One last post before I go!

So I get one more in before I go to sleep!

Today's zoo experience was SOOOOOOOOO awesome!

It started out with dinner and drinks (I got to taste an Australian Reisling and some beer). For dinner we had steak.. both Brian and I had to send ours back to be cooked longer.. it was still mooing! It was pretty good though..

Then I got to play a diggeridoo.. so much fun! I was actually pretty good..

After that it was off to the night at the zoo. We got to see some birds, some koalas, some snakes and lizards, and then some Crocs.. We got to watch him feed the croc and it was so cool!

Then it was kangaroo time!!! We were led into their pen and given food to feed them. They just came right up to you and you could touch them all you wanted... They were really gentle and very soft.. we got some awesome pictures!! Then it was time to go (well they had a dance that we didnt really attend.. we were there just didn't participate..

Then it was time to go....

long bus ride home.. gotta go to bed now!!

Good night!!

What Cairns you do about it?

Doncha love my creative titles these days??

It's so people remember that Cairns is pronounced "Cans" not "Carns".. so know ya know!

Ok so my blogs haven't been the greatest the past couple days.. sorry.. let me make it up to you!!

So I forgot to mention the whole reason we were out in Cairns last night. We wanted some F'in McDonalds.. haha.. we were so tired of the disgusting food out in the outback that we only wanted McDonalds when we got here. So after putting all of our things away we asked the concierge where the closest one was.

He got really upset with us for only coming to Cairns to eat Mackers!! We let him know that we were truly here to dive, and I think it made him feel better. So he showed us the way!

After our Mackers, trip to the dive shop and 24 hour medical center (for physicals.. not cuz we were hurt!!), we decided to take the "scenic" route home.. a little path that goes by the ocean. We were walking along enjoying the view until the path came to a stop. We started to look around and realized that we had no idea where we were. We thought this one place was our hotel.. but it wasn't. We were in a parking lot surrounded by 4 different hotels.. none of which had their name on it.. trying to decide which was ours.

We finally picked one and went in that direction only to realize that it wasn't ours. Then.. we saw the Mackers.. and knew exactly where we were.. we knew at that point that none of the 4 hotels we saw were actually ours... but now.. because of our taste for Mackers, we knew how to get home!

On the way home we had to walk over this gutter thing.. I made sure that Brian didn't step in it and get eaten by a deadly Croc... long story.. (in a nutshell.. there are lots of crocs in waterways here.. and there was a bit of water in the gutter.. it was you had to be there kind of thing..)

So we made it "home" safe and sound.. and headed for bed.

Today.. we woke up and got ready to go see the Koala named Harvey. We got to hold Harvey and get our picture taken with him. He was so soft! He is winking in my picture... can't wait to show you!!

After Harvey we went back to the dive shop to get fit into our things. Then we went around looking for some souviners (I know there is a g in that word but I can't ever remember where!) I tell you Renae.. I'm looking so hard at finding something French for you.. but I can't seem to find ANYTHING I can actually bring back with me. I am taking pictures of the french things.. so no worries!!

Then it was back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon as there seems to be nothing to do here in Cairns except dive.. which is TOMORROW!!!

Tonight though I am pretty excited. We are going to the Cairns Night Zoo, in which we will go around the zoo with a "torch" (or flashlight.. at first I thought we were going to have a real fire torch.. until I realized they call flashlights torches here.. it would be way cooler if I had a real torch..) But most of Australia's animals are nocturnal.. so its better to see them at night! Then after the torching around the zoo.. we will have some shrimp on the Barbie, or just some plain ol bbq while being surrounded by kangaroos that we can touch and feed!! Hopefully we wont feed them bbq...

After dinner its lots of drinking (I'm beginning to think Australians are alcoholics!) and dancing to a Bush Band.. I'll let you know how that turns out!

This will probably be my last post until I get back from my SCUBA trip on Saturday for me.. Friday for most of you.. But I am journaling every event in my handy journal Jacquelyn gave me for my birthday (shout out to you cuz its been a blessing!! I have everything in order thanks to the pouches!) and I will make sure to update you on EVERYTHING as soon as I can!!

Miss you mucho!

If I Cairns do it, you Cairns too!!

G'day from the beautiful city of Cairns!!

Last night's showing of the Olgas was beautiful.. but thats all to be said about it really!

Now we are in Cairns in Northern Australia where the Rainforest meets the ocean.. and it is a beaut! hahah...

We have just signed on to do a night tour of the Cairns zoo tomorrow and I'm so excited..

Tonight we just got all of our dive stuff done. Got OKed by the doctors here and the dive staff so that is one relief!! Brian and I were getting a little worried that the doctors would say no! But no worries (as they like to say here)..

