The Daintree

We finally arrived in Cairns, it only took us two weeks, whoa. Long time driving but a beautiful one. The surroundings have changed from desert and farm lined roads with kangaroo and koala crossing signs to thick rainforest lined roads with kangaroo and koala crossing signs.

The campsite we stayed at was the best one yet, more like a resort, complete with mini-golf, pools, golf carts, ping pong, tennis, and b-ball. Micah and I played two rounds of mini-golf and guess who won? Me, duh, I kicked Micah's little behind both times.

We woke up bright and early and headed up to the Daintree National Park which is pretty much a gigantic rainforest. First thing we did was take the good ol' "Croc Express" boat ride through the mangroves in search of, well, crocs. We saw tons of birds, a tree snake and still no crocs. Boo-hoo. "Oh look, there's one" our guide whispers. "Where, where . . . holy s@!t" I whisper back. There he was, a not so impressive four feet of scales and teeth. Even though he wasn't that big, it was really exciting to see a croc in the wild.

Early afternoon rolled around and it was time for Micah to hit the skate park. While he shredded I strolled down the boardwalk that runs along the beach and saw some of the biggest pelicans I've ever seen in my life. I swear they must have been six feet tall. There were tons of nerdy birders watching the pelicans in all their splendor, equipped with binocs, North Face khaki cargos, kakadu and camo button ups. I think I had a better time watching them the the actual birds themselves. Seriously, is there anything nerdier than bird watchers?

When Micah was finished skating we took a quick dip in the man made lagoon because, once again, we could not go in the beautiful Coral Sea due to all of the deadly creatures just waiting to get a nibble of a tourist appendage.

Can't wait til tomorrow, we are off the snorkel the Great Barrier Reef!!!

xo

Brooke

From The Goldy to Whitsundays

Said goodbye to Andy, Carley, Kalani, Jarrah, Corey and Sarah then started off on a 1200km marathon. First we had to drop off "the van we do not speak of" in Brisbane, exchanging it for a beautiful new campervan. God liked us again.

Clocking major km's and one overnight stop we arrived in the dirty backpacker haven of Airlie Beach. Filled with beer swilling 18-21 yr old "world travelers". Really they just go from country to country getting wasted, I guess there's nothing wrong with that. I found out the walk of shame exists in every country. No shortage of people walking in the streets @ 7am in last nights clothes.

The town itself is really cool and beautiful. No swimming in the ocean though....box jellyfish and irankanjis inhabit these waters...nothing but palm trees, white sand, turquoise water and "kill you in 10 seconds" jellyfish. I know you love it Chris! So Brooke and I found a skatepark and shredded all day, Brooke was ripping. It was her favorite skatepark so far.

We caught a ferry out to the Whitsunday Islands, same shit out there though. Beautiful, look but don't touch. We did hang out with some really cool Cockatoos though.

A couple days in Airlie was enough, and with our time in Aus coming closer to an end, we decided to get on the road to Cairns (only a couple hours away), our jump off point for the Great Barrier Reef.

Pancho, Lefty & The Cisco Kidd

Last days with Andy. So much fun. Started out with a sweet drive down to Byron Bay for a little bronzing and touristing. Whales came by the beach to say hi to me, (not Brooke). Then we headed on back to Andy's and started cooking up a vegi feast.

Later in the day we took a trek up a mountain to the tippy top of the cliff. There a lighthouse sat, and the most easterly point of Australia. And I saw a sea turtle from there, he waved hi. Fun.

After dinner and some drinks everybody was lookin for some action.....DJ "AWord" hosted an awesome post diner dance-a-thon...just what we needed

So much fun, going to miss Andy and his family. Hope to see them sooner than later.

Oh yeah, I have know idea why I called this Pancho, Lefty & the Cisco Kidd.

Laura. Coco and Bunny

While Micah was staying with Andy on the Gold Coast, I went up to Noosa Heads with Laura and Coco (aka Sarah and Corey). Corey grew up in Noosa so we drove up to stay in his dad's beautiful home and relax for the weekend. We got in late on a Friday night after about a two and a haf hour drive, had a cocktail with Corey's dad, and hit the sack.

Sarah and I woke up and took a walk through Noosa Heads National Park which sits right above the beach. The walk started off great, it was sunny, not too hot and brush turkeys were digging nests right off of the trail. Then, IT happened. God only knows where these flies blew in from, but I can only imagine that they came from hell. Our leisurely stroll through the park turned into a sprint to the finish line so the flies wouldn't get us. We felt like those little African kids you see in those commercials where they try to get you to donate money. I'm talking flies in the eyes, covering all exposed skin. The view was great though, well, what I could see through my fly infested eyes was crystal blue water, white sand beaches, and palm trees (at least I think).

Sarah and I ate a delish brekkie and then hit the beach where we met a couple of Sarah's topless friends. Sarah and I stuck out like sore thumbs and must have looked like American prudes considering we both kept our tops AND bottoms on. Even grandmothers were strolling the beach topless, not a pretty sight my friends.

