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I'm back!! (LONG)
Well, the honeymoon?s over :P
The fastest 2 weeks of my life can be summed up in one word = incredible. I loved every last second of the trip and literally cried as we were getting on the plane to go home?.this from the girl who freaked out the week before over leaving her pets, home, job, ect?.yeah, I could have spent 3 more weeks without a problem (as many of you predicted 
! Australia is a beautiful country with such friendly people. One of the best parts of the whole trip was feeling so welcomed and reminded that not all people see life as a competitive rat-race. The culture is just so much more relaxed, accommodating, and happy. Their favorite slang term, used constantly, is ?no worries?. We loved it and I?m trying to keep the feeling of living a little bit lighter with me as long as I can J
Here?s a ?brief? run down of how I?ve been spending the past couple weeks:
11/13-16: Sydney
- really nice, clean, city that was easily accessible from our hotel
- explored two beautiful parks within the city; one was located steps from the hotel and the other was a huge botanical garden where I was a kid in a candy shop taking pics of the flowers, statues, ect.
- Sydney Opera House is amazing in person. It brought tears to my eyes. Seeing a ballet inside the Sydney opera house gave me goose bumps.
- We participated in 1 tour which was the best idea ever because we got to see the featherdale wildlife park (kangaroos, koalas, dingos, wallabies, ect), the blue mountains (gorgeous views, hiking, birds, tropical waterfalls), and the three sisters (famous rock formation) all in one day. LONG day, but one of the best.
11/17-18: Ayers Rock (Outback)
- Upgraded for free from tent to cabin when we told them it was our honeymoon!
- Thank goodness for that b/c the cabin had a/c and it was 90+ degrees every day. I got a terrible sunburn after being outside for?.get this?.5 minutes. No joke.
- Lots and lots and lots of hiking (LOVE).
- We watched both a sunset and a sunrise over ayers rock. Its one of the most beautiful things I?ve ever seen?.for me, it blew the grand canyon and Sedona, AZ (I love both) out of the water. Pictures will never do Ayers Rock justice. Being there was both an aesthetic experience as well as a spiritual one ? the rock is a very sacred place for the Aboriginal people and I could feel the power and mystery of all the years ripple through my spine the minute it was in sight. I?m insanely blessed to have been able to experience it.
- Didn?t see any kangaroos (it was too hot for most of the animals) but we did see a pack of wild camels!
11/19-22: Kewarra Beach (Rainforest)
- This was our one ?splurge? accommodation and I?m sooooooo glad we picked it! The resort is stunning and we had our own (plush and comfortable) bungalow nestled back in the rainforest. Insanely romantic. It makes my heart flutter just thinking about it! And the resort was at about 20% capacity so we had the pools, beach, ect to ourselves along with fantastic service. I made Andrea promise that she?d take me back for our 10 year anniversary. I honestly think this may be my favorite place in the world.
- Lived it up honeymoon style with room service, long walks on the (private) beach, hours spent poolside, jacuzzi tub in our room, 5 star restaurant, and many many tropical drinks.
- Our matron of honor (Andrea?s best friend) surprised us on our arrival with a picnic basket (they call them hampers) of assorted cheeses, crackers, fresh fruit, homemade bread, canap?s, ect and a bottle of wine! We had the resort staff set up a table and chairs on the beach at that evening where we thoroughly enjoyed the sunset and yummy gift. Did I mention this place was insanely romantic??
- Spent one morning/afternoon with a private horseback ride through the rainforest. HUGE highlight of the trip as the setting was beautiful, I adore horses, and the ranch owners were beyond nice and treated us as if we were friends, not paying tourists. Technically it was supposed to be a 1 hour trail ride?..it ended up being about 2 ? hour ride in which we were free to trot and explore their 140 acres as we wished followed by a home cooked breakfast of pancakes and fruit. Ugh?if it wasn?t impossible to pick a favorite day, this might have been it J
- Then we spent a full day snorkeling on the great barrier reef. AMAZING. 1,000?s of fish and brightly colored coral. Its everything you imagine it to be. Holding my wife?s hand as we explored one of the greatest world wonders was a feeling I can?t touch with words.
11/23-26: Mission Beach/Cairns
- After checking out of Kewarra Beach, we rented a car and drove down the shore of the coral sea to Mission Beach. The car ride in itself was so much fun ? we love road trips J And it felt as though we got to explore Australian ?real life?, not just the tourist-trap resorts.
- This is the area of the postcard-worthy, miles-long, golden sand beached of Australia. And they were beautiful. Unfortunately my heat intolerance and extremely fair skin meant that we enjoyed these beaches for all of 15 minutes. I felt really bad for Andrea (who loves laying on the beach), but I just couldn?t take the 95 degree weather and ridiculously high humidity. The good news is that every place we stayed had a pool, so Andrea could sun bath poolside while I spent hours swimming J
- The highlight of this portion was the day that we took a water taxi from our beach bungalow over to a rainforest island just off the coast (which is home to a gorgeous resort). Once there, we took a jet ski tour which, again, ended up being a private tour since there weren?t many tourists around. It was SO MUCH FUN! Jet skis are always fun?.but jet skiing around one of the most beautiful islands in the world (pristine beaches, perfectly clear and turquoise water, coral reefs, tropical birds singing to you) is really, really, fun! Dolphins jumped and played in our wake and we explored 3 different private beaches that you could only get to by water (it felt like there was no one else in the world!). Our small claim to fame was that Justin Timberlake had ridden on the very same jet ski a few weeks before! After the jet ski tour we got to enjoy the rest of the resort, pools, kayaking, and a few more of those tropical drinks J really, really fun day.
- On the last day we drove back up to Cairns (it?s the city we were flying out of) and were upgraded (again for free) to an executive suite at the Hilton! Crazy right?? We had a balcony with a gorgeous ocean view, a hot tub in the room, champagne and strawberries, valet service, ect. I?m definitely not used to traveling in such luxury (we generally stay in hostels when we travel!)?but it was a nice treat J And a bonus for Andrea was that across the street from the hotel was a casino! So our last night we had some fun gambling and enjoyed a nice meal.
It was such a fantastic time and I sooooo want to go back. Is it bad that I?ve already checked flight prices for next fall?
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
Re: I'm back!! (LONG)
yup, everything was fine
the only small snafu was that lilly ran away from BIL's house 3 times. hearing about it made my heart stop....but somehow she made it back safe.
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
Maybe I don't have a heightened sense of smell, but I've never smelled any vagina on my pants. -- TSD
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sahm ~ toddler breastfeeder ~ cloth diaperer ~ baby wearer
Glad you had such a fantastic trip. Did you see any sharks out there on the reef?
~Kennedy
This sounded wonderful. ?I am so glad that you both had such a great time and that you relayed the stories back here so well. ?I can't wait to see pictures. ?Congratulations, again!
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-Andrea?