Final days of New Zealand, The Outback, and the Rainforest

Yes yes, I know it's been a really long time. There is so much to catch up on, but in my defense if have been very busy and enjoying this holiday, plus many of the places I've been didn't even have internet...it's called the outback. So here are my last 3 weeks, and there is a lot to put in.

Sunday, June 21

Really not much happened this day. It's also hard to get excited about a long bus ride especially after you have been really tired and missing home, but those are all just minor in the whole scheme of things.

Basically my morning started by catching a really early bus from Queenstown to Christchurch only to find out that the heater was broken. I had to sleep just to forget how cold I was. When I woke up my toes had lost all feeling I was so cold. As the sun came out, it got better, but once your cold, your really just cold until you can get to heat.

Some of the sights we saw were Mount Cook. That was pretty exciting because I had been hearing about it and seeing photos so finally I got to see it. I actually just expected it to be a mountain by itself but it was just a really tall peak in amongst a whole mountain range, with a glacier on the otherside of it. Not what I expected but still very impressive. The coolest part to it, is that it is important to history because Sir. Edmund Hillary trained on Mt. Cook before he climbed Mt. Everest beging the first to climb Everest. Pretty cool.

We also stopped at Lake Takapo, which was really gorgeous. Robin, you would have loved this. It has a random hill next to it and at the top is has an observatory. It's one of the best spots in the world to view the stars. Makes me really wish I had an evening there. Oh well, next trip.

Finally after many hours of driving and a few stops just to break things up, we were in Christchurch. I knew to expect Christchurch to look very old English, but that is what most of the buildings are based off of, but it was strange. It's like seeing little England, or just a minature vertion of things in England. So, if you remember from the start of my trip I met Wayne on the plane to New Zealand, and he lives in Christchurch. Well, I gave him a call and what do you know, he had space for me. So I had a local to tell me about the area, and finally a warmer place to stay. I also had my first real meal, that was not pasta, in a month.

Monday, June 22

I did a very dumb move today. After Wayne drove me into town, I realized I had forgotten my camera back at his place. I never realized how dependent I was on my camera, but without it, I had very little motivation to do anything. I guess it was kind of a good thing because after so much travelling you just get really tired. So I just hung out in a cafe and enjoyed the sites. Finally I did get bored with that so I wandered down to the Art Gallery where they had an exhibit on Rita Angus. I'm not big into art, but I did recognize her work, and found it pretty fasinating. Of course, eventually the art lost my interest so I did head back to Wayne's. We tried to go watch the moving "Gloomy Sunday" which is a Hungarian moving taking place during WWII and has been playing every night for the last 7 years at this movie theatre, but we got there too late, so we just went back and watched the news. They don't have very exciting news in New Zealand, so they have news from America. It's a little strange to see.

Tuesday, June 23

This time I made a point of remembering my camera. I had found a walk that goes around the city center and talks about buildings and highlights to see. The start of the walk was at the Christchurch Cathedral. This was their "large" church. Really though it was quite nice to see, and they have put in right in the middle of a courtyard so it's...well...nice. From there I walked down to the Avon river which is the river that goes around the city center. On it, they have punting, which is very English. I totally meant to do it but lost track of time. Guess it's just one more thing I'll have to do when I get to England, or I'll do it when I go back to NZ.

There was a nice little walk down to the hospital where they have a church for all the nurses who served in war. I read that it's the only one, but who knows. No one seems to really know what else is around the world. That is one thing I'm really learning on this trip. So other things I saw, let's see.... Well I saw the botanical gardens, which I'm sure look a lot nicer in the summer, but were still very nice to walk around. I also saw the firefighters memorial which isn't even from New Zealand. It is scrap of metal from the 9/11 attack, but honestly that is the closest I got to anything from that day, so to me as an American, it was really impressive to see.

My favorite part of the day was lunch. In the courtyard, in the city center they have food stands. I went to the Brutwerst stand to get a snack and then went to watch a chess match played is child size chess pieces. This, there I was with a brutwerst watching chess and hearing a bagpipe on my left and an Irish flute on my right. It was fantastic. It's one of those moments that's makes you realize, "Wow, how did I even get here?"

That evening, Wayne and I were able to get to the movie "Gloomy Sunday" as I said it plays every night. It was really good. If you ever get a chance to see it, do so. I might even try to find it when I get home.

