Jet lag?

I learned this week that for every hour of time difference your destination was, it is supposed to take 1 day to get over the jet lag.  Did you know that Brisbane was a 15 hour time difference.  Translation... 15 hours = 15 days of jet lag.  I can honestly attest that this may in fact be true.  Lily is adjusting better than Chris and I.  Chris may be a close second.  And I have honestly been a mess.  Even slept on someones couch at work for an hour one morning.  Yes, just like an episode of Seinfeld.  Luckily I got to sleep in this weekend and get a few zzz's, but the weekday is only slightly better than last week.  For those of you who know my sleep habits... this will just not due.  Hopefully sleep is on its way soon.

I even gave up on blogging for a couple days... thinking that it isn't good to play on the computer before bed.  No help.

I tried lots of wine... while it tasty yummy and made me feel very good inside... no help with the sleep.

So, back to wine, blogging, working out and all my normal things.  Sleep will eventually come.

Pictures from our day at the Australia Zoo

The Australia Zoo turned out to be awesome.  Not only was it a great zoo, but very interactive for the kids.  Everything from feeding kangaroos to feeding elephants to holding koalas.  We got to do it all.  Or at least everything we wanted to.  I passed on the holding of the snakes.  In addition to the pictures below we got an excellent picture of Lily and Chris holding a Koala.  It was very touristy, but a very cute picture none the less.

On the day we visited the zoo, the Irwin family (remember Steve Irwin died... killed by a stingray) but his widow and two kids have taken over his activities and have become crocodile (and other dangerous animal) crazy just like Steve.  The widow, Terri, is actually from Oregon.  The two kids also have their own TV shoes.  They did a great show at the "Crocoseum" while we were there.  Yes, they were crazy at trying to feed incredibly large crocs.  Ugh.  But they were very educational as well.

Lily thoroughly enjoyed her day at the zoo.

Glasshouse Mountains

As I said, we were strategically located to see so many great things on the Sunshine Coast.  The day we went to the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's... think Crocodile Hunter) we took a little diversion up to the Glasshouse Mountains that morning.  Finally we saw a kangaroo in the wild.  And the views over the Glasshouse Mountains were gorgeous.  Very nice drive.

Glasshouse Mountains

Our first wild kangaroo spotting.  We actually had a few after these and even saw some kangaroos running through fields.  I can't tell you how funny it was to see both Kangaroo and Koala Crossing signs on the roads. 

Oh and we came upon this camel farm.  Who has a camel farm and what for?  There were like 30 of them.

Woombye (our home stay)

Doing the home exchange turned out to be excellent.  Staying in a little town on the Sunshine Coast of Australia called Woombye gave us a chance to experience Australia in a much less tourist way.  In fact we were definitely the only tourists in our small little town.  But everyone was so friendly.  Always full of good advice on good shops, restaurants, things to do and kangaroos to see.

About 3 km from the house we stayed in there is a huge farmer's market called the "Big Pineapple".  Apparently in its prime, it was the largest tourist destination in all of Australia, but the economy tanked and the market went sour.  However in recent years a family has purchased it and are working to bring it back to life.  Of course the produce as excellent.  But there was a nice little zoo for Lily to visit as well.

Petting zoo at the Big Pineapple

Choo choo train ride to get to the petting zoo

Surrounding area around Woombye.  Lots of tourist towns full of arts and crafts and tea houses.  Not bad views either.

Off to Whitsunday Islands

After spending one day at our home exchange, we had to get up on the 26th to make a flight to the Whitsunday Islands.  Actually flying into the mainland at Airlie Beach and then boating over to Whitsunday Islands.  It was a short two night trip but definitely worth it.  Airlie Beach was a fantastic beach town (half family oriented with a beautiful ocean front lagoon that was perfect for kids and the other half geared toward backpackers looking to take advantage of the Great Barrier Reef).  Our hotel was an apartment styled and was gorgeous with views of the ocean.  We had a wonderful day on a full day boat tour.  We snorkeled, hiked and got some great pictures.  It was a gorgeous day and Lily really seemed to enjoy herself.

 Airlie beach

Lagoon at Airlie beach.  Very nice salt water pool right next to the ocean with lots of stuff for the kids to play with.  A nice diversion from the actual beach.

Chris and Lily on our boat to the Whitsunday Islands near the Great Barrier Reef

 

Overlooking Hill Inlet on the further side of the Whitsunday Islands.  Yes, the sand was really that white.  It was amazing.  And because it was so light it didn't get hot.

