My own little finding Nemo...

I spent three days and nights on the Anaconda III visiting the Whitsundays... beautiful beaches, diving and snorkeling. I have never been so hot in my life but another amazing trip. I tried scuba diving for the first time and got to do a dive at the great barrier reef, sadly I didn't see any sharks. However when I was snorkeling I got to see black and blue versions of Nemo, a sea annemiy and a giant sea turtle eatting jelly fish. The sea turtle was by far the highlight of the trip. Finding Nemo is my "make me happy" movie, whenever I am grumpy I watch it because I can't help but feel better...so this may be why the sea turtle was my favorite.

We also got to visit Whitehaven beach the second best beach in the world... it was pretty good but nothing spectacular. I think I had my hopes up, but it does have the finest sand in the world. The Great Barrier Reef was pretty amazing and I am looking forward to seeing it again in Cairns. Another highly entertaining point of the trip was when one of the crew caught a huge fish (check out the picture).

Had Christmas turkey... :)

I had a surprisingly great Christmas Day. It started off really sad just thinking of all the people that I miss at home, however luckily that was remedied when I got through to my brothers. The boys were at Nay’s new house having a couple of drinks; just hearing from them really brightened my day.

After that my friend Gayle that I met in Brisbane brought me to her house to spend Christmas day and night with her family. It was really sweet, they have five children in the family and their excitement about Christmas really made it a great day. I really think that children make Christmas. I enjoy the party aspect as well, but Christmas day is really the best with that bit of extra excitement. They took me in like I was a part of the family and really that is what I needed. If I was going to be away from home I think that is a great way to spend the day. Oh and I can’t forget I got turkey :)

Today is Boxing Day, I spent the day playing with the kids, giving them piggy backs, play catch and all the things you do with children between the ages of 3-8. We also went for a walk on the beach which was really nice. Tonight I am getting on a sailing boat to the Whitsundays. I should get to do a lot of snorkeling and will get to see part of the Great Barrier Reef. I am sure I will update again in a couple of days.

Missing everyone at home very much.

I may have found a new calling...

A couple of days ago I had a highly interesting and entertaining day in the outback. I have to say it was one of the best things that I have done in Australia so far. We visited Kroombit Cattle Station, an active farm, and got to participate in the farming duties. It was really unique. Turns out I am a natural. Throughout the day I mustered goats, lassoed a goat, shot my first gun (a shotgun – I got 3/5 clay pigeons), cracked a whip, and got on a mechanical bull. I have to admit that the only part I seriously lacked was staying on the mechanical bull for long. If it wasn't for that I would have had to seriously consider moving to the outback... sadly I guess I am destined to be city foke.

I am currently in Arlie Beach for Christmas until I get on a tour of the Whitsundays on the 26th. After that I head to Magnetic Island for a Full Moon New Years Party.

Merry Christmas everyone! Really missing the snow and everyone at home! x

Sand is the enemy...

I am just back from Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. I went on a self drive tour (don’t worry I didn’t drive) with ten other people… we were randomly selected, given a 4x4, food, tents, and a map and send to the island. There were no showers for two days, one day we didn’t even find a fresh water pond, I will be picking sand out of my belongings for weeks, but it was by far one of my best trips in Australia so far.

We got to see one of the top ranked lakes in the works, Lake McKenzie. See a lake that won’t exist in ten years because a sand dune will eventually overtake it, sleep in front of a ship wreck (even though we weren’t suppose to), drink more goon then any group of people really should, and all around just have an amazing time. The group I was with was made up of four Canadians including myself, two girls from Hong Kong, and five from Germany. Couldn’t have asked for a better group of people, everyone was really laid back and fun. If I had to go again I would still want to go with that group of people.

At this point I am ridiculously tired and slightly disoriented. The shower after this trip was probably the best of my life. The start to this East Coast adventure has been pretty awesome. Next is a trip to the outback in a couple of days… not sure what to expect there… riding a mechanical bull… shooting a gun…who knows.

Farewell my sweet, well the time now has come and the road has begun to move beneath my feet – Amos Lee

As most of my friends are decorating their trees, singing Christmas carols, wrapping presents and drinking festive drinks I prepare for a tropical adventure. It is currently 35 degrees in Brisbane and it is only going to get hotter up the coast. Christmas will be spent on a beach, Boxing Day I will leave to go on a three day cruise of the Great Barrier Reef and New years will be spent on a tropical island. I am pretty sure this years plans couldn’t get much more different than lasts years… even regarding friends. I am traveling alone for this little stint of the trip, whereas in the past Christmas has been all about friends and family.

I am ridiculously excited and can’t wait to start moving again. Once I have seen the East Coast I head back to Brisbane for three days and then onto New Zealand to explore as much of the country as I can in three or four weeks. My Mom and Aunt are coming down for this portion of the adventure. This will be the fancy part of my year, as I will be staying in hotels and not hostels and renting a car and not taking the bus.

The dates of travel are December 15th to Feb 5th (at least). I will do my best to post often, take lots of pictures, and keep up with my emails (however I feel this last one might be a tad ambitious).