DECEMBER 17, 2006 - DECEMBER 22, 2006

December 22, 2006
Canada here we come!

We had no problems with our luggage or flights. There were a lot people on the plane ( a 747 was full to the brim with people). We lost no luggage and arrived 15 minutes later than expected. Because it was the holidays, costums took a very long time to go through (we felt like cows being ready for moving).

December 21, 2006
1 day to go

The big day! Everyone finished packing and got ready for our departure tomorrow. We also got our stuff ready for the Christmas party tonight. There were 70 people expected to sing carols and take part in the family tradition. It was a wonderful and awesome day!

December 20, 2006
2 days to take off (counting this one)

We dropped off the car and picked up an older one. It was a smokey day today. Dave, Lori, and Toria finifhed our shopping in a very large and confusing mall (not the one that goes across the freeway). After our adventure in the jungle we headed back to the house and hid from the smoke. Sydney did all of our laundry and packed her clothes. Later that evening, DAni came for a late dinner and Fiona showed up too. We went to church to see Marina sing in the choir (they were actually practicing for X-mas Eve). Then we walked around the Boulavard and saw all the house lit up.

December 19, 2006

We are heading back to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road. We ate breakfast at an awesome cafe and picked up a few gifts. We stopped in Geelong (pronounces GEE-LONG, not ge-long, GEE-long) and eat dinner with another old friend (I never realized how many people we know here), Kathleen Fish.

December 18, 2006

We traded our car in for something better. We are headed to the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 apostles (8 now because the others fell down, you can still see the place where they fell and the rocks), the Loch Gorge, the Blowhole, and London Bridge. The views are all beautiful and breathtaking. We ate lunch at a cool little deli, but we were so full that we didn't eat dinner.

December 17, 2006

Now can anyone say this properly? Christmashansakwansak. A mouth full huh? Well, now that your introduced to the name of the B-BQ/party we went to it's all down hill from here. We saw many old friends from years before and made new ones. The place was very festive with lots of food!

DECMEBER 10, 2006 - DECEMBER 16, 2006

December 16, 2006

THE GREAT COOKIE BAKE-OFF! There were 28 kids ranging in ages of new born to 16 years of age. The parents were ready to party and eat their kids cookies. Rude, I know. There were wheel barrel rides and a puppet show. It was pure and in the true meanig of the holidays. During the evening the adults were invited to a dinner with one of the Raulli'd friends. Here they met athletes and to be athletes. While this was happening, the girls had a girls night with Dani and her friend, Emma.

December 15, 2006

Prep for the Great Cookie Bake-off! We didn't do a lot today. Lori, Syd, and Toria bought groceries, did laundry, baked, and made dinner. Dave helped with the lawn and fixed the gate.

December 14, 2006

The smoke wasn't as bad as we thought it would be today. Lori and Dave returned the Britz back to the dealer this morning and picked up our Rent-a-Bomb. It's a funny little car, but it was cheat to rent. Sydney and Victoria helped Marina with her Christmas Decorations. For the night the family went to the mall. Now, can you picture a mall so big that it goes over a freeway and on? Well I never knew one could possibly be that big! Well, Lori went shopping and the rest of us went to see Eragon ( yeah we know, we're huge party poopers). AND IT RAINED!!! AND I MEAN RAINED! BUCKETS!!!

December 13, 2006

We did our last trip in our faithful Britz in only a few hours. We arrived in Melbourne earlier than expected and the funny thing was that no one was home at the Raulli's so we went to get a bite to eat. We snuck back to the house and made a surprise entrance (it was quite funny, becasue we crept into the backyard and Marina thought it was a robber, but meggie may, thier dog, knew who it was). The evening was spent unloading the Britz and Dave helped Joe on some projects (you could tell he missed his tools at home). Nana (ours) called with news on the house. We won't go back to the house we left due to a flood. The fridge leaked upstairs so some walls will be gone along with our flooring.