Wednesday, June 24

My last day in chilly New Zealand. It was strange to think that I was moving on to another country and it wasn't America. But at the same time I was so excited about going on to the warm weather.

Wayne decided that I couldn't leave Christchurch till I had seem Lyttleton, so he drove me over the mountain. There really wasn't much there, but it was nice to get to see the harbor, where settlement started for Christchurch.

Wayne then drove me to the airport where I got bombarded by a survey asking me all about my travels through New Zealand. Yeah that was painful. Lucky for me, I had to get on the plane. My nice 4 hour plane ride.

Once in Melbourne, I was finding accommodations and then just getting settled.

Thursday, June 25

I had plans to do only one thing in Melbourne and that was the Penguin Parade off Phillips Island. I however, did not have bookings to do that, so I was crossing my fingers that I could get in for a tour. Lucky for me, there was an opening.

On this tour, we stopped at a wildlife park. In the park I got to see all my firsts of the native animals to Australia. I got to see an Emu, a Dingo, and a Wombat. I got to feed a couple Kangaroos and Wallabies and I got to get my picture taken next to a Koala. Plus, I had a snack nearly thrown at me. Because I laughed they forced me to hold the snake. That's what I get for laughing jeez.

We then went to a farm were we actually got to see sheep shearing. Go figure. I go all around NZ for 5 weeks and never get to see this. I'm in Australia for a day and I'm seeing sheep shearing. We also go to see how the sheep dogs work the sheep, and watch then prepare a horse to have it's shoes changed. All stuff you don't really think about how it's done, you just know it's done.

We were then off to what most of us came to see, but first we had a stop at Coon's rocks to see where there is a seal coloney, but also we got to see some of the huts that the penguins live in. Down at the beach the sun was setting. This is good because the penguins come in from the ocean at sunset because it is safer for them. Unfortunatly, I have no photos of all of this because the flash can either blind the penguins or cause them to regurgitate all that they had just hunted for over that last 2-4 weeks. People are dumb and don't know how to turn off flash, so they just said no photos. But it just gave me a chance to really enjoy the penguins. They would come up at groups in the waves and slowly and carfully they would cross the beach. Then there were walkways that we could go along and walk right next to them. These guys "Little Penguins" are the smallest penguins and they really are small. They come up to about the bottom of my calf. SOOOO cute!!!

Something that was more interesting to me was the perfect sky. It was just after the New Moon so there was little light from the moon and there was no polluted light clogging the sky so I could see more stars than I have ever been able to. Plus the Milky Way looked more perfect than it ever does in photos. Also, the one time I went out star gazing I had difficulty trying to find galaxies but this time I could see them all around me. It was really quite impressive.

So after the penguins we had some pizza then a long drive back. I didn't have a chance to do anything because I had an early morning to catch my flight.

Friday, June 26

I had two flights today. I had one from Melbourne to Sydney, then to Darwin. It was basically 5 hours in the air, but at least it was with Qantas who is really good about spoiling their riders so I got lots of food.

Finally in Darwin I had to figure out where to stay. On my tour I had said to pick me up at the Cavanaugh so that was where I told the shuttle to take me. That was bad because they had no space, so they told me to walk down 5 blocks to another place. In that walk I learned very quickly that I was in New Zealand any more. I was dripping with sweat. It was easily 30 degress (about 85) and the humidity was really high. At least it was the dry season. I wouldn't want to think about going out during the wet season. Once I got to this hostel I found out they had no space, so she directed me to another hostel. On this walk I over heard two people talking about Michael Jackson's death. This came as such a shock to me. I'm sure it did everyone, but it was possibly the idea of me traveling and learning something so tragic.

The hostel I was told about I swear does not exist but I did manage to find another one. It turns out that was right in the center of Darwin, so I think I did well. Then I just had to get my plans fixed with my tour and I was good to go.

After being in Darwin for an hour I learned that I stood out like a sore thumb. Everyone was so brown from tans and I looked like a ghost. (That has since changed) It was just crazy, but I guess Darwin is like our Florida. Everyone just spends time in the sun. There really isn't much else to do.

Saturday, June 27

Today I left for my great outback tour. At least the tour of Kakadu. I was only supposed to do a 2 day tour, but when I got to the office they had some complications and thought there were no 2 days going out. So, they asked if I wanted to upgrade to a 3 day and visit Lichfield. I had no better plans so I did that. Of course after I was all booked up and had changed my plans with the hostel, they discovered they had made a mistake and there was a combined 2day/3day. To be honest it was the best mistake to happen.

