Of course it's flooding, the vanEijnsbergens are here!

It rained pretty hard just just before we got here, and looks like more is on its way. Sigh. It did rain hard today. We just watched the news and they're calling for lots of rain and possible flooding over the highway. He ended with "If you're planning on a trip up the Gold Coast, don't do it this weekend, wait." Err, we can't! :) Oh well, I'm sure we'll survive....

Underwhelmed. And oh so cute!

Is it awful to say that I was quite underwhelmed by the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay? Well, I was. Eh, it was fine, but...I don't know. It's a building. And a bridge. I thought Cape Town was far more beautiful and vibrant. Same with Vancouver. And Ushuiai. And Bremen. I'm probably insulting a whole country, but...eh. It was fine.

Now, the koala hospital we visited in Port Macquarrie was AWESOME! :) Also spotted a couple golden orb spiders. Ugh. Man, those things are HUGE.

Sydney traffic was hellacious. Fast drivers, tailgating and cutting people off. Much nicer now we're out of there. Tonight we're in Kempsey, which is where Akubra hats have been made for about 130 years. I need to get a picture of myself by the Akubra sign. :)

Tomorrow we're off to Ballina via the Dorrigo Natoonal Forest which has a section of the forest on the world heritage site list. Ancient forest.

Arrived in Sydney

At the Sydney airport waiting for my parents to arrive. I slept for about 10 of the 15 hours!!! They took pity on me because of my walking boot and I got a row to myself! I could completely lay down. And I SLEPT! Screw you first class! :) I hot the same "lay-flat bed" for $8,000 less!  :)

I HIGHLY recommend Virgin Australia if you're headed here. SOOOOOO much better than Delta. In regular economy much more legroom, wider seats and a LOT more recline. Awesome.

I meant to take a picture of me fiefdom, but I feel asleep before I could! 

Walking disaster?

Sometimes I think I'm just a walking disaster. :) Last week I had a bout with calcific tendinitis in my right shoulder. If you've never had it, the pain is EXCRUCIATING! But it's on the mend now. On Wednesday I was holding my big kitty Jabulani like a baby when a sound scared him and he bolted, but unfortunately scratched the hell out of my face/neck and the same shoulder that had the calcific tendinitis! I look like I was mauled by a mountain lion! Which is pretty close.

This is the monster cat. :)

Then, to make things even better, Thursday my left foot became very sore to stand or walk on. Turns out I have a stress fracture. That's soooooo awesome! Sarcasm. It's not absolutely essential for me to be in a walking boot but the doc recommended it if I can handle having it on for the flight.

I checked online and the plane has several rows with no one else seated in it. I moved my seat to one of those rows....hopefully it won't fill up and I'll be able to put my leg up! :) Hooray!

Itinerary for Australia

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Headed to Australia!

Aww, I didn't finish telling you about last year's adventure. Oops. Well, you can see the pictures at my Flickr account.

This year we're off to Australia. I'm leaving this Sunday and we arrive on the 28th. So odd that you lose a day. We're landing in Sydney, renting a car and wandering our way up the coast to Cairns then back down to Sydney slightly inland. Not as far inland as Alice Springs, but to see something at least a little different. I will update you all as much as I can. This isn't like going to India or Nepal or Namibia...there will be lots of internet access. Hopefully...