December 12, 2006

Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in New South Wales. We spent the day wandering the streets visiting museums and stores. Lori went to look for Christmas presents and other wierd and wonderful things for an hour. We started reorganizing our suitcases and emptying the Britz. In the evening we took K.P, Scott, and K.P's sister, Isabelle out for pizza and took a tour of the X-mas lights. Man, is it wierd to be driving around and seeing pretty lights but no snow. No offence to anyone but personally, it just not Christmas without snow and the cold. It's an early to bed and up ready for our drive to Melbourne tomorrow.

December 11, 2006

We made our way to Wagga Wagga today. We caught up with our friend K.P. and her family. On our smokey drive ( because of the forest fires) we stopped and had a tour of the capital Canberra. This interesting city is entirely man made and the only real use for it is to hold the embassies, where the Prime Minister od Australia lives and for the tourists. No one lives in the city besides a few people really, mostly they all live in the suburbs. We stayed the night at the Wagga Wagga caravan park on the river. Kelly and her boyfriend, Scott, came to meet us and took us to her parents place. The night started out with tea and ended in a B-BQ dinner. We got back to the campground after 10pm.

December 10, 2006

We drove to Kiama today. We noticed that when ever we drive to somewhere new the whole family is cranky. Anyways, Kiama is beautiful. We went to the beach. Lunch was late and was hamburgers and pina coladas. In the evening we went to the blowhole (they are holes in the rock that burst out water when the winds are blowing a certain direction). The blowhole can have water going up to 60m high and the Little Blowhole is more constant but not as high. We miss our friends and family so when this trip is over it will be time to go home.

DECEMBER 2, 2006- DECEMBER 9, 2006

December 9, 2006

There was once a little girl named Sydney. She was a determined girl and once she chose something she did everything to do ot get it. One day she decided to climb the Sydnye Harbour bridge. Sadly, no one in her family really wanted to do it, but that didn't make her faulter. Of course we aare talking of our Sydney. So, today Lori took her to Sydney in the morning so she could climb the bridge. She went by herself, but Lori had to stay on grounds. She was beaming from ear to ear when she got back!
MEAN WHILE....
Dave adn Victoria packed our campsite and did laundry. While they waited for the others to get back they went to the beach. They got see the last of the life saving competion. Victoria didn't see a pretty sight there. You know when the rowers have to slide on the benches? Well how they do it isn't very pleseant so we won't go there.
Lori and Sydeny got back farly late because a woman had to be taken off the ferry by ambulance. We don't know what happened. It was too late to drive to the next town so we stayed the night at the campground in a cabin. We then went out for supper and a movie, the Guardian.

December 8, 2006

It was too cloudy for the beach today so we went into Sydney for a our of the Opera House. It had so much history along with everything in the city. It was so awesome and breathtaking I've rano out of words to say (this is Toria's opinion on this). We met Melanie for supper at 5:00pm. Had a nice time with her and then said good-bye at the steps to the Opera House. We then went to Handel's Christmas Massiah. It was amazing. They had it in the concert hall. With all of the accostics, the mass choir (I'm talking all 524 of them, yes we counted), the 4 soloists, and a small but very talented orchastra. It rained on the way home and we were tired. Funny, we seem to have the rain and cold weather following us.

Decemeber 7, 2006

Lori and Dave went to the mall for haircuts and of course the girls stayed at the campervan. We then went to the beach and had an early supper so Dave could go sailing with Bellinda's dad tonight. Sydney, Toria, and Lori went to the mall and to a movie. They then missed the right bus home. OOPS!

December 6, 2006

Lori and Victoria went to get groceries, Sydney worked on her Socials project, and Dave emailed friends. By the time Tor and Lori got back and we ate it was time to get ready for tonight. We met Matt for a dinner cruise at 6:00 at the Sydney wharf. We got on the Captain Cook cruises. Lori being the person she is accidently shwacked a girl behind her with her jacket. She asked if she was okay and asked of she was alone. So the girl jioned our table. Eds up, her name was Melanie and she was from Germany. We had a great time and didn't get back to the camper until midnight.

