Travel Review: New Zealand & Australia Vacation, Port Douglas, Melbourne, Great Barrier Reef, Food & Wine

Our travel agent arranged some special things for our trip.  They were somewhat unexpected but most appreciated!  (Not sure I can or should describe these because I'm not sure this company does this for everyone). OK, our agent invited us to dinner at her home with her family.  What a great group!  We thought we were related!

On our trip through Australia and New Zealand, we met some wonderful people.  Those who were a part of our scheduled/organized our travel company's trip were most friendly, professional, and educational.  We were treated so well.   

We did have an outstanding dinner evening in Port Douglas, Great Barrier Reef area.  At dinner at a sidewalk cafe, we met a couple (sitting beside us) from Melbourne.   We laughed, discussed the rainy weather, learned about rugby, solved world problems, and much more.  To over simplify, they made our dinner evening.  They had to leave and we then finished our dinner.  When we asked  our waitress for our bill, we were "floored" when she said, "Well, your friends took care of your dinner."  Their kindness and friendliness made for a super evening!  Their taking care of our dinner bill was not necessary, but was most appreciated.  Hopefully, the letter to the editor I attempted to send to the Melbourne newspaper went through/got printed.  We will be "playing their kindness forward," shortly.  They were great representatives of Australia and New Zealand/"Down Under Countries."  (Although we were in Australia, they did make a point of indicating we were going to love New Zealand.  We did)!