It's raining in Newcastle...

Which is actually a really good thing, because this is (literally) the first time we have seen any rain since we arrived in Australia a month ago. We're in Newcastle until tomorrow, as we continue to make our way south with plans to be in Sydney in a few days. It's been a while since the last major update, so here's what we've been up to:

Last week we had the absolute pleasure of staying with some of Steve's relatives (2nd cousin and his family) in Brisbane. We had so much fun meeting and getting to know another part of Steve's family. We enjoyed great food, a guided tour of Brisbane, Erskine family pictures, Air Conditioned bedroom - a first since leaving Atlanta- time relaxing, and most of all terrific company. It was really re-energizing to have a few days to relax in the same place and to not feel as much like we were living out of a suitcase. Thank you to the Erskine family for putting up with us for several days!

While in Brisbane, I got to hold a koala named David at a koala sanctuary. He was really cute but boy did he smell!- that photo will be posted soon, we visited the Australia Zoo (previously home to the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, they still had images of him displayed everywhere which felt a little strange, but the park was great)- we saw giant crocodiles (don't worry Dad, we were safe behind a fence), wallabies, kangaroos, tigers, even a Tasmanian Devil. '

Also while in Brisbane we traded in our Toyota Camry for a camper van. It's no ordinary campervan, though, as it goes by the title "Hippie Camper"which is painted in bright colors on the side and complete with purple and yellow daisies and butterflies. It's kind of the antithesis of a true hippie campervan, as it's almost brand new, and the paint is still really shiny, but it's entertaining to drive and it's giving us a break from staying in hostels for a while which is nice.

So, what exactly were we up to in that big chunk of time between Cape Tribulation and Brisbane? Well, we got to see some of the most beautiful beaches, Australian fauna in their natural habitat, and meet some great people along the way.

Here are the highlights:

1) Magnetic Island- named by Captain Cook because his compass went crazy when they sailed passed it.... but to this day scientists can't find evidence of any sort of magnetic presence in the area and hence no explanation of what happened.... while here we went on a hike- the site of an old army fort- where we spotted koalas in their natural habitat. I found out I'm actually really good at spotting koalas in eucalyptus trees from over 10 meters away- they basically look like small gray bumps, and when you get closer you realize it's actually an animal. They really are the most lethargic animals ever- but very cute. We even saw a mom and a baby- that was the highlight.

2) Whitsunday Islands- taking a snorkeling day cruise that basically ended up being a private cruise (there were only 5 of us that day) and meeting 3 new fantastic people- Aussies Libby and Daniel, and Clive the Londoner- as well as our (ex-US Army) captain Josef. The 5 of us really hit it off and had a blast that day (despite the one uncomfortable moment when we thought Josef was going to get into a bit of a skirmish with another vessel that was illegally parked at Josef's mooring.) Anyhoo, -the snorkeling was amazing- the fish would swim right up to you and even run into your mask-one of the coolest things was that if you stuck your ears under water you could hear the parrot fish munching on the coral. The 5 of us ended up hanging out and grabbing dinner together after the cruise was over- we were sad that we were heading out of town the next day and didn't get to hang out more!

3) Cape Hillsborough National Park- waking up at 6AM to watch wild kangaroos get fed on the beach. One decided it really liked me, or thought I had food, and hopped right over to me and tried to jump up which caused me to totally overreact and scream my head off. Steve caught all this on video, luckily. After it happened, a little girl told me "-oh, that one likes to jump up on people"- right.... i picked up on that.

4) Great Keppel Island- spending a couple of nights on this beautiful island- one day we hiked over to a beach and went snorkeling in a small reef off the beach- only a couple of other folks were in the area. We saw a couple of small stingrays (we kept our distance) and a sea turtle- it was amazing to watch it swim through the water- a lot more graceful than it looks on land! We met a really nice American couple that have been living in Brisbane for the last 25 years- we're looking forward to their tips on hiking in Patagonia :-)

5) Fraser Island- taking a 4WD bus (as in a large motor coach) through one of the largest completely sand islands in the world. We saw a dingo on the beach (while we were safely in the bus- as the guides told us, they're getting more and more bold and vicious, and there are signs everywhere to supervise children at all times because they've had problems with dingo attacks- we tried not to quite the Seinfeld line "maybe the dingo ate your baby"too loud- didn't think they'd find it amusing.) By this tour we're a bit jaded at all the beautiful sites we've seen, so although this really was a beautiful island the tour was a bit anti-climactic after the whale watching the day before.

It's been a VERY busy last few weeks, but we have had an amazing time and have loved being in Australia. Only a couple weeks left and we head to Southeast Asia to meet up with Tom and Christina :-)

Cheers,
Anna