Upon Departure..

Bags are packed and I'm getting ready to head to the airport to begin this adventure of a lifetime!! Ricky has been there for a month and has gotten me extremely excited for all the adventures to come in Australia. His rainforest management program was a success and he might even continue further research in Queensland. We will be meeting up in Cairns, stay there for a bit and do some camping, scuba diving and sight seeing. From there we have flights to Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland New Zealand, and finally Fiji. Between the tropical climate in Cairns and Fiji and the Winter weather in NZ and Sydney packing was tough to tackle, not to mention the variety between camping gear and city slicks.
I've had a great summer thus far, spending a lot of time with relatives that made their way to Orange County, training as a server at Hanna's Restaurant, and soaking up the great outdoors at the lake, beach, and dog park :)  However, this trip was constantly on my mind and I am so happy my day of departure has arrived. My parents even took me out to Outback last night for a bon voyage dinner; we thought it an appropriate restaurant for the occasion and steak and lobster dinners aren't quite in our budget for the next two months.
I will try to keep up this blog when we are at hostels or in cities,  in between camping in the boonies. I figured this would be the easiest way to keep updates on our adventures and share photos along the way. I will miss all of my family and friends immensely during our time in the opposite hemisphere, but I am thinking about you all and thanking you for your support and excitement for this opportunity. And, as the web address states, we encourage all of you to meet us in Fiji for some beauty and adventure! Might as well make a pit stop in Hawaii and surf Waimea Bay along the way :)  Now for this 14 hour flight.... talk to you soon!