Call me maybe!?

Jennifer and I spent the day driving up the coast and walking through amazing coastal Rainforest! It was absolutely gorgeous and wonderful and though the sun set on our walk we got to see the back side of a waterfall at dusk and as we trekked back we found glowworms!! (The waterfall looked just like a water fall I used to draw when I was a child as my "peaceful place" so it was really magical for me.) The Rainforest hike was full of dense green trees, vines and moss and we got to see the sun peaking through the top as it set behind us. The elephant ears and mini-palm trees were my favorite and listening to the whip-bird and bell birds made for a beautiful walk.

Afterwards, the drive to her mom's timeshare was quiet with the sound of gentle breathing, it had been a long day. As we got into our room and realized we didn't have a kitchen after all we decided to skip dinner and just sleep! I made a call to Mimi and Papa's empty house first just to make sure my phone call would go through in the wee hours of the morning, so I wouldn't need to think, and then set my alarm for 3:30. I dreamt all night of calling my family at the reunion. I dreamt that one of my uncles answered and we talked the whole time, no one else got a chance. And I dreamt that my sister's friend needed advice so I was listening to their phone call and I walked off an unexpected cliff!! Hah, dream worlds are crazy.

Anyway, at 2:58 I woke up but didn't want to miss anyone who was late ;) so I went back to sleep waiting for the alarm. I ended up waking up at 2:25 and turned off my alarm before I went off waking Jennifer and snuck my pillow into the hotel bathroom where I called my family. (It was so good to talk to all of you!!!! ;) It made me so happy. Amazing how when I hear a voice I can so clearly picture a face. So in a way, I got to see all the people I love! (I love you all even though I didn't get to talk to everyone!) It was fun imagining myself being passed around the breakfast table, people calling out, "who hasn't talked to Hannah!?" I told Coleen I felt like a hot potato! It was fun though and I'm so glad it finally worked out. I have such a beautiful family and it was wonderful to connect with them, even if it was just for half an hour in the middle of (my) night!

Of course now I'm awake so I might as well write up a blog and catch up on my adventures!

Jennifer got in a week ago and Steph and I spent the day switching her over to our time zone. (It's weird, the ways of Australia feel all too natural to me already.) We "walked her" along the beach and it was a gorgeous day! There was lots of laughter and silliness! Yay for beautiful ladies on adventures! The next day Steph had to work so I took Jennifer on the Sydney tour: The Botanical Gardens, Harbor Bridge, the talking toilet, The Rocks (a old part of town that's been conserved all this time, really beautiful, and my favorite!) and of course, The Opera House. She and I did the House Tour and it is incredible inside!! Beautiful architecture and fascinating history. Most of the classical theater is made with wood and the acoustics would be amazing in there I'm sure! We would have loved to see an actual show but there was nothing worth seeing on during that time. We spent our evenings with Steph at her friend Narada's house. It was very cozy and we were incredibly grateful! (Narada had heard a rumor from Steph's flat mate that I drew all over Steph's stove and she figured, 'oh she's pretty free spirited, maybe it was a recipe,' having no other details to fill in the dots. Steph cracked up when she heard this (and so did I!) Once Steph explained that I had simply replaced the numbers (for the level of heat) Narada reopened her offer to let us all stay there while she was away! So of course we left her a bottle of "hippie" wine! And drew all over papers and put them all over her stove and counter top! Haha.

Jennifer and I set off to New Zealand on Tuesday just to get turned around at the check-in counter because New Zealand wouldn't accept her passport. Talk about an opportunity for kindness. I think we handled the situation quite gracefully actually and it was a great challenge for our adventure together! (It was this same day we had a meal worm encounter, which was also handled quite well..) We're a good team. The guy at the airport counter was really sweet and credited us for the trip so we booked one for Uluru! smack dab in the middle of Australia's no-where. (Seriously look at a map of Australia- it is HUGE and like 85% uncharted desert!) Meanwhile we've decided to drive up the coast! 11 hours between two of the big cities here. We've got 5 days.

Our rental car has been quite trusty, despite the random pokey thing we ran over the first night scraping the splash guard. No flat tire though! Yay! Jennifer fixed it up with zip ties yesterday. Ha. The cup holders make a nice amphitheater for our iPhones to play music since there's sooo much talking on the radio-though we have enjoyed repeating what they say and trying to sound Aussie. !!! We saw a cafe with a sign that said: "the word of the day is Audacious (or-dash-us)" -what!?! There is NO R in that word!! So, so fun! We've also been having a blast with road signs like: Yarranabbe! And Woollamaloo! And Tuggerah! Jennifer said sometimes she wonders why I'm sitting there making strange sounds until she realizes I'm reading the street signs! It's fun. So far she's done all the driving and has been a star! It seems quite confusing. I might have a go today. ("Left side. Left side. Left side.")

We visited a friend of a friend in New Castle, leaving us with a new friend! Katie was a great hostess and lucky for us her dinner plans fell through so she cooked us a yummy dinner and dessert with tea! We had fun listening to Australian Christmas Carols and talking about traditions of the holiday under blankets! We're still confused about being so cold in July! I went for a rainy sunrise walk the next day, the other two were smart enough to stay in bed! Later that day we had to visit Redhead! Couldn't pass that one up!

I had another creature attachment after "getting lost" in the rainforest the other day. It didn't hurt like the jelly fish did but it certainly creeped me out! Makes me feel squirmy just thinking about it! But 'no dramas,' I was fine. Amazing the things that live in the depths of the rainforest! It was fun to come across a scout camp in the middle of it by the ocean. Looking in the windows of the mess hall reminded me of the good ol' days at Camp Krem! This trip has offered so much time for memories and an amazing amount of life reflection. I have had some beautiful experiences in my life and hope I can write them all down some day. Reading The Power of Kindness has me wanting to write my autobiography one day. That will be fun! I have so much I've done and so much more ahead of me! Though now it's all completely unknown to me and will offer so many more opportunities to grow and experience this beautiful world!

Starting with today!
We're driving to hippy Australia so that should be interesting and fun and then up to Brisbane tomorrow which is one of the few big cities. Then we fly to Cairns and do the Great Barrier Reef, Port Douglas and the Daintree Rainforest! It should be much warmer up there so I'm looking forward to that!

I think I'm gunna go back to sleep first. Sorry if this blog was scattered. 4am is probably not prime brain time.
(And for those of you who were confused: WWOOFing stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms. I hope to do some more of that after Jennifer heads to London! :)
(Also, a couple of you have told me you wanted to leave comments; that only works if you are also a member on blogger- you can send me a comment by email or Facebook though! I'd love to hear from you!)