Pictures and some details!

Hey! So we've made it to New Zealand. Auckland seems nice from the 3 hours we've spent here. Anyway, how 'bout that last update from Oz, complete with pictures? Here y'all go...quoting Meghan McGuire on January 27, 2008:

Howdy from Central Australia! We're currently smack in the middle of the continent at Uluru/Ayers Rock. It's quite a change from the humid tropical temps we left in Cairns...temps here in Uluru are around 100 and extremely dry.
We had a great stay in Cairns, swam in their pretty public pool one day and then took a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a choppy day, so snorkeling wasn't great, but Ryan did a trial scuba dive and loved it!
Last night was our first in Uluru and we did a magnificent dining tour on a desert dune with sunset views of Uluru and later a star-filled sky. We shared a table with some very friendly Aussies and got some more info on cricket, which we are now sure is the most boring and pointless game ever invented. Resort living is really agreeing with us and we had a relaxing morning hanging out by the pool. We're headed out now for a quick hike around some other huge boulders in the Walpa Gorge at Kata Tjuta and then sunset at Uluru.
Lots of love,
M

Photoless again

Was hoping to post some pics of our last few days, but there's no wi-fi out here in the middle of Oz. We're at Uluru/Ayers Rock now and having a great time at our hotel. Had a fun morning by the pool and are headed out now to do a quick hike and then sunset over Uluru. Hopefully we'll get some pictures posted once we return to Sydney.
Love,
Meghan

Aussie camper conclusion

Well, our run in the Oz Thunderdome has come to an end. We've returned it and will now commence with hotel living for the next couple of weeks...Meghan is super excited about hotel living!
Flying out to Uluru tomorrow, which is Australia Day - kinda like our Columbus Day in that it marks the day Cooke "discovered" Oz. Don't think there will be many celebrations out in Uluru though, the Aboriginals have designated it as a National Day of Mourning. Turns out they got a raw deal, much like our Native Americans (big surprise).
Can't wait to hike around Uluru and get some real outback experience.
Then it's off to New Zealand where we expect to meet up with Jay and Ami! Woooo, camper caravan!!

Lots of love,
Meg n' Rydawg

Reefin'

Gooday!~
We are here, in our final coastal destination "Cairns". This place seems to be a tourist center, with lots of great barrier

reef trips and such, one of which we will be heading out on tomorrow, to snorkel the outer reef and cruise on the boat. I lost

track of how many days it has been since the last post. We definitely put in a couple of serious driving days to get up here.

Fraser island was fun, we rode around in the biggest 4wd I have ever seen, looked at a shipwreck, Mega floated down a crik, and dingos tried to steal someone's baby, and sniffed around on the rainwater lake.
There was monsoon in Mackay, this time we rode it out in the camper. Notably, we had to go out into the storm at about 1am to

remove the awning because the wind was causing it to jerk the camper all over the place. It was fun.
On our way to the far north we passed through townsville, a very picturesque place, and took a day trip out to magnetic

island, where we found a beach all to ourselves. Townsville looked like it should have dinosaurs walking around in it.
We also stopped in the mountains for a night and saw a giant waterfall.
The people of the far north are friendly blokes. They have the most 4wd vehicles per capita of anywhere I have seen. They are

complaining because the monsoons have moved north and it is kinda hot. Too bad! ha ha ha more fun for us.
Catch you later -Ryan

Crickey ~ will you lookit these updates!!

Hiya! We just got back from a daytrip to Fraser Island. It was lots of fun and really beautiful, but a bit brief...pics in the next post. We Spent the last two nights and will spend tonight at our favorite campsite yet, beachfront at Hervey Bay. It's been nice to be in the same spot for a few days. The weather cleared up a couple days ago when we were leaving Noosa. Ryan even had his most fun day surfing yet -- at "The Spit" in Noosa. We took take a trip to the Australia Zoo on one of the rainy days and saw lots of 'roos, some LAAAAZY koalas and cranky wombats. Here are some pictures of the sights we have seen over the last few days. We head up further north tomorrow and hopefully the weather will continue being brilliant!
Lots of love, Meghan and Ryan

p.s. check out the beer coolie, Jonathan

Queensland doesn't like us

So, Queensland copied Florida and named itself the "Sunshine State"...HA, more like the crappy weather state! We've had tons of rain the last two nights and heard a couple of roads up North are out, so we're taking our time and hoping the weather moves on.
Oh and we broke the bank last night and got a cabin! Whooooo hoooo! Ryan was super excited about the TV and Meghan loved the a/c and not being dripped on from the campervan. The camper was sad, though, so it'll be back to campertime tonight.

