![\"\"](\"http:\/\/petersontravels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Cayuga.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis is the USS Cayuga (LST-1186).\u00a0 LST stands for Landing Ship Tank, but Long Slow Target was far<\/strong> more accurate.<\/p>\n Getting off the ship in Australia was the best experience the Navy afforded me, as I was able to get liberty for 10 days (much to the chagrin of our Executive Officer, but that’s another story) and travel down the east coast from Gladstone to Sydney.\u00a0 I loved Australia so much I intended to get back ASAP, but life has a way of getting in the way of such plans.<\/p>\n Kim has never been, and New Zealand\/Australia has definitely been at the top of our travel list since well before retirment. \u00a0 Kim even agreed to watch all three Lord of the Rings movies (we just finished ROTK today), which she has never seen, as preparation for some of the things we will see on our trip.\u00a0 If you know Kim that’s a pretty big deal!\u00a0 Not quite sure how we’ll get her to watch Star Wars….can’t exactly travel to Tatooine or Hoth (and Disneyland doesn’t count…way too crowded!).<\/p>\n We are spending 4 weeks in New Zealand, 2 weeks on a cruise from Auckland to Sydney, and then another 6 weeks in Australia.\u00a0 Unfortunately our son will not be able to join us on this trip since he is in school.\u00a0 We need somebody to watch the chickens anyway!\u00a0 Like our last Portugal\/Spain trip, I created a travel map so Kim can keep track of where we are going next.<\/p>\n