Terror in the Night

We were exhausted after our second day in Yulura.  We had one more day of hiking around, so we got to bed early.    Glenn woke up during the night of hearing something crawling on his pillow.  His scurrying in the bed woke me up and he told me he was going to turn on the light. Glenn started screaming and ran out of the room, yelling OMG it is huge.  I look over on his pillow and there was the biggest bug I have ever seen.  And as you may know, Glenn HATES bugs.  I ran screaming out of the room (I'm sure our neighbors loved that).  This bug was the size of a small animal. I wish I had a picture of it but I was too concerned with calming Glenn down and getting it killed to take a picture.  I grabbed my sneaker and hit the bug but the pillow wasn't giving me a hard enough surface to kill the thing.  Again, this monster was big. I grabbed the pillow and threw it on the bathroom floor.  When I picked it back up to shake off the bug, I couldn't find it anymore.  I started to panic. Where did the monster go?  I was yelling I lost it; I can't find it (Glenn was in full panic mode and wasn't listening luckily).  I was looking everywhere and suddenly I felt something crawling up my arm.  The monster had jumped on me without me realizing.  I threw it off of me and finally killed it.  It really was a scene out of a horror movie!!  Needless to say, we didn't sleep much those last 2 nights in that hotel, as we were so scared the monster's family was going to come get us.  We've been sleeping with the lights on since.  I guess it was expected in the outback but Glenn definitely didn't want to wake up to it sharing pillow time with him!

The next day we head out to the Olgas to do a couple of hikes.  We were both glad to get out of the room for a while and not think about the night before.  The Olgas are taller than Ayers Rock and are equally as gorgeous.  It was really windy that day but sunny and fairly warm.

The Olgas behind us:

We did two different hikes but our highlight was seeing a kangaroo!  I was taking pictures when I spotted him.

He stared at me for a minute:

Then took off:

The second hike we did was the Valley of the Winds and it was definitely windy in the canyon.  The views were wonderful though.

Goodbye Yulura...off to Alice Springs!

Check off the bucket list

I was so excited as we set off for Yulura, where Ayers Rock (Uluru) is located.  I had a poster of Ayers Rock on my wall growing up and it was definitely on my bucket list to see.  It was amazing to view it from the airplane as we flew into the airport. 

Glenn got his first taste of driving in Australia.  We rented a car and headed off to the hotel.  There is a group of hotels all owned by the same company that has the market in Yulura.  Let's just say these are not four star resorts or hotels.  But there is nothing else close by to stay in so we had to suck it up.   We got in around noon, so we had time to go to the grocery store for some food, as our room was an apartment and we could cook there--good thing as there weren't many restaurants there either.  After getting settled in, we head out to the cultural center and to go see Ayers Rock at sunset.

On the road to the Cultural Center:

I wasn't prepared for how I would feel seeing Ayers Rock in person.  I can't even explain how beautiful it is to be driving along and see it there--so massive and such an icon in Australian culture.  The pictures we took can't even do it justice.  You really need to see it in person to get the full effect.

The cultural center gave us an insight on how sacred Ayers Rock is to the aboriginal people in the area.  Many locations around the rock can not be photographed out of respect to sacred rituals at those locations.  There were several aboriginal ladies doing artwork at the center but they do not like to be photographed.  I bought a painting that one of them had finished the day before.  Really beautiful artwork.

We got to the sunset viewing area and it was like a pregame tailgate party.  People were setting up chairs, tables, drinking and sitting on top of campers.  Who knew the sunset was that big of an event--we weren't that prepared.  It was pretty cold and getting colder as the sun was going down.  I guess I didn't realize it got that cold in the outback. 

Trying to keep warm and pouting because I hadn't brought wine with me!

Ready for the sunset--it was well worth being cold!

We slept in the next morning, as it was going to be in freezing temperatures during the night and early morning.  We wanted to make sure it warmed up before we went to do the base walk around Ayers Rock.  It was a gorgeous day and perfect for the 4 hour walk.  Standing by the rock and looking up to see how tall it was blew me away.  We have a ton of amazing pictures but too many to put up here.  There were so many side trails to see cave drawings and water holes around the rock.  I'll have to put all the pictures online because they are worth sharing.

Prepared for our base walk:

After our long walk, we went to a different sunset viewing area that was farther out but we would be able to see the Olgas, a group of rock formations that is another sacred area for the Aborigines.  Luckily it wasn't as cold but just as gorgeous.

