"Ok, so what stinky clothes should I change into?"

Unfortunately, it was nearly time to say goodbye to the Whitsundays and head back to the mainland.My last morning consisted of journal writing at 6 am, witnessing Kristi & Lee's walk of shame from the sails, devouring mass quantities of Jodi's delicious fried bread for breakfast, and snoozing in the sun during the 3.5 hour trip back to Airlie Beach. We took some final photos with our new friends including the London girls...... Jenna and Kristi...

... Lee (aka Skipper)...... Tom (our scuba instructor)...... and the rest of the Matador gang.I don't miss my sleeping accommodations below deck in the slightest (esp Matt's snoring).Nor do I miss never, ever showering (this was day 3.. sick). But I definitely miss waking up to this view.I was SO glad Brooke came up for the birthday celebration weekend. Love this girl.Team Responsibility got one last group shot in.

And then we said our last goodbyes to the crew, the Matador and the islands.

Rachel and I were on a later flight back to Brisbane, so we spent the afternoon at the Lagoon, a public swimming pool in Airlie Beach. It was a gorgeous day, but sadly, I had to avoid the sun because I was soooo burnt. I was beyond desperate for a shower, even so much so that I shampooed my hair in a public shower (you know, the ones they provide for people to just rinse off). Sound white trash? Absolutely. Did I care one bit? Heck no. We grabbed a taxi to the Prosperpine airport where our driver Neil was an excellent tour guide. We saw coffee fields, macadamia tree farms, and plenty of sugar cane.

Once again, we found ourselves imposing on Freya and Nathan's hospitality in Brisbane (despite missing their exit twice!). We were so excited to be back to civilized life -- real showers, laundry, and Freya's pancakes made from scratch with sugar and lemon juice on top. I don't think I'll ever put anything else on pancakes ever again, it was so delicious.

It was great to recuperate and recover a little... because the adventures continued the next morning, bright and early... Get ready for the Australian OUTBACK!

Hey Brooke, remember that time we got lost scuba diving in Australia?

Here are the reasons my 25th birthday was one-of-a-kind. It's going to take a lot to top this birthday!

#1) Had breakfast on deck with dolphins. They came to say good morning and share in the birthday celebrations.

#2) Earned the nickname 'Skipper Jr.' Lee let me take the wheel for a bit (not enough wind to sail so we were just motoring.)

#3) Frolicked on Whitsunday Island. Tom ferried us out to Whitsunday Island. No one lives on Whitsunday Island, even though it's the same size as Barbados (which has a pop of 80,000).

We went for a little 'bushwalk' up to the lookout.

We encountered the biggest spider I've ever seen along the way.And this was the lookout. Unbelievably gorgeous. This is real life.

#4) Had a photo opp at Whitehaven Beach. Whitehaven Beach is well-known for being the most beautiful beach in Australia, and let me confirm that reputation as a fact. The perfectly white sand squeaks when you walk in it. And here come the jumping photos...And of course, I had to do some quarter century documentation.

Maybe we took some cheesy swimsuit shots, and even though I'm embarrassed, here they are... it was so dang pretty there! I could've spent many, many days on Whitehaven Beach.Once again, the stinger suits went on, and we went for a swim. Good thing we were shuffling our feet as instructed, because we totally saw a stingray about waist deep!

#5) Soaked up the Australian sun. After spending the morning on Whistunday Island/at Whitehaven Beach, we had a long boat ride over to our next destination. It was a great, relaxing couple hours of reading, chatting, and getting oh-so-tanned. This cove was our destination, aka Luncheon Bay.

#6) Snorkelled with the fishies. We got divided up into groups of four for scuba diving. While we waited our turn, Jenna, Brooke, Rachel, and I went snorkelling and tested out my underwater camera.

We saw colorful fishies!

#7) Had an awkward run-in with this gem. My talent for taking stealth shots of random, hysterical people was extremely important when this old man in a speedo came and talked to us while we were waiting for our scuba instructor. Jenna's face is priceless!

#8) SCUBA. Here's our scuba crew less one (yours truly). We loved the new addition to our group, Jenna. She was a fellow Canuck studying for a semester in Australia! Jealous.I was looking really great at this point. But I didn't care, I was just excited to scuba!

None of us were certified, but we only had about 5 minutes of instructions! Once we showed Tom that we could a) clear our mask, and b) clear our mouthpiece, we were off!We were almost the last people to go out for the day, so the light was pretty flat, but it was a lot clearer than it seems in these pictures. You could see really well but not very far because it got murky.I have an extreme phobia of sharks, so I always thought that scuba diving would creep me right out (you know, being down there at their level). But I actually felt more comfortable scuba diving than I did snorkelling for some reason. I looooooved it.So did Rachel.And Jenna.

And Brooke.We touched this anenome that suctioned your fingers where little Nemo fish were living! At the beginning of our dive, our instructor Tom kept looking back at us all the time. I remember thinking that it was silly that he kept checking on us every two seconds. I mean, where did he think we were going to go? After awhile, we started headed back to shore, so I handed my camera to Brooke to take this picture of me since I'd just been taking pictures of everyone else the whole time. (Btw, yes, I know I look ridiculous, I was trying to get the hair out of my face, haha!) When she handed the camera back, we looked around, and... there was no one else there! We were lost in the ocean! We had these silent freaking-out convos with our hands and faces, swam around a bit, but had no idea where we were or where everyone else had gone. Eventually we gave up and surfaced, but it was a really funny few minutes, just me and Brooke, rocking it solo completely by accident!

Here's the reunited scuba crew on dry land, flashing the Whistundays 'W'.#9) Introduction to the snorkel bong. Naturally it was time to start drinking, and out came the snorkel bong. As tempting as chugging beer through a snorkel mask was, I was definitely a spectator.