Our boat.  It looks a little small in the picture but actually fit about 45 people comfortably.

More pictures of Hill Inlet

Thanks goodness for full rash guard swim suit for Lily.  No burns for this little girl.

We had to wear full stinger suits when swimming in the deeper water or snorkeling.  Apparently in Australia they have over 100 types of jellyfish that are incredibly poisonous.  One sting and you are dead.  Thus the reason for the stinger suit.  I think Lily looked so cute in hers.

We stopped at Whitsunday beach for a nice BBQ.  The beach was wonderful for swimming and we had  lots of fish all around us.  It was a warm up for snorkeling for Lily.

Some little fish while snorkeling.  There were some big ones too.  And we did see lots of jellyfish so thank goodness for the stinger suits.a

 A picture of Lily starting to snorkel on a snorkel board.  The mask was a little much for her but they had a great little board for her to look at all the fish with.  Plus they threw fish food all around her and let the fishes swim all around. I thought she would freak out but she loved it. 

A goanna (large lizard) hanging out while we at our lunch.  He was about 4 feet long which was plenty big for me.  But apparently they get 7 or 8 feet long.

Christmas in Australia (at the beach)

Somehow Santa seem to find Lily in Australia.  Amazing how that happens.  Some candy and a Cinderella video.  We also got to spend a wonderful Christmas day visiting Noosa Heads.  About 40 minutes from our house swap location in Woombye.  It was a beautiful day to be out at the beach taking a hike around the National Park at Noosa.  The shopping was top notch and the hiking excellent as well.  It was strange to see so much activity at the beach on Christmas day.  Seemed pretty normal for the Australian's however.  After some hiking we thought we would drop into a restaurant for a nice meal.  Only to have the hostess tell us that it would be $155 per person (no drinks included).  So we got a salad and burger and ate on the beach instead.  And we did have a great Christmas dinner once we got home.

Main beach at Noosa

Our first Kokabura (remember that song? Kokabura sits in the old gum tree...)

Lily enjoying a little hiking at Noosa Heads National Park... okay she did more stroller riding than hiking, but at least mom got a good workout pushing the stroller

Dolphin point at Noosa Heads

Lots of surfing going on in Australia... although these guys were spending more time waiting for waves than riding them...

Australia 2012/2013

Well, we had a very exciting trip to Australia.  We tried to leave on Dec. 21st, but due to bad weather in Chicago we had a delayed plane and missed our connection in Dallas by 10 minutes.  Only to find out that we couldn't get another flight to Brisbane for 2 more days.  But heck, we were on vacation... so we made the best of our time in the Dallas/Houston area and checked out the Houston Zoo for a day which is one of the top zoo's in the country.  It was definitely not crowded and it turned out to be a great day.  This zoo also happens to be the location of one of Lily's Barney "Zoo" videos so she was pretty excited.  We finally left on the 23rd but the biggest surprise was that they upgraded us to business class so we got full lay down seats on our 16 hour plane ride (which turned into 25 hours) and we got to use the Qantas club amenities.  Free beverages, food, everything.  Very nice.  I hope Lily doesn't get used to this.  On the way home she asked at the airport "can we go to the club".  Oh dear.

Lily was a fantastic traveller.  She slept most of the way.  Thank you full lay down seats.  And watched a little TV (lots of options on her pull up airport TV).  We had to stop unplanned in Auckland, New Zealand for a five hour layover.  It was supposed to be only to get more fuel because the head winds were so terrible, but one of the engines broke and ended up getting a repair while we were there.  For a while I was beginning to think we might have an extra vacation in New Zealand.  But finally on Dec. 24th in the late afternoon we made it to Brisbane.  From there we caught our shuttle, got to the house we were staying in and rushed as quickly as possible to get some groceries before everything closed for the holiday.  Luckily we made it just before the shops closed.

The Houston Zoo has an incredible crocodile display that you can sit and watch crocs while you are eating your food.  Lily seems a little afraid of them now however.

Lily's favorite animal at any zoo = flamingo's!

By this time, we were running out of pants (notice the pajama bottoms under the skirt) and we were desperately looking forward to our trip to Australia (so much that she took to posing with "fake" kangaroos)

Great hippo exhibit at the Houston zoo

Finally on our way to Brisbane flying in business class