Adventures Down Under

This summer I took a trip I will never forget (sorry it took so long to post about it). It began with a flight from SLC to LA (piece of cake) then I boarded a 7-47 where I lived for 16 hours stuck in the middle seat between two very nice people. We landed in Melbourne and when my legs regained feeling and I was sure I was free of blood clots, I boarded yet another plane to Adelaide, South Australia where I was joyfully greeted by Elder and Sister Edmonds (mom and dad). Technically they were still on their mission, so while we spent some time seeing sights, we also got to visit with many local members and investigators, not something a typical tourist would get to experience. It was incredible to see what mom and dad had been doing for 18 months. The people are very nice and couldn't get enough of my accent while I couldn't get enough of theirs! I attended a cottage meeting, two sacrament meetings, and many members' homes who wanted to say their goodbyes. I was able to have dinner at the mission home with President and Sister Quinn and other wonderful missionaries. Adelaide is not a tourist trap but I must say it is beautiful and I'm lucky to have visited. It was here that I went to the Gorge Wildlife Park and played with Kangaroos and held a Koala. I fell in love with the Koalas and could have watched them all day. We also drove south to Victor Harbor on the Southern Ocean which is breathtaking.
We then rented a car and headed North on our way to the center of Australia. Stuart Highway runs from Adelaide straight up through the outback to the Northern Territory. Our destination was Alice Springs where mom and dad spent the first 10 months of their mission. I had my first Aussie driving experience driving through the outback where the risk of hitting a kangaroo is great and driving on the wrong side of the road is awkward. I did have a kangaroo bounce across the street in front of me - got my heart pumping! We stopped in Coober Pedy which is the worlds opal mining capitol. The people living here build their homes in old mines underground. You mostly just look around and see mounds of dirt with vents and pipes sticking out of them. We stayed at a great bed and breakfast underground! I also bought some opal earrings (Hello, did you hear me say it was the opal mining capitol? I'm not leaving without opals!) We spents some time touring an old mine and a beautiful underground Serbian Orthodox Church.
We trudged north through the Outback and took a side trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock) which is probably the biggest tourist attraction in the Outback. It is sacred to the Aboriginals and they are gracious to allow so many people to visit.
We finally arrived in Alice Springs where I was able to, once again, see what missionary life was like here for mom and dad. This was totally different though. Many Aboriginals live in Alice Springs but also have homes out-bush so sometimes they are in town and then they just leave for months out-bush. Luckily there was a festival so most of the people mom and dad knew were in town. The Aboriginals are very interesting people, unlike any I have ever met. They're almost still primitive in the way that they live in a modern town. They own homes but will sit out in the dirt in their yard to eat. They sleep on mats on the floor, etc. They don't believe in wiping their children's noses for some reason. I met some Aboriginal members of the church and was absolutely amazed at the pure faith they have...very hard to describe in words... On a side note, there were fireworks at the festival while we were there and it happened to be July4th. So picture me and my folks standing on the grass in the Australian Outback with 4 Elders, and a family of Aboriginal members watching fireworks on the 4th of July (of course the fireworks were not for the American holiday but what a coincidence).
It was time to say goodbye to the Outback and fly to Queensland. We flew to Cairns but then traveled about an hour and a half north on a road that winds right next to the ocean (gorgeous) to Port Douglas. Queensland is tropical and is home to the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. Port Douglas is a great resort town on the ocean and just south of the Rainforest. We took a day to drive north and take a tour on the Daintree River where the crocs live. Steve Irwin knew this river well. We saw 4 crocs (1 female (Sheila), two young little crocs, and Scarface, a big fellow with war-wounds). We also saw a couple of green tree snakes. We continued to drive through the rainforest, ferried across the river, stopped at a rainforest discovery center where we were able to climb a platform above the canopy. We drove up to Cape Tribulation which had a beautiful beach although it was winter in Australia and was a bit chilly. I took a walk on a boardwalk through the rainforest where I encountered an endangered Cossawary!! The next day we spent on a day cruise to the Great Barrier Reef. It takes about an hour and a half (as well as a bunch of sea-sick vomiting co-passengers) to get to the outer ribbon reefs where we docked with a platform. I snorkeled and saw clown fish (Nemo), jelly fish, giant clams, all sorts of other fish. We also took a ride on a semi-submersible and saw much more of the surrounding reef. I saw sea cucumbers, sea turtles, all kinds of beautiful living coral. It was amazing!
As if I didn't have enough adventure, we flew from Cairns to Sydney where we were supposed to connect to our flight home to LA but discovered it was canceled. Long and very frustrating story short: we ended up spending the night in Sydney and flew home the next day. Hopefully one day I will be able to return and have a better Sydney experience. Overall, this was a trip of a lifetime, something I dreamed of doing and never thought it would happen. There isn't a word to describe how wonderful it was so I'll just stick with AWESOME! Enjoy the slideshow.