whitsunday adventures

so much to say, so little time! we're having a good time, and i can't find the cord to upload my photos at the moment or i'd put some up here. we spent a day at hardy reef snorkeling which the kids loved, and then 2 days on a resort on daydream island which was really awesome. daydream is a small island very close to the mainland in the whitsundays. the entire island is pretty much made up of this one resort, and we stayed in a gorgeous room overlooking the beautiful aquamarine ocean with a tall palm tree just outside our window. our room was so beautiful! (photo to left: the view out our room's window)

they have a huge marine lagoon surrounding the resort that has many of the great barrier reef creatures including rays, sharks, corals, fish, squid, etc. it is shallow and clear so easy to see the animals. The guy who takes care of the marine lagoon, Dave, showed us the various fish including Pancake and Pikelet, two huge rays. We got to "pet" one. Very cool! Dave was super nice and the kids really enjoyed it.

the resort interior was so cool too with colorful art deco furniture and a tropical fish theme. we had nearly 2 full days there and it was our first stay somewhere besides my friend kelli's home so it was very exciting for the kids. the whole resort is surrounded by this create marine lagoon with all the marine creatures.

We went snorkeling at lover's cove on the island but the tide was sooo low that it was impossible to get out there without stepping on the corals, which is not good, and so it only lasted about 30 min and we went back in (this included the time walking out and falling on the sharp staghorn corals and helping the kids with their masks etc). savannah said that time it "freaked her out" because everything was so close to her face. lol. :) she also did the thing where she inhaled the ocean through her snorkel once which didn't help! both the kids liked snorkeling though and loved all the cool creatures. we saw all the cast of Finding Nemo :) they are all found in Australia. (photo to right - view from the top of the rainforest trail)

then we hiked up the rainforest trail which is only a 20-min hike across the island. we saw an orange-footed scrub fowl which is a megapode, they build huge mounds as nests and bury their eggs and incubate them by adjusting the amount of leaves and vegetation on the mound if the nest temp is too hot or too cold. the male tends the nest. pretty cool. i didn't know what the bird was when we were on the hike or i'd have looked for the nest, but i just looked it up in my bird book after the fact. So after our little rainforest walk across the island, we arrived to see wallabies (small kangaroos) feeding on the grass, which was very cool. it was the kids' first sight of wild wallabies! They come out on the lawns to feed at dusk.

today we fly back to brisbane at noon, and then tomorrow head to tasmania which is what i'm most excited about!! (besides seeing the friends which has been awesome). i love that few people in the world have been there, and think it will just be so cool. all for now! ciao!

(the photo to the left i call roo do, because this roo has an interesting hair-do! it's actually a wallaby, but close enough!)