days. My heart is down my head’s not turning around …”

I don't know when I will get be back to this page once again after putting the puzzles of this new land in place. I have read a couple to snippets about the land, its vastness, its people and the surprises. The only hope for us is we learn and build our sand castle with these surprises.

All The Best - Australia !!