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The Selfish Years

~ Over 200 cities, 42 countries, 6 continents and counting.

The Selfish Years

Tag Archives: Great Barrier Reef

The Selfish’s Top 10 Biggest Letdowns

07 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Africa, Asia, Best Of, Europe, Oceania, Rant

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Angkor Wat, China, Downton Abbey, Great Barrier Reef, Highclere Castle, New Zealand, Nha Trang, Russian Tourists, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Terracotta Warriors, Yellow Eyed Penguins

Mrs. Selfish and I were very fortunate to be able to travel the world (safely!) for a year, seeing and doing things we would otherwise never do. While the majority of the trip was amazing, we had more than our fair shares of letdowns.

Whether we went in with inflated expectations, or the experience really wasn’t that worth doing, there were things that just didn’t live up to their reputations.

For your consideration, I present you our 10 biggest letdowns (in no particular order). The first image is what I imagined the experience would be (thanks to the magic of the internet) and the second is reality.

Enjoy!

The not-so Sanguine Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat Sunrise

Imagination: Sunrise over mystical Angkor Wat. Peaceful. Tranquil.

Angkor Wat 02

Reality: Shoving your way through throngs of tourists to catch a shot of overcast ruins at 5:00am in the morning.

Siem Reap, and Angkor Wat are awe-inspiringly awesome and totally worth doing. That being said, catching the sunrise was one of the most touristy experiences of our entire trip. We woke up at 4:30am to hit Angkor Wat along with what seemed like 1000 other people. Totally packed, and not that sanguine – definitely not what I was picturing.

 

Definitely not Downton: Highclere Castle

Highclere Imagination

Imagination: Strolling the grounds of Downton Abbey with Maggie Smith on a perfect day.

Reality: Rainy weather most of the time. Plus they rent it out for weddings. Wha-wha.

While we still had a blast at “Downton Abbey,” Highclere Castle is actually quite different from what you’d hope. The Castle is used to shoot the show mostly during the summer, and is open to the public for a few (hotly visited) months. The inside is peppered with familiar rooms, but it’s full of family skiing photos from the 80’s. Plus the duchess of Highclere will try and sell you her book on the REAL Downton Abbey in the gift shop. Classy.

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Port Douglas: More than Just the Great Barrier Reef

21 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Australia, Oceania

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Tags

Australia, Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Mossman Gorge, Oceania, Port Douglas, Queensland, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Wildlife Habitat

Mr. Selfish and I dove for two consecutive days at the Great Barrier Reef. We then had to spend another day in Port Douglas in order to decompress for at least 18 hours.

Holding a Koala & Feeding the Roos at Wildlife Habitat

I had heard that Queensland was one of the few states in Australia that you could hold a koala, as opposed to just standing next to one. I learned that you could indeed cuddle with a koala at the Wildlife Habitat (Port Douglas Rd, Port Douglas QLD 4877, Australia), so I dragged Mr. Selfish there.

GBR 01GBR 03GBR 04GBR 06

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YOLO: Diving Six Times at the Great Barrier Reef

20 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Australia, Oceania

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Agincourt Reef, Australia, Cairns, Calypso, Great Barrier Reef, Oceania, Opal Reef, Poisedon, Port Douglas, Queensland, Selfish Years, The Selfish Years

Mr. Selfish and I became scuba certified in March 2012. One of the primary reasons for our certification was so that we could dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It is practically every diver’s dream to dive at the GBR.

We took a short flight from Sydney to Cairns and then immediately rented a car to drive to Port Douglas, which was our home base for the three days we were in the area. The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas took about an hour and was lovely.

GBR 01GBR 05GBR 06

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Who’s Selfish?

Mr. and Mrs. Selfish are an obsessively organized couple who sold all their junk to travel abroad for a year. Now settled in San Francisco, they have since visited over 200 cities in 44 countries over 6 continents. This site chronicles their travels.

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