Mossman Gorge, Kewarra Beach and Goodbyes

On our 2nd to last day with Twinnie and Drew up in Queensland, we decided to drive up to the Daintree Rainforest to visit Mossman Gorge. Although none of us had on sneakers (heck, I didn't even pack any to bring up there) we "hiked" (more like walking and climbed around on rocks) for a couple hours looking at the beautiful rainforest. And thanks to a lovely stranger, we also got the first of only 2 photos of all 4 of us together during Krissy and Drew's visit.

While on our wanders, we came across a bridge (also wobbly like the treetop walk) where we stopped to take some photos. I had the bright idea to jump around on the bridge during the photo Krissy was taking of Andrew and I but we didn't take into account the fact that she was also standing on the wobbly bridge so when we jumped she wobbled and the photo is all fuzzy. But it's pretty funny and you can tell we're smiling. It gave us some laughs for sure. Thanks for trying Krissy!

Here are a few more photos from our "hike" through Mossman Gorge. There were tons of big trees, gnarly roots and fun river rocks to play on.

After lunch at Daintree Village, we made our way back down past Port Douglas and onto Kewarra Beach Resort where Andrew and I stayed for our last night and Krissy and Drew are staying for the remainder of their holiday. We passed some beautiful scenery on the drive including sugar cane fields and banana trees.

When we got to Kewarra Resort, which is beautiful by the way, there was hibiscus iced tea waiting for us. Our luggage was taken to our rooms and then we were free to explore before dinner. It's a gorgeous resort and I was so jealous that Twinnie and Drew got to stay for another 4 days!

After a quick nap and unpacking we headed down to relax on the beach before the most delicious dinner ever! Tomato risotto... OMG. Yummo to the max. Anyway, Krissy and I got to the beach and saw this super cute photo op of the Andrews sitting together chatting away. We both looked at each other and said how awesome it is that our husbands genuinely like each other and enjoy spending time together. Not to get all mushy, but we are two very lucky girls to have two really great guys. We also enjoyed a bit o' frisbee! Brought me back to my days at Elon. Yay Ultimate! And at one point I turned around and saw my shadow next to Twinnie's an grabbed a shot. Now looking through the photos I realise that it's the only one I have on my camera of the two of us. I know Drew got some on his camera though. Way to save the Day Drewseph!

At our uber delicious last dinner together I asked one of the staff to take a photo. I'm glad I did because I think it's super cute and it's a nice memory for all of us to have of our time together.

Twinnie and the Andrews and I met up for breakfast the next morning and spent our remaining time together chatting and relaxing down at the beach with our books (or Ipad in A1's case.)

And then it was time to leave. Sad face. It was really hard to say goodbye because we had such a great time together and it's so rare these days to be able to spend that amount of time with any of my family and it's especially hard because we don't know the next time we'll be back in the U.S.. Not having a date is always hard. The ride to the airport was quiet and teary (which didn't help my already stuffy nose) but at least the flight home (although we were again surrounded by babies, one of which was screaming at the top of her lungs in the seat in front of us for an hour which set of the baby in the seat behind us and the one across the aisle from us... sigh) left us some beautiful sunshine to make me smile.

Twinnie and Drewseph, I know it was a long flight and a long way to come and we are SO glad you were able to come over for a visit. Thanks so much for your efforts to come over and see what our life is like here. It really means more than I can say. We had a blast with you and I hope that you enjoyed your holiday. I'm sure you've had a wonderful end of your trip up at Kewarra and I hope you found it relaxing and fun. We miss you already (particularly me... although I think Andrew enjoyed having a guy around to watch footy and cricket with) and can't wait til the next time we see you. Thinking of you guys! Love and miss you mucho.

Swimming with the Fishes and Turtles and Stingrays!

Our 2nd day in Port Douglas at the beautiful Reef Club Resort was spent completely relaxing by the pool and on the beach. We really didn't do much at all except hang around which was just what we all needed! I didn't use the camera too much on the beach because it was kind of windy and sand was getting everywhere but I loved this photo of Twinnie and Drew and put one in to show you how beautiful the beach was.

After lazing around all day we went to the main street that has tons of shops and restaurants and enjoyed a lovely Mexican dinner. We all got margaritas and daiquiris and I drank mine pretty quickly because on the way to the Mexican place I happened to walk into a telephone booth in the middle of the sidewalk while I was "window shopping." It hurt. So I drank. Embarrassing! Wait... this dinner may have been after the Crock park on the first day... I can't remember... I must have hit my head harder than I thought. Silly me.

Anyway, the following day we went out on a catamaran to the Low Isles of the Great Barrier Reef. Beeeutiful! I took sea-sickness medicine that actually worked so I got to enjoy myself on the hour boat ride out to the reef. It really was stunning and the sun was out most of the way there which was awfully nice.

