Port Douglas

 After leaving Silky Oaks Lodge, we went to nearby Port Douglas and stayed for five nights at the Sea Temple Resort.  Once there, we relaxed, went on a snorkeling day trip to the Great Barrier Reef, laid by the pool, barbecued at the hotel & went for a day trip to the rainforest village of Kuranda.  Port Douglas is a very cute little resort town with lots of restaurants & shopping.  Drew & I splurged in Port Douglas and bought an amazing painting of Sydney.  We hadn't even been yet, but had a feeling that we would love it.  And we did!

Our hotel was right on Four Mile Beach - Maggie & I went
exploring at low tide

Our rooftop oasis - complete with jacuzzi, BBQ & outdoor kitchen

I tried my tastiest local brew in Australia at the Tin Shed in Port Douglas - Fat Yak.  The label was also everything I hoped it would be.  We made some pretty tasty meals at our hotel (which thankfully had a full kitchen & our own BBQ), including shrimp on the barbie, Indian food, fish & pizza.  Some tasty meals!

First order of business in Port Douglas  - checking out
the town & swinging

Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef was quite an adventure.  The reef is so expansive in Australia and so well preserved because it is a hike from the shore.  We had to take about a 2 hour boat ride just to get out to the reef.  And it was a bit more windy than any of us Coffins would have liked.  We were pretty much all feeling seasick by the time we actually got out to the reef, but thankfully none in our party lost our breakfast.  Others on the boat weren't as fortunate.  It was significantly calmer once we were sheltered by the reef, but still a bit more choppy than the ideal snorkeling conditions we're used to on Guam.  But we saw such amazing stuff!!  The fish are a lot like the ones in Guam, but they are SO much bigger.  It was astounding how huge they were.  I swear some of them were bigger than me.  And there were huge clams & such amazing coral.  I also got to see a sea turtle, which was phenomenal!!

Kuranda is a cute little rainforest village.  It is predominantly a tourist attraction and the journey up & back is fantastic.  We took a train up the mountain to get there & took a gondola ride over the rainforest on the way down.  It was one of the coolest things of the whole trip!  And while we were up there, we had a tasty lunch of meat pies (mainly meatless in our case) and saw some amazing animals at Koala World & Bird World.  It was a wonderful excursion. 

Taking the train up

Kangaroo with a little joey sticking his head out of her pouch

The prehistoric-looking, flightless Cassowary

Taking the gondola down

We had a wonderful time in Port Douglas & the best part was just being together!  We had two days where we just relaxed, played lots of games, shopped & just enjoyed being around the family.  I give Port Douglas two thumbs up!  If I ever went again, though, I might try to stay in the actual town because the resorts are all a little outside the town & you have to pay to take the shuttle into town.  And you have to wait for the shuttle at times, but the waiting does allow for some good photo ops...

The Daintree Rainforest/Silky Oaks Lodge

After our first night in Australia we had a delightful breakfast & a quick walk around Cairns.  Then we headed north for Silky Oaks Lodge.  This little resort was truly amazing.  It is situated right on the Mossman River & all of the rooms are "treehouses" complete with hammocks on the balcony.  It was so relaxing and the perfect start to our trip with two wonderful nights.

Bush turkey - they ran wild at Silky Oaks

The resort is secluded in the rainforest so thankfully they have an excellent restaurant.  Our first meal there was some of the best food I ate on the trip.  I had a delicious duck risotto the first night, but the best things I ate were what Drew & Rick ordered (thankfully they let me taste theirs!).  Here are the descriptions straight from the restaurant itself for all you foodies out there:

• Pesto crusted Reef Barramundi on Dupuy lentil, artichoke, exotic mushroom & fresh herb warm salad finished with a vincotto vinaigrette & lime
• Pan fried lamb rump on a ratatouille tart, mushroom arrancini, parsnip cream and blueberry jus

The best part is that the restaurant is open air and set right on the river in the midst of the trees.  It is a great dining experience & that's where we enjoyed our tropical buffet breakfast each morning. 

 

We went out on a full day tour of the Daintree Rainforest & River from Silky Oaks Lodge.  Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and had so many  interesting things to tell us.  She took us on a hike through the rainforest & to Cape Tribulation (where we saw a crocodile sunbathing).  We then went on a crocodile tour down the Daintree River & capped the day off with afternoon tea back at Silky Oaks Lodge.  It was a fabulous day!  And we had such a great time at Silky Oaks Lodge.  I would definitely recommend it if you ever find yourself in northeastern Australia. 

Our rainforest tour guide

Crocodile sunbathing 

Cape Tribulation

Little itty bitty baby croc 

Hope everyone had a wonderful long Labor Day weekend!

Our Journey to the Land of Oz

I'm back!  Sorry that I've been absent from the blog for so long, but I've journeyed down under and back.  Drew and I were lucky enough to have his parents visit us in Guam for a few days and then we all flew to Australia for 2 wonderful weeks of vacationing.

So, I've been trying to decide how to recount my trip for all of my millions of followers (ha!) and I think I've devised a plan.  Today will be an overview and some pictures from our time in Guam with Drew's parents.  And then I'll do a post for each of the main spots we went to in Australia - the Daintree Rainforest/Silky Oaks Lodge, Port Douglas, and Sydney.  So stay tuned!

