We arrived at the airport, returned the rental car, checked our bags, and made our way very quickly through security to wait for our flight to LAX. At LAX, we had a quick dinner and boarded the plane to Brisbane, tired and excited to get to Australia. I was a little concerned that I didn't have an aisle seat, but as it turned out, the seat next to mine was the aisle and it was "blocked off." So that actually worked out quite nicely.Flight time from LAX to Brisbane was announced at 12 hours, 45 minutes. Qantas, as we would discover, is a great airline. The staff is friendly and hospitable (as are most Australians) and they do their best to make sure you are as comfortable as you can be while stuck on a plane for half a day. They offer a guide at the beginning of the flight that outlines all of the mealtimes/snacks, etc. There are multiple spots on the plane where you can get up and serve yourself a snack or beverage at any point, in addition to the snack bags they distribute to everyone. Finally, they have a great in-seat entertainment system. Being that it was quite late, I managed to sleep through most of the flight and woke up just as we were crossing the International Date Line. Check out the Flight Info screen:
We landed in Brisbane around 6am local time on Tuesday...yes, we left at 11:30pm Pacific Time Sunday and arrived 6am Eastern Australian time Tuesday morning. Got to love time travel. Over through Customs, then on to our final leg--a two hour flight up to Townsville, where we would be spending Vacation #2.Townsville, Australia, is the home of my very dear friends Scott and Kristin Heron and their new daughter, Maia. Scott and Kris lived here in the DC area a number of years ago and I was introduced to them by our mutual friend Heather, while she was living in my apartment in Silver Spring. Soon after we met, our circle expanded to include Laura & Joe, Kathryn, and others--we became an Urban Family of sorts and always had a wonderful time together. To give you an idea of how fun and silly we can be, here is an old photo of Scott, Kris, Heather and I at a Halloween Party where Scott and Kris came dressed as Heather and I:
After a couple of wonderful years together, our Urban Family began to dissipate to various parts of the country and the world, but of course we are all still friends and do our best to find opportunities to have fun together. One such time was my first time experiencing a new continent, Europe. I went to visit Scott & Kris while they were doing mission work in Madrid, Spain. The symmetry of visiting them for my first time on another new continent, Australia, was pretty neat. A lot has changed for all of us over the course of the five years since that first trip to Madrid, but one thing has not--our love, friendship, and the fact that man, can we laugh together! Kathryn and I are so comfortable with Scott & Kris that we nearly forgot (or at least I did) to be sensitive to the idea that it was Marilyn's first time meeting them--but of course, we knew she'd just be considered part of the family in very short order.Kristin and Maia met us at the airport, and we piled all of our luggage and selves into the car and set out for Heron Station (one of the features of our group of friends...we're all creative and like to name things--this is the fun name for Scott & Kris's house). Townsville is a tropical city in the north of Queensland; the architecture of the homes is reflective of this culture. After dropping our luggage, we felt pretty good and decided to go out for a walk on the beach. Kris also introduced us to what would become one of our favorite things in Townsville--a cafe called Juliette's that serves awesome gelato. We went there nearly every day! Here's Kristin and our new friend, baby Maia:
Over the course of our five or so days together, we would have lots of adventures that ranged from the simple preparation of dinner to snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. The first week of our Australian vacation was perfect, restorative, relaxing--I actually managed to become so relaxed that I did not feel compelled to do anything at all. Every night, we would find some reason to dissolve into hysterical gales of laughter. We enjoyed the simple pleasures of catching up, conversation, sunsets, star gazing, having picnics and tea, being together, singing, reading, and playing with the baby. We got to meet some koalas and kangaroos at a nearby reserve. On Friday morning, Scott took Kathryn, Marilyn and I over to the dock to board a dive boat for a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef.First, a word of advice in case there is still someone besides me that's never been snorkeling: your first experience snorkeling should not be at the Great Barrier Reef. The middle of the ocean is not really the place to learn how to do this. Snorkeling is not complicated, but I really had no idea what I was doing and felt badly for holding Marilyn and Kathryn back, even though they were incredibly patient and helpful. Soon after jumping in the water, I panicked about having this mask on my face and trying to breathe through a tube--I headed back to the boat to get some tips and calm myself down. It worked, and soon I was making my way along this rope off the back of the boat, snorkeling and checking out the Great Barrier Reef. It was amazing! The change in water color represents the Reef, a view off the back of the boat:
There's more that could be said about our time in Townsville and our day at the Reef, but this is a good synopsis of the highlights...and besides, there are still two more vacations to go!
Here's a final photo of all of us:
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