Alright, so back to my trip Down Under. I like my vacations to have a little bit of everything. As you probably realize, I'm a bit of an exercise freak. Therefore, I need my activity or I'll go a little nuts. On the other hand, I'm a girl who also needs some downtime to recharge. Holy moly I can get cranky if I don't get a nap in during the weekend. So with a few pictures, I thought I'd show you a few of the ways I spent my Christmas vacation.
My travels were based out of a city called Townsville located in Queensland, Australia. That's the northeast part. It has a fantastic beachfront area called the Strand. I spent quite a bit of my time either swimming in the rock pool pictured here, or laying in the shade under the palm tree reading a book. If I wanted some sand between my toes, I just moved 50 yards over and went in the waves by the beach. It had restrooms, drinking fountains, showers, bars, beers.. everything you need for a relaxing day. Oh yeah, ignore the pudgey kid in this picture. He seemed to always pop up as soon as I pressed the shutter!
The Strand and rock pool were also well lit in the evenings. You could swim fairly late at night if so inclined.
I had to take a picture of this tree. Is this not an ideal candidate for the best tree fort ever?
On another day, we headed off to a nearby island for a bit of exploring. We started the morning with a hike to the top along a path that has frequent koala sightings. Exciting!
You can just see Liam sitting up on the rock above. Almost there....
Almost at the top... and blinding everyone with my transluecent legs. I'm amazed at how pale I actually am.
The view from the very top - you can see the World War II lookout towards the back right of the picture. The Australians were on the lookout for the Japanese during this time.
Another view from the top, towards the left of the old fort. By now, we were quite hot and sweaty so it was time to hike down and check out the lagoon/bay pictured above.
Back down to ground level, at the lagoon, the view to my right.....
... the view in the center (we parked ourselves underneath a tree for a wee bit of shade)
... and the view to our left. Once again, we are fighting off those crowds. Next time I'll have to come back on a slow day.... :o) There was great snorkeling here and a fantastic place to cool off after our hike. No koalas spotted in the wild - I'm sure they were smart enough to avoid sleeping in trees next to the noisy hikers. I think we did see a few lizards though. Big thumbs up to our hiking/swimming/snorkeling day on Magnetic Island.
My travels were based out of a city called Townsville located in Queensland, Australia. That's the northeast part. It has a fantastic beachfront area called the Strand. I spent quite a bit of my time either swimming in the rock pool pictured here, or laying in the shade under the palm tree reading a book. If I wanted some sand between my toes, I just moved 50 yards over and went in the waves by the beach. It had restrooms, drinking fountains, showers, bars, beers.. everything you need for a relaxing day. Oh yeah, ignore the pudgey kid in this picture. He seemed to always pop up as soon as I pressed the shutter!The Strand and rock pool were also well lit in the evenings. You could swim fairly late at night if so inclined. When not laying by the water trying not to spontaneously combust under the hot sun, I did a bit of touring. Here are the lovely botanical gardens in Townsville. This picture made me think I was approaching the Island of Dr. Moreau. Does anyone else think that?
I had to take a picture of this tree. Is this not an ideal candidate for the best tree fort ever?
On another day, we headed off to a nearby island for a bit of exploring. We started the morning with a hike to the top along a path that has frequent koala sightings. Exciting!
You can just see Liam sitting up on the rock above. Almost there....
Almost at the top... and blinding everyone with my transluecent legs. I'm amazed at how pale I actually am.
The view from the very top - you can see the World War II lookout towards the back right of the picture. The Australians were on the lookout for the Japanese during this time.
Another view from the top, towards the left of the old fort. By now, we were quite hot and sweaty so it was time to hike down and check out the lagoon/bay pictured above.
Back down to ground level, at the lagoon, the view to my right.....
... the view in the center (we parked ourselves underneath a tree for a wee bit of shade)
... and the view to our left. Once again, we are fighting off those crowds. Next time I'll have to come back on a slow day.... :o) There was great snorkeling here and a fantastic place to cool off after our hike. No koalas spotted in the wild - I'm sure they were smart enough to avoid sleeping in trees next to the noisy hikers. I think we did see a few lizards though. Big thumbs up to our hiking/swimming/snorkeling day on Magnetic Island. (Okay, last post for a day or two. I need to save some material for when not traveling. More photos soon....)
Liam and Nemo aren't phased by this development though. They decide the creek is enough to swim in even though they can touch the bottom with their feet. Cannonballs on Bruce = not happening.
Lastly, another view of the water on my last day. A little rest out of the sun - time to put the feet up, the hat is off, the martini is cold and the view is lovely. Why, oh why did I have to come back to work? Oh yeah, that thing called a mortgage. Bummer.
Each ivy leaf was individually coated and frozen.
Everything looked beautiful. It was a gorgeous morning even if I did have to white knuckle it on the way to drop Tucker off. So this is what I left.....
And this is what I arrived to! Palm trees....
Cool pool water and fountains....
and palm trees just outside the window behind the Christmas tree. Ahhh... warm weather.
The kids unwrapped their Christmas presents and the adults emptied thier stockings. What did I get? A piece of coal.
Getting ready for Christmas dinner, Loel forages for some food.
Success!
Seafood platter for Christmas dinner. Yum!
Loel isn't a fan of grilling up some of the oysters. Definitely not his happy face.
The view from up on Castle Hill. Blue water, warm air - great start to the holiday.
Upon my return, however, I was greeted with LOTS of snow. England had another record snow a few days before my return. Tucker was staying with my friend Nick. Nick lives just a little bit farther out than I do and received more snow than Windsor. To borrow a statement from Nick - it was Narnia like.
I love this picture. Somehow Nick got his dog Gibson, Tucker and himself all looking at the camera at the same time. 
The snow starts accumulating on the deck.
Tucker has his snappy red reflective jacket on. Warmth and safety first!
And found the secret bone burial ground! I can't believe it. I thought he had finished eating them. Apparently, I'm not very good at counting or understanding how fast he goes through them.
Knucklebone anyone? I went through the rest of the furniture, the sofa and armchair, and discovered two more bones and a missing slipper. Most people find change in their furniture, I find gnawed animal bits. You have to wonder where the instinct comes from?
