Terrible Tuesday

From the moment I opened my eyes this morning just something felt off. I looked outside and saw the gray. Shucks. I decided to embark myself on cleaning my dad's room and moving it all to another empty room in the house. This took pretty much all morning and by the time I was done the weather still hadn't improved. My plans were to head to the beach and just hang out there and read Les Miserables but it didn't look like that was going to happen. So I decided to venture out and grab some groceries. Let's just say the events that took place were not particularly pleasant and not anything I'd mention on the blog. Curious to know more? Just ask me when I'm back and I just might let you know :)

But I closed off today on a good note by joining in on my dad's weekly soccer game. Thankfully let off some steam there and I am just about to head to bed and start tomorrow off fresh!







Mission Beach soccer

Mellow Monday

Hey everyone! Not sure where to begin today so Ill just start off where the last post left off which was Sunday afternoon. This entailed catching up on homework for myself and for my dad catching up on his favorite magazine.









I wish this was a staged photo but alas, no









I would love to get him a real magazine subscription to something he'd actually enjoy reading (and would be proud to display on his coffee table) such as Men's Health but subscriptions out in Australia are pretty expensive :( But definitely something Ill keep in mind as a future present idea. Later on we headed out to hike the local park and something in that rain forest atmosphere brought out the Tarzan in me.








Australian Tarzan









The view from the top was just gorgeous and we could see the entire 14 kms of Mission Beach from there.






Mission Beach with Dunk Island







So far today has been pretty uneventful besides me laying out at the beach and enjoying this view an hour or so.






Head turned right







I then turned my head and got to enjoy this view for another hour :)






Head turned left







Waited to see my dad land from his jumps and then headed back home for some dinner.








Beautiful day to be jumping out of planes









Right after this post we're going to head out to yoga and nothing besides that planned for the night. Hope you are all having a great Monday! Til tomorrow!

Semi Sunny Sunday

Good afternoon everyone! Hope everyone's weekend is going good. Mine has been going great so far. Friday included a bike ride through Mission Beach with plenty of sunshine and great scenery.









Dunk Island view








After the ride we got ready and headed out to Cairns, the nearby city which I flew into. After settling into the hotel we were going to be staying in we headed out to get some sushi.










Palm Royale Cairns








Afterward we were walking around town and happened to bump into an art gallery which had some interesting aboriginal Australian pieces. This went perfectly in tune with "Australia" as we had just finished watching the previous evening.

































Afterward we headed to mall to catch the 3D showing of Toy Story 3. Its funny that all three Toy Stories were watched for the first time by me with my dad present. Pretty good tradition that we've kept :)






Ken was dad's favorite character!







Saturday started off with a jog on the Cairns boardwalk. Wish I hadn't forgotten my phone at the hotel room as the beach view was stunning and we also saw some spectacular yachts and ships at the port. After checking out we headed for a day around Cairns. Stopped by several book stores, a new age store and several sports stores.







Book store finds














New Age store
Backpackers influence on Cairns
















Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!










We stopped by Casa de Meze, the Cairns salsa club, in the hopes of catching a free salsa lesson but found out it was going to be later that night so instead we headed to the food market then got some Thai food before heading back to Mission Beach.






He needed to turn his hat around to really chow down :)












Right as we were pulling up to the house we almost ran over this huge snake.
















So we decided to go on an rescue mission to get him off the road.







The snake charmer working his magic







Okay not so much me but hey someone had to take the pictures!


This morning got another taste of Australian wild life when I found this little guy in the laundry room, yikes!









Roughly the size of my finger!










Besides that today has been pretty mellow with no other plans besides catching up on the blog and some homework. Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday and til next time!

Day Tres

Good morning everyone! Hope whoever reads the blog is enjoying it so far. Yesterday while checking the mail before heading out to the beach we got my dad's birthday card which I sent out the Monday before I left. Funny how I arrived quicker than it.

Then at the beach I got a chance to ride on a blo-cart. Only knocked it over once and once I got the hang of using the wind it was great! It was basically like sailing your own personal little go-cart on the beach. I caught a short shaky video while I was driving around on it.

After that we headed out to my volunteering interview at the Innisfail hospital. It went great and I can't wait to get started over there but thats not going to be til next Thursday. In the evening headed out to the park with my dad and kicked the soccer ball around for a bit. Everyone out here has got soccer mania for the FIFA world cup comparable to the Lakers versus Celtics mania we had back at home last week.

This morning finally got around to that beach jog I've been postponing. Snapped up a picture of the hotel where I'm hoping to maid.

Also got a picture of the beach that it faces.

The scenery I get walking Ezra around Moreno Valley is a joke compared to out here. Wish she was here to join in. Anyways til tomorrow!!