#10) Oh you know, just a gorgeous evening sail. The wind cooperated, and we had dinner while sailing into the sunset. Does life get better than this? I think not.

#11) Snorkel bong revisited. People were deceptively tame the first night on the boat. But the second night was a different story. The snorkel bong was extremely popular.So, the crowd wanted '25' (that was my new nickname for the trip) to step up to the plate and try the snorkel bong since it was my birthday. Even though I was standing RIGHT NEXT to these two girls, they couldn't seem to find me. They were asking everyone, "Where did she go? Has she left?" and I was just incredulously looking at them... 1) I was standing directly beside them, and 2) where would I go?? We were on a BOAT for crying out loud. Once I was discovered, people were physically pulling me toward the snorkel bong. Despite my protests, they didn't quite seem to comprehend the statement that I didn't drink. I think everyone thought I was a recovering alcoholic or something. They were saying, "Just a little. Come on. It's your birthday. You have to drink on your birthday." I think it was the most peer pressure I've faced since junior high school! Fortunately, Brooke grabbed Ben and told him I didn't drink because of religious reasons. Ben made everyone back off, came over, gave me a high five, and said, "What a wicked lifestyle!" It was a little embarrassing but pretty darn funny.

#12) Finding another birthday twin. Turns out there was another birthday on board! This was my newest birthday twin, Charlie, who was from the UK. Don't worry, he turned 19. I felt like a grandma! #13) Hook Island adventures. So, there was this 18-year-old German kid named Lawrence who just could not fathom that I really wasn't going to drink. "You're not drinking?! On your birthday?! I can't even imagine not drinking on my birthday!" Don't worry, about a half hour later, he was puking over the side of the boat. And people wonder why I don't drink! Lawrence was a little ahead of the crowd, and so when it came time to go to the hostel on the island we were near, he had a whole group of people helping him around. I'll never forget watching his group come in to the dock, and despite 5 people in the boat 'helping him', he managed to smack his head on the dock and make the most amazing face. He was so out of it! I'm pretty sure Rachel and I died laughing for a solid ten minutes. It still makes me giggle. I can picture his face perfectly in my mind. Oh Lawrence. You were a crack up.

The hostel was a 15 minute trek along an unlit trail from the dock. Plus, we only had 2 flashlights for 25 people. I keep saying everything was really funny, but I promise, this was REALLY entertaining with all our drunken Euro friends in tow.This was our glorious destination. We were told that other sailing boats of backpackers would be here as well, but it was just us. There was a nasty old man who looked like he'd been stoned for more than half his life who was thrilled to be hanging around the 20-ish year old girls. I really should've gotten a picture of him. Where do these people come from?Brooke and Eric ended up giving this German kid Heinrich the first discussion. Meanwhile, Lee was throwing all the girls in the pool and flirting up a storm with Kristi. It was like watching a trainwreck.

Rachel and I (more Rachel, I ended up giving my spot to Charlie) briefly participated in the drinking games with our diet cokes.

#14) Earning the nickname 'Team Responsibility.' Pretty soon, we were over the hostel scene. There's only so much of drunkeness that I can handle. The four of us Mormons had been nicknamed 'Team Responsibility' by that point. In all reality, I ended up spending most of the night with Rachel and Brooke down on the beach. It was great! Stars, great chats, and Australia.

I must say, April 18, 2009 was a pretty choice day. Waking up on a sailboat in the gorgeous Whitsunday Islands; seeing the most beautiful beach in Australia (Whitehaven); taking my first scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef; spending it with Brooke and Rachel; etc, etc. Maybe I could've done without the drunken fiascoes of the 20-something idiots onboard, but in its own way, added to the fun, uniqueness, and hilarity of the day. All in all, it's definitely not a birthday I'll ever forget!! Here's to the next quarter century!

Sail me away

It was only fitting that our 11-hour overnight bus ride from hell dropped us off in HEAVEN... aka Airlie Beach. This little town in Queensland is the launching pad for trips to the Whitsunday Islands, a group of 74 famously idyllic islands.

After gathering some necessary items in town, we headed to Abel Point Marina where we were to be picked up for our 3-day, 2-night sailing trip. As we walked over, I could help getting excited as we saw all the boats out on the water.We met up with Brooke, my old BYU roommate who was doing an internship in Sydney at the time. She came up for the weekend sailing trip and brought along Eric, another BYU-er working temporarily in Sydney.

25 of us backpackers (from Germany, UK, Netherlands, US, Canada, etc.) loaded up on the Matador, an ex-racing yacht.Our crew consisted of:

• Tom - long-ish blond hair, butt crack was always showing, diving instructor
• Lee - the skipper of the boat, also saw his buttcrack frequently, Rachel's crush
• Ben - short & muscly deckhand (he had worked on luxury yachts for 6 yrs in the Caribbean & Mediterranean)
• Jody - cook on boat, Ben's girlfriend, so sweet and nice

After motoring out for a bit, it was time to raise the sails. The boys were up first.Next, it was the girls turn.After some final cranking by Tom, we were all set!We said goodbye to Airlie Beach and spent the next couple hours cruising.There was some serious tiltage at one point!Once we reached the inlet where we'd be spending the night, it was time for the diving board contest. Since the water is infested with jellyfish this time of year, we got to wear these really attractive 'stinger suits.' Makes you wonder though, what about your hands/feet/face?So all 25 of us lined up for our dive. Tom & Lee insisted that everyone do a front flip! It was a little nerve-wracking, considering a) everyone was watching, and b) I hadn't flipped off a diving board since grade 10 gym class at Lindsay Park! Brooke was up first and flopped big time, much to Tom & Lee's delight. (Poor girl!)Fortunately, I survived my front flip, and for round two, I went for a back dive. We snorkeled in the cove for a bit (and yes, we saw a MILLION jellyfish all over the place, it freaked me right out). We saw our first stingray too.We spent the night eating spaghetti, listening to Kings of Leon, and chatting with our boat-mates. One of my favorites was this girl from Germany who was a policewoman!Things didn't get too crazy on the boat that night, because we had a big day ahead of us... MY BIRTHDAY! To be continued...

