Australia

It took 8 years, but we finally got away on a vacation WITHOUT THE KIDS!!!! Our friends watched the kids for a week while we lived it up down under. We didn't mess around on this trip, we wanted to pack in all we could....never thought an alarm clock would be used so much on a vacation but we're so glad we had all these experiences. First up, just 10 hours off the plane and we were up on the beautiful Tulley River doing some whitewater rafting. The pic is pretty small but we're there in front. Our guide took us on an "extreme" trip, meaning he'd flip us on purpose, take us over waterfalls etc...it was awesome. One thing we loved about all our guides, whether river rafting or horseback riding, is that they aren't afraid to take it up a notch. Our horse guide found out Shell's pretty experienced, and I kept my mouth shut, so she let us ditch the slow group and we ran the horses across the fields etc. Sore....yes, but adrenaline rush?......oh yeah.

Shell getting ready to ride.

The boomerang we purchased was made by this Aborigine. It works great!

At the same ranch as the horseback riding they also had 4-wheeling. Here Shell and our guide tear it up. He was crazy...taking us off cliffs and full throttle thru the trees......it was awesome.

We each had our own ATV so we never rode together, but it makes a nice pic.

At the ranch the animals are all friends. This pig and dog acted like 2 puppies...it was hilarious.

You can't do Australia without experiencing the Great Barrier Reef. It took 2 hours each way to get out there, but well worth it. James dove while Shell snorkeled, but both of us saw some great stuff. The boat, as you can see, did not disappoint.

Shell & the snorkelers..if you look closely can you see a shark fin in the background?............good, we didn't either.

Near our hotel there were several large mango trees with what we thought were loud birds residing...turns out they were huge bats! They were incredible to watch. Quite a sight after dark when they're all flying. For better pics, we took this about 1 hr before sunset so they're still sleeping. Some had mangos wrapped up in their wings.

One of the favourite parts of our trip....the food! Guam doesn't exactly have endless choices, so we felt like kids in a candy store with all the selection. Aussies know how to BBQ no doubt.

Our hotel rented out these tiny smart cars for a pretty good rate. We felt like clowns piling into a toy car but it took us where we wanted to go.....like to church and up the coast on Sunday.

Real men don't need hummers to prove they're bad..........but it sure wouldn't hurt...see that black cap near the back??? Yeah just throw a banana or a gum wrapper, or even just sneeze in it once a week and you're good! Actually we were surprised how much gas it still took. (sorry greenies!)

We see plenty of beaches at home but this still impressed. Beautiful coastline drive between Cairns and Port Douglas

The boardwalk near our hotel.

We wanted to get inland as well and this trip took us quite a ways into the mountains and the "tablelands" as they call it.

Tons of rainforests around Cairns.

Shell couldn't get enough of the roos.

More rainforest/waterfall

Cool trees in front of a hotel on the coast. And that was our vacation.

We also just published another post below this to update you on the kids, so keep on scrolling down.