We had such an amazing time in Australia.  It is such a vast and beautiful country with such welcoming and hospitable people.  I saw things that I had never dreamed of seeing in real life - crocodiles, kangaroos & wallabies in the wild!  And it was so fun to travel with Drew's family.  We had a wonderful time together & were able to share some very exciting experiences.  We landed in Cairns and spent our first night in a hotel in the middle of town.  Drew's sister, Maggie, had gotten there a little before us because she flew straight from SFO.  From Cairns we went north to Silky Oaks Lodge, which is nestled on the Mossman River in Far North Queensland, for two nights.  From there we explored the Daintree Rainforest & River.  Our next stop was Port Douglas where we stayed for five nights and went on sightseeing expeditions to The Great Barrier Reef and Kuranda.  Our final stop was Sydney where we stayed for four nights and had an exceptional time exploring the expansive, beautiful & extremely interesting city.  It was a wonderful trip.

But before all that, we had a wonderful time showing Rick and Sue our island home.  We showed them around base, went to the War in the Pacific museum, visited Ritidian beach & played lots of bridge!  It was great to have them stay with us & we miss them already.

And for those of you who can understand my unhealthy and strange addiction to Bachelor Pad, I managed to catch up on all the episodes and I cannot stand Casey or Vienna.  They drive me absolutely insane and I hope they leave very soon or I am going to stop watching (honestly, who am I kidding?).

Lastly, Happy September everyone!  I'm looking forward to fall and the return of all our shows.

Home Sweet Home

I just recently returned to Guam from my visit to CA.  I had a lot of time on my 19 hour journey back to think.  And I was had two epiphanies.  One, I realized that even though Pasadena is my hometown and will always feel like coming home in a way, my home really now is with my darling husband.  That is exactly the way God created marriage to be!  It is also packed in a little lyric nugget in one of our favorite songs by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Home is wherever I'm with you."  Home now, especially since we'll be moving frequently, really is wherever I'm with Drew.  Whether that be Guam, Italy or California.  And as I flew back to Guam, it truly felt like I was coming home.

The other thing I realized is how absolutely blessed I am to have such an amazing family and friends.  I really feel that my dearest friends are actually part of my family.  They are the ones I want to spend time playing games with, chatting with & I know that they will be right beside me for the rest of my life.  As I'm getting older, I have realized that it doesn't matter that my friends & family aren't in the same city as me or even in the same state!  Because I know without a doubt that our relationships are about so much more than just being near each other (don't get me wrong, it would be wonderful to be around them all the time!).  I know that I can count on them no matter what, that they will be here for all of life's biggest moments and we really are one big perfect family.  I love you all!  Thank you for everything & especially for being you.

Okay, sorry for the overload of cheesiness but I just had to let my family & friends know how wonderful they are!  My extremely long journey back to this tiny island in the South Pacific really wasn't too bad.  I had a wonderful roomy window seat in Economy Plus on my flight to Narita (Tokyo), watched 3 movies, had 3 tasty meals, I got to go in the United Red Carpet Club in the Narita airport and I flew Business First back to Guam!  At the luxurious Red Carpet Club there were free snacks, including sushi & edamame, and drinks - even Asahi beer taps.  So of course I helped myself to a tasty little treat during my 4 hour layover.  I could have looked around that airport & shopped in all of the little stores for a whole day.  But I was good & allowed myself only one treat.  My choice?  Mochi in amazing Japanese wrapping paper!!

I'm going back, back to Cali, Cali

As many of you know I am in sunny (and hot!) California this week for my cousin's wedding and to visit my family & friends!  I flew in early Thursday morning and have been busy ever since.  I got to meet the newest member of my "family" - little Tucker Savant Nelson.  He is just too cute & Kristen is doing a fantastic super-mom job of juggling her 3 little boys.  It was so nice to see Charley, Miles, Kristen, JP & Jennie too - I miss my Seal Beachers.

 
On Friday I headed up to Santa Barbara to spend time with Sarah, Lindsay & their wonderful mothers.  It was such a great visit and I'm so glad that I got to see Linds.  The girls even persuaded me to do a little bit of shopping (and actually try clothes on)!  I really do miss that Santa Barbara & my girls, of course.

Saturday morning I headed up to San Luis Obispo for my cousin Marianne's wedding.  Unfortunately, Jake & Angela's flight from NC to CA got cancelled on Friday night so they came into LA on Saturday morning, had to rent a car & drive up to SLO.  They just barely missed the wedding ceremony, but made it in time for the family picture & reception.  It was so nice to be around all of my family - I love them all so much!  And the wedding was absolutely beautiful.  I am SO happy for Marianne & Josh - they are such a wonderful & Godly couple.  I'm so excited he is part of our family!

Do those flower girls look familiar??

Mr. & Mrs. Krumheuer

I have had such a great time so far visiting with family & friends, catching up, playing games & just being in CA.  I know the rest of the trip will be just as great.  But I do miss my hubby & wish he was here.  Love you, Drew!