A Birthday Weekend Getaway

I was a bad blogger/wife and didn't post on my lovely husband's birthday a few weeks ago- November 18, to be exact.  Fail.  So now I will attempt to redeem myself with a recap of the birthday weekend festivities. 

Even before we knew we were moving, I had planned to take David to a little beach town called 1770 for his birthday (about an hour and a half drive from here).  I had been there previously (you can read about that trip HERE) when my parents were here visiting, but David didn't get to come with us that time, and he had mentioned several times that he wanted to go at some point. 

I was a little bit worried about the weather, since it was looking like there was a good chance it might rain all weekend.  But we lucked out and the weather was nearly perfect! 

 




When we arrived, we had lunch and some birthday beers at a cute little restaurant right next to where we were staying called "The Tree."  This is basically the best restaurant "near" us.  And yes, again, this is an hour and a half drive from where we live.  The food here is one of the few things I will not miss about Gladstone. 

 

 

After lunch, we went on a little hike and checked out some gorgeous views over the water.  Unfortunately, it got a little bit overcast during our hike, so the water didn't look as bright blue/green as it does when it's a clear, sunny day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had booked a sunset canoe tour for that evening.  We got to the meet up place, had a mini kayaking lesson, got suited up, and paddled about 10 minutes out before our guide broke the news that we would have to turn back since it was just too windy. 

 

 

Clearly I was contributing a lot to this kayaking effort

Pelicans!





We were a bit disappointed, but we quickly made our own alternate sunset watching plans.  We grabbed a bottle of wine and some cheese (in the form of cheese crackers) and headed down to a bench at the water's edge to watch the sunset.  It was gorgeous, and so nice to just talk, relax, and enjoy the view.  This will probably be one of my favorite memories from our Australian travels.  There was an amazing sunset when I visited with my parents as well- which you can see photos of HERE. 

 

Wine and "cheese" at sunset

 

Going... going...



...going... GONE!






The next day we headed to the nearby beach at Agnes Water for... SURF LESSONS!  Truthfully, neither of us have ever really been all that interested in surfing, but it just felt like such a huge Australia bucket list item/must-do since Australia is known for some of the best surfing in the world. The class that day was HUGE, so I was a little worried that the lessons wouldn't be all that great.  But we were pleasantly surprised.  The instructors did a great job managing such a large group, and I felt like I got plenty of one on one instruction throughout the day.

 

 

  

 

 

Surfing is seriously hard, but a lot of fun!  The water was the perfect temperature that day, so it was nice to be in the ocean for several hours.  We both managed to stand up and catch a few waves on our boards... nothing too impressive though.  I felt like a pretty hard core surfer because I even had a surfing accident.  I fell off my board and when I came up out of the water, a wave pushed the board right into my nose.  There was blood everywhere, so of course I booked it out of the water to escape the shark that I was sure would immediately come after me and my bloody nose.  Once I settled down and stopped crying after the random German tourist passing by suggested that my nose might be broken (it wasn't), I got back out there for a few more waves.  I was pretty proud of myself after that! 
 

 

 

Catching "sun waves"

 

 

 

No idea what is possessing me to post a picture of me in a bathing suit.... PROOF that I stood up, I guess...

 

Surf School Graduates!

 

It was a quick little weekend trip away, but we had a really good time. David never really likes to have a party or anything big for his birthday, so I think this was the perfect way to celebrate. 

A Belated Birthday Recap

I'm back! I have returned from my amazing New Zealand and Sydney travels, and am just now starting to sort through the hundreds of photos I have.  In the meantime I thought I'd do a quick birthday weekend recap, since my birthday was just a few days before I left and I didn't get a chance to recap. 

My birthday was Friday, March 15.  I was scheduled to work that day, which was fine by me since otherwise I would have mostly spent the day at home alone.  Each Friday, the school has a mini assembly (they call them "parades" here) first thing in the morning.  Each class takes turn being in charge of the parade, showing classroom projects, etc., and then at the end of each parade, they celebrate any birthday for the week.  Lucky for me, no one knew it was my birthday that day.  Or so I thought.  After they called up the few students/teachers that had birthdays that week, I thought I was safe... until a few of the students started shouting, "It's Miss Megan's birthday, too!!"  I had completely forgotten but a couple months earlier, one of the kiddos (with an amazing memory apparently) had asked me when my birthday was, and REMEMBERED all that time later.  I usually hate being sung to in front of a crowd, but it was actually kind of fun.  They sing the same happy birthday song as we do, but since the school I've been working at is a school for students with special needs, they also sign the song which was really neat.  Oh, and after the birthday song is over, Aussies say "Hip hip, HOORAY! Hip hip HOORAY! Hip hip HOORAY!"  It's pretty cute!  So anyway, it ended up being a fun day at work. 