December 5, 2006

You wouldn't believe it. We got up early (well really it was closer to 8 am then anything, and that's early for us holidayers)! We headed into the city today on the bus. After finding where we were going we walked across Darling Harbour to the fish market. It wasn't as big as we expected but it still did smell of fish. We saw a Chinese man filleting a HUGE fish. He filleted like Papa does. If you ever watch you'll see what we mean. It was amazing. Next we walked all the way back across the Darling Harbour to the Sydney Aquarium on the other side of the Harbour (I suggest that you get a whole lot of maps to see where we have gone). We realized how lucky we were to go snorckelling and scuba diving on the reef and see these creatures up close instead of through a pane of glass. After our exciting incounter with sharks and sting rays we walked to find somethign to eat. We found a subway and while we ate we people watched. It's always interesting the way people act and dress. Once finished our subs we walked to The Marine/ war museum. We saw a destroyer come into the bay early, which parked at the museum warf. Sadly, we couldn't see the destoyer but we got to see a war submarine. It's not as big as a nuclear sub but considering how much has to be in one place it's a pretty decent size. We walked around the harbour and caught a ferry to Sydney Habour (we didn't walk around too much because we were going there tomorrow) then another ferry and bus back to the campground.

December 4, 2006

Cowboy Matty came by this morning just after Lori got out of bed and into the bathroom. We needed a day of dowtime so we di the usual, laundry, the blog, and phone calls. We also booked tours for the next week and organised what we are doing. We also met a group from a University in Sydney that are doing a religious study and we talked with them for a while. Great day and everything.

December 3, 2006

We drove to Manly Beach, which is about a half an hour north of Sydney. It's one of the top sufing beaches. We stayed at the Narrabeen Big 4 campground. We have an ensuite and we set up camp in time so we we on time to meet Bellinda's parents (Bellinda is a friend we met in Fernie, and her parents invited us to a b-b-que). It's funny how sometimes things work out so good and other times so bad. We were literally a block or so from there house. We had dinner with Lionie (Bellinda's sister), Michelle, , and Toby (all friends from Fernie). It was great and the dinner was awesome!

December 2, 2006

We drove part way to Sydney today and spent a rainy and thundering night at Port Stephen's. The Big 4 there had issues so we left and ended up in a nice condo for the night. Lori called our friends and we watched so movies on the telly (TV). It was nice.

NOVEMBER 24, 2006- DECeMBER 1, 2006

December 1, 2006

After such a good day yesterday we stayed today at Coffs Harbour. Dave and Lori went for a long walk on the beach and talked about life. Victoria, Dave, and Lori played tennis (the girls against Dave). Sysney, Dave and Lori palyed golf after that while Victoria had a nice long nap. Golfing was fun with the hazards of Australia in the way. It's not like in Canada where the animals know to stay off or they'll get hit, it's the kangaroos just lie there and watch you make a fool of yourself. There were, if you hadn't guessed already, kangaroos on the 6th hole and duck and white stuff left behind by them on the 2nd hole. Later that night the kangaroos came to visit our campsite along with a huge peacock.

November 30, 2006

Today we drove to Coff's Harbour (just norht actually). We found a really awesome Big4 campground and it was right by the beach. We rented boogie boards and eventually went to the beach after we set up. The resturauant was inexpensive for the main course but we spoiled ourselves with dessert. The staff were really nice to us and let us watch Pirates of the Carribean on the big screen with surround sound. We had the theatre to ourselves and enjoyed it.

Novmeber 29, 2006

Surf's Up! We got up and went to the front all ready for our lesson. They picked us up and took us to Flaty Beach. The waves were good but it's a lot harder than it looks to get up on a surf board. By the end of our 4 hour lesson Sydeny got up 6 times, Tor 5, Dave 3 or 4, and Lori was having way too much watching her family that she only got up 1.5 times. We spent the rest of the day in the pool because of the heat and then went into Bangalow to meet Tracey and Sean for supper. When we were visiting wiht our lovely friends a thunderstorms came in. It started to rain and thunder and lightning. We got back to the campsite and since it was raining and everything we made the bunk bed up and all slept inside (with some convinceing of others, we won't point any fingers).

