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I didn’t want to leave Australia without reporting that we did in fact see a couple Wallabies (I know, not really ‘roos) and a turtle. The turtle sighting was Andrew’s, yesterday, when we went snorkeling on Green Island in the Great barrier Reef. He’s really excited, it was apparently a huge turtle, and he got … Continue reading »

Sorry for the lack of posting on this website in the last couple weeks. We’ve been on the Gold Cost (near Brisbane) and near Cairns (near the top of Australia) for the last 8 days or so, mostly relaxing and taking a break from being quite so touristy. We were a bit “touristed out” and … Continue reading »

We’ve spent the last three days in Sydney, exploring the city, and catching our fill of the iconic landmarks that have put it on the map. The two things I wanted to see while here were the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House (including tour). Mission accomplished! And so much fun! The Sydney Harbour … Continue reading »

Alby, our guide for the “Just the Centre” part of the trip was … well, he was a lot of things. But what I appreciated most was his ability to explain the complexity of the relationship between Aboriginals and the dominant Australian culture. Obviously, just as explaining the relationship between the American government/culture and Native … Continue reading »

We spent the first week of our time in Australia on a couple of backpacker tour buses in Australia’s Northern Territory. First, we explored “the centre” – King’s Canyon, Uluru (Ayers Rock), and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). Then, we rode from Alice Springs to Darwin, with a couple scenic stops near the top for Nitmiluk … Continue reading »

Before I get too far in this tonight … I need to tell you to go check out Andrew’s blog (link on my page) if you want more detail about what we’ve done. That just doesn’t seem to be coming out in what I’m writing tonight and this is supposed to be the last post … Continue reading »

I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking about the Lord’s Prayer the last couple weeks. Mostly about how there’s so little in there about asking God for what we want. I do that a lot … God, please keep us safe … help us figure out where to stay tonight … help us find … Continue reading »

Our holiday training program has been in full effect since we arrived on the South Island of New Zealand. The short description of the program is this: 1. Go on long hike2. Stretch, drink water, and massage sore muscles3. Once sore muscles have recovered, hike more4. Make sure the hikes go up … flat is … Continue reading »

There’s good news for student drivers about New Zealand! The driver’s seat is situated higher in the car than the front side passenger seat, so the person sitting in that seat has significantly less opportunity to back-seat drive. Good news since they’ll have plenty of chance to wonder if you’re driving in the middle of … Continue reading »

I wish I could send you all to Rarotonga! I’d never been to a place that was this beautiful before. This picture is of the view from our hotel room … you step out onto the porch and then onto a gorgeous white sand beach and into crystal clear turquoise water. I wish I could … Continue reading »