Wow! Australia is a pretty cool place! We just got back from our trip about a week ago. Nate's brother Tyler served his mission there so he was our tour guide and we had a lot of fun. The plane ride was 18 hours in the air and about 26 hours all together with layovers. We had a 6 hour layover in San Francisco but luckily Brad and Sharon came prepared! We all huddled around Sharon's laptop and watched a movie. Brad had all our headphones hooked up so we probably looked pretty funny, but it was a great way to pass the time. (btw, The Great Debators is a fantastic movie)
Once we finally made it to Australia we had fun visiting the Australia Zoo with all the crocodiles. Nate was heartbroken that Steve Irwin wasn't there to greet us in person, but we got a loving picture of him next to a mural of his longtime hero the Crocodile Hunter. We went to a theme park which had some crazy thrill rides and to the beach at surfer's paradise. I don't remember ever having so much fun swimming in the waves... it has been a while for me! The waves were huge and we had a blast! I think it may have worried Sharon a little bit, she kept making sure our heads would pop up after each big wave. We also took one day to tour around Brisbane which is a gorgeous city right on the river. We took a water taxi, which is a good sized boat, up the river and saw some awesome river front mansions and cool archetecture in the buildings.
Then we were on our way up to Cairns which is a 20 hour drive north of Brisbane. It was very interesting to Australia as it got greener and greener going north. It went from kind of dry plains to endless sugar cane fields, to rainforest! In Cairns we arrived to find we had been bumped up to a room with a view of the ocean. We were literally across the street. It was absolutely gorgeous. Nate and I took a walk out to the point one morning and decided we would retire on that beace one day (as if he'll be able to tear me away from my kids and grandkids at that point... he he). At least the thought of it was nice.
The coolest thing about the whole trip happened the day after we arrived in Cairns. We visited the Great Barrier Reef! We snorkeled, saw parrot fish, giant clams, angel fish, and huge mountains of coral. It was one of those moments when I thought, "Oh my heck, I can't believe I'm here doing this right now!" We got some great footage I will try to post later.
Anyway, I'm sure there is a lot more I could tell you about the trip, but I need to get going. As for our Lehi lives we are pretty much just working and enjoying our summer going to baseball games, firing up the barbecue, and only working 8 hours a day! It's really nice. Whelp, until next time... Stay cool and H.A.G.S.!!!
