Paradise

So I know I haven't updated in awhile....and in awhile I mean like over a month but I've been crazy busy doing all sorts of things.

For the last month or so we have been so many places:
...Tasmania
...Camping for a week with the family we are staying with in New South Wales
...Gold Coast which is up north in Queensland
...Cairns/Port Douglas which is at the very north of Australia

So we just got back from Queensland a few days ago and have 1.5 more days in Melbourne before we fly out to New Zealand for a week.

Then we will be home on OCTOBER 22nd! Crazy!

Port Douglas was one of my favorite places on the trip. It was amazing! It's been cold down here in Melbourne so it was really nice to go somewhere hot and tropical. Port D was the equivalent of Paradise. It was the perfect place to vacation. The town is really little and not really commerical like most of the beaches we are used to. Our hotel was only a 5 minute or less walk to one of the most beautiful beaches ever. You walked through all these overhanging palm trees on this little footpath and then you came out right on the beach. It was picture perfect. The water was blue. The sand was white. There were mountains in the background. It was just crazy. The best part about it is that there was not really that many people on it at all. We are so used to beaches with 2034898342 other people but this wasn't like that at all! One of the girls that we met at church and became friends with, Jenna, decided to come with us so it was fun to have another person.
Port Douglas is located near the Great Barrier Reef so one of the days we went out there. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I decided to be crazy and go scuba diving because apparently here you can scuba dive without having to get certified. But no one else wanted to do it with me. I was actually the only person on our boat of about 40 people that decided to do it! I was freaking out because I didn't want to be the only person. So after much persuading I convinced our friend Jenna to come with me. We took a little course on the boat ride about everything so then we were good to go. We snorkelled at the first reef site we went to with Chels which was amazing! Then we went diving for the next two sites we went to. It was a little scary at first but once I got down there it was the best feeling ever. The reef was spectacular. I truly felt like I was in Finding Nemo. We saw Nemo in the sea anenome exactly like the movie. Schools of fish would just swim by us like it was nothing. I got to touch all sorts of things like huge clams, sea cucumbers, starfish....so cool! Then to top it off Chels spotted a sea turtle and I got to see it right before it swam away. It was just amazing. Indescribable. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. I can't think of any more adjectives but you get the point. Here's a few pics from our little trip out to the reef. There was a photographer on board that took pics of everyone so no these are not mine.

Here's a pic of the reef from the boat....we took about 1000 pics like this.


The three of us headed out to the reef...


Chels and I snorkelling

Dan, our dive instructor, Jenna and me getting ready to go out. I could barely stand up because the tank was so heavy. Don't make fun I know I look stupid in the goggles.


And here we are...underwater. This pic is so awkward. I mean really? It's hard to know how to pose under the sea.

Anyways, today is our last full day in Melbourne and with the Hansen's. Tonight is our last night to spend at our house. It's a really weird time for us. We are both excited to come home but really sad to leave all the community we have made here. We have been so blessed to meet so many amazing people here that have truly been so amazing to us. It's all very bittersweet. Thursday we are headed to New Zealand for a week of fun and then home. I'm not sure I'll post anything until then because we will be super busy doing all of our Lord of the Ring tours. Anyways, well I'm going to go enjoy the day!