Welcome to Australia Barbara and Natalie!! Pat's mom from Corvallis and our niece from Portland came to stay for a week after touring central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. Finally, people who speak like us! It was great to see them, hear family news, and share some of our experiences here with them.
Pat met them in Sydney when they first arrived and they were able to tour the Blue Mountains outside the city for a day. His pictures tell the story of their first encounters with the local wildlife!
From there he came back and they flew up to Alice Springs to see Ulluru, or The Rock. Natalie says she could move there tomorrow and live forever. They stayed in Youth Hostels and day tripped as much as they could in the short time they were there. They learned what we're learning - that there is way more to see than anyone has time for! And this country is spread OUT. Could you ever plan to see all of the U.S. in 3 weeks? Or even a year? But we're all trying to do this with Australia, even though it's the same size. So, we've learned to scale back and prioritize and we're trying to help our friends and family do the same. It's hard to do!!
Once in Cairns on the Reef, they toured on boats for some snorkeling and sea turtle viewing. How cool is that??
We met them at the train station and brought them back to humble little Urunga. They tried the surf one day, came to Macksville to meet the kids one day, and visited the local rainforest and fossiking region, too. We ended with a Mother's Day dinner at the pub (where else do you think we would have taken them??) for fish and chips and more chips. Also that night was a huge rugby game, so we watched for awhile on the big screen before coming home. Ouch, is all I can say. That game, and especially on a large screen, is just painful! But "very Australian."
They are our second visitors from home, and the second folks to say, "We'll be back!"
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