The end of the line, otherwise known as the Great Barrier Reef

After Airlie Beach, there was a long drive to get up to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef but it was all worth it. We loved Australia but honestly, the best part of the whole trip was Airlie Beach and the Great Barrier Reef...it made the hours and hours of driving worth it!

Our first few nights in Cairns, we stayed with a woman named Leslie, who was actually originally from Chicago, and who lived with her husband and two adorable dogs in a open-air home that felt like a tree-house! She took us to the botanical gardens and the arts center that she used to be the director of. We also had a lovely afternoon swimming in the artificial lagoon on the promenade in downtown Cairns.

Our second to last day in Cairns, we went on a boat tour out to the reef to snorkel and also try scuba diving for the first time. It was magical...we saw giant clams, sea cucumbers, and some of the most brilliant colored fish I've ever seen. We wanted to purchase a disposable underwater camera but they didn't have any on onboard...bah humbug!

The first dive that we got to do, about four of us linked arms with our instructor and honestly, I hated it; I felt claustrophobic. But our second dive, we were allowed to swim around as long as we were less than ten feet from our instructor and I think the freedom helped me feel much less claustrophobic. It was amazing down there!!! Like another world!

Because we didn't have photos from the reef, we had to take pictures of our empty plates of delicious boat buffet

What's going on in this picture is that I don't know what's going on

Oh, heyyyy!

Drinking a glass of wine on the boat ride back

BEAUTIFUL.

Newcastle -> Port Macquerie -> Coff's Harbour

Our last day in Sydney, we picked up a rental car and drove to Newcastle to stay with a couch surfing host there. His name was John and he was Canadian! Back in Canada he had been in the Canadian Air Force and here in Australia, he ran the flight simulation program for the Australian Air Force.

He ate dinner with us and then took us on a walking tour of the coastal area that he lived in. It was a wonderful walk down to their lighthouse and thru the beaches and harbour area. We met up with his girlfriend and went to get some drinks all together. 

The next day, Don and I did another coastal walk and saw these very strange jellyfish that we later learned were Portuguese Man-of-War. Yikes.

After staying in Newcastle for two nights, we headed to Port Macquarie, where I was very eager to see the Koala Hospital! It was absolutely amazing. We learned all about some of the diseases and injuries that koalas get and what places like this hospital are doing to help them.

Next stop: Coff's Harbour. The weather was a bit lousy while we were there but we went to the Botanical Gardens, took a nap on their main beach, had drinks at their only decent bar, and went to a cartoon museum before heading on our way.

It was very easy to see the different layers of rock...clearly defined

Don's new car!

Don is vertically challenged from the waist up, otherwise known as having a short torso

A random bird in Port Macquarie...love finding these gem's in our photo folder

A koala we met at the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie

Did you know koalas sleep 18-20 hours a day because the eucalyptus leaves they eat have so little nutritional value that their bodies don't have the strength to do much of anything but sleep and eat.   

There were about 50 of these giant koalas all over the town. Each koala had a different theme...scroll down for a few more photos like this.

Oh, hello

This is a pretty good looking yogurt parfait if I do say so myself. Fruit is in season in Australia and it's amazing! Notice the fresh mint leaves on top!?

V-Wall on the way to Coff's Harbour...most of the rocks have been painted along this whole walkway

Don is famous in Australia. Don is Don. Don is good. Shaved leg ham?! 

Some of the beautiful flowers at the Coff's Harbour Botanical Gardens

If you look really closely, you can see me on the red bridge!

Went to a cartoon museum in Coff's Harbour where I proceeded to read an entire volume of Calvin and Hobbes...my version of a summer day doing nothing : success.

The one with Peter Jackson's home town

I've heard rumor that Sir Peter Jackson has a replica of Bilbo Baggin's hobbit hole in his Wellington backyard for his guests to stay in so I tried to contact him and asked if we could stay there but never received any reply :( womp womp. Since that never panned out, we found another family to couch surf with who lived in Upper Hutt, which is about 30 minutes north of Wellington. Our plan was to stay two nights there and then take the ferry to Picton in the South Island but we quickly realized that we were grossly unprepared to pack all of our possessions (which were strewn all over the rental car we had gotten in Auckland, I might add) back into our bags, try to see Wellington and surrounding areas all while trying to get ferry tickets, and make accommodation and transportation plans for Picton/South Island etc. So...we decided to stay a couple extra days in Wellington just to do some planning and logistical stuff.

Back to the cool stuff, like what we saw and did while in Wellington...

Our first afternoon there, we walked through the Wellington Botanical Gardens before we went to the top of Mount Victoria to see the beautiful panoramic views of the city. We both love seeing gardens in the different cities and towns that we visit, even back in the US, so since we've been in New Zealand, we've tried to visit every garden that we could find.

Some adorable ducklings that we saw in the botanical garden

It's springtime in New Zealand!

A field of poppies...I was in heaven

View of Wellington harbor from the top of Mount Victoria