Hello avid readers! I'm going to begin this post with an apology for such a belated update on what I've been up to, or rather what I was up to three weeks ago.

In my last post I promised an intriguing adventure to the beach and Billabong Sanctuary. We'll start with what has become pretty typical here, a trip to the beach on a Saturday. This Saturday was nothing new except I actually remembered to bring my camera with me, so I was able to take pictures of the very cute waterfall that I walk by on my way from the bus stop as well as some of the really cool trees that they have all over the place here. I've included a picture of both the tree and the waterfall. As a note, what I think is so cool about the tree is that it's roots actually grow downward from the branches. This gives it a very unique look. One of my friends always takes the time to braid these roots (before they've reached the ground) saying that one day her grandkids will think it looks pretty :).


Now on to the more interesting topic of Billabong Sanctuary. Queensland (where I am) is just about the only state in the world where it is legal to hold koala bears (not that you want to go grab a wild one or anything!), and Billabong Sanctuary is one of the few places in Queensland where you can hold one of the cute things! So while I was at Billabong, I got to hold and take a really good photo with both a koala bear and a wombat. They also have a slew of other animals there including snakes, lizards, cassowaries, kangaroos, and crocs, so I also got pictures with all of those except the cassowary. All in all it was a pretty amazing time, and if you ever come to visit me in the states, I can show you the pictures of me with the koala and wombat. I'm also gonna include the ones I took of me holding them, but they are not nearly as good.

On second thought, I'm just going to put those pics in a different update, because they are a pain to add under all this text... I should be writing another post soon on my trip to Sydney over lecture recess!