All good things must come to an end

Our time in paradise sadly had to end... but not without a final hoorah! We spent our last day in Fraser sailing around the island. It was a wonderful day to be out on the ocean... and rumor had it we might spot a whale or two. Sad to report, it was just a rumor...

We still had a fantastic day, and Kate discovered her new career as a sailing captain...

Jeff and Bryson hanging off the back of the boat...

this seemed like a terrific idea...

until they felt the temperature of the water.

Cold.

I was served a double dose of sadness when we returned from Fraser and Kate and Bryson told me they were actually returning to the USA. After several unsuccessful attempts to kidnap them, I gave into a celebratory farewell evening, filled with trivia and karaoke (for those who know me well, they really had to twist my arm for this). The night began and ended in triumph... we placed first in the Australian trivia game, winning a hat and a case of beers (displayed below), and concluded everything with a tribute to Meatloaf and Celine Dion.

That's the hat and a smile of a winner

Those are mini beers and smiles of winners

That's our winning score sheet, hat, and beer

Doing what I do best...
No clue why Nick is laughing... no clue.

The boys had a go at the fun as well...

And thankfully my husband loves karaoke as much as me!

The winners of the evening...

I miss you Kate! Thanks for visiting us. Come back anytime... the spare bedroom is waiting. Love you little sis.

Fraser Island

Another thing all our visitors can expect is a trip to paradise. Kate, Bryson, Jeff and I spent a long weekend in Fraser Island, which could quite possibly be the closest place to paradise, or at least how I define it. Fraser Island is an island created by over 800,000 years of drifting sands, and is an ecological wonderland like no where on earth (I stole that from a book). Seriously though, this place is amazing. See pictures below to begin to understand the utopia we were in for 3 days...

We departed for Fraser early Friday morning, and after chasing the bus to the ferry, we successfully made it to the Island! The weather was a little overcast on Friday evening, so we spent the afternoon on the beach, chasing crabs and exploring. When we arrived to the beach we were greeted with the following sign. This made me feel really good and safe. Good gosh.

We rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle to explore the island and headed out early Saturday morning. Jeff was the hero of the weekend, as he drove us around the island, like a 4-wheeling professional. I'm wondering if this is something he's done before...

Kate may or may not be getting really car sick right here...

Our first stop was Lake McKenzie. Lake McKenzie is a crystal clear natural lake in the middle of the island, surrounded by white sands and trees. It was quite the experience. Evidenced below...

Yep, that's Jeff in a big lake.

Can you tell which pictures came from Bryson's camera?

After the remarkable Lake McKenzie we battled through the jungle of Fraser Island about 15 kilometers until we arrived at the beach... and just when we thought it couldn't get any more incredible... we drove upon this...

We continued down the beach until we arrived at the Maheno Shipwreck. Naturally we took jumping pictures in front of the wreckage?!? Why, don't ask, we'd been in the car a long time at this point. The Maheno shipwreck happened is 1935 as a result of a cyclone. It was a pretty amazing site, I must admit.

From the Maheno Shipwreck we drove further down the beach to Indian Head lookout. This my friends, takes the cake. It honestly was the most breathtaking view I've ever seen. I think each of us had our own personal spiritual experience standing on top of Indian Head. Sadly all of these pictures don't do it justice, but I'm posting them anyway.

Yes, I was about to kill him... Jeff, back away from the edge. Please.

On our drive back towards the mainland we ran into some Dingos! I was quite excited, as witnessing a Dingo from the safety of your car isn't half as scary as I expected. Not to mention they look like wonderfully friendly cute little dogs. I thought about taking one home. Still am.

And this my friends was just day one... day two, still to come...