And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire

A incessant chorus of psychotically chirping birds served as our alarm the next morning as we were off for a 2-day tour of Fraser Island. If you think waking up to birds chirping outside your window is cute or quaint, then you've never been to Hervey Bay.

Despite the rude awakening, the day got better from there. Our tour picked us up, and we drove to Rainbow Beach to get the rest of our group. We were quite the international bunch! The grand total was 15 people:

• 1 Aussie tour guide (Greg -- more on him later)
• 2 Swedish girls
• 2 German couples (4 people)
• 1 Irish couple
• 1 French guy, rolling solo
• 2 German girls and their mom
• And of course, Rachel and I representing the US and Canada.

It was a pretty overcast day, but we found out later that we really lucked out with the weather. People who had gone just a couple days earlier had rain the entire time, and literally had puddles in their tents. This was the 'ferry' we took over to the island. The first thing we saw on Fraser Island was this dingo chomping on a fish. I guess there used to be a lot of dingoes on the island, but sightings are becoming more rare.Fraser Island is about 120 km long, and is the largest sand island in the world. You have to have a 4wd vehicle since there are no true roads on the island. This was my view as we cruised at 80 km/hr down the 'highway' (aka the beach). Greg dropped us off for our first stop: a 1.8 km hike to Lake Wabby. The first part was no big deal, just a nice little jaunt through the forest. Then came the 1 km over the sandblow. This was the sand dune to end all sand dunes. It was immense! I'm not going to lie, about a half kilometer later, I was pretty over the sand dune. It was really hot! But at least the hike gave us time to make friends with Lisa & Christian. You better believe I'll be going to visit them in Germany at some point. They were awesome.Fortunately, we finally made it to the lake! There are over 100 dune lakes on the island, but Lake Wabby is one-of-a-kind. It is gradually getting smaller and smaller as the sand dune shifts and moves into the lake.Some people were log-rolling down the dune into the lake. We briefly contemplated joining them, but thought of having sand everywhere in addition to the potential for wardrobe malfunctions changed our minds.Greg assured us there were no 'nasties' in the water (crocodiles, sharks, etc.) so we dove right it! There was a really sharp dropoff.After our morning swim, it was time for lunch by the ocean.This was our 14-passenger tour bus. I was pretty impressed what it could do -- we went over some pretty crazy terrain!People don't swim off the coast of Fraser Island because it is infested with sharks. They even say not to wade in past your knees because there are really strong currents and undertow.After lunch, we headed further north along the beach. Some people organize self-drive tours of the island, but I was pretty glad I wasn't at the wheel when we went over these huge rocks. This is Greg, our middle-aged, pot-bellied, tobacco-stained-teeth, glass-eyed tour guide. He was a little creepy, way too flirty, and loved his own jokes, but in the end, he was a super nice guy. Next up: the Maheno shipwreck, aka the most photographed piece of rust in Australia! The S.S. Maheno was a luxury liner that operated betweeen Australia and New Zealand. It was temporarily converted into a hospital ship during WWI to transport wounded soldiers across the English Channel. It was decommissioned in 1935 and sold to the Japanese who were going to use it for its metal. As they were transporting it from Australia to Japan, it got caught in a freak, out-of-season cyclone in July. It shipwrecked on Fraser Island, and despite multiple attempts to tow it off the island, they couldn't get it to budge. It was used for bombing practice during WWII. Today, three and a half storeys of the ship are buried under the sand.Sadly, one of my favorite moments of the trip isn't documented. After visiting the shipwreck, we went to Eli Creek, a freshwater creek that runs into the ocean. It's hugely popular, and there were tons of people just floating down the creek and lounging around. Rachel and I soaked up some Australian rays while listening to Johnny Cash songs coming from a nearby truck. It was just a great moment.

We drove to a hostel for the night, where Rachel and I roomed with the 2 Swedish girls, Pauline and Emma. They were traveling around the South Pacific and southeast Asia for 5 months together. Emma packed 5 lbs of Swedish licorice to get her through her travels. It was the one thing she knew she couldn't live without!

I was shocked when I found out they'd never met before they planned their trip! I guess they both wanted to go on an extended trip, found each other online, and bought plane tickets before ever actually meeting in person! Yikes.

Another favorite moment was when it came time to discuss who was going to shower first in our room. When I asked, I thought Pauline responded, "You shower first, because I am going to poo." I was a little taken aback (and trying really hard not to bust out laughing), but wasn't about to argue. It wasn't until later that Rachel told me that she'd said she was going to the pool, not going to take a dump.

We had a great buffet dinner that night. The Swedes ate inhuman quantities of the meat (I guess they only had been eating pasta while they traveled, it's cheaper). Rachel and I were eyeing the sexy, dreadlocks guy at the other table; we definitely wished he'd been our tour guide instead of pervy Greg.

After dinner, Addi (one of the German girls, such a sweetheart) told me to 'suit up' (HIMYM, anyone?) before we went out to the bar. It was a lot of fun chatting with everyone about their travels and where they were from. Everyone was shocked that we were only in Australia for 2 weeks. And you know what? I think Europeans have got it right with these major, multi-month world travels. The next day, we went for a little rainforest hike along the 'whispering creek.' There are no rocks for the water to babble over, so the creek is perfectly silent since everything is sand. It's also perfectly clear and you could barely see that there is water there.The rainforest was extremely lush and green, with moss covering everything and absolutely immense trees!