November 28, 2006

We drove a few hours today to the Byron Bay area. We booked ourselves into a surfing lesson for tomorrow and contacted our friend Tracy and her husband Sean. We went grocery shopping and believe us we have never seen so many screaming kids in a store. Lori walked up to 2 of them and told them to be quiet. You have to here from her because it sounds better. But anyways, there was a kid thowing a hissy-fit and sitting on the ground outside in the parking lot. The kids mom was letting him cry because he threw them often. Lori talked to the mom and asked if she could join him. So, she plops herself infront of him and starts screaming and kicking her feet. The kid made a face and turned around. Meanwhile, there is a man in a truck not far away watching and laughing his head off. Yeah, not so fun for the kid, whos' getting made fun of, but hilarious for us. That evening we had Tracy and Sean come for dinner and a visit. Sean's family is coming to Fernie next year and Tracy and Sean are hoping to come too. It was nice.

November 27, 2006

Today we are on the move again. We didn't go far but still we left the Bradburns after cleaning up after ourselves. We drove only about 40 km to the Gold Coast campground and stayed there. We spent the day at Sea World watchign the seals perform and the dolphins do tricks and the polar bears trying to get a floating thing under a log. It was interesting but Lori and Dave were complaining that it was hot so the kids disappeared to go on the rollercoaster and they went to the water park. We had supper at the Bistro and met our friends we met in Darwin there for a drink.

November 26, 2006

We had a wonderful breakfast with the Bradburns. We took in a movie this afternoon to get out of the house and get a bit of fresh air. It was Santa Clause 3 and they called us Canadians short!!! We were the only ones in the theater that were Canadian, so when the show said that you could hear "We're not short!" from somewhere in the theater. After that experience we wetn back to the Bradburns for a b-b-que. It was full of talk, food, and drinks. When it became dark, we were taken to see a Christmas display at a friends place.

November 25, 2006

We did laundry (boring I know) this morning. We then headed into Brisbane with Jim for another amazing tour of his great city. The market was there, without us knowing so we looked around. We got some x-mas presents and ate snowcones (a great invention besides ice cream of course). We walked around then took a river ferry to look at different parts of Brisbane. On this trip we made a desicion that no one is cookign dinner, so 3 hours later we go to the Bradburns favorite Chinese resturant. And of course had a really enjoying night.

November 24, 2006

Lori, Dave, Jim, and Moreen went to the marina this morning to lookat boats. They had tea and left the girls at home. The girls worked on the blog, got ready for the day and watched movies. Later that afternoon we went to the Cirque du Soleil show at 4:00pm. It's funny howthey are there since it's Canadian owned. We were deiving tdo the Bradburns like 2 days ago and we see this circus tent with a Canadian flag on top. It was amazing, the show and the fact that we could get tickets to the show. Normally in Canada, the shows are soldout 9 months before it comes. It was so cool that we were asked if we wanted to go behind the sences. And the crew there were so nice, it might just be cause we're Canadian too or they are always that nice to anyone. After the show, a friend of ours met us and we went out for supper. We laughed and caught up on our travels. You gotta love it!

NOVEMBER 18, 2006- NOVEMBER 23, 2006

Novmeber 23, 2006

We spent the morning just trying to regroup. Victoria worked on the blog and Lori made a few calls home to catch up on what is happening. In the afternoon, Jim took us south a bit to Surfer's paradise and to sit on a beach in the afternooon. Lori made supper and we had another relaxing night.

November 22, 2006

Today we drove to Brisbane. It wasn't as long as we expected and finding the Bradburns house was easy to us. We arrived in the evening and had a nice relaxing dinner and had one little kid fall asleepalmost immediatly to the Bradburns travel DVD (their lastest one). Their home is beaustiful. The backyard is nicely landscaped in a tropical decor and the house is inviting.

