Wonder if we get this show in the US?

Have you seen Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent yet? Take a couple minutes and watch - it's awesome.

Our AU plans

We're still very early in the planning stages, all that's booked is airfare, but as of now, here are some of our plans...

We're flying into Sydney on Richard Branson's fun new airline V Australia. We'll spend three days/3 nights in Sydney. We'll take a tour of the Opera House (too bad they're not having High Tea when we're there), check out the harbor, royal gardens and the The Rocks. That's all within walking distance of our hotel. Then we'll rent a car to go to the Blue Mountains for some hiking. Depending on time, we may also go to their famous wine region, Hunter Valley.

Then it's off the the Great Barrier Reef for 3 nights. We haven't decided on the island resort yet, but I'm leaning toward Hamilton Island. This will be the chill portion of our trip: beach, snorkel and no kayaking. I want to make it to Whitehaven Beach, which looks beyond beautiful.

And then, our final leg is to Brisbane. We'll check out some cool beach communities people have told us about and some other things that are TBD. And then, no trip to AU is complete without the Australia Zoo! I was a fan of the croc hunter from the beginning - it'll be sad, but so fun. I cant wait to cuddle & take pics with a koala! In Sydney and on the reef you can have breakfast with koalas! I think we might have to do that both places - so cool. Think one will fit in my carrryon?

Speaking of customs, would you believe we won't get a stamp in our passports in AU? They do electronic visas instead of passports. It's a bummer - maybe we shouldn't even bother going. :)

We're gone from June 24th - July 5th. For some reason, after we booked the airfare, even though there are lots of things to figure out, I'm not really worried any more. Instead, I am sooooo excited!

It's Official

The airfare is booked - we're going to Australia!

A Tiny Fear

For most of my life, I've hated the fact that I've never been out of the country (Canada doesn't count). My parents lived in Germany for years, my sister was even born there and that was just the first of many trips abroad for them. A couple years ago when we went to the Caribbean for the first time, I was so happy to finally get a passport. Although our two trips to the Caribbean were international, I barely count those trips as out of the country.

Over the weekend I had a minor fear of going on a trip abroad. They don't judge distance in miles, weight in pounds or money in USD. AAA won't even be valid there. Our cell phones won't work. I doubt they accept Aetna health insurance. Will our drivers license be valid to rent a car? Will all our miscellaneous electronics chargers work? This is all part of the adventure though, right?

Since I've always wanted to go abroad, I didn't understand why I had this minor and fleeting fear. Then it came to me - on our first Caribbean trip, my throat almost swelled completely shut in my sleep. Not being able to talk or swallow and being loaded on the next boat to the mainland, a taxi ride through crazy, rooster littered streets and being dumped at a random strip mall was a little scary. I don't know how Ryan figured it all out, but we got to the clinic and the story has a happy ending. But seeing as how that was my first real trip out of the US, I guess I can see why I have minor nerves.

A Little Fun

On Saturday night we went to a party with some of my work friends. One of the guys, David, was pretty wasted from the minute we got there. He had been joking with me on Friday that if I needed my wisdom tooth pulled I might choke and drown on my own blood during the surgery. So when I saw him Saturday, I played like I had to have all four out on Monday and was gonna be off work for a week to recover. Hard to tell if he bought it since he was drunk.

Yesterday I didn’t go over to his side of the building so he might think I was actually out of the office.

This afternoon I went over there. I was talking to another guy when David walked up to us. I made my tongue push out the side of my mouth and talked all funny and said I was in a lot of pain. He started making fun of me. We all kept up the charade. Finally, in dramatic fashion, I left and went back to my desk. He followed me over and eventually apologized. It really wasn't a good act - I'm so surprised he bought it. Wonder how long I should keep it up? We're trying to find some fake blood for tomorrow.

It's been a bright spot in my otherwise pretty crappy day.