Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band are already in Australia preparing for their four shows they’ll play in the next week.

Radio Margaritaville will be replaying the concerts at times that are more reasonable for us in America. Check out the schedule:

Tuesday 1/25 8pm–Sydney Opera House, Sydney (from 1/23/11)
Wednesday 1/26 8pm—Sydney Opera House, Sydney (from 1/24/11)
Thursday 1/27 10am—Sydney Opera House, Sydney (from 1/23/11)
Friday 1/28 12:01am—Sydney Opera House, Sydney (from 1/24/11)
Friday 1/28 8pm—Horden Pavilion, Sydney (from 1/26/11)
Saturday 1/29 6pm—Horden Pavilion, Sydney (from 1/26/11)
Sunday 1/30 6pm—Sydney Opera House, Sydney (from 1/23/11)

Coral Reefer bass guitarist Jim Mayer is blogging his adventures traveling to Australia for the upcoming Down Under tour leg:

It all started early Monday morning. Coral Reefers from around the country were up and moving toward the Hotlanta Airport with our destination, summer time in Sydney Australia, the land called Oz, clearly in our sights.

Peter, Mac and I met up with Nadirah Shakoor and John Lovell and our posse of crew and techs, all good folks and friends for the first leg of our journey, a stop-over in LA. You can imagine the scene, over half of the First Class section filled with the Buffett group. There were movies, chatter and lots of snacks and refreshments. (Let the party begin!)

With the sun long gone on it’s way to the Far Side of the World we took off from LA, enjoyed several movies, some more snacks and some seriously good zzzzzzzs. Before we knew it we were in Sydney where we met up with the rest of the gang that had converged on this incredible city, hopped a huge bus named Jimmy Buffett and were off to our hotel.

Check out the full blog entry here, and read the entry on the first full day in Australia here.

Simon Sweetman, writer of the New Zealand Blog on the Tracks, has an excellent interview with Jimmy Buffett as he prepares to head Down Under for three shows in Australia and another in Auckland, NZ.

“I worked out long ago that I’m an average singer, I’m an average guitar player. I’m okay as a musician but nothing flash. But I can tell entertaining stories; I can pack in a lot of material and create a great atmosphere. That’s the party that people come for and that’s what I want to offer – a great amount of fun, a huge party. I’m an entertainer – and I’m very proud of the work I do. I think we do it well; I’ve got a great band.”

And he works hard too. I point out that his last year off – without a tour – was 1983. Buffett laughs hard and says, “yep, that was a lazy year, that one, but I’ve made up for it ever since. I must take another year off – sometime. But I’m lucky: most of what I do is not really work. I’ll make an album, play some shows. I’ll then spend half the year sailing and surfing.”

Read the full interview here.

We now have the venue for Jimmy Buffett’s concert in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday, January 29th:

Te Wero Island at Viaduct Harbour during the Auckland Seafood Festival.

Tickets will be limited and will be offered first to people who join the Jimmy Buffett Wait List before 8am on Monday 17 January. People on the Wait List will receive a promo code via email that can be used to buy up to 6 tickets from 9am Monday until the public ticket release at 9am on Tuesday 18th January.

To sign up for the Wait List, go here and click on ‘Join Wait List’.

(hat tip Simon Sweetman at Blog On The Tracks)

We reported earlier this week that Jimmy Buffett will play a show in Auckland, New Zealand while Down Under, and it now appears we have a date, but the venue is still a mystery.

According to Eventfinder.co.nz the concert will be held on Saturday, January 29th.

The site says that the small venue location will be announced in early January, with tickets going on sale January 5th.

Limited tickets will be available to people who wait-list through Eventfinder. Tickets will be allocated to people who have registered on the Jimmy Buffett Eventfinder pre-sale wait list prior to going on sale to the general public in January. To register on the wait list, click on the “Join Wait List” button on the event page.

Four lucky people who register on the wait list prior to 5 January will win a double pass to this special New Zealand appearance. In addition, two ticket holders will win a chance for themselves and three friends to meet Jimmy Buffett at the show.