November 21, 2006

Today we got up and ready to set sail for The spirit of1770 to go scuba diving. We had winds of 20 knots or so and the wind was supposed to come from the east. But, no that never happend, the wind was from a different direction and the waves were not 1.5 meters but more like 2.5 m. Dave and Syd ended up being sick and Tor's and Lori's insides got slammed around. It was a rollercoaster ride on a boat. We couldn't dive becaise of Lori's athsma and another crew member said that Sydney and Victoria were too young. So we got a snorkel guided tour and saw sea turtles up close, held a sea cucumber and held starfish. We came back to our campsite tired and a bit sea sick. We didn't have much for supper and of course went to bed.

November 20 , 2006

Today we went to the Capricorn Caves, got groceries and had lunch with Tracy. After ourreally good lunch and talk wee drove the small distance to The Town of 1770. It took a while to find and get set up because it isn't really big. But we found it a bit later than expected.

November 19, 2006

Today we travelled to Rockahamton and Victoria planned. We stayed at the Big 4 there and slept alright. During the night Toria andSyd had to go to the bathroom and thought theysaw the southern cross. We aren't really sure if they did but hey it's worth the imagination. Other than that we contacted our friend Tracy in Rockhamton and relaxed. Oh yeah, and the birds were horrible, they just wouldn't be quiet!

November 18, 2006

Lori and Dave went to the farmers market this morning. We then went to look at some sail boat since Lori and Dane want to buy one and travel the world in it (for retirment). For the rest of the afternoon we slept, did the budget, and checked emails. We made the girls get involved again so Syd made supper and Tor is planning tomorrow. We also watched the openair movie tonight and enjoyed that time together.

NOVEMBER 9, 2006- NOVEMBER 17, 2006

November 17, 2006

We woke and left by 7 am. The birds and the sun always seems to get us moving. On our way to Cape Ferguson we stopped at the Australian Marine Science Institute (AMSI), it was great. We drive to Airlie Beach and stayed at the Big 4 there. We found a nice spot and the pool was great. We played golf adn then hit the pool (you can't go in the water because of the box jellyfish, very fatal). Other than that we had a very ralxing time.

November 16, 2006

We packed up and headed to the pool for an excellent Pancake breakfast. We met 2 other families from Canada adn talked with them for a while. Then we headed to Townsville (sorry guys we are really making you check you geography aren't we). On the way we stopped at a fruit farm and Lori found a man that is a refrigeration mechanic like Dave and jokingly asked if David could have a job. Really, the guy was ready to hire him on the spot. There was a cyclone that went through there 9 months ago and destoyed everything, that is why the bananas are so pricy. We ate lunch over looking the sea and eventually made it to Townsville. We saw many teens in their grad formals. Unfortunatley, it was very someky at the Big4 campground so we had to stay somewhere else.

November 15, 2006

Another great day today. We lounged around beside the pool, called home, and ate. It was extremly hot here and there was only one way to cool down... jump in the pool. The girls got sunburnt but mostly Sydney was the lobster. She'll be sore for a while but hey at least she'll have the tan Lori will be jealous about. we picked up the Britz and did shopping, other than that we did nothing else.

November 14, 2006

Today was..... Supercalafradulousexpiallydotious (correct me if my spelling is wrong). Well, for those who know their geography, you should know that the Great Barrier Reef runs along the east coast of Australia, from around the northeren tip to about Rockhampton. We went on it today to go scuba diving. We went on Quicksilver, a highly recommended tour, and were at the reef all day. Our instructor/guide was a Japanese man and he did the underwater part so well that when we came back up after our first dive we asked to go again. Both dives were awesome! Just to make an exremely long story short, we got to tickel enenamies, make huge clams shut suddenly, touch an enormaous fish that was just a baby, touch the coral, and have a variety of fish show us their home in a very strange way. In all of this you couldn't smile or you would drink the ocean, so that was so hard to do. The lunch was great and the crew were excellent. When we finally got home after a long, amazing day we ordered fish and chips and watched Take the Lead at teh outside movie theater.

