The Great Barrier Reef

I know, I know, you are rolling on the floor laughing at this MOST ridiculous picture of us, but this is us.... in all our middle aged glory... snorkeling off a beautiful island.... at the great barrier reef... in Australia..... fresh from lurking over numerous FABULOUS specimens of sea life... so if we look a little giddy, or goofy.... that's OK, because we're having the time of our lives!!

So here's how it went... One Saturday we scheduled a trip to go snorkeling off a pristine island with only a lighthouse on it called Green Island. We get up early. We groggily get dressed and ready. About 10 minutes before we are to meet the tour bus, Mark looks out the window and sees that it is pouring down rain! Ack! Immediately, my mood turns sour. But we trudge through the downpour (me in high heeled sandals and a skirt) and out to stand in the only protected area (which of course is next to the large rubbish bins) and wait for the bus. When it arrives, we try to ascertain from the driver what the weather will be like at the island that day. We can get no confirmation either way, so after much deliberation with the driver getting more impatient by the minute, we cancel and trudge back to the condo.

We reschedule for Monday. Cameron, the guy who booked our first trip..... promising good weather...... Tells us it is supposed to be overcast and a little windy. Monday comes and things look like a regular winter day in Cairns..... overcast, muggy, and about 80 degrees. The bus ride is long, but the bus is large and comfortable. We see a field of wild kangaroos. The bus pulls off so we can watch them for a while, and two of them start boxing.... HILARIOUS! We see huge nests on electrical towers. We learn about the aboriginals and the farming of sugar cane, and all those tourist-y things tour guides chat about. The first thing they tell us when we board the boat is that the crossing is going to be very rough, and they are recommending everyone take motion sickness medicine. It was very rough, but the medicine works, and we cross with little trouble except one HUGE splash which soaks Mark's back. When we arrive we see the lovely island except with gray water and sky instead of gorgeous, clear blue as in the picture. We decide to take the snorkel tour with the Marine biologist. He leads us (and one really skinny, cold guy with no lycra suit) around to see the underwater sights. It was truly incredible! Just like being inside an aquarium... beautiful waving coral, gi-normous colorful fish, everything! We saw 2 adolescent green sea turtles (about 2 feet across). It was so amazing. They just sat in the coral looking around and we floated right above them.... close enough to touch! Mark and I also saw a clown fish (like Nemo) living in a sea anemone. Unfortunately, the swim only lasted about an hour and we had to get to the boat or miss lunch.... not a option if you are me... I never skip a meal!! This most comical picture was snapped by the boat's photographer as we came out of the water after the tour. So, laugh all you want! It is worth the ridicule!!

Flight of the Nanchang

Just a little update about another of our Australian adventures..... This was the highlight of the trip for Mark. If you know Mark well, then you know that in addition to knowing virtually everything there is to know about sports, he is also a history buff, and one period he knows more about than your average Kindergarten teacher is World War II!! So, when he saw a tiny ad in the tourist magazine to ride in an authentic WWII plane, we jumped in the car (like 2 days later) and drove up to the the lovely town of Mareeba on the Atherton tablelands. Mark chose the Nanchang VH-XXB because it was the smallest and most manueverable plane.... thus more aerobatics!! He spent a giddy 30 minutes in the sky. He saw loads of sights, operated the controls for a while and enjoyed numerous rolls, dives, spins, etc. The pilot later told us most people usually can't take even half of the aeros that Mark did.... something like 3.8 g's! So in addition to traveling half way around the world, Mark can also check flying in a WWII plane off his lifelong "to-do list"!!

I have a job!!!!

So Monday I had a phone call from Ferndale asking for an interview for a Kindergarten opening.... on Wednesday I went to the interview.... and today I was offered the job!! This is such a HUGE weight off of my shoulders!! Can't wait to celebrate! Hee Hee!!!!!

One of our trip highlights.....

So we are back from our big vacation to Australia....
what a cool place Cairns is!! If you are not familiar with the land down under, Cairns is on the northeast side of the continent in Queensland. It is tropical.... the booklet promised an average temperature of 70 degrees in the winter, and we were blessed with about 80 degree weather, but clouds everyday and rain about 30% of the time.... not what I pictured. In spite of the weather we had a fabulous time. Here you see me holding a real live koala. The photo was taken at the Cairns Tropical Zoo. We went there on our first day. We saw a spectacular bird show where the birds flew right over the heads of the audience... we saw many LARGE snakes in the reptile house... (luckily we saw NO snakes outside of the zoo, as on our arrival I read that almost all homes in Queensland are also homes to 1 or 2 pythons!!!!!) ... we saw lots of freshwater crocodiles and several saltwater crocs as well.... one of the crocs had eaten 15 cattle off a ranch before he was sent to the zoo, and another, who was 15 feet long, had eaten a man's dog as he was walking it through a park. The croc was so big it had to be kept in the local jail in a cell while they built a box large enough to hold it for transfer..... I also got to feed three funny kangaroos right out of my hand. One of them was a little pushy and would use it's little front hand to pull my arm over if he wanted more to eat! The last thing we did before leaving the zoo was go to the picture place to have my picture taken holding the cute little koala. It felt really soft and very similar to my relatives' poodle, Max! It had wicked sharp claws and held on tight to me during the photo shoot. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Will post more later......

Yosemite Pictures

Kyla and her friend in front of Yosemite Falls
Kyla and her friend... they are sure cute even though they aren't "nature girls"!
Vernal Falls from the footbridge.