Kangaroos, Koalas, and other Australian Adventures

What a wonderful week! I have had a fantastic time with the Henry's and this past week has been packed full of adventures and some of my favorite things. Here are some of the stories:

Koalas, Kangaroos, and Strawberries: On Easter Monday, we headed off to the Koala park to feed Kangaroos and pet Koalas. We went to the Koala Park zoo and saw many animals indigenous to Australia. Going with the girls was particularly special and made the rainy day excursion well worth it. A little wet, but with a few hours left to fill up in the day, we decided to pick fresh strawberries. I love strawberries! Here are some of the highlights:






Shells and Crabs: On Tuesday we went to Shelly Beach to swim and soak up some sun. I could have stayed for hours on the dramatic rocks collecting beautiful sea shells as the waves splashed and crashed. Afterwards, as a special treat, Shana and I bought fresh crabs to eat for lunch. It was wonderful.

Waterfalls, Rainforests, and Camping: On Wednesday Shana and I packed the car and the girls up and headed off to Dorrigo National Park, a rainforest not too far away. Keeping in the good road trip tradition, we stopped wherever the spirit moved us and figured out where we would stay on the way there. We first stopped at Never Never River in the "Promised Land" which we called Neverland and searched for Peter Pan and Tinkerbell in a sunkissed river. Then we headed up the road, stopping at waterfalls along the way and looking for a place to camp. We found a place to pop our tent amongst wonderful mountains and within earshot of an amazing waterfall.

Newell Falls, on the road to Dorrigo

Dangar Falls, near where we camped

Breakfast at the campsite - I'm enjoying the fresh strawberries from Tuesday

Crystal Falls - a 4km round trip journey through rainforest with a 2 year old and a 4 year old...rough, but well worth it

Beaches and breathtaking views: With all of the changes that are going on in my life, I needed a day to myself, so I had Matt drop me off at a lighthouse on his way to work and then I hiked about 15km up the coast. It had it's ups and downs, but I'm so glad that I did it.
Highlights:
-Amazing views of beaches, cliffs, and rocks
-A private swim on a deserted beach
-Hiking up paths where I saw no other humans
-Beautiful birds - Kookuburra, Rainbow Lorikeets, and other fascinating species
-Climbing rocks
-Discovering fish and colorful crabs in tidepools
-Crashing waves over rocks
-1 bus ride with some fascinating small town Australian folk
-Seeing Kangaroos in the wild - one with a Joey in her pouch
-A perfect day of solitude

Lowlights:
-1 giant spider on my face after walking into his web
-1 leech that got a good bite out of my big toe
-1 painful fall onto my tush
-Forgetting the cell phone
-Climbing up and down a mountain, only to find that I circled back to the beech where I swam...then having to turn around and climb the mountain again

Unfortunately my around the world trip is coming to a close, but this was certainly the perfect way to end it. I've enjoyed my time with my good friends and I will be sad to leave them tomorrow. I will spend some time in Sydney on Monday and try to get one more adventure in before heading out on Monday night. I'll be back early Tuesday morning for anyone who is itching to call me. Thanks for sticking with the blog. I'll probably do one more post when I get home and then sign off.