Once we got out to the Low Isles where we were going to be scuba diving, we buoyed up and got in a little glass bottom boat and were taken out to the Island to get our gear on and dive in. The island was beautiful and after a bit of snorkelling (we saw beautiful coral, lots o' fishes, big turtles and stingrays) we relaxed on the beach until lunch. Twinnie and I took the boat back but A1 and A2 snorkelled their way back in. I tried to get their attention for a photo in snorkel gear but they couldn't hear me (too much water in their ears perhaps?) so they aren't looking in the photo.

We ate lunch on the deck of the boat and then set sail to head back into Port Douglas. A storm was coming in that evening so it was pretty windy with some decent size swells. The sun was still out though so although cold, we had a beautiful sail back in. I had to include a photo of Andrew with his Boston hat on because all week, Twinnie and Drew were sporting Phillies gear and I thought Boston had to be represented as well, you know, because it's better and all. I also loved the photo of Krissy and Drew who were half napping on deck in the sun while holding hands. So cute. Heart.

If anyone is looking at going to Queensland and needs a place to stay... Port Douglas is pretty great! Highly recommended. Kate seal of approval. Enough said.

I Like My Fingers, Thanks!

After 4 days of bundling up in coats and scarves, we decided it would be a good idea to head to warmer weather. Our 4am wake up call to catch our 6am flight was a rude start to Friday morning which didn't improve on our flight with the world's most annoying parents letting their annoying small children kick the back of our seats the whole flight and changing a diaper in the seats (yuck!) rather than the toilets! Sigh...

It was worth it though when we finally arrived in sunny, warm Cairns and made our way to beautiful Port Douglas! We hired a car and drove the 50k to Port Douglas and stopped along the way to check out Hartley's Crocodile Adventures. Sweet!

We started off on a boat that took us out onto the water where they fed the gators off the side of the boat. The whole time I kept thinking of my new favorite show "Swamp People" (Troy is my favorite - "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeeeaah!") and how it was almost like I was out there fishing for gators except it wasn't really like that at all because I was in a caged boat not actually handling the gators... but it was fun to pretend. It was really pretty when we weren't focused on the gators themselves.

After our boat tour we went to the area of the park where they farm gators. It was kind of crazy seeing all the little gators together in pens. They told us that the pens are all smooth with no rough surfaces so as not to scratch up the gator skin!

We were also able to see a gator feeding later in the day. I think the guys that do this are crazy and you couldn't pay me enough money to get in that pen with those gators! Good thing we were sitting in seats behind the fences because these guys got way too close for my liking! I like my fingers thanks!

Koala's, Roos and Emu's... Oh My!

Day 3 of our Melbourne adventure brought us to Ballarat for adventures at the Wildlife Park in the rain! We were lucky with the weather for the first couple of days. It was predicted to rain pretty much the whole time Twinnie and Drew were in Melbourne but the first full day was beautiful and sunny and we missed the downpour on day 2 while we were on the Great Ocean Road which was far enough south to have missed the rain. It caught up to us at the Wildlife Park though and I'm pretty sure we were the only ones in the whole park for most of the day. Equipped with umbrellas we ventured out to brave the wild (well not so wild because they live in the park) Australian animals!

We tried all day to get a good photo of the Koalas... who basically sleep for like 23 hours a day and don't move at all really. They are always curled up in little balls crammed between branches of trees so they aren't really much to look at but they're kind of cute even though they're supposed to be pretty mean!

The roos are free to roam around wherever they please and they are awfully cute. The signs about how to feed them, though important because they can get really big, I found hilarious. Don't pick up a roo! (Really?!? Would YOU want to try and pick one up? No thanks!)

While walking around the park we saw some Black Swans and one in particular did not appreciate Drew getting close to the fence it was behind! This particular swan seemed very territorial and paraded back and forth squaking (do swans squak?) at Drew. It was pretty funny. While watching the spectacle of Drew vs. Swan, Krissy had a surprise visitor come pretty close and strutted his Emu self right past her on the path. Emu's can be a bit scary! We also saw a rather angry group of Tasmanian Devils that made horrible hissing noises at each other. One even had a bloody nose from getting into a fight! Don't want to stick your fingers in their cage. No sir, thank you very much!

We had been looking for a baby joey roo all day at the park and happened upon a rather hungry group of roos as we were headed out. One of the lovely ladies happened to have a joey in her pouch who was quite active! You can see him wiggling around, getting a roo smooch, trying to escape and then being pushed back in again by his mama roo! So funny!

Our adventures in Ballarat ended with some hot chocolate and coffee before we made our way back to Bacchus Marsh to have a delicious home cooked lamb dinner a la Anna. It was great to catch up with Andrew's family and family friends Helen and Vin while Krissy and Drew were here. They had all met 4 years ago at our wedding in Boston but it was fun to have them catch up again and see where Andrew and Laura grew up. Thanks Anna and Ron for hosting dinner. The lamb was delicious and we talked about it all week up in Port Douglas! Such a treat!