Pics from Cairns and GBR

Cairns

Cairns sunset

Cairns harbor
The view of my seat at a fabulous restaurant
Tha Fish!

Sad - no swimming at the beach in Cairns
If the STINGING JELLYFISH don't get you, the CROCODILES might!
Port Douglas - a beautiful town
It'd be great to stay there!

First view of the GBR

The Quicksilver Platform
(Had its positives and negatives)
If you're thinking about going to the reef, email me!

Me, happy to be on the reef!

Me/catwoman in my jellyfish-sting-prevention suit
Head to toe spandex is not flattering!

Beautiful blue water!

Me after snorkeling

What the poor fish saw
(there was a strong current, so I wore a life jacket)

Blue starfish!

On a semi-submersible with one of CO's profs and his wife
(they just happened to be on the same trip as me!)

On the way back - more reef!

Pics...

Here are some long overdue pictures!

Manny, Chris, and CO
(CO doesn't normally drink champagne, but you have to at the races!)

Roobles, the horse I cheered for.
Yup. It came in dead last.
And yes, we were that close to the action!

Me on our balcony :)

CO and I at the races

Cairns - the one with the silent "r"

Yeah, who ever thought of the "silent r" was genius...

I headed up to Cairns this weekend and it's tropical - so it reminds me of Hawai'i. Gosh, I miss that place.

I'm excited to take a trip out to the great barrier reef - really quite excited, as a matter of fact.

But, I find that on my trips without CO, things go wrong. Things like oops, all of my travel info is at the travel agent's still. Whoops. Things like oh yeah, 5 minutes before I'm supposed to board a massive thunderstorm rolls through the city. Yup. Happened today. But it all worked out, and I explored the city of Cairns today and bought some essentials (aka towel, 30+ sunscreen, Coco Chex- my new fav).

I had a great dinner tonight - mahimahi! Mmmm! Again, I sat, eating my mahimahi, looking at plumeria and palm trees, and past those to the ocean and Hawai'i felt so close, yet so far away. But in case you come to Cairns, go to Splash for dinner. Affordable and good food :) Yay!

Well, I had better go to my room and get some sleep - the tour leaves early tomorrow - Later!

Something I said today...

"No, we don't put our zucchini in our pockets. We need to eat our zucchini."

Yup, I'm substitute teaching at a daycare. Swell.

You want to do what in New Zealand?

CO and I have made friends with a couple of Kiwis, or people from New Zealand, through our church. We had them over for dinner the other night, and we told them we're planning a trip to NZ in the next few months. I've already done some research, but it's always good to get advice from someone from that country. Anyway, we're sitting there and the woman says to us, "You guys are the kind that would like tramping. Oh, honey, we know some good tramps to recommend to them!" She went on for a while about how she knew a lot of good tramps all over New Zealand.


Ha. In New Zealand, tramping means hiking. But you should have seen CO's face...

New love

We visited Milton Vineyard while in Tasmania and it was fabulous!!

We really liked their Pinot Gris 2008, and their 2005 Pinot Noir. We have contemplated buying a case. Yum yum yum!

So I put on my best, and I stick out my chest...

... come on Newsies fans...

And I'm off to the races again!

That's true folks - I'm going to a horse race. Today was the day of THE horse race, but we're going on Thursday. I'm so excited! I got a new, super-cute dress, a fascinator (a mini-version of a hat or a really expensive bunch of feathers), and am really excited to spend a day drinking champers and people-watching!

So to explain more, Spring Racing Carnival is in full swing. Today, the Melbourne Cup was held. It is appropriately called "the race that stops a nation." In Victoria (my state), the banks, post offices, and several businesses are closed. CO still has school, but today is a holiday. Kids are out of school. Derby Day (another race) was held last Saturday and it was really fun to see ladies in their dresses (frocks), hats (fascinators) and heels. They go all out!

I guess Spring Racing season lasts something like 50 days, and we're in the best week. CO and I aren't going to Melbourne Cup, we're going to "Ladies Day" or Oaks Day. I think it'll be a lot less crowded, at least I hope it will be.

Just a reminder, please go out and vote! CO and I mailed in our ballots what seems like ages ago, and are excited to see how the elections end up... VOTE!! I think you can get a free Starbucks drink if you do! (If that's not incentive enough, I don't know what will be!)