Just typing the title of this post makes me happy and I hear Oprah yelling WE ARE GOING TO AUSTRALIA! to her audience. Well Oprah didn't take me with her, but as I mentioned in my last post, I just got back from an amazing trip there. Australia has always been a place I have wanted to visit and is definitely on my bucket list. I wasn't sure if I would ever make it there. But I did! I subscribe to travelzoo.com. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is just a website that every Wednesday sends you an email of the top 20 travel deals of the week to various places through various companies. One Wednesday on my lunchbreak, I was looking at that day's email and there was such a good deal to Australia. I started thinking more and more about it. And it became a reality! I am so glad that I did. Today, while visiting one of my hospice patients, I was talking with him and his wife and we talked about bucket lists and things we always say, "someday I will go there", or "one day I would like to do this". Why don't we just stop thinking about it and dreaming about it and actually do it! So that is what I did. I went to Sydney to see the opera house, got to hold a koala bear, and snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. All things on my bucket list. I truly feel so lucky and what an amazing reminder to me that we don't have to wait until we are about to actually "kick the bucket" to start doing things on our bucket lists. I know there are a lot of photos here, but believe me there are so many more. This really is just the cliff notes version of our trip. I hope to post more detail on my private blog sometime. So here are some of the highlights of the trip. Enjoy! And thanks to Carrie and Emily for going with me! Such fun girls and I love them both!
Excited for our 14 hour and 50 minute flight. This is us at LAX pre flight and awake :)
Sydney!
This is Darling Harbor one of my favorite places in Sydney
The Blue Mountains
Sydney's version of the Grand Canyon
The Opera House at night and how we first saw it. Also there was a full moon!
Yes, we were this tired! Totally fell asleep on the train back to the hotel and Emily did drool all over my shoulder. Good thing I had several layers on :)
Sydney Harbor!
The Opera House!
Outside the main hall
Inside the main hall.
The ferry to Manly Beach
Our bike ride on the beach. Those two rocked the tandem bike and I fell in love with my little beach cruiser. Want to get one now :)
Manly Beach
Sydney at night
Wildlife Park: Snuggled Koalas and hand fed kangaroos
Chinese Garden of Friendship at Darling Harbor. They let us dress up like Chinese Royalty while we walked around the garden. So fun!
Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbor. That fish was my little friend that followed me around the tank.
Bondi Beach: Surfer's Paradise (It was a rainy day)
This is my Aussie surfer friend.
Whale watching on our way to the Great Barrier Reef!
The Reef!
Carrie and Emily- the snorkel Queens
Rock on! I was there!
The sky rail that went from the city of Cairns through the rainforest to the city of Kuranda.
Rainforest
My new best friend Chippy!
Could they be any cuter when they sleep :)
The Butterfly Sanctuary at Kuranda. Amazing hundreds and hundreds of butterflies flying all around us and landing on us. Just beautiful!
This little guy landed right on my hand and he didn't want to fly off so we hung out for a bit.
Last night in Sydney. Somehow they knew we were leaving and sent us off with a bang with a fireworks show over the harbor!
Such an amazing trip and one I will never forget!
That looks like an amazing trip! How awesome!
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