Since David has to work every Saturday, that Friday night was just your typical "weeknight" for us.  I did some packing and getting ready for my trip and watched American Idol of course (it plays on Thursdays and Fridays here). 

On Saturday (which was my actual birthday in the US), I met my friend Kim and her sweet baby Cooper for coffee, then I headed back home to talk to some friends and family on the phone.  That night, David took me out to dinner at one of Gladstone's few fine dining establishments (and even then, the term is used loosely).  It actually turned out to be quite nice.  It was a beautiful night, and we sat outside on the deck.  We shared a bottle of wine (Australian Shiraz, of course), and David somehow convinced me to try kangaroo finally- in the form of Kangaroo Spring Rolls.  Kangaroo is not something I ever thought I would eat- in fact, before moving here I didn't know that ANYONE actually ate kangaroo meat.  But hey, when in Australia, right?  I didn't hate it.  But I didn't love it.  It was kind of gamey- which I had heard might be the case.  Definitely not going to make it a part of my diet, but I guess I am glad I can say I tried it. 

All in all, it was a great FIRST Australian birthday and LAST birthday in my 20's.  I have a feeling though that it might just be the first of many times that I will turn 29 :-) 

*Excuse the awful photos.  The restaurant had some crazy blue overhead lighting that made everything look odd. 

 

Kangaroo Spring Rolls!





 

My hair looks crazy long here...

My handsome birthday date!

My BIRTHday

Growing up, my mom always loved to tell her kids the story of our "BIRTHdays" each year.  I think most of the time, we thought it was silly and would say things like, "MooooOOOOm! Why are you telling this story again?!"  But she persisted.  Now that I'm older, I definitely appreciate it much more.  I now love hearing this story and other peoples' birth stories!  This year, my mom typed it out and sent it to me on my birthday.  SO, in honor of my birthday TODAY- I thought it would be fun to share the story of my BIRTHday :-) 

A few notes:
-Mimi = my grandmother
-Lauren = my older sister
-I WAS indeed a large baby (9+ pounds)
-I do, in fact, still hate napping

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, 29 years ago today (March 14) Mimi arrived at our home, while I prepared to go to St. Joseph's hospital at 6:00 the following morning (March 15). Of course Lauren was very excited and planning her day with Mimi the next day. I knew my labor was to be induced due to speculation that you were a large baby and my due date was Mid March. I was happy to be able to get up the next morning, shower, do my hair, shave my legs, (I must have been stressed because I didn't realize until I was in the car that I only shaved one)!

Dad and I were at the hospital and ready to go on time, so anxious to hold my little baby, sex and name unknown. Since labor was induced, everything went smoothly, and I elected to have an epideral, so I don't recall any pain. I do remember fainting several times in bed due to low blood pressure. When this happened my bed needed to be adjusted so the head of the bed was lower than my feet, and I was then put on oxygen. Once my blood pressure went up, the bed was returned to normal position. This happened several times. Try delivering a baby with head down!

Everything continued well until 12:49 PM., when little you appeared! I remember you being long and thin, and very peaceful. Quickly after that you went a little blue which concerned the doctor, so you were quickly removed from the delivery room and I didn't see you again for about two hours, as the doctor was watching you closely. After that all was well, and we both went home the next day. Oh, Dad and I couldn't agree on a name, so you left as baby Grant. I wanted to name you Maggie, but Dad insisted that reminded him of Mimi's cat. He won-

You were a very good baby, although you did not like to nap. Maybe this explains why you don't like napping today as an adult! Your sister Lauren loved you, even though several days later she bit your foot. Such a pest!!

Well, that's the traditional story of Megan's birth. A story I love to tell you year after year. This was one of the favorite days of my life. There is nothing more magnificent than the birth of your own child, and what a special child you are!

I love and miss you. See you soon, Mom

Obviously not a newborn here, but this was the youngest photo of myself with my mom that I have here with me in Australia. 

Heron Island – Great Barrier Reef

*Picture overload- you’ve been warned…

Our weekend trip to Heron Island to celebrate David’s 30^th can truly be summed up in one word: paradise.  It was so beautiful- almost surreal!  It is truly one of those places that really does look exactly like a postcard. The water really is that amazing clear blue/green/turquoise color. The fish really are as colorful as you’d imagine. The sand really is that gorgeous creamy white. Multiple times while I was there, I caught myself just looking around and thinking, “wow- this is just so beautiful” – almost overwhelmingly so. The crazy thing is that the most amazing part of it is actually what is under the water- what is IN the actual Great Barrier Reef. 

