Spring Break with M & D- Lennox Head & Byron Bay

We decided not to stay in Brisbane for another night because Iw as just too excited to show them where I was living, Lennox and some places in Byron Bay.
We first brough them back to "camp", showed them around the cottages, the path out to the ocean, Lake Ainsworth/tea tree lake.
Then we also took them to Byron Bay. Jake and I received our Open water certification in scuba diving from SunDive in Byron, so we took them out on a snorkeling trip to the Julian Rocks were there's tons of coral, and full of marine animal life. We also took them to the Lighthouse- because mom loves light houses. The light house area is also the most easterly point in NSW, so we walked part of that! From the lighthouse view you can see the Julain Rocks, and Byron town very well. if you look down into the ocean and the close to shore you can see turtles, sharks, sting rays and even dolphins! We saw turtles and dolphins on that particular day. It was a lot of fun showing them our "stomping" ground for the past 2 months.

We had a great time with Mom & Dad, even though it rained. It was so good to get away and be with them and tell them some of our stories and things that we have learned and done. So great to see them!

(Love you M & D, thanks for everything!

)

Spring Break with M & D- Brisbane/Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin)

Landing in Brisbane on St. Patricks day, we saw all sorts of festivities. we checked into the hotel (not a hostel!!) and checked out our amazing view from the 27th floor. We went to Pigs & Whistles, a pub, for dinner. It was delicious!
The next day we went to the Steve Irwin Zoo/ Australia Zoo. It was sooooo cool! The zoo's exhibits were enormous, which I really liked. I don't know if anyone ever feels bad for animals at zoo's when they see them living in the tiniest place for the rest of their lives, but it was not at all like this here. The elephants had a place the size of a football fieid, then sleeping quarters, and uninhabited land to play on, along with walks throughout the zoo. the zoo keepers were so involved with the animals, knew their history and personalities, you could tell the animals were really cared for at the zoo. it was so great to see!

After the zoo we headed to Lennox and Byron.