So we got onto a truck, which held 17 people including the driver. However, it was a very cramped truck, but it needed to be a truck since we would be doing a bunch of 4WD. This however, meant that a bunch of us had to be packed into the front. There were 4 people in the seat behind the driver and 2 of us with the driver. I got the lucky number and was up with the driver along with Berna. Berna, though, was more unlucky than me. She over slept because she had been out late and drinking the night before. This then was fresh bait for our guide Benchy (Ben). He wouldn't let her sleep and gave her a hard time. Of course, this also meant I was given a hard time, especially when I sat in between them. But, at least it was all in fun and games. In fact it brought me that much closer to Berna which was nice since most of the group had been together since Alice Springs (5 days) and some even since Adelaide (9 days). This means that they were all very close so it gave Berna and I a companion from the start.

Our first stop was at a cultural location. We got to learn about the plants the aboriginals use for food and weapons. Then finally I got to see a didgeridoo and have it played the traditional way. We also learned how they are made. They find branches that have been hollowed out by termites. Then they sand them down. That's the basic way of it. When they passed it around, we all got to try it. Yeah we made dying animal sounds. So bad!! After that, the guys all got to show off their manly hood by throwing spears at wooden animals. Then the girls got to feel real girly and learn how they make baskets out of the plants and the dyes they use. The coolest part were the brushs they used. They were natural plants that when they fall of the tree they actually look like an brush you would use in your kitchen sink.

We were running early so we took a small detour into the wet lands where we saw many different birds and my first Crocodile. Of course, there were many more to come since we were going to a croc cruise. On the cruise we saw a couple more crocs just chilling in the water but the most exciting part was when we got to see one out of the water eating a goose. That was really a highlight.

Our cruise guide was a bit strange, but very informative. Unfortunatly he gave so much information that I just can't remember most of it. We saw a bird that looked a lot like the bald eagle, but was much more impressive. There was another bird, that has a flat wing span so it glides more than flaps. We also, saw a blue crane, that is very difficult to get up close to but these guys let us get right up to them. So, yeah we saw so many different cool things.

From there we had lunch. Of course all of this was new to me so I had no idea how things were run. Everything is group participation, so everyone helps put out the food and everyone helps clean up. Lucky for me I had Berna with me to give me guidance. Everyone was tired of these lunches because it was always salad makings put on a sandwich, most every lunch. (I did not have that luck. I had almost something different everyday) Finally we were off to Kakadu National Park.

The main thing that we did in the park was go to Ubirr. This is a place where the Aboriginal have done a lot of rock art. Their art is usually one of two things. It can either be a story that is passed down to teach a lesson, or it is just an expression.

At the top of Ubirr we had a 360 view of Kakadu National Park. There was no way we could see it all but it was still impressive. Then we hung around to watch a very spectacular sunset. From there we went to camp. It was such a late night that no one really wanted to deal with dinner, but we were all so hungry that there was no way to put it off. So we all started chopping, cutting, mixing, whatever, and soon there was a chicken curry stew all made up.

Berna and I hated that we didn't know anyones names so we convinced Benchy to get everyone to introduce themselves and this is who we had:
Bernadette-Ireland, Phil-England, Laton-New Zealand, Stefan-German, Richard-Colorado, Michelle-Switzerland, Sarah-German, Jayleen-Korea, Yannich-Switzerland, Rito-Switzerland, Davena & son-China, Rik-China, Max-China, Mili-Chec Republic, and Benchy our fearless leader. All of these people became some of the best people I know. I miss them all and am sad that I only had 3 days with them. In fact, since Berna and Phil were only on the 2 day and I got the closest with them I really only had 1 1/2 days with the majority of them. But really I miss them all as much as I miss you all back home.

Monday, June 29

We got up nice and early, but this will soon be routine and not a chore. Our first stop was at twin falls. This is a fall that goes all year because the water stays in the sandstone and so it can produce water all year long. We took a short boat ride and then we had to walk along some large rocks to get to the base. These waters we were not allowed to swim in since there was a chance of crocs, but yet we were walking along the waters edge. You would think that would be scary, but not so much.

