Let's go Surfing now, Everybodys learnin' how

We arrived in Noosa on the Sunshine coast of Australia after an arduous 24 hours of travel from Phuket via Kuala Lumpur and Sydney to Sunshine Coast Airport. Much to our delight we have an apartment with a KITCHEN, living room, back patio & grill, bed and bath rooms! It is fabulous and the four days we have been here we have not eaten out at all!! Never thought homecoming could be so good!

The first full day here was overcast, but that didn't bother us too much since we slept in, fought with the payphones trying to call USA, then took two fabulous walks around Noosa. The first was through the national Park which curves along the coast. We saw tons of surfers, dolphins, a koala, bush turkeys (wild turkeys roaming around) and a koonburra (bird). The second walk was more difficult as we walked up to the lookout on top of one of the many hills in the area. We saw our first glimpse of sun as it set over the bay. Gorgeous!

The second day was beautiful and sunny. Perfect for our morning surfing lesson. Our instructor was hilarious and b/c he couldn't remember anyone's name we quickly became Ms & Mr. Pennsylvania. We both drank a lot of salt water, found muscles not used in a coon's age and WERE ABLE TO STAND. It was a wonderful way to spend a morning!

That afternoon we were back on the beach. This time our entertainment was provided for us. Three siblings used their boogy boards upright in the sand as shields and had a sand-ball fight (like we have snow-ball fights). We were laughing outloud as they were unaware we were watching. We would like to bring this activity to Provost/Byrnes vacations in the future.

The following day was also spent enjoying the beach! The water is very clear you can see fish swimming around your feet. It is also refreshingly cool after the hot, hot sun and sand. We had a BLAST body surfing for hours this morning. I know we must have looked "silly" laughing and pushing each other in the waves debating which ones to take and which one weren't worth it, but we loved it. Very reminiscent of long summer days at the Outer Banks!

On the way home from a run tonight we were looking for our favorite license plate (Victoria- The Smart State) when we were pointed to a Mother and Baby Koala in a nearby tree. It was marvelous scene to watch them eat and interact.

We rented a car (apparently Nate is blacked listed from ever renting a motorcycle) to drive down to Brisbane via the Australia Zoo (former home of Steve Irwin) tomorrow. With just over 2 weeks left of our world tour, we are trying to enjoy every moment and reminisce about our experiences.