We found Nemo.

Have I got stories for you!!

Lindsey visited. Twas amazing. We did a loooot of stuff. So she got here, and we went to Sydney the next day. Toured around and went to all sorts of cool markets and whatnot. She got to be the ultimate tourist and take pictures in front of the Opera House and all that good stuff. We also went to Pancakes on the Rocks (YUM) and stuffed our faces.

In front of the Opera House

Then, the next day, Lindsey, Lauren, Maria and myself rented a car and drove around the Hunter Wine Valley. We went to Tempus Two, which is my favorite winery, and bought some wine. Excellent moscato. :) Then we drove to Nelson Bay and toured around there for a little while. It was a fun adventure, and I even got to drive the car a little! I drove on the opposite side of the road and car! Whaaaat. Needless to say when I hit my turn signal the wipers ended up going instead.

Hunter Wine Valley

THEN the next day, I had my Developmental and Cognitive Psych final in the morning. I'd been strategically studying for that the whole week. It was an okay exam. The format was not something I was used to. I had a scantron and then two separate answer booklets, and they had 'reading time' before you can even start the exam. You have to read it. Strange.

Anyways, after that, Linds and I walked down Hunter Street and looked at the shops and stuff, then we caught the bus to the Newcastle Airport. Tiny little airport, but it's a long ways away! From there, we flew to Brisbane, had a fairly boring layover, and then onward to Cairns. Our hostel in Cairns was an adventure in and of itself. We shared a room with about 5 guys and a girl from Belgium, they all spoke French, really really quickly. And one guy from England. The room was a MESS because they'd all been living there for like a week at least. Plus they decided to party that night so Linds and I didn't get a lot of sleep before our excursion. It was funny though.

THEN we woke up early the next day and headed out ready to see the Great Barrier Reef. Keep in mind, seeing it and diving it has been one of my life goals for an extremely long time. And the plan was that I wasn't going to dive because there wasn't enough time for the nitrogen to get out of my system before we flew again. But we were going to snorkel and I was super happy I was even going to get to see the Reef. So we got on our boat, and had about an hour long ride or so out to our station in the reef. We had gorgeous weather, and both Linds and I took Dramamine so neither of us got seasick at all. Then we geared up for some snorkeling. It was SO cool. We got our picture taken with a Maori Wrasse named Wally, who was one of my favorites. There's just so much reef. It's HUGE. And beautiful.

Us in our BEAUTIFUL stinger suits. Hot stuff.

After our first snorkel we ate lunch, and then I just couldn't take it and decided to ask if I could dive. They told me I could get TWO dives in and still be okay to fly the next day. I jumped at the chance. I'm super grateful to Lindsey for being okay with me diving. She knew how much it meant to me and was happy to let me go dive. (Thanks girl!) On my first dive, I had a really hard time getting my right ear to equalize, but my dive leader helped me and we got down after a little while. On the boat ride out to the site he asked me, 'Do you like sharks?' and I said, 'YES' so I was super excited. He brought down an empty water bottle with him, and once we hit the bottom and started touring around, he filled it halfway with air from his regulator and started cracking it. After about 10 seconds of doing this, I looked up and saw a black tip reef shark above me. It was one of about 5 or 6 I saw on that dive. It was AMAZING! I wasn't scared at all too, which made me really happy. It just looked peaceful swimming around. We also got to see sea cucumbers and we found Nemo! We also swam through these two coral formations and the current was really strong. When I was swimming through it all I could think was, 'I'm swimming through the EAC!!' from Finding Nemo. Just a fantastic dive. Me, one other girl and our dive leader, Kieran went. It was nice to have a little group.

Me getting ready to go diving! Clearly excited!

The second dive was just Kieran and myself. He showed me a giant clam and we saw more sharks! :) We also went down into this little coral cave area and then swam straight up through the top of it. Incredible stuff. He also showed me this really cool plant/animal thing that if you wave your hand in front of it, it disappears really quickly into the coral. It was so much fun. That was just a peaceful dive. It was a truly amazing experience, and I won't forget it ever. One of the best things I've ever done, hands down.

Linds and I snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.

After we got back to Cairns from our trip, Linds and I went and cleaned up and then went to dinner and went to the night markets. That was a fun experience. I bought a boomerang from a really nice Aboriginal guy who made all his own didjeridoos. He played a little for us. It was sweet.

Then the next morning we got up and walked around Cairns for a little while and hung out before heading back to the Airport to go back to Newwy. It was an awesome trip. Then back in Newcastle, we packed up all Lindsey's stuff, slept for a couple hours, and then she got on the train to Sydney to go home. Crazy.

I'm so happy that I'm blessed enough to have friends who are able to come visit me. You guys have made my experience in Australia one of the best parts of my life. (Ashlee, Stef, Casey, Troy, and Linds). I had an incredible time with all of you- we got to do and see so many cool things and have amazing adventures. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. :) I'll see you all very soon.

LOVE from Down Under,
Kels