Hiking Adventures

One of the many new adventures that we've enjoyed since being here is hiking. Australia has heaps of terrain waiting to be discovered by hikers. And while Jeff and I aren't clearing walking paths, we have endured some challenging hikes, that I'm still sore from, 4 weeks later. Our first hike was through Springbrook National Park. We went with our friends Craig and Nick.

Springbrook was a walk in the park (no pun intended) in comparison to our next hike... Mt. Warning, which should be called, Mt. Impossible/ Mt. You're Going to be Sore for 4 Weeks after this. Mt. Warning was quite possibly the most challenging thing I've ever done (me, dramatic... never). It was a 10k hike in total, with the last 850 meters a vertical climb, pulling yourself up by a rope. Thankfully I have extreme upper body strength (to be read with sarcasm and drama), so these 850 meters were nothing but fun. Who doesn't love rope climbing? This girl. Either way, we were successful and made it to the top! Got a couple pictures before the cloud cover moved in.

The hiking crew

Very sincere smiles...

Half-way to the top...

At the top, finally, and the clouds met us there

So these next two pictures aren't mine... but I had to provide evidence of the 850 meter vertical climb to the top

Thank you!

Big shout out to Catherine Wilson and my older sister for the many thoughtful things you've mailed me since we've been here. The collection is much larger than this... but some highlights are below. Thank you to all our friends and family, as each of you have been so wonderful and supportive with this experience. I love and miss each and every one of you!

One of the many gifts from Catherine... lovely card and book!

Gift from Sara... Trader Joe treats, mascara, and a painting from my niece!

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...