Benchy being a good guide and looking out for us got us up early for a particular treat. The treat was that we were going to climb up the side of the falls to go for a swim. This climb was excursiating. It was so hot and parts were very steep. In reality the climb really was not that hard, but it was the heat that was killer. We got to what we thought would be the pools and there was no water there. We were all about to just jump Benchy when he told us finally that we had to go just a little further. Once we finally had water in sight, we were all stripping and running. There was no time to have those moments of embarracement about our swim suits. No one cared. We all just wanted water. It was the most satisfying swim I have ever had. I don't know how long we were there, but none of us wanted to get out and make that hike back down. But, eventually we had to. At least there was lunch waiting for us at the base.

After lunch, we made the 4WD back out and over to Jim Jim Falls. These falls were not all year. When we got to them it was just a drizzle. In fact, we couldn't even tell that it was going till we got right up to it. But first we had to make a hike to get to it. (There is no such thing as an easy swim around here) This hike was easy except for short people. The last part of it was across large boulders but I made it. We got into the water, only to find that there was another pool around the corner, which we all swam to. While there, Rik, called out to us between us and the falls and said that there was another pool. So we all got out and walked over more boulders, only barefooted now, and jumped into a really really cold pool. At least we had a goal in sight, and that was to swim as fast as possible to the falls. It was really quite cool to get to stand under this water fall. I mean in the pictures you see it is huge, but now it was just as if it was raining on a summer day.

We got in trouble because we got back late, but we don't care. It really was worth it.

We had to now drop off Berna and Phil. I was really sad to see them go. They were basically the only companions I had and I didn't know how I would get along with everyone else. I worried about nothing. For one, I was already well known in the group as the one who laughed all the time. I guess my reputation will follow me all around the world. I guess that's not a bad things. In fact it's a good sign, because with this group, I laughed more than I had in my whole trip. That's how great this group is. That night, I was trying to get to know people so I sat around the fire with them and had a great evening.

Tuesday, June 30

It was another early morning. (Now when I say early I mean 5:30) But we had a lot to fit in. Again, Benchy was being a great guide. He was making sure we got 3 swims in unlike the typical 2. Our first swim was at Burley Rock Holes, which was a bunch of pools attached by little waterfalls that you could slide down. Most everyone went to a pool farther up, but Rito, Laton and I went to a different one. It was nice because there were less people and we were able to play in one of the falls. It was just a different experence, and it felt great to be in the water so much.

After the pools, we stopped at Florence falls. There were so many people there it was not worth getting in the water, but most of us did a walk around the falls, and when we got to the end of walk there was Benchy making hotdogs on the barbie. Yeah for Aussie stereo types. But let me tell you, it was fantastic.

Our last stop and swim for the day was at Sandy Creek. This was by far the best swim of them all. This was at a basin that had a water fall. The falls were still going strong, so we could swim up into it. It, however, was not so strong that it stopped us from actually climbing up the falls and diving into the water. Layton, managed to be the most daring about it, but Michelle and I had our fair share of being daring.

Sadly we were all forced in so we could go back to Darwin. This just sounded like a chore, until Benchy started talking about us all going out to dinner together. This perked us all up. We all met at the Cavanaugh (yep, the same place I tried to get a room at before) and had a full harty meal there. This all just made it that much harder to say farewell to everyone. Lucky for me, Berna came out to join us, so I did get to see her again. Then a group of us walked back toward my hostel together. That were I said my final farewells to Benchy, Michelle, Sarah, Berna, and Layton. At least I know I have great friends that I will keep in touch with all around the world. Plus, I'll get to meet up with Berna when I go to Ireland, so it's not really a "final" Farewell.

Wednesday, July 1

"Territory Day"

Yet another early morning, only to find myself back at the office for my tours. This time I was going down to Alice Springs. Though I met Michelle and Victoria from Brisban, and Bridgette from Washington DC (Yep that's right) it's hard to get to know people when you come off a such a great group.

There really wasn't much to the first part of our day. The main thing we were going for was Katherine Gorge. Our first stop there was at our camp where we grilled up some chicken. See, I'm not having the same thing every day. I really got lucky.

Then we went to the actual Gorge. At the Gorge Michelle, Vic, Bridgette and I went kayaking. At one point Bridgette and I stopped and she had a swim and I just stuck my feet in the water, but there was this constant fear since there are crocs in those waters. Vic and Michelle proved that by seeing one. Many of the other people just went for a swim, and I call them crazy.