We had tea and snacks before we hit up the last and most important stop of the entire trip: Lake Mackenzie. Meet our German gals, Addi and Astrid.

And the Swedes, Pauline and Emma!

Lake Mackenzie may be one of the most beautiful places on earth, but they have the most disgusting bathrooms of all time! I will never forget Addi's mom coming out, shaking her head, and shouting in her German accent, "No! No! They are not usable!"

Let me tell you, Lake Mackenzie lived up to the hype. I could've spent many, many days here.

The lake is essentially a giant rain puddle. This type of lake forms when at least 4 meters of leaves and debris compact in the bottom of a sand dune, making a waterproof bottom for the lake.

The freshwater lakes on Fraser Island are some of the cleanest lakes in the world. The sand is almost pure silica, so you can clean jewelry, exfoliate your skin, and wash your hair with it.

I actually left Lake Mackenzie feeling like I'd just taken a shower. This turned out to be 100% necessary since we still had a half a day on Fraser Island, followed by an overnight bus to Airlie Beach, and three days on a sailboat before the next time we could shower! We finished up Fraser Island with a stop at Central Station, where the logging community used to be in the early 1900s. We drove back to Rainbow Beach and Hervey Bay and said goodbye to our tour friends. Rachel and I made some purchases at Target while waiting for our overnight bus along with a bazillion other backpackers. And yes, the overnight bus was totally miserable but totally necessary to get us where we wanted to be. There were no breathers on our two-week whirlwind tour of Oz!

Last but not least, you have to watch this video. Rather, you have to hear this video. I am awkwardly talking to the camera because I'm hoping that no one else in the area will notice that I am totally talking to myself. Embarrassing. But even if I hate the video of myself, you simply have to hear the birds! Newsflash: the Hervey Bay psychotic birds don't just 'chirp' in the morning!

Hervey Bay, I will not miss you. On to bigger and better things... Airlie Beach! The Whitsunday Islands! Whitehaven Beach! I'm telling you, there's some great stuff ahead!

Crikey!

Our cloudy day on the Sunshine Coast...

Breakfast of Champions

After a solid 11 hours of sleep, Rachel and I woke to freshly-made banana muffins. Now these weren't just any banana muffins. Freya is something of a culinary goddess. She is just a gem -- she woke up early to make them from scratch before she left for work. Have I mentioned that she's the nicest girl ever? And yes, I got the recipe... of course, with next to no hope of them being as good as Freya's.

I also willingly had the Australian signature breakfast item: vegemite on toast. I know 99% of the North American population can't stand the stuff. It is pretty strong, and I don't think I could stomach a vegemite sandwich like Freya's mom gave her for lunch in elementary school. But I do actually like it on toast. I like to think that I have a yet-undiscovered South Pacific ancestry. Glass House Mountains

First stop on our drive up the Sunshine Coast was at the Glass House Mountains lookout. Not much to say here besides the obvious -- it was really pretty!

The Crocodile Hunter's Zoo

Day 2 in Australia was kind of similar to day 1 -- we just couldn't get enough of zoos and Aussie creatures! Once again, there were a lot of adorable, sleepy koalas.I was glad we went to Lone Pine, because this was the closest you could get to a koala at the Australia Zoo. Standing in line to pet a sleeping koala's butt was not nearly as cool as holding Axel.We found another kangaroo field. We weren't as timid to make friends this time around.I'm pretty proud that I caught the next series of photos. Rachel was having a bonding moment with this little guy. At first he was a little disinterested...... then he started to perk up...... he stood up all nice and tall...... gave Rachel a 'oh hey there'...... and then started convulsing and scratching his belly and freaked Rachel right out. I'm not too sure what was going on with him (digestive issues?), but it was hysterical.Koalas and kangaroos aside, we saw a few more Aussie creatures, like giant tortoises, Tasmanian devils, dingoes, wombats, and of course, the crowd fav... duh duh duh... the crocodile. These things are nasty. And humongous. And I'm pretty sure they're evil.I love this sign. We exemplified the model behavior in the top illustration, thereby passing on the various modes of tourist death by crocodile.At the croc show, though, this guy was seriously asking for it.No thanks.And apparently there really are these giant saltwater crocodiles in the wild, which makes me feel kind of sick. Peter Pan, anyone? Tick tock.There were lizards running around all over the place on the pathways.There were some guests to Australia in the zoo: elephants...

... red pandas...

... and, le tigre.

RIP, Steve Irwin. Thanks for leaving behind a great zoo!

Nambour

Since our car had somehow been invaded by ants while we were at the zoo -- thereby rendering our beloved Tim Tams inedible -- we had to stop for pineapple smoothies in Nambour. Rachel was a little obsessed with hers, and reminisced about it nearly every day for the rest of the trip. (Ok, I'm exaggerating a little, but it was mentioned at least five times.) Oh, and there is a giant pineapple in Nambour. It's obviously photo-worthy. Noosa

Noosa, a classy little surftown (~pop. 50,000), was the land of the never-ending roundabouts. We got dizzy just driving into town. Noosa is extremely quaint, and wished we'd had more time here. There were gobs of sailboats, beautiful homes, great shopping, and plentiful restaurants. What more do you need?We found Main Beach off of Hastings Street right at the end of the day. It was about time we hit the beach.

