Off to England

Well, my time in Australia is done. I'm in Thailand right now waiting for my flight to London. It was delayed 2 hours and I just sent Tina an email, which I hope she gets, since I have no other way of contacting her and she's picking me up at the airport.

My last few days in Australia were really nice. I spent them in Brisbane at my dad's cousin's son's house. I only met him once when I was 5, so it was really nice of him to let me stay there. I went to Australia Zoo twice and it was awesome. There were a couple of tributes to Steve Irwin set up which made me cry but other than that it was great. The second day I went was Bindi's birthday. It was horrible and rainy but Bindi, Terri, and Robert were there. Terri did the croc feeding demo, along with Steve's best friend, Wes. I really loved the wombats. They're so cute and cuddly. And of course I loved the crocodiles and snakes. A couple of the snakes were so massive it takes a team of people to lift them. Their colours and patterns are beautiful.

Before coming down to Brisbane, I stayed a few days in Airlie Beach. I think I might have mentioned that already. The crocodile safari was really fun. I saw a ton of estuarine crocodiles (those are the really big guys -- bigger than the Nile crocs) and a lot of birds. I never did get to go diving because of my cold but I went snorkeling. The fish and coral were so amazing. The colours were unbelievable and the water was so clear.

I'm really excited to get to England. I'm going to spend a week with Tina, then she's going to Denmark. Originally, I planned to go with her but I'm going to stay in England longer. I met a bunch of English girls while I was in Africa and they're going to show me around. I can't wait to see them all again, although it will definitely be different without all the dirt and animals.

Bye for now!!

Becky

G'Day from Down Under!

I've been in Australia for 10 days so far and I haven't heard anyone say g'day or refer to Australia as Down Under. I haven't given up hope, though! It could have something to do with the fact that all the people I've met are tourists. I've only met 4 Australians, I think.

As I expected, leaving Harnas was really hard. Lots of tears and promises to stay in touch. I've been having a hard time enjoying Australia because I miss Africa so much. There have been some good times, though. I did a 3 day tour of Fraser Island. It's the only place on earth where a rainforest grows from sand. The entire island is made of sand and it's incredibly beautiful. I only paid for a 2 day tour but our tour guide let me and another girl named Claire stay on for the third day for free. We went hiking through the rainforest, swam in a bunch of lakes and the ocean, and learned a lot. I haven't seen any koalas or kangaroos yet but I've seen a carpet python, a dingo, humpback whales and a ton of birds.

I'm at Airlie Beach right now. I'm going to be here for about a week. I plan to sail around the Whitsunday Islands, ride a horse through the bush, and go on a crocodile safari. I haven't decided what else I want to do yet. I was going to go diving but I have a cold, so I don't think I'll be able to. :(

I'm heading down to Brisbane next week for a couple of nights, since Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's zoo) is only about an hour or so away. That's what I'm most excited about -- I can't wait!!

Anyway, I should go find my hostel. Hope everyone back home is well!

xoxo Becky