After the Gorge we went to meet Manuel who taught us some of their art. We even got to try. Basically what you do is paint a boarder, then the outside of an animal. Then you outline the animal. Then on the inside of the animal you put in Rah, which is a basket weave lines. For not being an artist and usually not very good at drawing anything, I didn't do too bad.

I guess it was good that this was such an easy day, because we wanted our guide, Ruth, to be rested for her very long drive the next day.

Thrusday, July 2

As I said, this day was a really long drive, so of course we had to be up very early. Our first stop was at the Mataranka thermal pools. It was warm outside, but these pools were warmer than outside. It was like taking a bath. From here, things get long and boring, and people go a little loopy.

Let me tell you about a man name Stuart. Well, you really don't want to know about him, but I'll give you what I can. He was an explorer and made 6 attempts to go from Adelaide to Darwin and back, and only 3 are well known, and only one was successful. He was a very grumpy man, but he made sure none of his men died. That's why it took him so long, because if they were running low on provisions he turned back. He created the path of the telagraph which was huge for Australia because they could then get messages to England faster.

Well we were driving along the Stuart Highway and there was nothing on it. So I think to keep the drivers sain, they have stops for them. One for us was "The Stuart Tree" This "tree" was only about 9 feet high and had the top part cut clean off. The only reason why it's the Stuart Tree is because if you look closely there is a big "S" on it. I guess you have to get your kicks where you can on the Stuart Highway.

Right next to that was Daly Waters, where there was a pub that had everything you could imagine that people would leave behind. There was a whole pavilion covered in thongs (Flip-flops) they had, dollars from around the world, coins, shirts, flags, underpants, bras, anything. That was were we stopped for lunch. I felt a little dumber leaving there.

We took a short drive along the run way of the first international air port. The same place where Qantas was started. Then we stopped at a sign that had Alice Springs on it. Again we get our kicks where we can. Then I think just to add some spice we stopped at a hike. Ruth made it out to be this great walk and we'd have a fantastic view. It was just a random hill on the side of the road. It was a good view, but we had to walk though spinafex grass, which is like walking through a valley of needles.

Friday, June 3

Finally a day to sleep in. We got up at 6:30. Our first stop of not really a stop. We were supposed to go to a cultural music place, but no one was there, so we moved on. We made an experiment and went to these pebbles. They, were just really small boulders. It was just a taste of what the Devils Marbles would be, which was our next stop.

Devils Marbles were actually really impressive. They are boulders that were created under the ground but as the earth has eroded the rocks have been exposed. It must sound crazy that I'm impressed by these rocks but really they are impressive. I'm sure photos wouldn't be able to express this either.

Our final real stop was lunch, which really wasn't much. So then we were on the home stretch to Alice Springs. 3 very long days. I won't say more but they were 3 hard days for me to get through. I just looked forward to the end more than I did, of dreading missing everyone.

That evening a group of us went to Bojangles which was nice, but all I really wanted was to talk with all of you on my blog and go to bed. I had to choose though because we had to be up at 4:00, so I choose to sleep. Sorry guys. That's also why I'm so far behind.

Saturday, July 4

"Happy 4th"

We got picked up at 5:00am by Macca. There was no trying to stay awake on the first leg. We were all asleep. It also didn't help that none of us got good sleep because we had rude roommates. I had a roommate come at 3 different hours of the night. Each time I paniced that I was late for my bus. Not a way to get some sleep.

The main scheduled high light of this day was Kings Canyon. It was a nice long walk, where we got to up the side of the Canyon then walk along the top. The way it looked with the rocks but a bit of vegitation it would not have been odd to see dinosores or something just walk along.

After the Canyon, Macca wanted to spice things up so he made us play a quiz. We broke into two groups. Each group had to come up with 10 questions and a name. We, being the group that was on the trip from Darwin, came up with "Stuart's Scallywags" Yeah lame, I know, but we won the team name contest and we won the game. We also had some really hard questions, but that was the point of the quiz, right....

Finally off in the distance we could see Uluru (Ayers Rock) The sun was setting on it and we could see all the colors. Macca wanted us to see the sun set, so he just pulled off to the side of the road and we all climbed a random hill in the outback and sat ontop to watch the sun set. It really was specatular. What I thought was crazy was the red sand. It was a rust red and such fine sand. It seemed so random, but there it was.