My toes enjoyed they're first walk in Aussie sand.We hung out for awhile, watched the surfers, enjoyed the scenery, and contemplated deep thoughts about being on the other side of the world. Later, we had a relatively successful shopping trip along Hastings Street, had a lesson in Aboriginal art from a local dealer, and got ice cream (Rachel) and an Aussie burger (Karen) for dinner. As you can tell, I was a little nervous about this concoction. An Aussie burger has everything that you'd get on a regular cheeseburger, plus a fried egg, beet, pineapple, and bacon. Wowza. Don't worry, I ate that whole thing. It was delicious.

Hervey Bay

Last but not least, we drove to our final destination of the day: Hervey Bay. I do not have fond memories of Hervey Bay. We were pretty tired and pretty lost. All we wanted to do was drop off our rental car and go to sleep. But, for the love, there was NOTHING open at 9 pm. (Hervey Bay is not exactly a happening place.)

But hallelujah, at long last, we found a map at a gas station, dropped off our rental in the most RANDOM place at the edge of town, and took a cab to our hostel. We had a super early day ahead, and that's when the fun really began. Stay tuned.

"We're in Australia!"

Day one in Australia...

Step 1: Survive the 14.5 hour flight.

Since Rachel and I were on different airlines, and in-flight movies can only occupy me for so long, I chatted up a storm with my seat-neighbors. I am so my mother, because I found out their entire life story. Here's a brief summary:

• He = Australian, she = Californian
• Met = as science students at university in New Mexico
• Time together = 5 yrs in NM, 3 yrs in Boston
• Purpose for flight to Sydney = moving to Australia
• Jobs waiting for them in Canberra = she, studying wallabees; he, studying microorganisms
• Main topic discussed = great tips about food to eat
• Slight problem = I could barely understand a word of what he was saying

Somewhere during the flight, I missed Easter. Sunday April 12 did not exist for me by virtue of crossing the international date line. I just think that is bizarre.

Since I don't take sleeping pills on flights anymore, it was a struggle of a flight for me. Sleeping was minimal, so it was pretty darn exciting to look out the window and finally see Sydney Harbor.

(Kind of funny though, it wasn't until the third time we landed in Sydney (layovers and such) that we would actually leave the airport and check it out!)Step 2: Find Rachel.

Our flights landed within 15 minutes of each other, and silly me thought it wouldn't be too complicated to find each other. Dumb move, Karen.

After frantically trying to figure out why my phone wasn't working, attempting to use a payphone (how are those things so complicated?), and wandering back and forth between the two main international exit points for 45 minutes, I gave up trying to find Rachel.

I was more than a little stressed out, but eventually reasoned that the best bet would just be to get on our connecting flight to Brisbane and hope she did the same. I randomly ended up at a Virgin Blue domestic shuttle (the completely wrong place), but turns out Rachel was on the bus! I had never been so relieved. Prayers are answered. The church is true.

Step 3: Obtain (colorful) purchasing power.

First things first. We needed moola. Step 4: Obtain sustenance.

I promise we did get some semi-nutritious food, but I also purchased the first bag of Australian licorice I saw. Rachel soon learned why green apple and mango licorice were the first absolutely necessary items of our trip, despite it was about 9 am local time. Take my word for it: it's never too early for Aussie licorice.Step 5: Take flight to Brisbane.

It seems like I was chatty Cathy to the maximum on this trip so far. My seat-neighbor (a nice, 40-ish bachelor who lived with his parents) seemed a little surprised with me asking him one million questions. Eventually, my brain started to shut down, so I fell asleep... and maybe drooled just a little. Show me someone who is a graceful plane sleeper, and I will show you an anomaly.

Step 6: Keep left.

Since I wasn't 25 yet, Rachel was brave and was the first to drive on the wrong side of the road and wrong side of the car. My navigating skills were initially subpar, and we had a few turnaround situations in what seemed to be an industrial part of town. But eventually we mastered the interpretation of Aussie road signs, Rachel learned what was smaller than a kilometer (definitely not a 'millometer'), and we didn't die on the roundabouts.Step 7: Destination: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

It was with no small sense of achievement that we arrived at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary after about an hour of driving around Brisbane. The 35+ hours of travel and exhaustion of crossing halfway around the globe were temporarily forgotten. All that mattered was that we were going to see koalas.Forget the dumping rain -- the only thing crossing my mind at this point was, "We're in freaking Australia!" And see koalas we did. I maybe started jumping around when we first saw this little guy.Fun facts about koalas (I am a nerd):

• Koalas are not bears.
• Koalas have fingerprints, and are very similar to human fingerprints.
• Babies ('joeys') are 2 cms long when they are born (the length of a jellybean). They are born hairless, deaf, and blind, and live for 6 months in the mother's pouch.
• Koalas are motionless for 16-18 hours a day, sleeping most of the time.
• Koalas live almost entirely on eucalyptus leaves, which to most animals are extremely poisonous.
• Koalas are known to become violent when disturbed.
• About 50,000 years ago, there used to be giant koalas in south Australia.

I think my favorite thing was seeing how they slept. Looks comfy, yes? Step 8: Cuddle

Without a doubt, the best part of this stop was hanging out with our new friend, Axel. He was a LOT heavier than I thought he was going to be, and he had extremely sharp claws that really dug into your shoulders. He also had the softest, thickest fur ever!

Step 9: Venture into the 'Kangaroo Field'

After repeating over and over how cute the koalas were for about an hour, we came across gobs of kangaroos bouncing around this fenced area. There was no one else around, but there was a gate open, so we went through.

Little did we know, Australian zoos are petting zoos when it comes to kangaroos. We were so clueless, and ridiculously tentative, about petting the kangaroos. We were taking, "Look how brave I am! I'm touching it!" pictures, when really, every tourist under the planet pets kangaroos in Australia. Let's just say they are not shy by any means. But it was still an exciting moment.

