The Warrior

I cannot explain it. I love writing. I love telling stories. I love exaggerating when I tell stories. I like to think a fair amount of time passes between posts because I am waiting for inspiration or the proper mood to strike - I want each and every post to be perfect. I know this cannot be true, however, because I am lucky to see and do pretty amazing (and inspiring) things every day. It has been a busy few weeks - make that months! I have at least a dozen stories to tell, but in the interest of time I will brush upon a few major highlights of the past five to six weeks below.

1. On April 18 my parents arrived in Brisbane. They spent two weeks traveling and relaxing with me and Conor. After hanging around the apartment and wandering around the city for three days, the four of us flew north to Cairns and then stayed in Port Douglas for two nights. We spent time on the GBR, cruising the Daintree River, wading in the Mossman Gorge. We had a fabulous time. 

Mom, Dad, and I then flew south to Sydney, while Conor returned to Brisbane for work. We stayed in Manly with our friend John for four fabulous nights. We visited all of the tourist hot-spots, such as the Rocks, Opera House, Botanical Gardens. We walked around the down town, rode the monorail and took a stroll through Luna Park under the Harbour Bridge. On our last night in the big city we saw Regina Spektor perform at the Opera House - it was wonderful!

2. On May 1, one day prior to my parent's departure, the four of us headed to Mt. Tambourine for wine, beer and cheese tasting. We visited a few wineries, and after purchasing a few bottles of wine, set up a picnic on one of the vineyard lawns. It was a gorgeous fall day. On the drive back home that afternoon, we stopped at an overlook and got out of the car to wander around. It was dusk and the valley was just beautiful. Conor asked me to marry him (and of course I said yes) and we were able to celebrate that evening in Brisbane with my parents. It was a fabulous end to my parent's stay. 

3. Just over a week later, on May 12, Pete and Caitlin arrived from Buffalo, NY. We were incredibly excited to see some of our best friends and welcome them to Brisbane. We were also very excited for their arrival because it marked the start of our one month holiday and Australia road-trip!

The past week and a half has been full of crazy adventures. On May 15 we left Brisbane and drove south to Byron Bay. We spent our first night on the road parked on the side of the road in our Back Packer Camper Van, also known as "The Warrior". I had never slept in a vehicle on the side of the road before. We pulled up next to some public toilets, turned the kitchen table into a bed, and spent the night by the ocean (similar to most Byron backpackers, I'm sure). After walking along the ocean to Australia's most eastern point, we jumped back in the van and drove a few more hours south to Port McQuarie. Not too much to report on Fingle Bay or New Castle - except I now know why flights to New Castle are sometimes only $9.

Since Port McQuarie, we spent three nights in Sydney, a night in Melbourne, a night on the Mornington Peninsula just south of Melbourne, a night along the Great Ocean Road in Apollo Bay, a night in the middle of nowhere at a caravan site that we drove into quietly after dusk and departed from quickly at dawn, and now, I sit Adelaide, attempting to summarize the madness that occurred along the way. There are definitely more stories to come on Sydney, Melbourne, and the creepy caravan park. 

Tomorrow we head slightly north of Adelaide to the Barossa wine region. After that comes Coober Pedy and perhaps a lack of phone and internet service! Outback, here we come!