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!