This little baby one looked like an overgrown rat. Actually, they all kind of looked like overgrown, bouncy rats. But cute ones.

There were a lot of them. Kangaroos all over the place. I loved it.

Step 10: Crash the Smibert household

After our rainy adventures at Lone Pine -- and a brief (entirely unintentional) detour to the Mount Coot-Tha lookout, which might have been cool if it weren't so cloudy -- we made it to Freya and Nathan's cute little house. Freya was Rachel's roommate at BYU-I, and was nice enough to let us crash. F&N got married 6 weeks before we arrived, and they were just the cutest couple on earth... well, at least the cutest couple in Australia!

Freya made us delicious meal, Nathan gave us an FHE lesson, we took much-needed showers... and then we promptly konked out at 8 pm Brisbane time. I have never been so exhausted in my life.

And that was just day one...

In the Land of Oz

I have reached some sort of personal record: I haven't gone out of town for the entire month of August. Not even once. Five consecutive weekends in the blazing heat of the desert.

Instead of weekend adventuring, I've just been soaking in the sun in the pool in my backyard, going to BBQ's and parties, staycationing with the gals, heading out to the lake, and reading a lot of books. Staying in town is, in it's own way, divine. But the problem is that I haven't been doing nearly as many "blog-worthy" things.

So in lieu of anything particularly interesting or notable going on in my life, I am embarking on a venture to do something I've been thinking about for FOUR MONTHS.

Namely, blog about my birthday trip to Australia.I may lose whatever few readers I have due to my much-procrastinated and unabashed travelogue tendencies. But there are just too many great pictures and too many great stories that I, if no one else, would love to have to read.

Confession: I re-read my blog all the time. Lately, my favorite game is "what was I doing 2 years ago?" Does anyone else do that?

From April 11 to 26, I went to the "land down under" with Rachel Hope, a friend from my NYC days. Coincidentally, the whole way she came to be on this trip was via her blogpost about two solid weeks of vacation time she needed to take, and was contemplating going somewhere "super far, like Australia." I emailed her about my plans on Monday afternoon, and she bought her plane ticket on Tuesday. Some things are just meant to happen! And I am really glad they did. Thanks for coming, Rachel!

So, after extensive research (thank you, Lonely Planet and kayak.com), I packed my trusty backpack (it's 3rd continent and counting) with such absolutely necessary items as my new G10 Canon camera (I'm in true love with it), and per Nick's recommendation, 'In a Sunburned Country' by Bill Bryson as reading material for the many, many flights we were going to take (eleven in total, we weren't messing around).If you are ever going to Australia, READ THIS BOOK either before you go or while you're there. Although it did make just a smidgen nervous (the author has a tendency to dwell on all the things that can kill or maim you in Australia), I was hooked during the first few pages. I think Rachel got sick of me incessantly interrupting her on flights and saying, "Hey! Listen to this" or "You have read this part, from here to here." I really loved it, and it gave so much more context for what we were seeing and doing and visiting.

So it seems only appropriate, that as an introduction to my trip, I am shamelessly using an excerpt from this book. (Be prepared for a LOT of words and ZERO pictures.)

"Australia is the world's sixth largest country and its largest island. It is the only island that is also a continent, and the only continent that is a country. It was the first continent conquered from the sea, and the last. It is the only nation that began as a prison.

It is the home of the largest living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef, and of the largest monolith, Ayers Rock. It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures -- the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish -- are the most lethal of their type in the world... If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It's a tough place...

At some undetermined point in the great immensity of its past -- perhaps 45,000 years ago, perhaps 60,000, but certainly before there were modern humans in the Americas of Europe -- it was quietly invaded by a deeply inscrutable people, the Aborigines, who have no clearly evident racial or linguistic kinship to their neighbors in the region, and whose presence in Australia can only be explained by positing that they invented and mastered ocean-going craft at least 30,000 years in advance of anyone else, in order to undertake an exodus, then forgot or abandoned nearly all that they had learned and scarcely ever bothered with the open sea again...

There was no place in the world like it. There still isn't. Eighty percent of all that lives in Australia, plant and animal, exists nowhere else. More than this, it exists in an abundance that seems incompatible with the harshness of the environment. Australia is the driest, flattest, hottest, most dessicated, infertile, and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents. (Only Antartica is more hostile to life.) This is a place so inert that even the soil is, technically speaking, a fossil...

This is a country that is at once staggeringly empty and yet packed with stuff. Interesting stuff, ancient stuff, stuff not readily explained. Stuff yet to be found.

Trust me, this is an interesting place."

I had mentally prepared myself to not like Australia as much as liked New Zealand. But I found that the more I saw and the more I read, I fell in love with Australia in a totally different way than I loved New Zealand, despite their South Pacific proximity.

Because Australia really is an interesting place. In fact, it is an absolutely fascinating place. And there's no doubt in my mind that I need to go back at some point.

Too much of a good thing?

Lately I realized that my inability to do things in moderation has been evidencing itself in relatively extreme proportions, even by my standards.

MUSIC

I am a repeater. I love finding a great song (or great album) and putting it on repeat over and over and over... and over and over and over. Here are my latest/enduring obessions from the last couple months:

• "Three Flights from Alto Nido" by Greg Laswell. Seriously brilliant. I can't thank music guru Lauren enough for introducing me to Greg. Hands-down favorite: 'Comes and Goes In Waves'.
• "Fantasies" by Metric. On a scale from one to a super pumped, I am OUT OF CONTROL EXCITED to see this band live in September. Favorites: 'Twilight Galaxy' and the acoustic version of 'Gimme Sympathy'.
• "Flutterby" by Butterfly Boucher. This chick rocks! If you need sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-in-your-car music, this is the ticket. Favorites: 'I Can't Make Me' (super weird video though, fyi) and 'Don't Point, Don't Scare It' (slower).
• "For Emma, Forever Ago" by Bon Iver. I know, I'm late to the Bon Iver bandwagon, but I'm soooo on it now! Favorites: 'Blood Bank' (from his EP), and 'Lump Sum'.
• Other randoms that have been on repeat: Lizstomania, I Gotta Feeling, and Battefield.

