tara and adam - australia bound?

i am a lucky girl because, even though i didn't want to leave home and come back to australia, i had two of my favorite people (aside from jim) join us for the plan ride back to oz.  my sister {tara} and brother in law {adam} decided they wanted to see what all the fuss is about over here in australia, and i was so excited to show them.

unfortunately, jim had to return back to work so he only got a few days to spend with us over the weekend, but i had a great time showing tara and adam the ropes.  

i am going to post one day of their time here at a time to avoid a crazy long post, starting with our trip to eungella and finch hatton gorge.  

you may have remembered this post in which jim and i went to eungella for platypus viewing - unsuccessfully.  so, i told tara and adam not to get their hopes up on seeing a platypus.  i actually know a girl who has been going to the park for years and still has never seen a platypus.  

what happened not even 10 minutes into our excursion ~ pre-platypus viewing, pre-hiking and on our way to the bathroom???  we saw a platypus!!!  and not just one.... we saw 3!

then we headed over to the actual platypus viewing look out where the platypus supposedly live... and we saw THREE more!!!!  i was absolutely floored and started calling tara and adam the lucky charms... this point was proven several times as you will see in future posts.

we also saw these little guys... 

fair warning... the next photo is rated "R"...

of course it didn't take long for us to start being a little silly.  this was actually a lot scarier getting up there than it looks.

then we went on a little hike through the rainforest.

then we went to the famous look out point at the eungella chalet.

and then we headed to eat lunch at pinnacle pub for one of their famous meat pies.  i have been wanting to try this place for MONTHS so i was excited.  the strange part is i am not a huge fan of american pot pies or anything, but for some reason in australia the meat pies are HUGE (as in popular) and really good.  pinnacle pub did not disappoint!

that's gravy on the chips (aka... fries) and mash peas on the pie.  sounds weird, but SOOOO good.

you would think that would be enough for one day, but we decided to venture on to finch hatton gorge to see the water falls.  again, i had been wanting to do this for months as well so i was pumped!  the falls were gorgeous... the hiking was INTENSE.  but so worth it.  

water fall #1...

adams face says it all.  the. water. was. cold!

water fall #2....

the hike to this fall was called the ring of fire and if the water wasn't so cold then i would believe it.  talk about the leg work out - my legs burning definitely symbolized the ring of fire.  and we had to cross a portion of the falls which, again, wouldn't have been so difficult if the water wasn't so cold!!

but getting there and seeing this made it all worth it.

i had to make the most of the hike so, like a crazy person, i got in waste deep freezing cold water to get to the other side of the pool of water and take these pics.

seeing tara and adam so small at the bottom of the fall really puts things into perspective.

and for some reason adam and i felt obligated to get in and take a swim.  you know on titanic how jack is explaining to rose, when she is thinking of jumping ship, that water that cold feels like pins and needles stabbing you all over?  yeeeeaaahhh.

again, adam's face says it all...

putting on a brave face.

needless to say we slept well that night!