Hamilton Island

Hey Everyone, we are downloading our pics as I write this.  I will describe our last 2 days and then you will see our pics finally.

We drove back to Brisbane Airport in rush hour which took 3 hours, but at least the weather was sunny and Bob got us back safely (although we almost hit a big truck head on only a half a block from the car rental return place, because Bob forgot to look BOTH ways when turning right - LOL).  In my defence, she said "All clear" although she claims she added "on my side."  I didn't hear that part because it was drowned out by her screams of terror. AND it was just a small big truck.  

Met Kyle at the airport and we all flew to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays near the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.  This place is incredibly beautiful.  The weather is PERFECT and 29 celsius.  There are no cars on the island, just golf buggies.  There's a free shuttle bus every 15 minutes that takes you anywhere you want to go.  There are also lots of pretty, man-eating butterflies too  ;)  .

We arrived at our apartment and the views are to die for.   We ventured into the Marina area for an early dinner at the Tavern.  Tropical parrots such as Cockatoos are everywhere.  Went to the General Store and got some expensive groceries (which is still cheaper than eating out).  Picked up some beers and headed back to the apartment to drink Margaritas, Beers & Scotch while we all sat on the balcony as the sun was setting.  Off to bed early again.

The next morning, there were 20 Cockatoos on our balcony.  Apparently they are a pest here.  BUT I LOVE THEM!!  We then headed off on our full day Whitehaven Beach tour.  Whitehaven beach has white silica sand and is beautiful.  We snorkeled in our attractive stinger suits (makes me look like a giant black Teletubby) and then hiked up to the inlet lookout.  Basically beached it all day.  There were lagoon rays and lemon sharks to swim with.  We all got sunburnt.  Idiots!  haha

Got back to the apartment and I made dinner for my 'hungry guys'.  Chicken breast with salad and rice.  Off to bed early AGAIN!!

Today we are trying to update this blog.  Pictures are taking forever to download, etc.  We do have some good pictures, so hope you enjoy.  We are just hanging out today.  Tomorrow we go on our Reef Sleep tour.  We sail out to the Great Barrier Reef and spend all day snorkeling, relaxing, eating, drinking & maybe I'll get a massage.  We stay the night on the pontoon on lounge chairs under the stars.  The next day we get to repeat the activities before heading back to Hamilton Island.  Hopefully we will be able to update the blog before we head to Sydney.

Some friendly goats on our drive from Brisbane to Caloundra (Sunshine Coast).

Countryside 

Love to have a farm here! A storm is brewing.

Mooloolaba (Beach Resort town on the coast near our destination).

Bob, sitting on the wrong side of the car, parked on the wrong side of the road. 

The view from our hotel in Caloundra.  Looks a lot like White Rock Beach with the weather cloudy.

More countryside on our drive (I guess these pics aren't in perfect order).

Outside our hotel.

This is the next morning about 6am.  I (Kendra) took a walk on the beach.

Interesting flora.

Our hotel.

This is Jiminey, the man-eating bug we rescued in the garage.

Bob couldn't feel his hand for about an hour.  haha

We put him here, I think it suits him.

On the way to the Australia zoo, we took a wrong turn and ended up on a dirt road.  Here is an Australian pineapple.

This is the view from our hotel in Auckland.  That place had internet IN THE ROOM!

Rhino Iguana (at the zoo, of course)

A real crocodile.

Real size, but extinct (thank God) crocodile.

Just roaming freely on the zoo grounds.

I have no idea what this is called, but it seems to grow on anything, including tree trunks and rocks.  I think it's a type of parasitic, alien lettuce.  haha

The Koalas were still asleep.

AWWWWWW!

A Cassowary (our niece Sandra, who used to live in Australia, said these will hunt you down and kill you)!  haha

Bob, the peacemaker!

Time to eat.

A visitor while we ate lunch.  This is an Ibis and it's the size of a goose.

At least the male and female toilets work!!!

Bob is tempting fate.

This  is Bob's girlfriend Bindy (he has a crush on her).

Kangaroo Heaven.

Look at the claws on the back feet.

Nap time again.

With Kyle, riding the shuttle to our apartment in Hamilton Island.

Our VIEW!!

Still our VIEW!

Yes, that's still our view!

Our pool.

Our first Cockatoo, just taking a stroll by the marina.

Hamilton Island Marina

Notice the pretty yellow colour.

Grooming time.

The tide is out!

Sunrise from our balcony!

Good morning, my beautiful Cockatoos!

Don't come any closer!

On our way to Whitehaven Beach (our hotel is the one on the far left).

Whitehaven Beach

Our vessel. 

This guy just walked by us on the beach (apparently harmless...suuuuuure!

Ready to take on the ocean in my stinger suit.  I know......this is a very sexy shot.  

Snorkeling (duh)

Not sure what Australian, man-eating creature this is. 

Add caption

Hitchin' a ride (I think).

The view of the inlet.  Amazing!!

On the beach we were just looking at!

The sand is so fine (like coconut or almond flour), finer than sugar or salt. 