ETSY

I've heard a lot about Etsy, but a couple weeks ago was my first time on the site and I went a little nuts. I got this notion that I needed more studs since I rarely wear dangly earrings anymore. An hour later, there were 17 pairs I wanted, but I exerted some modicum of self-control and only (!) got five.

MOVIES

It's no secret. I loooove going to the movies. I could go every night of the week. And I pretty much like everything. I managed to see four movies in four days this weekend. Swim all day, watch movies at night. Welcome to AZ.

• 17 Again. I'm not going to lie, I now have a major crush on Zac Efron.
• The Hurt Locker. I'm not usually one for American war movies, but this was truly brilliantly done. It is SO INTENSE though.
• Paper Heart. The indie flick theater loves my business these days. This was cute, but for some reason, I wasn't in the right mood so it didn't knock my socks off.
• The Soloist. Maybe it's because of my years and years of practicing classical piano music, but I absolutely loved this movie. Loved the story, loved the music, loved the acting, loved the ending, etc, etc. Loved.

BOOKS

A couple weeks ago, I decided I needed to read more. And so, I got on goodreads and basically bought every book I'd had on my to-read shelf. I love amazon.com, especially when you buy from the super cheap independent sellers! So far, I've read Time Traveler's Wife (in prep for the movie), Loving Frank, and I'm working on Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell per Mercedes' recommendation.

Others on the list: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Catcher in the Rye, the Bell Jar, Three Weeks with My Brother, the Poisonwood Bible, Maynard & Jessica, the History of Love: A Novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky. I'm especially excited about the last one, and there's even a movie of the story: God Grew Tired of Us.

So... am I alone in this condition? Do you ever like something and just can't get enough of it? What have you been reading/watching/buying/listening to/obsessing over this summer?

Manliness debates, etc.

Coming a close second to friends with boats are friends with CABINS. When my good friend Holly invited me out to her grandparents' cabin in Pine, AZ, it was a no-brainer, even though I didn't know any of the other people who were going. It kind of makes me laugh that a year later, I am still joining random groups of people on weekend trips. What can I say? It's the AZ way!

Voila, the twelve people I either didn't know (or barely knew) before our overnight extravaganza. We are now pretty much bff for life. It all began with Dan and I bonding over our similar music tastes on the 2 hour drive up to the cabin. It's about time the infamous Dan and I were friends.The night's activities included sardines in the pitch black darkness (and Berkley making odd cat screaming noises), Jeremy and I giving everyone Spice Girls names, a heated debate on whether bunny tears or Fievel-Goes-West tears were cuter, and general hilarity surrounding the personage named Tadd (who informed me that the 2nd 'd' in his name is silent). I didn't think Tadd's outfits could get any better than the beanie/hot pink fanny pack/goggles he was sporting Friday night, but Saturday he was wearing a Davy Crockett-esque raccoon hat, and I realized he was the most hysterical person on planet earth.

But, truth be told, I have yet to tell you about the funniest part of the night. Here's the story: Half of group arrived a couple hours later than the first, and so when they were about to come in, we were discussing what we could do when they arrived. We were maybe going to hide (not so original), scare them (again, unoriginal), give them a standing ovation (getting better), etc, etc. But then a slow song came on, and I suggested (mostly joking) that we should all be slow dancing.

Well, turns out that was the winning ticket, so we dimmed the lights, and put the song on repeat, and had three couples slow dancing when the 2nd group walked in. One girl went straight upstairs without a word, another guy walked in and walked right back out, and most people had no idea what on earth was going on and felt really awkward. Yeah, we thought we were being pretty funny.

Anyways... the next morning, we all geared up for a big day at the lake!

There was canoeing...... cliff jumping (it looked a lot higher when you were up there)...... the wearing of sweet hats...... and general disturbing of the peace of the lake. All the people who were fishing or trying to fish kind of hated us.

I have to say, it was a pretty successful weekend! Thanks for the invite Holly, you're a doll!

Bentlee the beauty

Laura & Bentlee came down from Prescott this weekend, so we had a gals outing to the Cheesecake Factory.I seriously can't get over how much she's changed since the last time I saw her! I really do love being Auntie Karen!

"Love is a battefield"

For Malisha's birthday, the gals embarked on staycation part deux at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Scottsdale. We were social machines Friday night, so we didn't actually make it to the hotel until 11 pm. After Jesse, my boyfriend at the check-in counter, hooked us up with a sweet room and waived our parking fees, Candace and I went on a little exploratory trip. We found evil-eyed bunnies and some pretty sweet pools!

But we called it a night because we wanted to be rested for the serious drawing factor of our stay: the LAZY RIVER. What could possibly be more fun than floating endlessly and effortlessly in the glorious AZ sunshine?

The doubles teams: Karen & Rachel v. Candace & 20.

Our 'wide load' of 6 girls tended to block up the river and run over small children.

20 got a little scandalous. What else is new?

Pint-sized Malisha needed a smaller tube.

After eight or nine laps, we decided we'd sung 'Love is a Battefield' enough times, and headed back to the regular pool for a little underwater photo op.

