Manly Beach - 03.10.07 - Manly

Wonderful way to spend a sunny day.  We took the 30 minute boat ride over to Manly, got a picnic lunch to eat on the beach, lounged on the sand all day, swam in the beautiful water (no need for stinger suits here), and topped it all off with delicious smoothies.  Not a bad afternoon at all!

Harbour Bridge Climb - 03.09.07 - Sydney

Such a cool experience getting to climb up this gorgeous bridge.  You can read all about the fun in our journal post about the adventure.

Esplanade Lagoon - 03.08.07 - Cairns

Great way to beat the heat and stay cool in this gorgeous lagoon pool.  It was definitely the hub of the town, packed with tons of people.  The heat was so bad up there that Jason and I both felt kind of delirious that whole day.

Daintree Discovery Tour - 03.03.07 - Port Douglas

This amazing day tour took us up to Cape Tribulation where we had a delightful tea at the oceans edge, sea kayaked around the Cape point, drove over to Cooper's Creek where we swam in the cool refreshing water hole, walked through the Daintree rainforest, and ended with boat ride down the Daintree River where we got the chance to see some crocs.  This was a fabulous tour, highly recommended!

Port Douglas - 03.02.07 - 03.08.07 - Queensland

A huge part of our experience in this wonderful little town has been at the grogeous resort we're staying at, The Sea Temple.  We've certainly had a chance to recharge our batteries while relaxing around the pool.  We walked along the 4 mile beach last night to dinner meeting up with our new-found friends Bernadette and Eddie.  We tore up the town of Port Douglas.  Unfortunately, this will also be the town forever known to us as the place Jason lost his wallet :(

Townsville - 03.01.07 - 03.02.07 - Queensland

This image during sunset was the only nice thing about the town.  When we walked around the CBD area at like 5:15 pm we felt like we were in a ghost town.  Every shop was closed for the day, or boarded up and actually closed for good.  We got a very earie feeling being there.  This was just a stopping point on our drive up to Port Douglas, since the drive in total from Airlie is about 10 hours.

 Whitsundays Sail - 02.25.07 - 02.28.07 - Whitsundays Islands

This feels like the only true way to really see all the beautiful islands of the Whitsundays.  Snorkeling everyday on the GBR, exploring Whitehaven Beach, and meeting tons of new people on the ship made these couple days some of the best of the trip.

Airlie Beach - 02.24.07 and 02.28.07 - Whitsunday Launching Point

I certainly had no complaints about the large pool at our resort at Airlie, nor the huge lagoon lake to swim in at the center of town.  However, I would certainly not rush back to this town, as it seems primarily to be the launching spot for sails around the Whitsundays.  Not much to do there besides trips out to the reef, plus is a total backpackers haven.

Gold Coast - 02.23.07 - 100 km South of Brisbane

Len was an amazing host to us driving us down to the Gold Coast for a day trip.  We werel ucky enough to not only catch tons of surfers surfing, but also saw a pod of dolphins.  Len drove us from the beaches in Coolongata (where he goes on holiday) to the beaches and town of Surfer's Paradise.  We definitely felt a strong parallel between Waikiki in Oahu and the beaches of the Gold Coast.  Len was even incredibly patient with Jason's shopping quest, which he eventually conquered.

Fraser Island - 02.22.07 - 200 km North of Brisbane

Well, there is so much to say about this experience, it's hard to know where to start.  Once we write a journal post about it, we'll link you there.  A definite highlight though of the trip was swimming in Lake Mckenzie, one of the most spectacular beaches we've been to.  The lake was fresh, crystal clear water, warm as a bath, and the silky sand was actually therapuatic as an exfoliant and jewelry cleaner.  We didn't want to leave the shores of this gorgeous lake.  The rest of the trip, especially the 9 hours in a very cramped SUV which 8 people were crammed into, we could have done without :(

Riverside Walk - 02.21.07 - Brisbane

This beautiful city is surrounded by a river and a wonderful path to mozy along.  We spent our first evening walking down the Riverside Walk, through what are supposedly the largest tropical botanical gardens in the world, and eventually pooped up at Queen Street mall where wer grabbed some sushi.  What a wonderful, quiant town.

St. Kilda Beach - 02.20.07 - Melbourne

St Kilda is a remarkable place. It is situated on one of the most picturesque points of the Bay a short distance from the city, has safe sandy beaches, and yet for decades was shunned by Melbournites because it was the haunt of prostitutes and druggies. Today it is undergoing a resurgence with new housing, and wonderful restaurants popping up in the area.

Acland Street in St. Kilda - 02.20.07 - Melbourne

Located a 20 minute tram ride from downtown Melbourne, this funky little area has tons of shops, restaurants and cake shops.  That's right, cake shops.  Who would have thought a street would be known for it's sweet delicious wonders  - when we found this out there was not talking Jason out of making the trip out there.   This area also used to be the center of Melbourne Jewish community in the 1930's and 1940's.

The Melbourne Aquarium - 02.19.07 - Melbourne

I am such a lover of sealife, and convinced Jason to we should go to this aquarium.  The definite highlight was the string ray and shark feeding located in the "fishbowl" tank.  We saw some incredibly odd looking fish and crustaceans, and apparently the worlds largest lobster.  There was definitely some freakishly large animals and fish.

The Docklands - 02.18.07 - Melbourne

Great harborside hot spot with amazing restaurants and bars.  We dined at Kobe Jones, overlooking the Telstradome in the background.  It was a fun night watching the mobs of people letting out of the Adelaide vs. Melbourne soccer game stream by.

Brunswick Street - 02.17.07 - Melbourne

Got a tip from a local to check out Brunswick.  Had I not know I was in Melborune, I would have thought this was the Mission district in SF.  There were dozens of cool restaurants and bars, and the streets were swarming with people. This picture is Jason's late night doner kabob (ie. burrito in the Mission) after a full night of festivities and meeting great people.

Opera House - 02.17.07 - Sydney

This really was a spectacular structure, much larger and grand then I had anticipated.  It was fun to linger around the Opera House, and people watch a little.  I totally thought about my grandparents who had come and seen a show at the opera house years ago.

Harbor Bridge - 02.17.07 - Sydney

Well, we didn't get a chance to climb it this time around, however hope to do the bridge climb at the end of our time in Oz.  It truly is a beautiful bridge though, a definite centerpiece to the city.

Bondi Beach - 02.16.07 - Sydney

Gorgeous silky sandy beach very famous worldwide.  Jason was hoping for more topless women, although the few he saw managed to put a smile on his face.  We were lucky to have a couple hours of beautiful sunshine, before the clouds rolled in.  We frollicked in the water, jumping over the waves as they crashed againts the shore.

Sydney Fish Market - 02.15.07 - Sydney

We walked over to the fish market and became instantly mesmerized by some of the largest crabs, lobsters and fish we've ever seen.  The whole place was hopping, people everywhere.  We opted for a sit down meal of the most amazingly fresh, grilled crabs, mussels, calamari, octopus, shrimp and oysters.  Chek out our large plate of food.

Darling Harbor - 02.15.07 - Sydney

We meandered all around the harbor, checking out all the cool restaurants and modern buildings around it.  It was a magnificent day weather wise, so the harbor looked particularly gorgeous to us.