The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) to the left; Ayers Rock to the Right:

Sydney day 2 and 3

Internet connectivity in the Outback hasn't been great so I will try to catch up to date quickly before it goes out again!

On our second day in Sydney, we had breakfast down in Circular Quay by the opera house.  You can't beat this view from our table.

We did an hour long tour of the opera house and got to see some performance rooms that aren't usually seen on the tour.  We ran through one of their main rooms quickly, as they were holding rehearsal for a new opera but didn't want people coming through.  It really is amazing in person and unbelievable how many tiles make up the outside of the house. 

We walked for a couple hours through the harbor, along the botanical gardens and back through Circular Quay and The Rocks (first English settlement).  The views from everywhere were amazing.  The harbour bridge is prominent in all the pictures along with the opera house.  We had lunch outside along the water.  I had to sample some Australian wine--very good.

After lunch we did the Sydney Bridge Pylon climb.  We walked on the bridge to the Pylon and went up several levels to the top.  Amazing views of the whole city.  Glenn didn't like being up that high but the views were unbelievable.

On day 3, we got down to circular quay early to take a ferry over to the zoo.  We grabbed breakfast at another outdoor cafe while we waited for the next ferry.  The ride over to the zoo was quick and the views from the ferry were amazing.  The views from the zoo were even more amazing!  The zoo was wonderful and we spent most of the day there.

Views from the zoo:

Koalas weren't very active:

After the zoo, even though we were beat, we walked to Sydney Tower to see the views of the city from there.  We didn't really know where we were going; we just kept looking up and walked toward the tower.  Eventually we found it.  We were pretty DONE at this point--I needed food and I really didn't want to deal with the crowds.  So we did a quick visit up top but it was worth it.  We could see all the way out to the mountains--perfect day to view from there.

Darling Harbour from the Sydney Tower (where our hotel was)

Time to move on to the outback but we loved Sydney!!!

HELLO FROM DOWN UNDER

We are officially here!   We arrived at 7 a.m. this morning after a fairly easy 24+hour travel day(s).  The lay down seats in our "pods" was definitely a cool experience.  I felt like I was in a syfy film.  Glenn and I got about 5 or 6 hours of sleep.  Not too bad considering people were up and about, flight attendants walking around and other various activities around the cabin.  I caught up on 4 movies just on the flight from LA to Sydney.

We arrived to this amazing sunrise. It had to be the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.  Our plane is the one seen here--this is from the window after we disembarked the plane.

We are staying in Darling Harbour and we have a great view of the harbour from our room.  We both were tired but we pushed through, took showers and got out and about before noon.  It was cool, overcast and windy but we didn't mind.  It was funny to see people all bundled up, with earmuffs and coats.  Glenn was in shorts.  I did have a scarf on but it was 60ish out!  We walked around the harbour which is really nice.  Tons of restaurants and shops.  The aquarium sits right on the harbour.  We took a walking bridge from the hotel over, which made it easy.  We had lunch at a great restaurant outside and we listened to school kids having an outdoor concert.  The kid singing Beat It needed a bit of help but....  We had our first Aussie beer--perfect to help with jet lag.

Darling Harbour:

Glenn and I at the walking bridge with the Harbour behind us:

We spent 2 hours in the aquarium after lunch.  It had a great tunnel you walked through with the fish and sharks swimming all around you.  Glenn was excited to see a platypus and we saw tons of new fish we have never seen before. 

Shark swimming above our head

This last picture is for my brother, Eric.  He said that I would probably see a mermaid in Australia and he was right--we did see one today.

Our lack of sleep is catching up to us, so we are going to relax for the evening, order room service and get to bed early.  We have a 10 a.m. Opera House tour booked for tomorrow, so we need to get some sleep!!

Last Minute Challenges

 To add to the challenges of packing, I am fighting a sinus infection, which hopefully will be gone in three days thanks to some powerful antibiotics.  My cough better be gone by then too are we will have some unhappy people on the plane around me! 

And while coming home yesterday with my brother, my tire decides to shred. No, I just couldn't have a flat tire, but the tire actually started to shred apart.  I am having some serious issues with tires the last two weeks, between my bicycle and car.  Like we didn't have enough to deal with already! 

