Hey everyone!!!! So we have finally been able to get to a computer with internet. Unfortunately, we cannot upload our photos from here but we will try to find a computer tomorrow that will do that to keep you all updated. Well, where do we even begin. Our more than 24 hours of traveling to Australia was exhausting. But the Qantas flight to Australia was amazing and the staff were wonderful. First time traveling on a 747 was a good experience. When we first got to Australia it was 6:45 in the morning and about 4:30 pm back home and a day behind. We could not get used to the time change and fell asleep at 7pm Australia time. To add to that the hostel was a shocker. Really nice staff and great help but the room was literally just that ....a room. We were both shocked and completely unprepared. Wait till we post the photos. Along with that we had to share a bathroom with the entire top floor. Not too too bad but not our usual cup of tea either. Guess we haven't gotten accustomed to the backpacker life yet. The hubby was a little more taken back and we spent the rest of the day trying to find a hotel before heading to bed early. The next day we spent the whole day at the Australia Zoo. It was a long haul to get there but well worth the wait. This Zoo was just amazing. Nothing like back home in the US. It was a hands on Zoo and we were able to spend one on one time with the Kangaroos, Koalas, and lizards. We were also up close with the Elephants and tigers. Just an absolutely amazing time. We were both pinching ourselves thinking...."are we really here," "is this really happening?" Well.....the zoo was amazing but the haul home wasn't. Not only did we have to wait 2 hours in BFE (countryside/Beerwah Australia) for the train ride home but we also encountered prejudice against us Americans. It was actually quite funny. We first went to this hole in the wall hotel thinking "we can't spend two hours at this train station in the middle of nowhere." Well, the bar at the hotel had people looking at us foreigners like "get the hell out of here." One guy actually got in the hubby's face and asked him what we wanted here. He simply said "were just looking for a bite to eat." The guy responded with "go to that lady (pointing to the bar) " and then responded with "maybe she'll help you maybe she won't. So we quickly left there. We then went to a little hole in the wall called Neddy's. Well thank God we were greeted nicely there. With a little bit of Australian fried chicken we sat down and took in the countryside, still leaving us an hour for the train ride. We waited patiently with the spiders making their webs. Then, on the train ride we encountered this guy who was making a huge fuss yelling and telling his wife that Americans, Indians, and the Australian southerners need to go home and long long story short we got home 4 hours after we left the zoo. This brings us to the current day March 29th (back home its still the 28th). Today we took in the sights of Brisbane, catching a ride on the tourist attraction (Ferris wheel), took a brief walk through the botanical gardens and walked an hour back to our hotel pleasantly surprised with the difference a hotel brings from our lovely hostel we stood in for the two nights prior. To shorten this up a bit because we are trying to just update everything here is a list of some important things to note:

1. In Brisbane most of the cafes and stores close @ 5pm during the weekdays and are closed on the weekends. We learned this out the hard way trying to find food after 5 the first night we got here and just wounded up eating subway which brings us to #2.
2. Subway does not offer chips here, just the sandwich and the sandwich tastes different from back home. (At least the Subway we went to on Queens st in Brisbane)
3. We are trying to get used to the currency. Our dollar is more than the AUD and it feels like we are paying too much when in actuality we are paying less.
4. We are trying to get used to people driving on the opposite side of the road..we almost were ran over yesterday learning this.
5. We are really just trying to take everything in as we enjoy this adventure together.


One last thing before we have to go....The wifey (me) was watching Revolutionary road on the 14 hour flight to Brisbane and there was a quote worth telling the world because it relates to our journey as we travel the world. It went along the lines of this "It takes backbone to live the life you want!" And it just stuck a cord with me as I sat there thinking..YES it does and here we are doing what we sought out to do. Travel the world..leaving behind the mundane life that WE were getting so bored of at home. It made me cry! Watch the movie it is truly amazing.

------This is the man here, the hubby, and I just wanted to shout out to everyone reading this. It is definitely a great experience to this point, and I can only imagine what is to come. Anyways talk to you all soon and be easy!



Till next time........