November 13, 2006

Today we moves to our campsite, a super ensuite. We did laundry, got the Britz service for the return trip to Melbourne, did our shopping, and booked our tour of the reef. Since we spent Lori's b-day in the Outback we decided to celebrate it today (since in Canada it is offically the 12th). The girls had the hardest time trying tobuy a cake, candels and balloons without her seeing. Before supper, Dave took Lori for a swim while Syd and Tor blew up ballons for her. Occasionally you would hear a pop because the balloons were so fragile that they would just pop after touching the side of the tent. Ayway, Lori enjoyed them and we had a good birthday dinner with a cake stuffed full of candles.

November 12, 2006
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORI!!!!

We left Normanton early, it seems to have become a routine when camping with us. Some of us were tired, so we left the bed up in the back and rotated our seating plan every hour. With music and talking the trip wasn't as bad as we expected. The little green tree frogs we ocasionally found in toilets were interesting.Lori first found out in Mount Isa, there was a sign on the wall but she didn't see it. When Lori did she was, of course, afraid of having peeing on a little green fog. Sadly, she did but the good news is it didn't get flushed down the toilet as far as we know. On the way there were some lava tubes that we tried to see. Unfortunatly, there was no room on the tour for our family so we couldn't go. We continued through the Table-top Mountains to Cairns. The drop rom the outback to Cairns was full of switch backs and windy twisty roads. The girls becmae bored adn started playing the broccoli game (it's where you yell a name of a veggie to a pedestrian, and it seems that broccoli is the most effective). We ended our days trip at the Caconut caravan park in Cairns. Is is extremely beautiful place to stay.

November 11, 2006
REMEMBRANCE DAY (Canada)

Another hot and sunny day here, down under as humid but still as hot. We are headed to the coast which will probably take us a few days. It's around 1300km to Cairns (pronounced Kans, these people have strange names for cities).
We visited the Mount Isa underground hospital. It was built during World War ll to help in the bombings of the Japanese (which never came). Eventually the use was over for it so the nurses closed the entrances and left everything there. About 30 years later they were expanding the new hospital and a guy in a bulldozer accidentally found one of three entrances to the underground hospital. It was cool and well organized.
We spent the night in Normanton and ran into the same family we met in Mount Isa. We hung out in the pool and laughed till our sides hurt then pretty much went to sleep.

November 10, 2006

We got up early and were happy to know that there was no rain. Easy pack up and out on the road again though the outback to Mount Isa, Queensland. Sometimes on the road we felt like we were driving through Saskatchewan. And others we were on the Hansen Lake road up to Flin Flon Manitoba. When we pulled into Mount Isa there were smoke stacks from the smelter. They had mines for copper, zinc, lead, and silver. We stayed at the Big4 and had a wonderful swim. We met another nice family from Perth who are traveling their country for a year or so. Had a nice cold night and had an even better sleep.

November 9, 2006

We learned we got up at 7 am and left. The nice Korean man came by as we were packed up and gave us these huge mangos for free. When we say huge we mean HUGE!!! We then settled down for the long drive ahead of us. We arrived in Tennant Creek with nothing too exciting to report. We looked around at all of our options for the night. The YHA hostels were gross, the hotels would take us too deep into our daily budget and not much of the campgrounds had enough shade. We choose the Outback campground with a cold pool, powered sites, and little frozen Hoppy Pops (like freezes but in the shape of animals and stuff). It was good.

NOVEMBER 1, 2006- NOVEMBER 8, 2006

November 8, 2006

We drive to Katherine today. Sydney and Victoria had the job of choosing our accommodation for tonight. With our coupon book we stayed at the Palm Court Backpackers for around $65 Aug. It was nice, we took a walk around the gorge that was there and decided not to swim because of the crock. They were fresh water crock but they were crocs all the same. The saltwater ones are the aggressive ones and the freshwaters are the more timid ones and won't come near you unless intimidated. Lori and Dave made meal for the next few days along with supper. After we went for a swim and had our dinner. Had an amazing sleep in the air-conditioned room.

