Last day in Australia

Today is Australia day. We have a big good bye celebration set up for tonight. I have had so much fun! I'm sad to leave but I really miss my boys so much and can't wait to see them again.

The other day I got attacked by a Kangaroo. Someone made it mad and it came running after me and hit me in the back a bunch of times then it went after someone else in our group and then it attacked an old man. That was the scariest part of my trip. The rest of it was a lot of fun. I rode on the steepest railway in the world. I loved Blue Mountains but I'm going to have to come back because I went on the foggiest day they ever had and I couldn't see everything I wanted to. I was also here on the hottest day they had in the past 4 years. There was a crazy sand storm at Bondi beach.

Wow, it is so easy to fall behind with the blog. I have been so busy everyday. I am now in Sydney. I love it here! The city is beautiful! We took a walking tour and go to see all kinds of cool stuff. I wish I took notes because I'm so forgetful. We took the ferry to Manly beach and some of the group surfed. I didn't really want to go in the water because I'm not a very good swimmer and the waves were pretty big. I got a new swim suit for $5. It was the only one and it fit me perfect! Everything here is pretty expensive. We have a travel pass to get around. It works on the ferry, buses and trains. I love the gardens here are so pretty. I have gone two days in a row. The other day I got lost. We were on the bus and got to our stop and we were like "is that our stop" but we stayed on the bus and ended up in another city. A nice guy told us how to get back. It was a fun little adventure.

The gardens were great yesterday. I have lots of pictures. The guide showed us lots of cool stuff. Some leave turnded into soap or can be sand paper. All kinds of cool stuff. I ate the free dinner again then went out with some of the girls. Drinks were 2 for 1 so they were normal prices. Drinks are so expensive here. I met a lot of people and had a good time.

Today we went to a summer camp for the local children. It was so much fun! We took the kids rollerblading and swimming. I met a cool kid named Hayden he is 12 and made me miss Dougie even more. He was very mature for his age and he had been to the US. He really liked the US and had tons of questions for me. It was sad though because he lives on a boat and doesn't have any brothers or sisters and his friends live too far away from him. He also can't play video games very much and doesn't have air conditioning because they use a generator on the boat. He is very smart though so he must be spending his time studying or something.

It is so hard to write about my days. I have been doing so much and my mind is racing. Yesterday we went to a lecture but I was hot and couldn't hear anything. As soon as they let us go we rushed off to the lagoon. The water felt great. Then we had our free dinner at the hotel and it was good so we were all happy. We walked around to some shops but I'm trying not to buy anything until we get to Sydney. I don't want to have to carry to much around. Everyone went to a bar to watch the packer game so I had a relaxing night to myself and went to bed a little early.

Today I went to a school of long distance learning. It was very interesting and they had all these wonderful snacks. I'm on a short break right now then I'm going to some gardens with some of the group.

I had a wonderful day today! We took a bus tour up to the rain forest. It was beautiful! We had a very interesting tour guide. We got to go on a few hikes. I saw the most beautiful birds ever. I also got to see some kind of forest dragon. We went to some wild life place and got to pet kangaroos. They were so cute. I also got to see squirrel gliders and they looked just like huge sugar gliders.

Last night I went out with some of the girls. On of them we talked into the wet t-shirt contest and she won! They girls did a great job of keeping the guys away from me. the guys here can be pretty aggressive. I had a great time :)

After 2 days of traveling I am here! Cairns, Australia! It is so hot out! For our first day we took a walking tour of the city. We went to the logoon, a huge swimming area. It is man made right by the ocean. You can't swim in the ocean because the crocs will eat you. There are a lot of cute shops that I'm going to try to stay out of. We ate lunch at a place called Rattle n Hum. Food was good, we ate outside and right after dinner there were these huge bats flying over us. It looked so cool. I got some pictures of it. A little after dinner I went to bed. It was about 4am Wisconsin time.

Today I woke up early and ate breakfast with everyone in the group. We split up and I did some shopping for some things I needed. Then I called Dan. I miss him so much! It is sooooooo hot out. I spet a long time by the pool. I must have put on enough sunblock because I not even tan. I went to the farmers market and got a funky watch because I don't have a cell phone to tell me what time it is. They had fruit I've never seen before. I got pictures of some. I know I'm a dork, but wait to you see it! Now I'm waiting for my group to gather so we can go eat dinner. Everyone in my group is very nice. We are going to have a great 3 weeks!

I'm leaving tomorrow! I took off work the past few days to get ready. I hope I did a good job. I hate how I always forget things until I'm too late then I remember. I always try to guess what I'm going to forget. I packed everything on my list but I'm sure I forgot to add some important things to the list.

Today me and Dan worked out. We haven't been doing so good at sticking to it lately. It was so busy because it is still so close to New Years. It will be funny when I get back and nobody is there.

I called the boys to say goodbye. Wolfgang was so cute. He asked "Are you in Australia mommy?" I hope I can call him when I'm there. Dougie is worried. He kept telling me to be carefull and that Australia is not the safest place. I'm going to miss them so much.