The Motherland... Go Ancestors!!

Australia. I love how it rolls off the tongue. Movies are made about it and books try to capture it but in reality, you need to see it to believe it. I remember as a kid learning about my lineage and being surprisingly prideful about my outback heritage. Australia has been on my list since I can remember. I will be forever grateful to be able to lay on its beaches. Here are my favorites about this place (in no particular order):

The accent: I love a good g'day! Which this is shocking because I can't understand accents. Seriously. I have a 2 second delay when talking to someone with an accent. But, for some reason, I don't have a problem with this one. Loran, on the other hand, couldn't understand it to save his life. It was super funny. More than once I heard the phrase, "I heard you, I just don't understand what you are saying."

Eumdi Market: This makes my list because it was an experience. Picture in your mind the booths at the state fare and then multiply it by 1,000. No lie. You could find anything you wanted at this market. It meets twice a week, and there are about a thousand vendors and a thousand or more people. It was hot, humid and I loved it.

The Beaches: We all know that I love the beach. Slightly ironic since I live in a land locked state. However, that gives me opportunity to travel to see other beaches. My favorite Aussie beach is in Noosa Heads State Park. You have to walk 15 minutes on a dirt path to get

to it, but it rewards you with turquoise water and very little traffic. Not to mention the sight of a Koala bear napping in a tree. :)

The Great Barrier Reef: I would have to say that this was the highlight of the trip. We had the opportunity to live aboard the "Reef Adventure" for a night. We snorkeled our brains out and we tried scuba too. Me only once, loran did it twice. I have NEVER seen such amazing things under water. Clams as big as cars, a shark, a sand dollar as big as your head, blue starfish, Nemo, a sea turtle or two, and more fish and coral than you can believe!! It was awesome!

I also loved the opera house (but not paying 34$ for parking), darling harbor, Barron falls (although it wasn't flowing to capacity) and most of the rest of the country. I have to ask the question, why did our ancestors leave? I could have grown up there for sure!

New Zealand... Can I please be adopted into a Maori Family?

In November, Loran and I took off on a two week adventure. It started with a day in Sydney followed by 4 days in NZ (not nearly enough time). I will someday go back. Here are the highlights:

Blackwater rafting - Yes it's true. Underground rafting through caves with headlamps and wetsuits on. I don't jump off things, but I managed to jump off a waterfall backwards. Fetch, if the really tall german guy with a really little wetsuit on can do it, I can too. If you are ever in this neck of the woods check it out. www.waitomo.com.

Maori Hangi Dinner - A hangi dinner is cooked underground. It was good... I liked the lamb. However, I really dislike being the youngest people there and the whack job next to me was a serious ME MONSTER. Oh well, what do you do. I wanted to push her in the river but I didn't. :)

Ass Tattoos - Pardon the french. At the aforementioned dinner, there was a Maori show. The chief of that village had ass tattoos. I'm not lying. I couldn't take my eyes off them. I think I will try to attach a picture!

Driving - This was our first adventure driving on the other side of the road... not to mention the other side of the car. I pushed on that imaginary brake so hard a few times. It was scary at first, but you got used to it. The plus in driving was that we got to see a seriously beautiful country. There was one time we were driving through a canyon and we had to stop and take pictures... The site we stopped at was an abandoned gold mine that has now been overrun with greenery. Now the area is full of hikes! Oh how I wanted to hike them. Someday...

I have an addiction...

It's true. Those that know me know of my love of travel. I have a bucket list that is a mile long ... most of it includes sights of the world. The Taj Mahal, the sphinx, the Pyramids of Giza, beaches anywhere and everywhere. There are sights in this beautiful world that I cannot describe. I got bitten by the travel bug when I was in my early 20's and I am still suffering from it's ailments. Well... maybe not me so much, but I have dragged my sweet hubby all over the place. He loves it... don't let him tell you otherwise. :)