The rest of the summer

We have been packing a summer's worth of activities into the past month that we have been home from Australia. Even though school has started for the neighbors (and Eric who is teaching this term) life for the kids and me (and sometimes Eric) is still on a summer schedule. What we have been up to:

Music on the lawn at the library.

Swim lessons and pool time:

 Ohio State Fair (a first for Eric):

A beach in Ohio:

 Clippers baseball:

 Farm days at COSI (kid's science museum) - another first for Eric:

 Tiny tot Olympics! 

 The zoo with stroller buddies:

 And an awesome block party where the kids ran wild and ended up with cheese puffs stuck to their heads:

Let the fun continue!

Last OZ post - Cape Trib and Cairns

We drove north until we hit the end of the highway, then crossed a crocodile infested river (see above) on a ferry and drove another hour going about 25 kph along a very curvy road to get to Cape Tribulation - the most northern "town" on the east coast that you can drive to unless you have 4 wheel drive and plan on packing your own fuel. Cape Trib is in the Daintree Rainforest (a World Heritage Site) and it rained most of the time we were there. They get 8-9 meters of rain a year in some areas of the Daintree. To give you perspective, Columbus gets ~38 inches a year, Corvallis, Oregon ~42 inches. 8 meters is 315 inches! Yikes. I had high hopes for our accommodations as we were staying at the "Cape Trib Beachhouse and Resort." In reality it was little more than glorified camping but it was beautiful. Our "beach house":

Just a few steps away from this:

The Daintree is home to the endangered cassowary. Very strange birds that I'm not sure I want to meet in the wild but still we were always on the lookout. We (adults) went on a night hike and came across fresh cassowary droppings but no birds. We did see plenty of these:

Huntsman spiders. Go ahead and google search both cassowary and huntsman spiders and you'll see why I wasn't really sleeping well at night. As close as we got to a cassowary in the Daintree:

We visited the Rainforest Discovery Center and climbed a few stories worth of stairs to get out of the forest for a good look around.

We also met up with researchers from James Cook University who operate a canopy crane. Think large construction crane in the middle of the forest. We went up 43 meters in the bucket and then swung around a full 360 degrees while swooping in and out and up and down along the 55 meter crane jig to get up close and friendly with the trees. Did I mention there was an osprey nest at the end of the jig? I was in heaven. Pretty close I guess. Me and my sis at the top of the canopy: 

I didn't get any great shots of the crane so I snagged one from the web:

Our final stop in Australia was Cairns where we spent loads of Australian currency on cheap souvenirs and gelato.

We also visited the greatest city pool complete with sandy beach, fountains, and awesome ocean views.

Then, it was over! And we were back in an airport dreading the coming 30 hours of travel (which really wasn't all that bad).

The End... to be continued 2013.

One More Port Douglas Photo

The famous stinky koala and evidence that she pet it:

Port Douglas, Great Barrier Reef

The week we spent in Port Douglas was probably my favorite. First of all we had a real apartment with  normal size kitchen and our own washer and dryer. It was nice to feel not so transient. This is also where we saw the most wildlife, at a wildlife rehab/conservation center, around town (and next door!), and at the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) where Eric and I were able to SCUBA dive. This was truly an amazing experience and I kept thinking "am I really doing this?"
Cadie was sick for a couple of days (stomach virus that we all passed around at some point) and so the kids and I went to the wildlife center on a different day than Paige, Eric and the students. The students met a frisky kangaroo who kicked Paige so I was a little nervous to take the little kids on my own but we had a great time. Petting a koala and feeding wallabies, kangaroos, emus, and birds are the things C will tell you about Australia and they all happened at the center.
A cockatoo moments before it tried to use C's head as a landing post.

 Asher was there! We have a photo:

 The cassowary - yes that is a real bird.

The 'roos were a little too intimidating to C so she placed their food on the ground rather than let them eat out of her hand.

 No problem with the wallabies:

One day Paige joined Eric and the students on the boat to GBR and I looked out the window and saw a HUGE python on the roof of the next door apartments. I did not feel comfortable letting the kids play outside after that!  Can you see it in this picture?

Four-mile beach in Port Douglas was beautiful and within walking distance. We spent our spare moments there, Cadie hunting for shells and coconuts and Asher checking on the flavor of the sand.

 I've tasted better dirt/sand, but let me try one more handful:

 Beautiful beach, beautiful Paige:

 I can't believe I am posting a picture of me in a swimsuit but...           O-H-I-O!

 How does the sand taste over here?

 Sand crocodiles:

I could spend a lot of ink (bytes?) on the Great Barrier Reef. The colors were so vivid and the coral teeming with life. The pictures don't do it justice. I'll try to post one of our under-water videos when I can figure it out.
Our boat with Eric and our guide Jimmy talking to the students:

 We saw a few of these:

 And fish everywhere

 A great time out at sea with my favorite: