The Rocks and the Blue Mountains

Sydney Day 2

Botany Bay and Sydney area

Daintree, Eclipse, Kuranda, Cairns

Port Douglas and the Daintree

Cape Byron and a bit of the Gold Coast

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - Brisbane

11/11 -Gold Coast Beaches and the Easternmost point in Australia

So this morning I'm up bright and early and the ultimate hostess makes me instant coffee that was unbelievably good...and i don't lift a finger during the process. You might think I'm exaggerating - but I drank a lot of instant coffee in various hotels and such while I was here - and none of it was like L's. Sun is shining, birds are singing and its time for another adventure. Let me just mention the birds. They are brightly colored, big, and everywhere - its quite clear Em is not in Kansas (or anywhere in the continental US for that matter).

Soon enough we are off to see the easternmost point in Australia which is quite lovely - and we run across the ubiquitous japanese tourists :).

 We continue by viewing some beautiful beaches......and come to a place where i can be in two timezones at the same time. There's a casino where we waste a small bit of money.....and then its back to the house as my suitcase has been promised. Not to say that I wasn't prepared for lost luggage, but it will be nice to have a few what to wear options available :). Interspersed with the various sightseeing is icecream and cookies (biscuits in Oz) and all I can say is that if I lived in this country, I'd be even larger than I am......although I'm not much for sweets - these are not too sweet- they are just right, and the ice cream and gelato clearly comes from very happy cows. Did I mention the fish and chips?

The evening ends up with an out to dinner with L's adult kids who are marvelous - not surprising considering that their mum is quite awesome herself. And once again, its off to bed early for this girl - I don't know if its jetlag or just that the days are so full of activity....but I can tell you that the early to bed theme continued throughout my entire trip.

11/10 - A Long Way From Home - Brisbane

First off, let me say that I am the luckiest woman on the planet to have such amazing friends all over the world who are willing to look after me on holiday (see, I've picked up some Aussie already). The flights weren't the easiest (they shall get their own blog), but there is nothing in this world more wonderful than getting met at the airport.....really truly. So, no matter what your friends say about not bothering to pick them up - do it if you can.
So I come off the plane, clear Australian customs (which was an experiment where I got to use the automatic entry machine even though I'm American - and a successful one because I got through in less than 10 minutes), didn't have to get my luggage because it didn't travel with me (another blog).....walk through the security and find a familiar face waiting.
Who cares about luggage? We're off to see koalas and kangaroos and wombats and tasmanian devils and even the platypus put on a show for me. A quick driving tour of Brisbane was included in the welcome package - but it was a bit drizzly so we didn't go out and about. Then there's a stop at a mall to grab me an extra set of clothes just in case mine really don't arrive the next day, the liquor store because John's GF enjoys a drink once in a while just as I do, and eventually we end up at this beautiful house that is exactly what I'd want if I lived in the Gold Coast, where John cooks up a delightful Shepherds Pie to go with our adult beverages, and his GF feeds the kookaburras so I can get a closeup.
I went to bed with a smile on my face.......because it was so incredibly wonderful and amazing and beautiful and darn near perfect.
You wouldn't think it could get any better, would you? But it did......