I'm back from Australia having finally gotten home to Florida 32 hours after leaving the gorgeous Gold Coast where last week's T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Down Under conference was held. It really is a grueling trip and after making it I can now fully appreciate what our Australian friends go through when they come to the U.S. for the domain conferences they have so loyally supported. Though the 12,000 mile trip was marred by lost luggage and travel hassles, the end result made it all worthwhile. Australia is a beautiful country - a fact well illustrated in the photo below that I snapped through the back windows of the Sheraton Mirage Resort where the show was held.

I enjoyed the Australian people as much as the view. Fun loving, outgoing and blessed with a great sense of humor, you can't help but love the Aussies. Brisbane-based Fabulous.com staged the show and their staff did a marvelous job of making sure everyone went home with great memories as well as a wealth of information about the domain business. 

The last event on the week's schedule was a trip to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary that was part of an optional post-show activity day Friday. Fabulous.com's Business Development Director Michael Robertson led the expedition and, as the photo below shows, he obviously has a special rapport with the animals.

You'll also notice Michael's sporty new mohawk. He acquired his new hairdo just before we headed to Currumbin when he let most of his hair go as part of the fundraising effort for cancer research that we told you about in our last post from Australia. 

Now that we're back we have a busy week ahead. In addition to catching up with hundreds of emails we are starting work on a double length domain sales report that will be published on our Domain Sales page around noon (U.S. Eastern time) Wednesday. Thursday of course is the national Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. (Diana and I will have over a dozen friends and relatives in the house for that celebration). I'll then spend Friday and most of the weekend putting together our comprehensive T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Down Under show review article that will be loaded with conference details and photos that you haven't seen yet. It will be the next best thing to having been there yourself so keep an eye out for that piece on our home page by next Monday morning.
(Posted Nov. 24, 2008)