The kids all love this shiny coat, And the smell of honey on his nose.

Okay. No more cheat posts. I have a mountain of stories to share. I'm rather intimidated by it, but Scotty and Brian are off in one of the other buildings playing a movie trivia game and it's still only 10:30 (a true night owl never beds before midnight). Time to chip away.

Two moments about our second week in Australia stick out to me: our Christmas Eve in Bargara and a rather chilly night in the car up in the Blue Mountains.

HOSTEL CHRISTMAS ITINERARY AT THE BACKPACKERS WE STAYED AT THE FIRST NIGHT IN AUSTRALIA. PANKCAKES AND CHAMPAGNE? THE WAY TO THIS GIRL'S HEART.

We picked up our Suzuki Swift (a cherry red one. yay. I had my fingers crossed for a Christmas-coloured car) late afternoon at the Brisbane airport and set out for a 5 hour drive up North. We grabbed drive thru dinner at Hungry Jacks (Burger King's Australian twin- love the veggie burgers!). I stared at the landscape as it faded from city to lush green pastures. The sun turned the sky pink while we listened to Christmas songs, and when the sky turned black- I swooned at the Christmas light displays (the sun sets much earlier in Australia, so more people put up Christmas lights than in Dunedin where the sun sets around 10 pm in December). As we breezed along the highway, I caught glimpses of families crowded into living rooms, spilling onto decks/patios, and parties being hosted at little cafes.

"I RUV YOU. ROTS"

THE MAGIC OF TRAVELLING AT NIGHT: YOU HAVE TO WAIT TIL THE NEXT MORNING TO SEE YOUR SURROUNDINGS. SERIOUSLY LOVE THAT.

11 pm. McDonalds in Bundaberg: A crowd of young girls in cocktail dresses breezed past us as Scotty sent out well wishes to friends on the free WIFI and I put the final touches on our road-trip itinerary (courtesy of the Lonely Planet guidebook we picked up from the Dunedin Library- points for being thrifty). Sitting out on the patio, listening to the crickets (they are LOUD in Australia- very jungle), seeing these pretty young girls in their colourful Christmas dresses, and feeling the warm, humid air breeze over the skin... I couldn't help but smile.

I was caught up in a dream. We had lost light hours before. We had no clue what our surroundings looked like. Being in this strange land, so far from all our loved-ones with "Thistle-hair" (a Werdal-family Christmas classic- you have no clue how good it is) playing in my head- I could feel the moment being burned into my memory- something our much older selves will look back on with twinkles in our eyes.

We drove another 30 mins to Bargara and settled into a neighbourhood park for the night.

Yes- we slept in our car... our small Suzuki Swift... for a week. Our feet and ankles swelled like sausages because the blood pooled in our non-hortizontal legs.

"MA IN HER KERCHIEF AND I IN MY CAP, HAD JUST SETTLED IN FOR A LONG SUMMER'S NAP"

The stars were beyond anything I have seen. Being so far away from city lights (and seeing southern constellations... Orion is upside down and we've gotten good at spotting the Southern Cross)- the sky was bursting with stunners.

IT DOESN'T EVEN DO IT JUSTICE. THE MILKY WAY WAS SO WHITE. 

"Merry Christmas" I groggily said to Scotty. 7:30 am. Way too hot to continue sleeping in the car. Instead of opening presents- our surprise came with the rising sun, exposing our surroundings. We stumbled down to the beach and were greeted by waves crashing onto deep orange sand.



What a blessing.

THE BEACH WE WOKE UP ON

I SAVED MY BIRTHDAY DRESS FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.

After we spat our toothpaste in the bush, we headed to Mon Repos Conservation Park- a sea turtle rookery. We knew that a turtle sighting during the day would be slim. Tours are offered at night, but not on Christmas Day. We walked the length of beach and spotted the turtle nests, our eyes peeled of any signs of baby turtles. Instead, we found five eggs that had been washed out by the surf (rogue waves even caught us by surprise coming up much higher than the rest). I don't know if the babies inside them still had a chance, but I like to think that they did- we reburried them in one of the higher nests, and I said a little prayer as I walked away.

MON REPOS. THE SAND WAS ORANGE.

TURTLE EGGS. THE FIRST ONE WE FOUND WE THOUGHT WAS A WATER-LOGGED PING-PONG BALL. THE SHELLS ARE LIKE LEATHER. I LIKE TO THINK WE SAVED FIVE SEA TURTLES ON CHRISTMAS MORNING.

I had hoped we could "touch" the Great Barrier Reef at the Barolin Rocks in Woongarra Marine Park (the names are so much more fun to say in Aus and NZ... even though you get the pronunciation wrong half the time!). Nature had other plans. A storm had blown in along the coast. Scotty stood on the rocks overlooking the reef and watched the "washing machine" water as he just shook his head. While the reef dips close to the beach in that spot, it was still a few hundred meter shot off the shore. Swimming there in those conditions was too risky (we didn't know what kind of currents we might encounter out there). We shook off the disappointment and found another McD's to take advantage of the WIFI.

I forgot that EVERYTHING would be closed on Christmas Day. From the parking lot we sent a few messages. I kept my intention of the Asisi tradition and fed multigrain cracker crumbs to some little birds in the parking lot. My tummy may have been rumbling, but those little birdies had their fill.

We spent our afternoon lazing in the sun at Hervey Bay. Scotty attempted a snorkel, but the water had stirred up the sand too much and made the visibility really poor. Hundreds of large bats (seagull size) slept in the trees above us and families gathered to picnic while the kids beamed over the new toys Santa had brought them. Christmas down south is far more relaxed- very casual. I kind of love the idea of it, but then I wonder what carries a person through winter if there isn't Christmas to look forward to?

HERVEY BAY

NO MISTLETOE NECESSARY

HUGE BATS. LIKE THE ONES IN FIJI.

Rainbow Beach boasts over 60 shades of sand in the dunes surrounding the settlement. We enjoyed the last hour of sunshine surrounded by swimmers in Christmas hats on this giant beach that stretched further than the eye.

RAINBOW BAY ON CHRISTMAS DAY

THE STORMS WERE A "PROBLEM" (NOT FOR THE SURFERS) ALL ALONG THE COAST. NICE TO SEE RUDOLPH AND BLITZEN WERE LIFEGUARDING CHRISTMAS DAY.

We fed our grumbly bellies on apples and peanut butter sandwiches. Scotty even poured dry Museli into his mouth and convinced me that the flavours from the nuts and dry fruit made it "an enjoyable snack."

We headed back down towards Brisbane that night, but we pulled off at a tourist rest stop and found a food court that was open! Being a Vegetarian, my options were limited (Vancouver is so gracious to us veggies... I really miss that), I settled on passion fruit yogurt and Scotty had a chicken burger.

CHRISTMAS DINNER AT A TOURIST STOP.

Now that we've gone without a Christmas dinner, we know to be especially grateful for next years'. We really missed our moms as we washed our food court dinner down with a coke zero. To do this once (perhaps twice) in life is an adventure. I wouldn't trade anything for it, but we adore being surrounded by our families.

HUGE BEETLE I SCOOPED UP WITH A SPOON. THAT THING HAD SOME SERIOUS GRIP.

 You hear that Werdals and Martens??? We  missed the hell out of you all, and we would prefer that if we're going to have yogurt and chicken burgers for future Christmas dinner, that you would be here too. Please keep that in mind for the future.

Now can somebody just win the lottery already?