And She's Back!

But don't get too attached, it probably won't last.

Am just capping off 1.2 weeks of holiday with Dad (a.k.a. parent-funded fun).

We started off our trip in Sydney - Dad flying in from South Africa, me flying in from Brisbane (I win, clearly). We checked out Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, and the Opera House (meh, seen 'em before). Then we headed off to the Blue Mountains for a foggy, misty quasi-view of Three Sisters. 

Now, a little thing about Sydney. We had some rain. Big deal, right? I get rain all the time in Brisbane. A few times a day. But rain in Sydney is poured directly from a freezer. It is ICE cold. Hypothermia-inducing for sure. I had to buy pants. I bet a lot of tourists don't bring enough pants to Australia. Maybe I should start a pants company.

So, legs covered, we did the Indiana Jones-style railway of doom, had a cool hike through some rainforest, "saw" the Three Sisters (nearly walked smack into it, actually), and visited Katoomba and Leura. 

And on Sunday (happy Easter!), we started the drive up (and up, and up). First stop was Yamba - a beeyootiful surfing spot just south of Byron Bay. We attended a dawn ANZAC service (war commemoration), checked out the beaches, and then headed out to Fraser Island.

Now, I've seen Fraser Island, which means you read about it (or you skipped that post, in which case read it now and pretend you read it before). We did most of the same sights in a shortened time frame, and under slightly rainier conditions - but still beautiful, of course!

And now, am capping off 3 days in the Whitsundays. Apart from sunning ourselves, we tried out snorkeling (very cool) and scuba diving (near death experience).

You know how you're not supposed to touch the Great Barrier Reef coral? Um, oops. But not touch in a "MOOOOM can I touch it" kind of way. This was an involuntary, "oh-man-my-knees-are-scraping-along-the-ground-it-hurts-it-hurts" kind of touching. My newbie instructor, super nice guy, did not provide instructions on the inflate-deflate buttons - which means I scraped that poor coral until he saw me floundering (like a fish? Flounder? get it?). So the coral stole some skin from me. And then, my instructor tried to "adjust my mask". Now, if you're rational, you'd allow your instructor to adjust your mask. But my brain (too many spy movies) thinks "HE'S TRYING TO KILL YOU! SURFACE! SURFACE!" Probably didn't help my paranoia that when I tried to surface, my instructor held me down. But as you might've guessed, I made it back to shore, and he's providing yummy food for some sharks.

Only kidding. 

Tomorrow - back to the grind - school in Australia. I know, life is tough!