ABeautifulAdventure

There are no words to describe the beauty and serenity of Kata Tjuta. It is an awe-inspiring place. I am forever grateful for the opportunity I had to hike and climb my way through seven miles of its beautiful landscapes. Many thanks to the Anangu people who share their sacred land with men and women from every corner of the world. May this place inspire everyone who arrives here on their journeys. ... read more

Today was a slow-paced, relaxing day. When we travel, we have a tendency to go full speed ahead. We learned in New Zealand that long trips demand a lot of us mentally as we are operating in a foreign country, and physically as we pack as much adventure in as possible. So, we have now decided to plan in some low key days to truly relax and recover - what vacation is all about! Today we enjoyed walking on the beach, walking through the rainforest, exploring the area by car, and cooking dinner on the "barbee". We also stopped at a cafe in town to grab dessert for the evening - a special treat! We didn't see any cassowaries or crocodiles. Bummer! But the scenery is beautiful so we have nothing to complain about! Enjoy the ... read more

We woke up early today on "Maggie". We have learned that Australians abbreviate the names of anything they can - Brisbane is "Brizzy", Tasmania is "Tazzy", and Magnetic Island is "Maggie". I'm absolutely certain there are numerous other abbreviations we just haven't come across yet. So, our morning on Maggie started early because we had a half day kayak trip to catch on the other side of the island. Since our car hire company did not allow us to bring our car onto Maggie via the ferry, she is parked back at the terminal on the mainland and we are at the mercy of public transit here. That may sound complicated, but truly there is only one main road on the island and two buses that spend the entire day driving back and forth, so it's ... read more

Today we left Sydney and flew through Brisbane and onto Proserpine in Queensland. We enjoyed our time in Sydney. It is truly an international city, whereby looking around and listening you know that not everyone originated here. We felt instantly comfortable in Sydney. It was clean, easy to get around, and had every shopping and eating option one could wish for. And it was beautiful. The old buildings, the beautiful harbor, the interesting trees and birds - it was lovely. Aside from that, though, it didn't feel overly "Australian". I guess what I'm saying is that if we had only been to Sydney, we wouldn't necessarily feel like we had seen or experienced Australia. That all changed today. From the minute the plane banked left lining up for the runway in Proserpine, we knew we were ... read more

We made it to Sydney!!! Our flight was smooth almost the entire way and we were both able to sleep some. We landed at 7am local time after 14 hours and 45 minutes of flying! The Sydney airport was a madhouse this morning, and Aaron got stuck in passport control when the automated system couldn't match the photo it took with what was on file for his passport. A long assistance line and 30 minutes later and he cleared. In the meantime I got the bags. I met him when he was cleared and we headed to customs where we had to go through special inspection because we have been hanging around a freshwater lake all summer. Turns out that ended up being no big deal, but my backpack was attacked three times by an exceptionally ... read more