Australia 2009

We finally made it to Australia!!

I can't believe it finally happened, but we actually made it to Australia! Chris drywalled a guy's cabin up in the Uintas in exchange for airline tickets and hotel accommodations in Sydney, Australia and we actually got to go! For awhile there, it looked as if the fellow wasn't going to make good on the trade, but we finally got it all arranged and it all worked out! Our buds, Geno and Meli Anderson went with us (Geno traded the heating on the cabin) and we had a blast! We left here on the 1st of February, but didn't get to Sydney until the 3rd of February because you cross the International Date Line. (Chris crossed this line once the day before his birthday and didn't arrive in Japan until the day after his birthday, so he is still trying to convince us that he is a year younger than he really is since he never had that birthday!). Then we had two fabulous weeks there in Sydney. It was incredible! The first week the weather was scorching hot--over 110 degrees--in some places over 120 and we slathered on the sunscreen. Then the next week we had a 40 degree swing and we found ourselves in rain--warm rain, but still rain. Crazy! That didn't stop us from having fun. Nor did the fires south of us in Victoria, the floods north of us in Queensland, or the shark maulings right where we were! We felt horrible for all the people involved in these tragedies, and fortunate that we weren't involved. The Aussies thought that we were a good luck charm bringing all the rain to an area that has had a drought for 12 years. Somehow, we didn't feel lucky. But we had tons and tons for fun, and that's all that counts! Here are just a few of the 550+ pictures we have of the trip! Hope you enjoy! Australia is beautiful and the people are fantastic!