Now, having an underwater camera sounded like a fun idea... in theory. Our aspirations to take some cute pics were devastated by the reality that looking good underwater is a big struggle, at least for us. The majority of the 175 photos we took must not and shall not ever be seen by the general population.
"Baptizing" Candace (and accidentally hitting her on the head with the camera) was one of the more hysterical moments on the trip. Back above the water surface, the rest of the day was exactly what a staycation should be. 20 and Rachel played in the freezing water...

... we took tall bff photos...... there was sweet eye candy around the pool...... Rachel & Alisha were dang models...... and of course, there was plenty of good old-fashioned laying out.Happy birthday, Malisha! We love you to the max!

Pickles: Go for it! You can do it!

"Darling, I don't know how to tell you this, but there's a Chinese family in our bathroom."Dear Zooey,

First: It all began with the previews. You can tell it will be a great movie when there are great previews. Adam and Paper Heart are must-sees for me, so I will definitely be back at the indie flick theater in the near future.

Next: Your movie was not at all what I expected, but hands down, my favorite of the summer. So cute, appropriately quirky, slightly sad but mostly fun. I loved it. I had a sudden desire to go play house at Ikea (blatant but brilliant product placement). The cherry on top was Lyla Garrity at the end, although I'm not buying that she could be an architect.

Then: The day after I saw (500) Days of Summer I realized that, after listening to She & Him for months, that it was you and M. Ward. I may have to revise my opinion on Mel's would-you-rather question. I'm impressed.

Last: I'm still kind of loving the last phrase of the Fox Searchlight description of the movie: "Tom is in love not just with a lovely, witty, intelligent woman – not that he minds any of that -- but with the very idea of Summer, the very idea of a love that still has the power to shock the heart and stop the world."

Conclusion: Basically, I want to be you.

Thanks,
Karen

p.s. Oh yeah, and I want your movie wardrobe.

Faces and such

These are the faces of girls who love last minute late afternoon/early evening trips to Saguaro Lake.These are the faces of our friends-with-a-boat: Rob and Brady.These are the faces we make when we don the sole "lifejacket" on the boat.

These are the faces we make when we show off our wakeboarding and wakesurfing skills. Nbd.This is the face of our dedicated flag-girl.These are the faces of happy boaters.
GREAT night.

We're baaaaaaack!

Ever since our 4th of July weekend escapades, our gal gang has been a little obsessed with going back to California. It's just too dang hot in AZ right now (especially without air conditioning).

So, given the above conditions, it was a simple a + b = c equation, where:

• a = we heard there was a huge surfing competiton going on in HB,
• b = Jeremy offered us a place to stay,
• so, c = Andria and I decided to extend her bday celebrations and hit the road last Friday morning.

After 5 hours of sleeping, listening to Michael Jackson, and making Nick drive, we made our first stop: Three Arch Bay in Laguna Beach.

We were a little pumped to be granted access to this ritzy private community beach, and the photo session began.
But when we turned a corner and saw THIS, we realized our photo opp had been a little premature. Isn't it gorgeous?

I heart the beach.Here's the bday girl with 2 of the 3 famous arches. I was off swimming in (aka getting pummeled by) the HUGE waves in the cove.

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed I caught this moment. Jeremy gave Nick a swift smack of sea kelp to the face. Boys will be boys.

The waves were huge, and even knee-deep in the water, you could feel some pretty crazy undertow. In the 3 or 4 hours we were at the beach, we saw the lifeguards save at least 10 people who got sucked out really far. The ones that they couldn't get back to shore had to be picked up by the rescue boat.

Yes, we asked to take a picture with this lifeguard. Yes, he was probably about 17 years old. And yes, it was horribly embarrassing, yet very necessary documentation of our trip.

Voila, the AZ gang: Chris (aka the tallest man alive), Jeremy (aka the tannest man alive), Justin (aka the image-est man alive), yours truly, Amandria, and Nick (the chattiest man alive).

Take 2 of the gang.

That night, we all piled into Jeremy's parents van (much to Jeremy's chagrin, kind of funny), and headed to Javier's for some fancy, DIVINE Mexican food.

As delicious as their guacamole and fish tacos were, the best part was Amandria's bday song. Although we don't have a photo of this exact moment, I will never forget Amandria trying to pose for the camera while one waiter spoon-fed her flan, another waiter kissed her on cheek, and the others were just singing and clapping their little hearts out, all at the same time. Sensory overload for sure. It was hilarious.

The next day, we headed up to Huntington Beach for the US Open surf competition. There were TONS of people out along the beach and pier.

We saw the women's semi-finals and then the all-star set.

The all-stars were amazing. They would just bomb over these enormous waves. It was so fun to watch.

We watched a little of the BMX competition, which was similarly amazing. Those guys are totally crazy!

Whose arm is that? And what are they pointing at? We will never know. But I kind of like that picture!

Next up on our agenda for the day: no plans. All I need is sun, beach, and waves. Heaven.We cleaned up at the Villa (although figuring out how their shower works = rocket science), because we had to look really good for this man: Mat Kearney.Although I totally despise his awkward rapping, his second album is a significant improvement and I had it on repeat for during the month of June. Add free beach concerts to my list of favorite things in life.

RT stories over BJ's pizza, stealth text convo's in the backseat, Justin hangout marathon, the BW show at the Pierside ward... sadly, there was no way to document so many of the funny moments of our quickie trip. But needless to say, we had a lot of fun. Dear CA, We love you. We miss you. See you in August.

I hope they call me on a mission

Last night, Broski Numero Dos (aka Kyle) opened his much-anticipated mission call! Elder Campbell will be serving in the Denver, Colorado South mission. He will be English-speaking and he leaves Nov 18th (which coincidentally, is his half-birthday, which I think is kind of cool!).

I'm already a little depressed thinking about Christmas without this wild child. I'm excited for him, but I'm going to miss him a LOT.

Congrats, little brother!