Lee Abbamonte
Try to become the youngest person to travel to every country in the world
2008 Australian Open
By Lee | 
6 Comments » 
It’s that time of year again for my favorite major tennis tournament and the first of 2008, the Australian Open. There are a lot of great story lines coming into the grand slam of Asia and the Pacific. Can the great Roger Federer win his third straight Aussie Open and fourth in five years and inch one closer to Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams? On the womens side, can Serena Williams defend her title that she so brilliantly won last year or will it be business as usual for Justine Henin? Or can a new face emerge on either side as a threat to these great champions?
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Sir Edmund Hillary
By Lee | 3 Comments » 
Sir Edmund Hillary was the last of a dying breed. He was a legend, a hero, a global symbol of a country and was actually the only living non royalty person that I can think of who was actually on his country’s money-the New Zealand $5 bill. Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On May 29, 1953 at the age of 33, he and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. Hillary died today at the age of 88.
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Rotorua, New Zealand
By Lee | 9 Comments » 
Rotorua is a town on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. Rotorua is well-known for geothermal activity. There are a number of geysers, notably the Pohutu geyser at Whakarewarewa, and hot mud pools located in the city, which owe their presence to the Rotorua caldera. Thermal activity is at the heart of much of Rotorua’s tourist appeal. Geysers and bubbling mud-pools, hot thermal springs and the Buried Village - so named after it was buried by the 1886 Mt. Tarawera eruption - are within easy reach of the city.
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Uluru
By Lee | 4 Comments » 
Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies 335 km southwest of the nearest “large” town, Alice Springs (Quite a place-interesting and totally backwards); 450 km by road. Uluru is one of Australia’s most recognizable natural icons. The world-renowned rock stands 348 m (1,142 ft) high with most of its bulk below the ground, and measures 9.4 km in circumference. Uluru is notable for appearing to change color as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly remarkable sight when it briefly glows red.
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Perth, Australia
By Lee | 4 Comments » 
Perth, Australia is the most isolated major city on Earth. It is located at the far western end of the country and is the capital of the Australian State of Western Australia. Most people who visit Australia fail to go to Perth because it is so out of the way, in fact Most Aussies have never been to Perth either. It is that far, pratically the equivalent of flying from New York to Los Angeles is going from Sydney to Perth. However, Perth has a lot to offer and is one of my favorite cities in Oz.
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New Zealand Naked Bus?
By Lee | 4 Comments » 
I spent a while in New Zealand a few years ago and my friend and I took the Kiwi Experience bus around the country but if they had this back them we may have taken the naked bus around the country simply because of the name. Although its apparently just a catchy name to attract tourists it actually is really, really cheap.
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The 12 Apostles
By Lee | 3 Comments » 
The Great Ocean Road (known as the Surfcoast Highway between Geelong and Torquay) which stretches along the South Eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Geelong and Warrnambool is one of the worlds great scenic coastline drives.
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Queenstown, New Zealand
By Lee | 9 Comments » 
Queenstown, New Zealand is my favorite town on Earth. There is so much to do and never enough time. You can literally do different activities every single day for weeks on end and then you will want to do them again. Queenstown for me, is the center of adventure sports. It is the bungy jumping capital of the world along with everything else you can possibly imagine doing to get your heart racing. In addition, Queestown is beautiful. It is located at the base of the remarkable Mountains on Lake Wakatipu. A stunning location, fitting for such an amazing place.
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Fraser Island
By Lee | 5 Comments » 
Jake and I spent a few months down under in Australia. We started our whirlwind tour in Sydney like most backpackers do on their way north to the east coast party scene. After a week of drunken debauchery on Bondi Beach, we headed up to Byron Bay for a more laid-back week of drunken debauchery and surfing. After we couldn’t take the hippies anymore, we decided to get more Americanized in Surfers Paradise, which is a mix of Cancun meets Miami Beach. After yet another week of destroying our livers and losing the key deposits to our hostel for being stupid, we decided to sober up and get back to nature and head to the largest all-sand island in the world. This island is located off the east coast of Australia and we took a boat out after a night in Hervey Bay. The name of the island is Fraser Island.
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The Great Ocean Road
By Lee | No Comments » 
Victoria, Australia is awesome. Melbourne rocks and Aussie Rules Football is everywhere but the Great Ocean Road is the top attraction. What a cool way to spend a day cruising down the scenic coastal drive. The 12 apostles (above) are the famous, picture perfect rock formations emerging vertically from the ocean. They are really cool and make for great photos. There are more formations all up and down the 3-4 hour ocean drive. London Bridge (below) is another great one and there are many others. The Great Ocean Road compares with the greatest coastal drives in the world; the Pacific Coast Highway in California and the drive from Capetwon to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. I can’t decide which one I like the best, they are all amazing but I may have to give the nod to Oz’s magical highway. In Australia I always say that each day is better than the last but the day you do the Great Ocean Road will be one of the best.
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