Day Dos

Hello!! Once again another early morning post. I was going to try to update last night but my eyes literally became glued together around nine last night. Yesterday drove around Mission Beach hunting down any open positions. The several possiblities were maiding at the local resort or working at a few little coffee shops. The one I would really like to be hired at is the hotel a few minutes walk from my dads. Later on today Im planning on going for a quick jog on the beach and Ill try to snap a few pictures of it. The weather has been pretty chilly so Im hoping it'll clear up soon so I can really experience Mission Beach at its best. Once the weather clears up I'll hopefully be able to get started on the diving and hiking and other exciting adventures as well. But for now I will leave you with a photo and a video both from yesterday.









My first kangaroo encounter of this trip












Dad's attempt at lunch with a new appliance

Home Sweet Home

Its now early morning day after I arrived in Cairns. During the flight from Melbourne I slept during the first half then started watching Australia to get into the spirit of things during the second half.







View from plane
I loved how I couldnt tell where the sky ended and the ocean began








After landing me and my dad took care of some errands out in town before heading back to Mission Beach. Had a lovely lunch at the "Salt House" where I tried out oysters for my first time!









Salt House















Oysters









After lunch we stopped by the Cairns mall and then several other shops. Picked up a wet suit, flippers, and soccer shin guards for myself. I can't wait to get started on all the activities :)








Pink gear!









Today we're heading out around Mission Beach on a job search. My dad mentioned a few coffee shops and a hotel that might be hiring. Besides that there's nothing else planned so I guess I'll update on the rest of the day later tonight but for now here are some pictures!








Hector the Protector
My Ezra replacement in Australia
















View from my bedroom
Weather isnt particulary Australia like today

Melbourne

Hello! Im writing this update on my stop over in Melbourne. Fiveteen hours of flight down and three more to go! The flight here went really smoothly but not something I'd like to do anytime soon. I can now proudly say I flew the second longest flight available! The in-flight entertainment was awesome and I didn't once open up my own bag of goodies I brought on to keep myself from being bored. Started off with "The Tooth Fairy" and then knocked out after a dinner that was the definition of "airplane" food.









Tooth Fairy










Woke up but couldn't fall asleep so I watched an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place and played some video games.








Half way there









Fell asleep pretty much til morning then enjoyed some fruit crepes, which were actually pretty good, while watching Mrs. Doubtfire. I ran into Bill upon landing in Melbourne. Just kidding!! It was a look-a-like and I wish I had gotten his face in the shot because it wasn't just the outfit that screamed out "Bill" at me.









Bill is that you?










Anyways I'll be boarding for the flight to Cairns in a little bit so til next time!

Airborne

Hello!! Just a quick update on the goings on of today. Packed up and got all ready to go bright and early. Took Ezra for an especially long walk around the neighborhood in the hopes that it will last her til I'm back :) I'm going to miss those big brown eyes and little mischievous face.




















My mom go back after work around eleven with a trunkfull of goodies for the "kat is finally gone" party.




















Just kidding! She got them all to celebrate her birthday with some friends and the celebration just got postponed til after I leave. We then headed to church and then to buffalo exchange before making our way to the airport. I'm flying via v Australia which has got some awesome check in areas.







Check in at v australia











Also it's got some interesting travelers.




















This has to be my third occurance of guys in uggs ever. Buy hey maybe they're all the rage on everyone over in Australia since that's where they're made?So at the moment I'm just sitting waiting for my flight to be called up and then I will be crammed on the Boeing for the next 15 hours yikes!! Hope they have free wifi in Melbourne and then I can do another quick update then.

Day Before Flight

G'day mate!!

This is the first of hopefully many posts about my month long trip to visit my dad in Australia. I'll try to update everyday on the events and going-ons of my adventure but it'll be likely I'll miss a few days here and there. I've created this blog to capture this trip for myself and to keep a few people back at home updated on what I'll be doing on the other side of the world. I got inspired by several other blogs I read on the daily and they were always so engaging and entertaining that I thought I'd try it out too. Not to say that I haven't tried before but I admit I've failed miserably with only one post in most previous blogging attempts. But this time I have a subject matter that I can focus on and hopefully that will keep me from rambling on too much as I am probably doing already :)

So to begin I am almost all packed up and ready to go. I spent the day getting ready and trying to plan out what I should bring.

My defininition of packed :)

Also did a few other errands that I knew would not be done in my absence. I wish I had a chance to say goodbye to a few friends before leaving but I had laundry running all day. I still have two loads that need to be washed, dried and packed away in my suitcase before tomorrow, yikes! I also worked on my little summer break project, an unfinished kitchen table. Proud to say that after a whole week slaving over it I am done with it! There were so many obstacles to overcome with this one since it seemed like every step forward took me two steps back. All the hard extra work will just make me appreciate it that much more!

Now before I go I want to pour out all my hopes and wishes for this trip!

• Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
• Hike through the rainforest
• Take a yoga class with my dad
• Volunteer at the hospital
• Climb the summit of Mount Kootaloo

Mount Kootaloo

• Do my first AFF
• Spearfish
• White water raft
• Jet ski
• Kayak down Babinda Creek

Babinda Creek