We had a nice helping of Steak, sausage, and Kangaroo that night. I don't know if it's how Kangaroo is supposed to be cooked, but I think it was under done. Then again, this is Australia. Michelle bought some Marshmellows so we had some roasted marshmellows. Then we pulled out our swags and crawled in. Swags, for those of you who don't know are canvas sleeping bags with a mattras on the bottom. You put your sleeping bag inside of them, then you sleep out on the ground under the stars. Truely priceless. And thanks to Layton, I had a pillow to keep myself comfy.

Sunday, July 5

We had another early morning, but for very good reason. We had to get to Uluru before sunrise, so we could watch the colors. That would all be good and fun it the sky hadn't been covered in clouds. You should have seen us when the sun came out. We all ran to take photos, and it's good we ran because we had about a 20sec window. We did get to see the rock in sunlight, but just not when it's the most colorful. A group of us did the 8km walk around the base of Uluru which was really good to get out and walk. We did essentially 5miles in 2hours. Hard core there. It helps when you can't stop to take photos. Uluru is a sacred ground, even though they have made it a national park and tourist can come and climb it, the aboriginal don't approve of it. That was why I didn't want to climb it. But, going back to my point, since it is sacred ground there are certain areas that you can't take photos of. For example there are areas that are womens areas and men cannot see, so they don't want photos to get out so there is no chance of the men seeing it. Pretty interesting if you think about it.

After Uluru, we drove down the street to Kata Tjuta, which is another rock formation formed the same way as Uluru, only it's just not as big. Here we did another 2km walk and Macca took some pretty cool photos for us.

After lunch and a short stop to look at the signs of an ocean once being out there, we were on our way back to Alice Springs. Again ending the evening with Bojangles.

Monday, July 6

Michelle, Victory, and I all had flights today but not till later, so we went to learn about the Royal Flight Doctors. David, you would love to learn about these guys. They were started in 1928. Basically they are the means of an ambulance for the people who live in the middle of nowhere. They are based in Alice Springs, but they now have bases all over Australia. They have now grown to be able to hold clinics once a month in different towns, they offer medical advice over the phone, and they do emergency transports from hospital to hospital, along with being an ambulance. These are great people and many people would not survive without them.

We took a stroll through town, which took about 15 mins, then we caught a taxi to the airport. It was still early for me, so I just sat around the airport for about 4 hours. In the airport I met Matt, and we soon found out that we were staying at the same hostel in Cairns. As we got talking we found out that we had done the same tour around New Zealand, then we did Alice Springs and we were going to be following each other along the East Coast. So even though I'm not traveling with him, I'll have a buddy to look forward to seeing along the way.

Tuesday, July 7

I left this morning for Cape Tribulation. This is the rainforest, where the reef and the rainforest meet, north of Cairns. We had a few stops along the way including a stop at a wildlife park where I got to see most of the same animals I saw in Melbourne, but there were also many birds and I got to bet a croc. True it was just a baby, but still, I pet a croc, I'm happy.

We got a small walk though the Daintree Rainforest, then we got another croc cruise. This one we didn't see at many crocs or as big, but the two we did see where just up on the beach sunning, so we got to see the whole thing. They really look so cute and harmless. Really though, they do, till you think about what they do.

Once at the Cape there wasn't much to do for the rest of they day since it was late and the night walk was booked, so I just got to get to know my roommates.

Wednesday, July 8

My roommates and I took a walk down to the beach. I had no desire to get in since we were warned of all the crocs, but I was happy to hang out. We first went to the look out where we were able to see the reef and the rain forest meet, then we walked along Cape Tribulation to find a spot to lay out. They had to leave since they were on a different bus tour, but I stayed out a couple more hours.

The wind was really strong so I was covered in sand, but that wasn't the best part. The best part was that I discovered very quickly, that I forgot to put sunscreen on where my shorts were. So when I layed out to sun in my swim suit, I got a little sun, and it shows the worst, right where my shorts would be. Oops!!

I caught the bus back to Cairns and was out for the count.

Ok, Well that has pretty much caught you all up. I'm running out of time online so I had better go. I'll be starting my PADI course tomorrow so after that I'll let you all know how that goes.

I really really miss you all. Lots of love, hugs and kisses.

Cheers from Cairns!!