3 weeks into OZ and we finally update...oops

Well, we've been in the great expans of East Coast Australia for 3 weeks and am now just getting to an update. Traveling here hasn't been as easy as NZ because we're going by Greyhound and staying at hostels along the way. Our 1st few days in Cairns were hot, but relaxing after we got some winter clothes shipped back home (for a small fortune!). We took our 3 day dive trip out the Great Barrier Reef and completed our Advanced Diving course. We did 11 dives, including 2 night dives and saw tons of marine life. Got a start to our summer in the tropics with rain storms and muggy nights, but it was a good start. From Cairns we traveled down a few hours to Townsville and took a ferry over to Magnetic Island for a few nights. There we got to know the local tropical wildlife sounds of birds and bats constant through the night! We also finally saw exotic fauna in the wild...koalas! Even pet one while on a hike! After a few relaxing days on the beach there we headed back to the mainland and went south to Airlie Bewach. A party beach town with an awesome salt water "lagoon" to swim in. Like in Cairns, there isn't a good beach to swim at in these places so they make these man-made swimming lagoons that are sparkling clean with sandy beaches and shady grass areas. Nice when it's 100 degrees out!

From Airlie Beach we went south a little more to Rockhampton--and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn there. We only stayed here to visit some caves 15km north of town, but there was no transportation to the caves, so we were sorely dissapointed and spent the day in the sweltering heat roaming the botanic gardens before hoping on the next bus south.

We rode the bus all night and just to be let off at 5am "near" where we wanted to go--The Australia Zoo. Only problem was that "near" was 15kms away, Crikey! So off we went....walking. We walked for an hour and then got breakfast at a small gas station place, walked for a little more and found a nice park type place to nap on a picnic table, walked for a little more and by then it was getting hot and we had walked 8kms. 2kms later we hit the nearest town and knew we could get a bus from there. The next bus wasn't for an hour but the guy told us we could walk, it was only 3kms to the zoo! We decided to wait! Got breakfast and finally made it there at 10am. It was a fun day seeing the crocs, feeding the elephants, seeing the tigers and all the Steve memorabelia. Not a bad day....LONG, but fun. A bus picked us up from the zoo (luckily!) and took us straight on to Brisbane, only about an hour and a half away. Brisbane turned out to be a pretty awesome big city so we decided to stay about 10 days here. After 3 days we met up with some friends from the ski field and it turned out they were headed up the coast to a beach villa for the week and they invited us along....awesome! So it was back out of the hostels and up the coast...straight through the town we walked to! And from the highway to the town it was a 10 minute drive. What took us almost 3 hours to walk was a short buzz in the car! We spend three awesome nights on the coast just chillin and hanging out in luxury before coming back to Brisbane. Since we had pre-paid for a week at the hostel we got an extension for the nights we were gone and are finishing them up here. It's been fun, we've walked a TON but it's super hot and we're ready to go. The hostel isn't the greatest (diiiirty, cramped kitchen!) but we have a 4 person room with a private bathroom so it's bearable. There's only so much you can do on the cheap in a big city and we've done it. In 2 days we'll move on down to Surfers Paradise for 2 nights at a (free) Holiday Inn which is a super nice hotel there and we'll recharge and relax in the air-con until we move on again in a few days.

In all, Australia has had it's awesome moments, but it's super expensive. Things here cost so much more than in the states and we're eating through our $$ like a kid at Christmas. Only 3 more weeks until we get back to California and we can't wait. It's sad we missed Thanksgiving, but at least we got to talk to our families and "share" in the festivities over the phone. At least we'll be home for the Holidays. Check back soon for pictures :)