Lemon sharks!  They are the length of your hand.

Sand piles left by worms.

Wish we would have spent a lot more time at this particular beach!!

2nd sunrise on our balcony!

Caloundra & Australia Zoo

Well, we still don't have internet, except for of course McDonalds.  No pics yet but hopefully when we get to Hamilton Island we can post them.

Went to the Australia Zoo.  The weather was still raining and downpouring in some spots on the way.  The zoo was amazing and very beautiful.  We could walk around with Kangaroos and Koalas and pet them too. The sun came out in the afternoon and then it was super hot.  Stayed there pretty much all day.  Saw a Condor at a birds of prey show.

We are now at McDs again on our way to the Brisbane airport for our flight to Hamilton Island.  The sun is still out.  YAY!!

Hope all's well over there!

OH by the way, everything is expensive here compared to home.  A 700 ml bottle of Tequila is $40 and it was on sale.  Bought it anyway of course. haha

Brisbane

We made it to Australia.  Unfortunately, we do not have internet at our hotel so we are presently at a McDonald's in Caloundra and I only have 30 minutes.  We will update with pics at a later date.

So, the sun ended up coming out in Auckland but it was bed time for us. haha  We did walk to the waterfront and it was cloudy and rainy, just like home  haha  Had a wonderful lunch at the hotel (they gave us a $40 voucher).  We had a good sleep and got up at 3:30am to catch our flight to Brisbane.

Flight was good, got our rental car and drove the scenic, countryside road.  It's definitely tropical here and very humid.  It's cloudy though.  The scenery was beautiful.  We got caught in an awesome tropical downpour.  Driving on the left takes some getting used to.  Stress levels are a bit high as we figured it out.  Everyone just gets out of Bob's way.  haha  We arrived at our hotel in Caloundra.  Very nice couple manage it but they are new and the place has no internet, not even for them.  I took a walk and got us some pizza and chicken take out.  Bob was too pooped to go out.  The birds here are so noisy and awesome.  Another rainstorm hit after dark.  We went to bed at 7pm.

I got up at 6am and took a walk on the beach.  The weather is still cloudy but very humid and warm.  We are heading to the Australia Zoo today (with an umbrella, haha).   Tomorrow we drive back to Brisbane airport and meet Kyle.  YAYYY!!!  We are all flying to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays for our Great Barrier Reef adventures.  If we have internet at the airport maybe we can post some pics and give you another update.

It Is Actually Happening!!!!!!!Taxi

Well, here we are in New Zealand.  We survived the 14 hour flight with no issues other than cramped seating, not very good food, crying baby, bad food, inconsiderate seatmate next to Kendra (no, not me, the lady on the other side of her), a sneaky seat reclining person in front of me, and lots of coughers and sneezers.  Other than that and the crummy food, it was a fine flight.

Taxi anyone?

Our taxi driver who took us from the airport to the hotel was a very friendly, talkative Maori who had an interesting driving technique. Corners, intersections, lanes, and other cars were simply obstacles to be overcome, but stop lights that were even thinking of turning red were to be cursed and obeyed!  In any case, Kendra had already an agreed-upon price so all the shenanigans were not costing us anything and actually enhanced our ride.

Our hotel, Rydges Auckland, is very nice.  Our corner room has a great view of the Skytower, in fact it is so close we have to bend way down to see the top of it.  Today the weather is rainy but we hope to explore the city a bit and check out the waterfront.  Then to bed EARLY as we are catching a 7am flight to Brisbane in the morning.  Can't believe we are finally here.   

Nine Weeks to Go!!!!

 

Well, it is nine weeks until we head down under. Getting so excited.

Great news, Kyle is going to join us for five nights on the Brisbane/Hamilton Island part of the trip!  Whoo-hoo!  It will be nice to have someone along to help us interpret that strange language they speak down under.




We have our visas.












And our International Drivers Licenses.

And all our tickets.























We are all ready to go.  All that is left is packing and getting to the airport.










Now, what to do for the next nine weeks!!

Flight to Australia and Queensland Plans.

Plans are progressing! 

This is why the flight takes 3 days!

We are flying Air New Zealand on March 19, arriving in Auckland on March 21. Staying in Auckland for the night to recuperate from the 14 hour flight. 

March 22 we will fly to Brisbane, rent a car and drive around for a couple of days. Explore Surfer's Paradise, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, stay overnight at The Moorings Beach Resort in Caloundra. 




Then drive to first highlight of many, the Australia Zoo .

March 24 we return the car and fly to Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Islands area.  
Lying in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef, in the warm waters of Australia's Coral Sea are 74 tropical islands.  The beaches and water looks unreal!

These are true colours!

Stay for 5 nights at the Whitsunday Apartments on Hamilton Island,one of the Whitsundays.


Lots of beaches and exploring and snorkeling!


On March 27 we take a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef and snorkel for 2 days including staying the night on the reef sleeping on deck under the stars.  Reefsleep.  



March 29 - fly to Sydney - look out Kyle, here we come!