Morten Island

The last 3 days of our trip we spent on Morten Island which is a large sand island in Morten Bay (a long boat ride from Brisbane). We stayed at the Tangalooma Resort which is the only place you can stay on the island it was a little overpriced but you did have your share of activities to choose from. We participated in some archery, badmiton, croquet, a wild dolphing feeding (at night these wild dolphins come voluntarily into the island and they let you feed them one by one , it all started back when the island was home to fisherman who would feed them and they are still coming here is the link to the info if you are interested http://www.tangalooma.com/tmecc/home/)

We went sand tabogganning on this very large sand hill


Diving at these shipwrecks (they sunk these ships just off the shore and we decided to rent diving equipment and squeeze in one last dive). Turns out you are on your own diving so we hauled our equipment on our backs about 1/2 mile down the beach and back.


Last but not least here is the view from our room and our last view of the island before heading back to Brisbane on the boat.

And that's the end, hope you aren't overwhelmed by all the pictures

And now for the best part

While in Brisbane we took a day to go check out all the wildlife unique to Australia. A local referred us to the Lone Pine Sanctuary which was about a 30-45 minute bus ride from where we were staying in the middle of the city but they have a super easy transportation system so it was an easy and comfortable trip. This place was amazing. It was a small private zoo and you were so close to all the animals, you could even pet the kangaroos, and hold a koala under their supervision. My favorite were the baby koalas. Here is a sampling of what we saw.

Kangaroos

Koalas

A large weird looking bird. I tried to get Tim to pet it but he wasn't so sure about that idea. It was in the petting area and we did see other people doing it but this guy looked like he would turn on you without warning.
Wombat
Dingos Tasmanian Devils

Crocodiles

Platypus

Cassowary

Sheep

Sheepdogs in Action
Mommy Sheep Dog and her Pups

At the end of the day it was getting chilly but we stuck it out to watch the sheepdog show and it was so worth it. It was so fun to watch the dogs get into work mode and keep those sheep in line, you could tell they loved doing it. Before the show started they were in ready position and one dog named Tim get sneaking up on the sheep, he was so anxious to get started. Once they had them in the pen they would just walk around and lay down on the backs of the sheep. One of the dogs took a liking to me and jumped up on the fence with his face in my face for the rest of the time expecting to be petted; of course I obliged and he was happy to give me kisses as a thank you.

Next and last stop: Morten Island

Australia Recap Part II

As promised here are more pictures from the rest of our trip.

The last day in Cairns we rented a car and drove an hour North to Port Douglas to check out the rainforest. We stopped in town which turned out to be a super cute little town and made me wish we had a little more time before we had to return the rental car but we were able to do some quick window shopping while I sipped my morning latte. Then we headed off the rainforest trailhead and covered ourselves in nasty bug repellent. We hiked for a couple hours taking our time to enjoy all the neat vegetation and keep a look out for creatures.







We also stopped at the Four Mile Beach and took a nice walk and enjoyed the views


The next day we took the "scenic" train to Brisbane which didn't turn out to be very scenic (oh well, live and learn). Brisbane is just another big city but we managed to stay busy exploring. We spent our first day riding around on the CityCat which is a river ferry that takes you along the Brisbane River to different parts of the city. We had some nice meals down on the river and took in the views.


I'll save the rest for one last post which happens to include some of my favorite days from the trip. Wait and see :)

I Work So I Can............PLAY!!!

Maybe not the best attitude to have but these days this is how I feel. Don't get me wrong I love my coworkers they are great people and so much fun and I love my job when I'm busy but I am having a slow time right now and the days are dragging for me. It should pick up soon but until then I come to work everyday looking forward to all the extracurricular activities in my life. I'm still riding high from our Australia trip and looking forward to planning our next adventure.

This week is a very busy one full of extracurriculars. Last night a bunch of our girlfriends got together and went to Pinot's Palette here in Houston. You pick a night you want to go based on the painting you want to paint and then you bring your own wine and snacks. They give you a blank canvas and help you through creating your own masterpiece. I thought it was so fun how we were all painting the same thing but everyone's turned out different. Here are some pictures from the night.

Elsbeth & Laurel's Works in Progress

Our setup

Finishing Touches


The Finished Products


Aly's and mine look the most similar and we weren't even sitting next to each other, it must be a sister thing ;)

Tonight: Book Club for "The Girl Who Played with Fire"

Thursday: Tim's groomsmen/college roommates/childhood friends Rob and Ryan come to visit for the weekend, always lots of laughs with this group of boys.

Until next time..........Kim

Australia Report

We've been back from Australia for a little over a week now and I think we are adjusted and back in our routines. Taupo is thrilled to have us back and we are excited to be here with him, he can't stand to not be by my side all the time and he seems to be more cuddly with us both.


Here's a recap of our trip with lots of pictures


We started out at a B&B in Holloways Beach 10 minutes North of Cairns. This was a tiny little beach town but it was a nice relaxing way to start our trip. We took walks on the beach, had amazing breakfasts and even had a chance to grill some local seafood.







After a couple days at the beach we moved to the Hilton in "downtown" Cairns. We got a beautiful patio with a view of the marina.

We took this day of transition to take the Kuranda Scenic Railway and Skyrail. We got lots of different views of Barron Falls and had a chance to explore the local village of Kuranda.





While staying at the hilton we took two days and one night to go out on a live aboard dive trip. We saw turtles, a shark and lots of other fishies. We got a few good pictures.

We spent the rest of the time exploring Cairns and took our last day to rent a car and drive up to Port Douglas and go hiking in the rainforest. I'll save those pictures and the details of the rest of our trip for another post.


Here are a few more pictures from our time in Cairns:



One of the reefs we went diving at

The Esplanade at Sunset

Our boat trip out to the outer reef