Alright.. that is all I have time for tonight!

My last update for a while will be tomorrow, since we leave for our dive trip the day after tomorrow..

I do want to mention that my doctor here was a little creepy.. He started talking to me in German until I shyly said that I did not speak German. He laughed and said "With a German name like that you should!" He also stuck his hand down my shirt without asking.. but other than that he was a pretty nice guy..

Ok now my time is really running short.. see you tomorrow!!

More from Uluru

G'day to ya!!

So I have much more interesting things to post today... good news for all of you!

Yesterday after my relaxing day doing laundry and sitting reading New Moon by the poolside (getting a little sunburnt..), we went to a little thing called the Sounds of Silence. The coach picked us up from our hotel (after we ate some french fries fearing what dinner might be like for us picky eaters) and dropped us off in the middle of nowhere.

We walked up the sand dune and were handed a glass of champagne. We got to enjoy a beautiful sunset on Uluru, which turned a beautiful red, purple, and then blue. A guy was playing a diggeridoo(pathetic that still don't know how to spell that!) and we got to taste a little kangaroo jerky (which was oddly seasoned and really tough tasting..) and some crocodile (it tasted really lemony.. had a really odd texture).

After my second glass of champagne (and working on a third), we were escorted down to where we were to eat dinner. We got to sit at a table with a couple in their 30s from Adelaide here in Australia.. they had met here in Ayers Rock a year ago (the guy told me his is proposing this weekend..), some asian guy who laughed at everything we said, and an older couple from Texas who the man used to work for the Air Force. The table dynamics were great and the conversation flowed as much as the Australian wine, I had two glasses of..

Dinner was pretty good with Kangaroo that tasted like yummy steak and some roasted potatoes.. dessert was better, they had these brownies that were to die for!

A star talker came and talked about the stars. The couple from Adelaide already pointed out the Southern Cross to me, but the stars down here are absolutely amazing! The Milky Way is 10x brighter down here, and so is Orion. Plus they have a bunch and bunch of other constellations.. it was really awesome. We got to see Saturn and its rings, and then a Anangu man talked to Brian and I about some other stars that have meaning to the Aboriginals. It was so awesome.

After stargazing it was time to head back where I proceded to pass out..

It was a really great night followed by a very lazy morning. I am getting ready to read by the pool again (with tons of sunscreen on!!) and then tonight we will be heading to see the sunset over the Olgas.

I probably won't be back on until we get to Cairns tomorrow.. so I hope you all have a good day or 2!!

Adios!

The day of Uluru

Hola everybody!

So just another quick update..

Still out in the middle of nowhere (literally)..

Got to see the sunrise this morning on a rock called Uluru.. was actually far more interesting than it sounds.. the colors were amazing..

And then tonight we will be watching the sun set on the same rock! haha...

Also tonight I will be trying kangaroo, emu, and crocodile meat.. I'm kind of really excited.

For all of those who are wondering what Uluru is... it is an aboriginal spot that has a few sacred sites on it. We got to hear all of the stories today and it was really neat.. I bought some aboriginal goods that I will show you when I get home!!

Sorry for yet another boring update.. I'm a little sad today cuz I'm starting to miss Everett.. bad excuse I know.. but I haven't gotten to talk to him in a week (including email) and that is definitely the longest weve been..

gotta go!

In the Great Outback!

Hello again!

So I found internet! Not cheap though.. so my posts will be smaller (I have 5 minutes..) So it was an interesting trip out here.. The airport only had one runway, and all you can see for miles upon miles is red dirt! We just hung out today walking through the resort we are staying in. We are doing 2 tours tomorrow and 1 on the next day before we move on to Cairns.

Really that is about it.. a very non exciting day!! Sorry to disappoint!

I did see 2 bunnies on the resort grounds..

haha.. alright I'm signing off now!

Last day in Sydney...

Hello all!

So today was my last day in Sydney.. Sadness! But before I go on about that I have some important business to attend to.

First, there were a few things I forgot to mention in my previous blog. First was that there was a pro surfer surfing at the same time as I was! Her name was Jessie (don't know the last name.. never could understand him..) And she was surfing about 20 yards away from me! So cool!!

I also forgot to mention that my instructor had to borrow my board while I was out in the middle to save these two girls swimming in the rip.. leaving me all on my own out in the middle! I survived! haha..

I think that was about it.. now on to Jerry Springer the Opera.....

Oh WOW is all that can describe that.. If it ever tours the states.. I'm going again! haha..

