Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi oi oi!*

We're back! We spent five days in Brisbane and the surrounding beach areas, and had a glorious time basking in the brilliant Aussie sunshine. Felt very fortunate (and more than a little guilty) that we enjoyed absolutely perfect weather while areas in the rest of the country were enduring horrific wildfires, floods, and record heat waves (116 F in Melbourne!!!) The Wee One traveled just fine, and seemed to enjoy getting some fresh air and relaxation time as much as we did.

Australia is a really big country -- roughly the size of the continental U.S. I think -- so it's impossible to see any more than a sliver on such a short trip. Trying to make generalizations about Australia based on five days in Queensland is kind of like saying you know all about America based on five days in Florida. That said, I was really surprised by the fact that the sliver we saw was so unlike anywhere I've been in New Zealand.

I would argue that it felt very similar to the U.S, but with kangaroos, koalas, and lots of stuff that will bite and sting you. (I went 31 years without a wasp bite. Three days in Australia, and I manage to step in a nest.) All things considered, though, I really like Australia. Sign me up for more.

Some pics for your viewing pleasure:


Surfer's Paradise, on the Gold Coast. It's kind of like Vegas, Miami and Orlando rolled into one, but on a smaller scale. If that makes any sense at all.


After Surfer's, we drove south of the Gold Coast to a resort in Kingscliff, a much quieter beachside town. Because most people seemed to stay by the resort pool for some weird reason, we generally had the beach almost all to ourselves. Sweet!


Christopher with his hardcore boogey board.


In Brisbane, we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where you can get up close to all kinds of Australian animals. Here is a napping dingo.


Little kangaroo!


Big kangaroo! Check out the claws!


Me & a koala named Petal. Petal was totally not in the mood for picture posing.



Napping wombat.


* A little background for those who don't get the title of this post.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a lovely "non-babymoon"! You look great!

Le said...

hello there ... I did a search for bloggers from dunedin and you were in the top ten thru your listing in the kiwi blogger site ... there you go ... congrats I think !!

and then I see you have just been to brisvegas - where I live presently and my home town ...

I am rambling - but I am married to a dunedin boy with two wee lads 4 and 6 and soon we will move back to dunedin - well 12 to 18mths soon ... so I am wanting to reconnect with dunedin thru the blogosphere ... lived there with the man in late 1990's and loved it ... been back since for hols and so miss it ... so will check in now and then and say gday

btw you look fabbo with the wee one - you could be a preggie model !!

cheers le