Australia – Day 8 (Cairns)

Today we traveled on a 90 min. gondola ride to the small mountain/rainforest town on Kuranda.  After 3 or 4 hours shopping around the markets and dodging rain clouds, we traveled back down to Cairns on a train that twisted through the mountain terrain.  The views were absolutely beautiful!   We rested for about 2 or 3 min. and then began to plan our next day here in Cairns…unfortunately (or fortunately) we found out that we are leaving on a 10:00 a.m. flight for Brisbane in the morning!!  We died out laughing when this hit us!  So, we are going to fly to Brisbane tomorrow and then catch a train to Surfers Paradise…yes that is the name of the town on the Gold Coast.  We will stay there for one night and hopefully take some surfing lessons before heading back into Brisbane to our bed and breakfast for the rest of our time!  I’ll post tomorrow if I can. 

Oh yeah and tonight we went to a Tjabuquia aboriginal dinner theater thing! Absolutely fantastic!

Australia – Day 7 (Cairns)

Today was fantastic!!!  We were transported to the marina at 7:00 this morning and caught a tour boat of only 20 people out to the Great Barrier Reef.  The water was a little choppy, but we made it to two different dive/snorkel sites with a buffet lunch included.  Tara went for her first dive at the second location in the outer reef.  I stuck to snorkeling and was rewarded with two views of a reef shark, several beautiful fish, and one really cute sea turtle!  I was able to view Tara from above and she looked like she was having fun playing on the sea floor with a giant clam! 🙂  Oh the stories we have.  We made it back to shore about 4:30 and proceeded to dinner at an Irish restaurant (YUM!)  Tomorrow we will head up to Kurunda to the rainforest via skyrail and the return trip on a train!!  Yeepie skippie!  I will hopefully post tomorrow with more news!  Cross your fingers that the pictures from our underwater camera turn out ok!  Stories to come include…sea pineapples, and Tara’s mermaid adventures 🙂

Australia – Sydney (Day Three)

Okay so I am going to apologize for what I know will be an extremely short post, but tonight I am so tired that I can barely keep my fingers moving on the keyboard.  This morning we went to the Avis rental place to pick up our car and after all papers had been signed and the navigation system issued, we find out that we are getting a standard transmission vehicle.  So Tara looked at me and said “You’re driving.”  Tara is great at driving a standard, but hasn’t had as much experience as I have so I nervously took the drivers seat. 

Long story short is that we got lost in Sydney (WITH THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM) for an hour, but we finally made it onto the freeway and started our 2 1/2 hour drive into the Hunter Valley.  The drive was great and we actually saw some sunlight for  the first time since we have been here!  We pulled inot the bike shop at a little after 11:45 and started our touring by eating lunch at a cafe by one of the vineyards.  Then it was off to three others where we were educated on the finer points of the wines and what to look for in each.  The biking was great, but our hinies are tremendously sore 🙂

We drove back into Sydney successfully and dropped the car off at the Airport (it stayed open later) and then caught the train back into town.  I know that you all would love more details about the driving experience, and believe me there are TONS, but I am just too tired to put them all into words.  Tomorrow we fly to Ayers Rock (pronounced Airs Rock) and will be there for two days.  Right now I need to repack my luggage and get some much needed sleep (I only got 3.5 hours last night and with all the pressure, nerves and excitement of driving in Sydney and in the Valley, I am exhausted).

Tune in tomorrow for more tales from the Outback!

Australia – Day One (Sydney)

Hello all!  After several hours of flying through domestic and international time zones, Tara and I have arrived in Sydney!  The 14 hour flight wasn’t as bad as I was thinking it would be, but Tara did say that I took up most of the room in the row that we had to ourselves!  😦  We arrived at the Sydney airport at 6:00 a.m. local time and proceeded through customs and quarantine (declaration of perishable items) with no complications.  After purchasing two train tickets for the next couple of days in Sydney and the surrounding area, we unloaded our luggage at the Sydney Central Youth Hostel.  Unfortunately the weather has been really rainy and cool with gusty winds, but that did not stop us from all the sightseeing we had planned.  Below are a few shots we captured today when visiting the Sydney Opera House (where we took a tour), the Harbour Bridge, and the Botanical Gardens.  We are adjusting well to the time difference, but I am finding myself REALLY awake at various times in the afternoon…I am awaiting the almost certain crash this evening.  Tomorrow we will either head to the Blue Mountains for some bush-walking (hiking for you non Aussie people!) or to Hunter Valley for a bike tour of the vineyards and wine tastings…no worries, there will be a support bus following! 🙂  Enjoy the pics and continue to pray for our safety and for my common sense to kick in at some time (I actually stared at the wrong side of the escalator at the airport wondering why I couldn’t get on…the police gently mentioned to me that I needed to go to the other side.  Oh the joys of being a blond, but of course, Tara was and will be there to bring me back into reality. )  Love to you all!  More stories and tales to follow.

Okay so I am having some technical difficulties with uploading the pictures, but I promise that as soon as I figure it out, there will be pictorial documentation of our adventures!  Cheers!

Beach Time

I know it has been a while since my last post and wanted to let the void of people out there that read this blog know I am still alive!  I am currently residing in a wonderful beach home in Cape San Blas with my family and one of my roomies – Elizabeth.  We arrived late on Sunday night and have been thoroughly enjoying the sand and sun.  Watching the maturing/disciplining process of my niece and three nephews has been entertaining and draining.  However I can’t complain in the least about my littlest nephew…he is a precious cooing gem!  (See pic below)  I received a call from Ole Miss Law School yesterday and have now been accepted into their program this fall.  Now comes the decision of where to go!  Please pray that God’s guidance will be the foremost thought on my mind as I decide.  I will have one day in Jackson when we return from the beach on this coming Sunday.  Tara and I will fly out for Australia on Monday night!!!!  From now on my posts will be updates of our travels from around that glorious nation!  Pray that we do not get into harm’s way and that Christ’s presence will be always with us and around us.