When we got to the Opera House, we made our way to our seats.. a little higher up than we expected to be considering we had the middle priced tickets (still $100!) We watched as the entire Hall filled up.. it was definitely sold out! As the lights dimmed.. the crowd began to chant "Jerry! Jerry!" It was so awesome.. have I ever mentioned how much I love Aussies?? The show began.. it was so vulgar yet so hilarious all at the same time.. from the crack whores, to a song about "shitting in my fucking diaper" (long story..) to tap dancing KKK members... Never did I ever expect a combination so amazing!

Once the show was sadly over.. we made our way back to the hotel and passed out!

Now on to today's events!!

So today was spent up in the Blue Mountains.. and I must say how GORGEOUS they are!! We did a couple walks through the "bushes" and got to ride the steepest rail in the whole world. We also rode down a very steep gondola.. Saw the Three Sisters and Wentworth falls (actually got to walk over the falls..) Then we saw some aboriginal rock carvings, tried to hunt some 'roos in the national park (to no success unfortunately), then took a ferry ride back home to complete all of the ways of transportation in Sydney (not an easy feat considering the vast variety of transporation available here!) And that really leads me back to where I am now.. sitting in the internet cafe!

I did have one fun moment for the day. For the first time since I have been here.. I got to hear someone say "crickey" in a sentence for real! I was really excited.. haha!

Ok now on to the sad part. We are flying out of Sydney in the morning to the Great Outback. I don't know if there will be any internet available there.. so I may be gone for a few days. I do promise to give you lots of updates as soon as I get to Cairns!!

Also.. a shout out to my daddy... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I miss you and I love you!!

No worries.. until we meet again!!

Sydney Day 4?? It's going by too fast!!

G'day all!

What a day I have had!! I guess I will start off where I left off last night..

Once we were done at the internet cafe, we went through an unplanned trip to Chinatown at night (my directional skills weren't at their best haha!) It was good to see, but we got out quickly and got back to where we were supposed to be heading.

Went to the Rocks for some dinner.. very very good!! Then headed back to the hotel for the evening.

Went to bed after reading some of Twilight (you will all be happy to know that I am officially hooked and am in LOVE with Edward.. I hate myself for even writing that! haha).

Woke up this morning super excited because of SURFING!!

We made our way out to Bondi Beach, got into our wet suits and put on enough sunscreen to last 5 days. We got to use that zinc stuff you see lifeguards wearing but it was flesh colored so it looked more like stage makeup than sunscreen!

After meeting our instructor Lawrence (another cute Aussie of course!), we grabbed our surf boards and headed to the beach!!

We practiced a few times on the shore then headed for the ocean. The first few times I just "rode the wave" on my stomach just so I could know what it felt like. Then we practiced getting up on shore.. I was a little nervous cuz I was already falling over, and I wasn't even in water yet!!

We headed out for the ocean and I made sure to stay by the instructor. He would hold the board for you while you got on and push you into the wave so all you really had to do was stand! I got a little spoiled and only paddled into a wave maybe five times.

So I'm sure you all are interested in how I did.. you'll have to wait! First I will tell you about my near death experiences. The first occurred when another surfer ran into me with their board (not sure who's fault it was haha!) Then I almost ran into the same surfer, so trying to stop myself I did a nose dive, got thrown off my board, did a somersault in the water, hold onto my heaed making sure the board didn't hit it, until I finally came up.. What an experience! Then my last near death experience happened when Lawrence, the instructor, decided to push my board straight for another surfer.. who I ran into..

And now for the results!! I got up numerous times, however, I only rode 2 waves all the way in. But it was SOOOO much fun! I'm officially hooked!!

After surfing we headed back to the mainland and I showered up and headed to go souvigner (sp??) shopping. I was unsuccessful but I have so many more opportunities.

After I get off here we will be headed to Jerry Springer: The Opera.. I will give you the details on that tomorrow!!

Alright.. gotta sign off now! My minutes are running out as we speak!

Until tomorrow!!

Day 3 continued....

Geez.. I feel like I'm only on the internet!! haha..

So today went a little differently than planned.. I knew I should not have talked about how beautiful the weather was outside because the moment I stepped outside it began to pour down.. so no surfing : (

We started our day with a hop on hop off bus tour of Sydney. We went to the one that goes to Bondi Beach first.. by the time we made it out there it was beautiful weather. Too bad we left the swimsuits at home! Good news is that we have booked a surf lesson for 10:30am tomorrow!!! I'm so very excited to be getting to surf at the World's Famous Bondi Beach.. haha!

The tour was nice.. I fell asleep a couple times haha!

We made a stop at Darling Harbour, I looked for the Real World house, but couldn't find it. So instead we had some ice cream waffles at the Lindt Chocolatier. SOOOO YUMMY!! From there we ended our bus tour and headed back to the hotel. Knowing that I would fall asleep if I did not do anything, we decided to go on a search for a cheaper internet cafe. The hotel was charging us $5 for only 30 minutes of internet. So we boarded a CityRail to the Central station and began our search. I am now using the internet for $3 an hour.. MUCH better!