On Friday morning, we took the Heron Islander boat that leaves daily from.  I was a little nervous, because I had heard that the waters can be pretty rough, and sea-sickness inducing.  We lucked out though and it was a smooth ride the entire two hours. 

 

I immediately started snapping photos as soon as we got to the pier.  This shot is one of my absolute favorites and is now the background on both my laptop and phone.  I have done nothing to edit this photo.    

View from our room

After we got settled in our room and ate lunch, we were anxious to head right to the beach to go on a guided reef walk.  A reef walk is basically like tide pooling.  The tide there goes out SUPER far at low tide, and you can walk for what seems like forever and have the water barely at your knees.  During low tide, you can see so many amazing plants and animals in the shallow waters.  It was nice to have a guide too, because she pointed out things I would have gone right past.  We saw sea stars, sea cucumbers, crabs, clams, and tons of pretty coral- among other things. 

Our guide.

I think this was called a Sea Hare Slug 

Hermit Crab, Sea Star, Clam! 

 David's angry face because I forgot to wear my sunhat. Ha!

 

See how far out I am from the beach and the water is still super shallow?!

The next day, we spent almost entirely in the water.  You can snorkel from pretty much anywhere on the island, so it’s easy to do on your own.  It is unbelievable just how much life there is in the Great Barrier Reef – it really did feel like it was a completely new world (Little Mermaid, anyone?) underwater.  I kept choking on water as I would frequently gasp or squeal in excitement through my snorkel when I saw something cool.  The highlights were: stingrays, a reef shark, amazingly colorful fish, huge clams, a manta ray, and of course tons and tons of coral.  At one point, we happened to swim right into the middle of a giant school of fish- it was crazy! 

Hubby scoping out the perfect beach spot

 

Pretty fish! 

Stingrays- we saw about 10 of these! 

 Manta Ray



Reef Shark (supposedly totally harmless, but I was still a little freaked out) 

There is an old shipwreck right off the shore that you could swim out to at high tide.  We ventured out there, and it was really fun to explore-  except we stayed out there a bit too long, and almost got stuck out there as the tide was coming in. 

 

The island itself is pretty small, and you can walk around the entire island on the beaches (during low tide, of course) in about an hour.  We spent part of our afternoon doing this, too. 

 Excuse the squinty face- it was SUPER bright and glare-y this day!

 

David and I both realized that this was the first beach-type resort or vacation we had been to/on where people were not lounging on the beach or by the pool most of the time.  There seriously is just so much to do and see there that even though lying on the beach is one of my favorite things to do, you’d be a fool to spend much of your time doing that.  The resort itself is the only resort on the island, and it is pretty bare bones and minimalistic.  This is partly because the island is National Park and because again, it’s really not meant to be a “sit on your lounge chair with an umbrella in your drink” kind of place.  I actually loved that about it. 

 

 

On Saturday night, we had signed up to do a “Star-gazing” session.  I was a little iffy on this, but I’m so so glad we did this.  It was so neat!  My mind was officially blown to see a totally different sky full of stars than I was used to seeing in the Northern Hemisphere.  I mean, it makes sense that it would be completely different, but I had just never thought about it, I guess.  It was strange not to see the North Star or the Big Dipper.  But it was also interesting to have the staff point out new constellations I had never seen.  They had a big telescope too, and we were even able to see Jupiter and 3 of its moons!  There were quite a few shooting stars as well.  Between the crazy amount of life in the water and the amazing sky full of stars, it makes our little everyday world that we’re used to seem pretty insignificant.  Not in a bad way- just made me a little reflective about it all I guess. 

On the morning of our last day, we went on a guided snorkeling trip.  We took a boat out just about 15 minutes from the island, but that was as far as you needed to go to get past the big “drop off” into the deep part of the ocean.  We saw a lot of the same things on this trip, just MORE of everything.  Two new things that we saw though were a Crown of Thorns Starfish- our guide told us that these are very rare to see, and somewhat a bad thing to see because these guys eat the coral at a very quick rate.  And on this snorkel trip, we FINALLY saw what I had been hoping to see the whole trip: SEA TURTLES!  These guys were so big and SO SO cute!  I wanted to get closer to them, but we were told not to approach them since it is their nesting season and that might scare them away from coming to shore.  Boo.  Unfortunately, because the water was deeper here and because it was slightly overcast that morning my photos from this snorkel adventure didn’t turn out as clear as the ones from the day before. 

 

 Manta Ray



Sea turtles (above and below)! 

 

Overall, Heron Island was amazing!  I still have a hard time believing that I was actually in the Great Barrier Reef and that I saw all of the things in the photos.  I definitely think we will go back again, and I absolutely will insist that anyone who comes to visit us also make a trip to Heron Island. 

And some more photos I just couldn’t bear to “cut” from the post…