After we swam and bronzed at Main Beach, we hit the town. Had some cocktails and dinner and then hit the "Surf Club" where the fun began. They had a terrible live cover band who I thought was soooo bad until they played Devo. My dancing shoes came out and the sweat started to drip. Sarah and I hit the dance floor until closing time, which was about 12:30 while Corey drank his brewskies and watched from a distance. Corey found a bracelet on the ground that said "Laura" and gave it to Sarah, hence the nickname "Laura". Then it was time for "Reef". All I have to say is . . . whoa. Sarah and I made up some of the best dance moves EVER, like "the bunny", hence my new nickname, "Bunny" and the "straight legged bend and snap to half bunny". We had a fan club, people totally copying our moves and asking to take pictures with us, yes, we are THAT good. We walked home at 3am sweaty and sore and looked at the beautiful stars. I began to call Corey, "Coco" for no apparant reason and it just stuck.

The next morning was a long and tiring drive back to the good old Gold Coast where I reunited with Micah and began another adventure . . . .

xo

Bunny

oz mate

Hello ya'll,

Arrived at Andy's house.....what a palace. Amazing views of all the famous Gold Coast surf spots and a beautiful forest like setting, complete with sketchy wildlife! His family was waiting at the door to greet me with open arms, (Brooke was off in Noosa with Corey and Sarah, getting bronzed and meeting up with us in couple days). I was treated to a grand tour by the kids Kalani & Jarrah, then fed a fabulous feast by Carley, with bellies filled we slept well.

Next day Andy and I met up with some old Aussie mates that used to frequent the Encinitas area...we skated like we were 15 again...minus the beer, I swear it makes you skate better, try it!

In a Big Country

. . . dreams stay with you, like a lovers voice, on a mountain side . . . stay ah-live. Ok, ok, enough of the song lyrics, it's time to brag.

Yes, that is me feeding a kangaroo, yes that is me holding a koala, and yes, that is Micah getting killed by a snake. Don't be jealous. Micah and I made our way up to the Gold Coast where the souped up cars race through the streets like when we were in high school and where towns have names like Miami, Palm Beach, Mermaid Beach, etc. Sound like Florida to anyone? That's what I thought.

We arrived at our old buddy Sarah's house, where she lives with her Australain boyfriend Corey, or "Coco" as I like to call him. We went to dinner and went straight to bed afterwards because Micah and I knew we had a big day ahead of us. We woke up bright and early and headed to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We took a stroll through the reptile exhibit where Micah was strangled by a giant plastic snake and was spitting reptile facts at me left and right. We got up close and personal with a couple of crocs and saw one chow down on a little critter, I think it was a big mouse.

We then rushed over to the koala exhibit. We paid a small fee to hold a koala, and let me tell you it was worth every penny. The koala we got to hold was named Elroy. He was quite soft. I think he really liked me, he reached his arms out, grabbed on to me tight and became quite comfortable when he layed his head on my, eh-hem, boob. Micah was a little jealous. That's right people, I got a new boyfriend and his name is Elroy.

We saw a snake show which was pretty cool, we learned that Australia has eight of the ten most deadliest snakes in the world and got to see a few of them. We meandered through the walkways and saw some cassowaries (world's dealiest bird), wombats (cutest thing ever), a twenty foot croc and then it was kangaroo time! We walked into a big open enclosure, a petting zoo if you will, where we were immediately surrounded by kangaroos. We fed them, pet them, and jumped aound a bit. Some females even had little joeys in their pouches! It sounds cute but honestly, it lookes like and alien or something. All you can see are these long feet and a couple of hands with long claws poking out of a stomach, very Total Recall-esque.

The next day we were off to the Australia Zoo. This was the zoo that belonged to Steve Irwin, which his wife now runs. It was really cool, a big focus on crocs. We saw some of the most beautiful tigers and the cutest tiger cubs! Oh yeah, and dingos too! I got to pet a wombat and a baby croc. Geez, I am the luckiest girl in the whole wide world, or the nerdiest. Either way, Micah and I had a blast!

xo
Brooke

Syd & Beyond.....

YO!! Whud up kid!

Hanging in Sydney Dawg!

Lame.....

We have been laggin on the blog, I know you guys say you don't care.....but I know you've checking it... right, right?

Well, we saw the sights of Sydney. Pretty great city. Had a bear of an allergy attack, worst thing ever. All day sneeze fest, from the Opera House, to the ferry around the harbar, even in the Aquarium! 10hours of sneezing, !!ACHTUNG!! & GAZOONTITE!!
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We cruised around the city for a couple days via buses and trains. Ran into a madman dancing on the beach in his chonies. People love to wear the most offensive beach gear in Bondi...hence the tan 'dicktogs'
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So the van you see in the photo is a thing of evil. This thing was put on the earth to test the stability of Brooke and I's love for each other. WORST THING EVER. I can't describe the awefulness of this van in words....I will not even attempt. We will leave it at that and never metion the name, "WickedCamper" again..

Thanks and Goodnight

Micah