I officially packed my bag last night and we weighed it.  Just under the weight limit so I can't touch it until we leave.  Hopefully I have everything!  Glenn is pretty much packed also.  It's just the last minute things.  We have no room in our bags for souvenirs so sorry everyone :)

Tomorrow I will get my last workout in with my trainer, in case I need to battle some crazy kangaroo in the outback.  I'll finish last minute cleaning and we can sleep in Wednesday before we have to leave for the airport at 12!

Technology Overload

The packing fairies didn't arrive last night while I was at boxing.  I've decided to ignore the piles of clothes on my floor for another day and tackle my technological problems....The first task I undertook today was making sure I have enough books downloaded on my Kindle.  I read a lot and I read fast.  On a usual 10 day vacation I can easily go through 10 books.  With the long flight and the flights within Australia as we travel around, I am trying to gauge how many books I need.  I have 40 on there ready to go but I think I may a couple more for cushion.  Any suggestions are welcome (I've already read the 50 Shades books and the Hunger Games Trilogy...)

Even though I love to read, I can get bored after a while.  So my next task is finding fun games to play on my iPad.  I can only play Solitaire and Bejeweled for so long.  But I feel like a lot of these games sound so boring.  I just downloaded Uno--who doesn't like Uno (reminds me of playing with Holley in Tampa!).  I have my old standby, Monopoly on there, thanks to Mel Mel who got me addicted.  Any suggestions are welcome here also!

That's as far as I am going to get with my Australia Prep today.  With the time crunch on, I am trying to fit in the last minute happy hours, dinners and lunches with friends.  Time to get ready for tonight's Happy Hour.  I am leaving Glenn in charge of his own Australia prep tonight. Should be interesting...

TWO WEEKS UNTIL WE LEAVE FOR OZ!!!!  Yes, I am officially freaking out.  I sat in my living room earlier with my "things" to pack around me, feeling completely overwhelmed.  No pity party needed; I can't really complain about being "overwhelmed" about packing for vacation....alright maybe a little!  I've pulled together the essentials--camera, flipflops, bikini (yes, a bikini is being packed, thanks to my wonderful trainer, Grant), sunglasses, snorkel, fins, tons of sunscreen and random stuff.  Now the important part--clothes.  The thought of packing clothes that I will have to wear over and over for 39 days is, well, just insane.  As you know, I hate wearing the same thing within a 2-3 weeks span!  This is going to be difficult.  I have piles of clothes upstairs waiting to see if they will make the cut.  I am not going to be rash about this.  I think I will finish lunch, go to boxing and work out these frustrations.  Maybe miraculously, a packing fairy will come in and make the decision for me while I am gone. (I obviously read to many fairy tale books)....

After years of talk and anticipation, Glenn and I finally booked our trip of a lifetime to Australia.  What started as 3-4 week trip, has now expanded to 39 days!  And that is only getting to see half of what we wanted.  But after tons of research and weeding out some places, we set our itinerary.


Thanks to all those years of collecting AMEX points, we were able to convert those points to Delta and get one ticket for free.  This is amazing since we are flying business class--quite expensive.  With a 16 hour flight from LA, we decided we needed to get some sleep and the business class has the seats that recline to a bed--should be interesting.  As you may know, it's hard for me to sit still for any length of time, so this should be a true test of my patience being on a plane for that long.  There better be some good movies on the plane!

It was interesting trying to figure out the days in each place since some of the flights were limited or didn't fly on certain days.

Australia Itinerary

Leave June 20 in the afternoon from Dulles.

Lose a day flying--Booo!

June 22- Arrive in Sydney bright and early in the morning. 

June 25- Arrive in Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock in the Outback/Red Centre).

June 28- Arrive in Alice Springs (also in the Outback/Red Centre).

June 30- Arrive in Perth.  We are here only for an afternoon and night.  This was due to the   infrequent flights to our next city.

July 1-  Arrive in Exmouth in the NorthWest.

July 6- We fly to Perth to get a connecting flight to Cairns. The flight to Cairns is an overnight flight that gets in around 4a.m. to Cairns.  There weren't too many options!!

July 7-Arrive in Cairns.

July 10- Drive from Cairns up North to Port Douglas.

July 16- Drive back to Cairns in the morning and catch a flight to Gladstone.

July 17- Arrive at Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) via a 2 1/2 hour boat ride.

July 25- Back to Gladstone from Heron Island for one night.

July 26- Back to Sydney.

July 28- Arrive home after a long flight.