airlie beach {day 1}

the next day we packed our bags to head up to airlie beach.  we left bright and early to catch the ferry out of shute harbor to hamilton island.

and continuing with the a&t luck... on our way to hamilton island we saw dolphins!!  let me preface this with the fact that i was just talking to some locals about how you NEVER see dolphins out here and they agreed!  they said that you usually see them more down south.  but not when you are with a&t.  when you are with a&t you see dolphins.  all i can say is LUCKY ME!!

when we got to hamilton island we went straight to the wildlife park to hold a koala and see some of the many other exotic animals.  i swear, holding a koala will never get old.  they are the sweetest animals on the planet.  

and we got to see some other cool animals as well. 

this cockatoo was so cool... it mimicked what you said.  and it would try to give you gifts (i.e. tree bark).

we got to feed this kangaroo bread... who would have thought they would eat bread?

this, my friends, is a dingo.  this particular dingo has been raised by humans so it was people friendly, but can you believe how much they look like your dog next door?  this is why locals say to never pet a stray dog here.

the sweet sweet wombat.

i couldn't believe we were allowed to pet him.  his fur was so so soft.

baby kangaroo being bottle fed...

this place was great.

afterwards, we headed to the one tree hill.  i have blogged about this before, but it's just so beautiful i couldn't resist sharing the photos.

the tide is down in this photo, but look at the turquoise in the water!  we could do nothing else, but go down to that beach to enjoy it up close and personal.

so that's what we did.

afterwards we headed back to airlie beach to meet jim for dinner.  we ate at shipwrecked seafood bar and grill.  it was delicious and a perfect way to end the day.

a&t {adam&tara} trip cont'd.

hello, again!

on day two of a&t's trip, after adam made us a lovely breakfast, we headed to the beach for some fun in the sun!

and since a&t are lucky charms, we saw a sea turtle while hanging out on the harbor wall!  this was when i knew for sure that we were going to see all kinds of cool things while a&t were here.  i have not seen one sea turtle in all of my time of being here AND we weren't even in a place where i was expecting to see any marine life except maybe a stingray or jellyfish (who WANTS to see those???)!!  but here she is... let's call her sally the turtle.

and since we are silly and it's kind of fun we took some jumping shots with tara's super cool and fun camera.

aren't they cute??  i miss them so much already...

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!