A NATURAL WONDER OF THE WORLD

Last week we got on a airplane and headed up north to warmer, tropical weather in Cairns (pronounced CANS). This is a great place to go and see the Great Barrier Reef. As this is something that was a definite on our list of places to see in Australia and we knew that John really wanted to see it as well we thought that it would be a fun place to go. We talked to all of Kev's siblings and we all pitched in on plane tickets for an early Christmas present for their parents.

Although it was a bit rainy and cloudy we still had a great time and saw some wonderful things. I will do a quick summary here and then go into details in later posts about some of the things that we did. I have about 1700 pictures and I haven't even seen them all yet.

1. Rylee got her own seat on the airplane for the first time - she is 2 so we have to pay for her now. She didn't like sitting with the seat belt on during landing. Screaming happened.

2. We drove to Mossmon Gorge - BEAUTIFUL!! Madi and Cooper tried to swing on the vines hanging down from the trees in the rain forest - PRICELESS!!! Seeing the huge spider - FREAKY!!

3. Stopped by Palm Cove for a quick dip in the ocean. Madi and Cooper are amazing at body surfing. Collected some sand for the collection.

4. Madi slept in Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room every night but one - such a big girl. Cooper slept there one night and peed in his bed - OOPS!!

5. Spent an entire day on Green Island.

The boat ride out was no fun at all - very rough seas are not good for a girl who gets motion sick really easily. No, I am not talking about Rylee or Madi.

It was rainy and cloudy in the morning, but cleared up a bit for the afternoon.

Kevin scuba dived for the first time. Madi and I went para sailing - if you know me you know this is CRAZY for me to do because I don't like heights. Can't say I will do it again.

Madi mastered snorkeling.
Went in the semi submersible to see the reef - AMAZING!!!

Rylee thought the water was like a huge bathtub and played and played. It was warm and the reef stopped most of the waves from coming in - her ideal water conditions.

Bottled up some sand for my collection.

Grandma and Grandpa went on the glass bottom boats - and Grandma got sick.

We were exhausted when we got back.

6. Ate a huge dinner at Sizzler - I didn't even know Sizzler was in Australia. It was yummy!

7. Spent much time souvenir shopping in Cairns. Stopped by the art museum.

8. Walked down the boardwalk in Cairns and found the best playground ever for the kids!!

9. Played in the pool at the hotel. Madi was upset because it was too cold. Sorry they don't heat up a pool in a place that is usually really warm.

10. Drove through the sugar cane fields.

11. Ate a BBQ dinner at the hotel. The lights were out so we had to do it using the headlights of the car. It was a bit like camping.

12. Went to the botanical gardens. The best botanical gardens I think I have seen. They were gorgeous. I love the tropical plants, but could live without the bugs.

13. In Katumba went to the butterfly sanctuary. Surprisingly for a girl who loves butterflies I have never been to one of these before. It was fun to see them landing on Madi and letting her hold them. 14. Grandpa treated us to ice cream.

15. Hiked to Barron Falls. Kev got to use his Japanese to talk to some people. Madi was amazed when she heard him talking in another language. It was cool to see the awe in her face - she was proud of her daddy.

16. Flight home. Rylee fell asleep finally in my arms. Only to wake up 20 minutes later when I went to move her into her own chair. Never went back to sleep. I ended up with a cold on day two of the trip and my sinuses were killing me. I took cold medicine for the flight which didn't help much. When we descended into Sydney I thought my head might explode. The pain was so bad. It felt like little needles being pushed into my sinuses and then shooting pain across my eyes and forehead. I was so glad when we finally landed.

17. Getting home at 11:30 pm with a very exhausted family. It was a wonderful trip and we created more Aussie memories!