Sun, surf, sand and sadness.

As is the custom, my best mates came to visit me this year.  We had hoped that being a year older now, their little one would enjoy some of our activities more this year than last.  We were wrong.  We jumped in the car and headed back to the beach with new beach toys in hand.  She was perfectly content to watch all of us make sand castles but once she was asked to dip her toe in the sand she went nuts.

The Moores

How long do I have to be here?  Dont get my toys dirty.

The sand castle I built...

Im taking a picture of you taking a picture of me.  Say CHEESE

UGH! Seriously, can we LEAVE already? 

The sandcastle Julius and I built.

 We finally decided to put the baby out of her misery and go home.  The next day it looked like it was going to rain all day so we went to Birdland Animal Park.  If you are in or around Batemans Bay, I highly recommend this park.  It looks a bit run down when you first walk in but the animals are well cared for and you can see a sample of all Australian wildlife there.  The baby liked the little play ground at the back the best.

Now this is more like it!

 The park also does animal encounters.  Unlike other parks or zoos, these encounters are part of the admission price and not extra.  We made sure to be there at 2:30 for the snakes (per Julius' request) and the Wombats (MY request).  They let you pat them or in the case of the snake hold them.  As you might imagine, I was not interested in the snake AT ALL.

Then this happened.

 Then, because the groups are generally small, they let us all pat the wombat.  They were called Willow and Gabe.  They were SO SOFT!!!

Well, its not a kitty but....

Im still not too sure about this...

 Once that was done, we continued walking around and the baby photobombed the kangaroos.  Then the cockatoos who taught her "HELLO" sqwacked and scared the daylights out of her.  As usual, the grown ups had more fun than the kids on this trip.

2014 year in review

Wow.  Two years have FLOWN by.  It seems that just yesterday I was telling you all about my first year in Australia.  Year two managed to turn up the activity even more.

We kicked off the year with a visit from my BFF Gina, her hubby Julius, and their baby LA.  This was the first time I met LA and we hit it off immediately. While they were here, we took surf lessons!!  I was so excited to finally get to the beach and learn how to surf.  Im totally rubbish at it but I do love it.

Then, I got my travel on.  I was off to Darwin for work in March where I was able to meet some of my contacts in person.  I also got to meet some of the locals.  They were not as friendly.  This is the "nursery"...

Once July came along, I was able to head to the land of the long white cloud. Being winter in the Southern Hemisphere, it is not the most optimal time to travel but when you are going where you are told you dont get to decide the time frame.  First up I went to Wellington, New Zealand.

August was my first of two trips to Cairns.  It was good to do some recon work before I took my family back in November

Went out to the Great Barrier Reef but because I couldnt really snorkel or dive because I wear glasses, it was more scenic than anything else.

 I was on the Dragon Boat team this year.  It was so much fun!!  We came in second in the B final so not too shabby I think.

 I went to the King's Day celebration at the Kingdom of the Netherlands High Commission.  Getting to experience all sorts of culture on this adventure.

Back to New Zealand for my birthday.  I think I might love the South Island even more than the North!!

It was home for Christmas this year.  I needed to refuel on Mexican food and Whataburger.  Only one year to go and it seems to be flying by already!