A few of my favorite things

So I think I left my heart in Sydney. Part of me still feels like I'm there. Similar to when I came home from my very first New York trip, I immediately came home and wished I'd never left. Suddenly flying over sunny California wasn't so sweet as it once was. And nowhere near as beautiful as Australia.

Next time I go back (yes there will be a next time--someday) I will not book through a silly travel agent (no qantas vacations) and I will spend more time in Sydney. We were only in Syd for 4 nights, and we had 3 tours while we were there. Saw the Blue Mountains (what we could with the rain/fog) the village of Leura, and the Featherdale Wildlife Park. I could never tire of spending time up close with the native animals/wildlife of Oz. Also had a short city tour of Sydney and a backstage tour of the Opera House.

I'm going to spend some time going through the hundreds of pics we have of our two weeks down under and prepare an apple book photo album, but here are a few pics of random places.

Here's a shot of me over the Darling Harbor bridge with a bit of Sydney in the background. We had RAIN in Sydney more than any other place we visited in the country.



A shot of what is called "The Gap" an entrance into the Sydney "hah bah" :)




Susie and I up at Barron Falls in the Kuranda Village (near Cairns)




I got about 35 minutes at Bondi Beach in Sydney during my City Sights tour. The sun came out for a short while the afternoon of my last full day in Sydney. Just in time for me to capture a few beautiful shots. (more to come later).




A good shot of a crater looking thing at Uluru (Ayers Rock)



And one of my fave shots of the birds and I at Birdworld/Kuranda. The orange-y bird is my new friend, a sun Conure or something like that. He stayed on my shoulder for an hour and was incredibly sweet/friendly. The other bird, is obviously a parrot. Just like the one my uncle used to have. :)



I'll post more pics soon. Sleep is starting to catch up with me. I'm glad to be home safely and back with all my friends/family but there is NO other place like Australia. :)

Ayers Rock Resort

WE arrived at 1 pm today. Our room is off of the pool. We had a lovely swim earlier this afternoon. This pool is kept clean by chlorine (as opposed to salt) so it was nice. Weather temperature is surprisingly comfortable. Plenty of sun, but not really hot at all. We even got cold swimming in the pool when the breeze passed by us.

And we're in the australian desert in the northern territory!! We're here until sunday morning, then we head to Sydney. We will be very busy in Sydney. A few tours, and Susie will meet up with a friend too.

So far this desert is amazingly beautiful. You'll see!

The flies we could live without. Bryson was right. :)

Tonight we have dinner at uluru under the outback sky at sunset.

Tropical Cairns/Kuranda

GREAT day. Hugged/cuddled a koala. Pet/fed some wallabies and kangaroos. Walked around the rainforest with a "sunny connor" on my shoulder all day. Faced a few fears and rode the skyrail down the mountain. This was all at the Kuranda village. Took a train up the mountain, saw gorgeous waterfalls..it's all so amazing. I'll make a detailed applebook when I return!! :)

I have TONS of pictures of all this, and I will upload them once I get a new camera cord. SORRY!

Felt weird today too. Had a few of those "mini seizures" related to the deja-vu sensation. Kinda weirds me out. For those of you who already know about them, please keep praying for me.

The weather was beautiful I really hope that you will make Cairns/Australia Tropical North QLD one of your vacation destinations soon.

Love you all!

Cairns is the place to be

So, it's been a beautiful day so far. Tropical North QLD (that's queensland for short) is amazing. We've had a great day of swimming, amphibian/crab gazing, walking, etc. Unfortunately I can not find my camera cord to upload my new pics. I could've sworn it was packed, because I specifically remember unplugging it and putting it in my bag. So, I will have to use the following pictures instead, courtesy of google images to give you a rough idea of the lagoon we swam in today and a basic feel of the place.

New Room with views-Gold Coast Shops (more pics)

So we're in our new room for our last night at the Gold Coast. Here are a few pics. Tomorrow morning at 4 am we leave for Cairns.

For people trying to keep up with the time difference, right now it is Monday the 9th at 4 pm, and my computer is still on PST time, and it's Sunday at 10 pm for you all!!







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Some pics of the Surf-Gold Coast

Since I heard there weren't any good pics yet, thought I would post these. ;) Susie doesn't know what she's talking about. I'M the one that looks bad in some of these photos!! Anyway, putting that aside, here you go.

Shots of the surf/flags (area safe to swim) etc. And one of the boardwalk too.

Australia Zoo, Crikey!

Today we had a blast at the zoo. I did not expect that we would be able to actually TOUCH the animals!! Amazing really, beautifully landscaped, completely walkable, fun. Took a couple hours to get there/back, but we had a fun driver/guide named Alf too.

Here we are up close and personal with the Roo's.








I got a pic with a Koala too, but not Susie.



We saw the Croc show, which was quite entertaining as well. More later. Tomorrow is our last day in Gold Coast, Tuesday morning we leave for Cairns. (very early).

We have arrived..Forget Chris' "room with a view!"

Sunny. Warm. Huge Surf. Gold Coast is a beaut so far. Here are a few pics to keep y'all happy.

Check out the VIEWS (plural) from our room!

Nice shot of the river too. (That we don't know the name of yet). Oh and it is Saturday the 7th here about 4 pm or so.







And Now for some shots of the beach, and a bit of the surf. More pics to come...I'm at a mcdonalds by the hotel right now cause it is free for wi-fi.