Love,
M&R

p.s. Jonathan, coolie cup pictures are coming up soon!

Movin on up... da coast

Hey! Ryan and Mega here. Sunday. We have fixed the comments section, so anyone can comment now.
Campervan is in full effect. We named the campervan 'thunderdome' on the first day. Sometimes Ryan pulls out on the wrong side of the road and Meghan yells at him. A couple of days ago, Ryan looked the wrong way while crossing the street on foot and almost died, but Meghan saved him by yelling at him. We also got a flat tyre! Ryan thinks of the road warrior a lot during drives.We are now back on the beach and approaching the tropics. For the two days before that we went up to the mountains and climbed cathedral rock. We also had some roo neighbors and saw tons of wierd birds that laugh at you, or say "ohhh noooo!". We got creeped out by lizards and aussie possums. They are better looking than FL possums.As it turns out, crocodile dundee was right and roos hop through the forest, even though Meghan thought they would bump their heads on limbs.Before that we were at the beach for a couple of days, we had a lot of fun in the sun.We are excited about the tropics and particularly the great barrier reef. Ryan is for snorkel. Roight! Surf is pretty flat right now. Please let us know if there are any cyclones coming, because we don't get weather reports much.Roight! We are missing all y'all back home and up north. Hopefully we will have more frequent updates now that we are close to Brisbane's urban tentacles. Gday!

p.s. happy January birthdays to Max, Ace, Greg, and Mr. Dale!!

Campervannin'

Our expedition in the house-car that is the campervan has gotten underway brilliantly! We spent the first night out of Sydney at a beautiful spot in the Blue Mountains. The campsite was within a short hike to some overlooks of the canyon. At night Meghan saw 2 shooting stars, but Ryan only saw one, but it was big.
Then, we made our way out and up the coast and spent last night in a family holiday park -- quite an experience. It reminded us a lot of a trailer park, but it was right on the beach and Ryan had fun this morning catching 5 big kahuna waves...he had the break to himself. Now we're off to wine country in Hunter Valley and then back to the coast for a beachy state park around Seal Rocks.

G'day!
Meghan and Ryan

First leg, complete

Hey, Ryan here.
Mega and I are checking out of sydney today, here are a few photos of our time here. Tis a nice place, with many beaches. We are headed out to pick up the camper - where the adventure really begins! First stop will be the blue mountains, then some wine country and surfing in newcastle. p.s. check out the 15 foot swell we got yesterday - complete with 30mph onshore winds. (see picture of swimming pool)
Waves should be settling into 4 foot range this week for ole ryan.

OK, Meghan here. I'll explain these pictures and not talk about surfing. First one is us on our cliff hike that covered 4 beaches. Some rain set in, though and we had to skip the last portion. Also pic of me in front of the opera house on our first day. That tour was a bit jetlagged, but we headed out via ferry the next day to Manly Beach and I wore Granddad's hat and a girl behind me had a fish and Ry caught some waves, but no photo documentation of that. p.s. cricket is stupid.

Might not be able to post for a few days while we are camping in the mountains. Bye for now!

xoxo,
M&R

The eagle has landed

We made it! The flight actually wasn't so bad and we've had some time to wander around Sydney today. Would've posted pictures of us and the Opera House, but we discovered that Aussies are very stingy with their wireless. They also are total jerks when it comes to pricing soda and beer. A 6-pack was $16! aaaaand they wanted $2.50 for a Coca Cola! No rules, but not just right, hmph.
Anyway, we're looking to hit the beach tomorrow and Ry thinks it looks to be EPIC.

later gators.

...and so, it begins

Happy 2008, friends and family!!

Due to many requests we decided to try a travelblog for our trip to Oz and Naz. Right now we're a bit bleary eyed from a fun Myakka City New Year's at Berta and Dale's, but mostly gearing up for departure to Australia this evening!! Woooo!

Hopefully we'll be able to update this fairly regularly, but who knows what wi-fi access in the Outback is like??

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year's!
lots of love,
m&r