So our day wasn't too exciting. I little more relaxing than our previous days but we needed it!

On for tomorrow is surfing, touring the Olympic park, and then Jerry Springer: The Opera!

I'm starting to feel like a Sydneysider... I find myself speaking in accent every once in a while haha! Also I have grown accustom (that is so spelled wrong but I can't figure out how to spell it at the moment!) to walking on the "wrong side of the sidewalk". I really like it here.. I'm thinking about making Everett get a transfer to the Australian Air Force!! The people here are really nice, kind of funky in the fashion department, but nice!

Alright I believe I have rambled on enough.. but I still have 45 more internet minutes!!

Oh I guess I can update you on the hot air balloon experience. They will not be having any more flights go out while we are here in Sydney so we are going to try to do it some other time on our trip..

And I'm off!!

Day 3 in Sydney

G'day mates!

I figured that was a phrase that was just used in the U.S. a lot to portray Aussies.. little did I know they really use it... A LOT!

So we are just starting out our 3rd day here in Sydney. A little disappointed this morning.. due to the wonderful weather we have been having here, our hot air balloon ride was cancelled. We will be calling them shortly to see if we can reschedule for tomorrow.. our only open day left. I just peeked outside and the skies are relatively clear (or partly fine as they like to say here). Should be a pretty good day.. for SURFING!!

I guess maybe I should start from the beginning of our trip for those of you who did not receive my email.

The flight here from LA was not near as bad as I thought. I got to watch the first ten-15 minutes of Benjamin Button and Rachel Getting Married before I fell asleep. Then after I got a good 8 hours of sleep I watched Doubt and all but the last ten minutes of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Then it was time to land in Sydney!!

We made it through customs, so easy! And we boarded our train to take us to our hotel. Once we stepped off the train we were greeted by both the Sydney Opera House AND the Harbor Bridge.

We made it to our hotel.. the plush Marriott right in the middle of everything. We can see the Opera House from our window in our room.. very cool!



Once we unloaded we were off to Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) and got our tickets for that afternoon's ferry ride.

Since we had a couple of hours to kill and we weren't tired due to our sleep on the plane, we decided to head over to Sydney Tower to do the SkyWalk experience, where you are literally strapped to the building walking over glass platforms. We got to see the city from VERY high up! It was awesome! I never realized how HUGE Sydney was.. they say that if you start driving from the middle of Sydney in any direction, you can drive for 2 hours and you will still be in Sydney.. just to give you some perspective.

After the Tower we went on our harbor cruise, it was informative but kind of cheesy.. Then we (or I) decided to end the day at 5pm. After numerous attempts to wake me up.. Brian gave up and let me sleep for a full 12 hours.. the jet lag finally kicked in!

We had an early start the next morning with a backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House. It was awe-inspiring! We got to see the insides and backstage's of each of the 5 venues. Then we ate breakfast in the green room amongst staff and performers. We were so impressed, we decided to book tickets for Thursday's showing of Jerry Springer: The Opera.. yeah you read that right! How could we miss a show like that!!

Then, after an afternoon of naps and exploring the city by monorail, we went on the famous Bridge Climb.. SO AWESOME!!

We were lead by a very nice looking Aussie named Dylan.. a little too short for me.. sad I know! All was great as we ascended the bridge.. until we reached the top.. when a huge rainstorm came through. We decided to wait it out.. at the top of the bridge (not the best place to wait out a rainstorm in my opinion) so that we could still get good pictures. Although we were pretty wet.. it made for a better adventure right?? It finally cleared and the pictures were taken, and we began our descent. It was definitely a very cool experience everyone should get the opportunity to try!

We were so exhausted by our two climbing trips for the day, and since we had to be up at 4am to go ballooning, we went to bed early again.. at least I did : )

We woke up at 4am only to be disappointed with the news that our trip had been canceled.. so we replanned our day. First we are going to be doing a hop on hop off bus tour of the city. And once we stop at Bondi (pronounced Bond-eye) Beach.. we are going to go SURFING!!!! I thought it would take some work convincing Brian to surf, but he is all about it!!

Alright.. that leads me to right now.. waiting for our bus tour to start (its only 8:46am here).

Hopefully I will update you again tomorrow!

Also, I plan on posting pictures to go along with corresponding posts when I get back from my trip. It is an easy way to show everyone my pictures!!

Until a later time!

Amber

Hello!

Here is my blog! I will try and update soon but I am running out of minutes right now!!

Amber