November 7, 2006

We were up and moving early this morning to get everything packed and be on our way. We said goodbye to our friends and bought some food. Super Dave suggested that we go to the Litchfield park falls. We enjoyed the falls that were refreshing after a hot day in the car. Since we aren't yet climatise to the weather we were sweating like pigs most of the way. We also saw these magnetic termite mounds. They were cool if you like bugs and tall mounds in lined like a graveyard. We spent the night in Batchelor at the Big 4 campground. We learned a few things on what not to do:
1. The concrete holds heat, so don't put you tent on one.
2. Have the tent fly on or put it under the tarp. (it rained and rained and rained on us)
3. Make it so you can have a quick set up and take down.
4. Leave early in the morning to beat the heat.
5. Freeze any water we have.

November 6, 2006

We didn't do a whole lot today. We got the caravan cleaned and did laundry. We then met Super for supper beside the pool. We saw our friends from Perth and the Gold Coast again. It was great and the pool was a little warm for a pool but oh well. We wont complain.

November 5, 2006

The family we met from Perth told us about these jumping Crocodile tour. So, what do we crazy Canadians do? You guessed it, we went on a tour. Now, imagine you are sitting in a perfectly stable boat with a 2-4 meter croc staring at you only inches away. Can you imagine that? The largest one we saw was about 3.5 meters long with a mouth full of 66 teeth as sharp as knives. After our very eventful morning tour we headed back to the campground for lunch. In the late afternoon we went into Darwin to meet our friend Super Dave. He took us to a ski club for dinner and a drink and we had a very relaxing time with the cool breeze, live band, and ocean not far away.

November 4, 2006

We got up today ready to go explore and get the few things we needed before picking up our Britz at 1:00pm. We checked out the Saly Anne store and Bunnings warehouse. Since it is so humid here and hot, after getting our little camper, we went to the pool. Dave was sitting in the shallow end enjoying not being sticky when he suddenly saw this little girl run straight to the pool. Her mom just caught here in time before she went in to the drink. What happened next was extremely unexpected. The little girls dad and Dave began to have a conversation. That was the beginning of a new friendship with the family from Perth and their parents from the Gold Coast. We had an awesome time at the pool.

November 3, 2006

Boy oh boy. Well, today we woke up expecting to take the train to Alice Springs. We walk into the station lobby and get told that the tracks have been ripped up. Lori's mouth just dropped. It happened yesterday, when we were on Kangaroo Island. A freight train derailed and ripped up all of the tracks from where the tracks split to got to Alice Srings or Perth. So we are standing in the lobby trying to decide what to do. They had a Grey hound bus transport the passengers. But that's a long ride and we didn't want to sit on a bus for 10 hours. In the end, we decided to catch a plabe to Darwin a bypass Alice Springs completely. We really lucked out. The plane ticket would have cost bout $150 more tomorrow than if we flew today. So at 2:35 pm we took off and landed in Darwin in our jeans and t-shirts. We almost fell over with the heat when we walked outside. Not only was it hot but it was humid too. Not a good mix. We drove to the wonderful Big4 campground and melted there for the rest of the night.

November 2, 2006

What an awesome day! We went to Kangaroo Island today on a tour. We got to learn how bees make honey and their lifestyle, have an amazing lunch, pet koala bears (they aren't actually classified as a bear, but as a marsupial), feed kangaroos, hold a baby kangaroo, and observe sea lions lying on a beach snoozing from a distance of 7 meters or so. It was a real adventure! Oh, and we also watched the pelican feeding with a guy with a whole lot of humor.

November 1, 2006

Last night was not as good as we would have liked. We stayed at Annie's Place, a hostel that had dirty floors and not very clean bathrooms. For breakfast we got was only toast and coffee. We left there A.S.A.P. Lori and Dave got our rental car while Sydney and Toria packed up. We then drove to the Big4 campground for the rest of the day, and chilled. We learned in Aus. that you have to pay to make a transaction at a bank to cash a travelers cheque.