Greetings from Australia

Hi Mates,
As you can tell we are in Australia. We made it across the big Pacific Ocean with a 4 night stop in Fiji, Nadi.
In the four days in Fiji we had the chance to relax from the last couple of weeks planning for the next year. I know what you guys are thinking how hard is it to plan for vacation while you are trying to keep up in the daily rat race. I have to admit I feel really lucky and fortunate to be able to see so many different things and can take so many memories with me.
Okay back to Fiji. We notice that the Fijian Island are really geared towards the Australian and the Kiwis. I guess for us you can compare it to Hawaii or to Mallorca for the Europeans. The beaches on the water was great. The food to expensive but good especial the fish.. The snorkeling was okay we did not go out to far to the coral reef. But we are making up for it here in Australia.

Most of you know I'm (Christiane) a city person and was fascinated by Sydney. What a beautiful location. So much water front. I felt it is a mixture between Seattle and Vancouver with the Aussi flare and Asian influence. The opera house could not be on a better location. A lot of the old waterfront have been remodeled or are under way. Beautiful housing directly at the water edge with your own boat slip. You can image prices have been going up here as well.
We were lucky and found fast a camper van. Just imagine a bigger van you can stand in and cook. We call it home until November. Leaving Sydney and learning to drive on the wrong side of the street. The road is endless long and the distances are really deceiving. The country side has a lot of cattle to offer and further north sugar cane after sugar cane fields. Did I forgot to mention sugar cane. And signs for Koala Bears but impossible to see them. The first kangaroos we saw excluding in the Zoo were the dead once along the highway. It is life threatening to drive at night so we don't do it.
We landed in Redcliff a small town in the Mortem Bay. Great place for Whale watching. We had so much fun we did it again in Hervey Bay couple days later. We tried to get the southern Humpback whales in one picture. But they are so big and beautiful impossible if they are close to the boat. We were lucky to hear their sound get wet from their breath and be seen by their eyes. Are you interested to see hundreds of photos and an hour of video tape?
The next day we spend two days on Fraser Island. Fraser Island is offshore Hervey Bay and the biggest sand island in the world. So the biggest sand box for adults and kid a like.
The beaches are so nice wide and long but guess you are not allowed to put your food in it. First of all the blue jelly fish it burns -no bare foot. The current is so strong and if yo are lucky to survive it you will be eaten by the sharks. Non of the above sounds great to me. But the fresh water lakes are amazing. It looks like you are in the South Pacific. All the fresh water lakes are created by the rainwater and there are a lot of lakes and streams but is does not mean it is raining a lot. We spend the two days with a tour group and the majority of the people were Germans. What a surprise. We meet one couple they are touring for a year around the world but going the opposite direction. But is is really strange they have the same time available in Australia have a Wicked Van (a rental van that is painted all over and a mile away to spot) and leaving on the same day as we are same flight to New Zealand and Christchurch. As I'm writing this email they are doing the same. Arvo thinks they are stocking us. :-)
But back to Fraser Island. We left Hervey Bay further north to Agnes Water and 1770 this is the first point Captain Cook landed in Australia. Here starts the lower Great Barrier Reef and a unknown secrete for snorkeling and diving. But the weather was bad and they canceled the trip we scheduled for Lady Musgrove Island and the boat to another island is under maintenance. So we left and headed north. That is where sugar cane is big. So many kilometers and nothing in between but we reached Mackay as a starting point for finding Platypus and Rain forest. We found the rain forest but not the Platypus. We spend the night at Cape Hillsborough- the Kangaroo beach. We meet our German friends again and woke up for the sunrise to see the kangaroos who like to watch the sunrise. Or I guess it was feeding time. Baby kangaroos or Joeys whom mothers were killed on the road. They were really cute and we could pet them as well.

Finally we are here in Whitsunday Island-Arlie Beach where I'm writing this email. Tomorrow the four of us are leaving on a big catamaran for the islands and the Great Barrier Reef. 3 days 3 nights including snorkeling and diving. This will be my first diving experience. I'm not certified but Arvo is. I will have a buddy dive. I guess it will be similar to buddy skydiving.
So that is it for right now.
Pictures we will post later we need to find out how to shrink them for the internet. But we promisse they will be posted.
Please let us know if you are unable to see the link and all of you are doing well

Take Care Arvo and Christiane