Blessed

Where to begin! Warning.... this might be a long post since it has been a few days and I have done and seen so much!

Okay.. so after the farm we headed to Airlie Beach (which is beautiful fyi) and boarded the Condor, the ship that we would be sailing on for the next few days. We rushed to get everything sorted and were out of the harbour before we new what bunk we were going to sleep on.

We cruised a long for a little while then we hoisted the sails. What a rush! We sailed into the sunset and it left me breathless and in awe of God and how amazing He is. We anchored for the night and then the heavens opened up and it poured rain! This made us all head to bed by 9:30.

We were up the next morning around 5:30 and were sailing soon after 7:00. (Yes Mom, I really get up early over here!) The winds were strong and brought us into a harbour around 11:00am. This was the awesome part. We took the smalled motor boat to shore and walked up to the view point where we overlooked Whitehaven beach. The beach feels like you are walking on baking flour as it is so fine. Bliss. We got to hang out at the beach for a few hours. There were some shallow areas and we got to swim with the reef sharks and the sting rays! It was awesome!!!

From there we headed back to the boat when it decided to downpour again. I was on the second boat which meant I was drenched by the time we got back to Condor. The first group was nice and dry. On the way we got to see a huge sea turtle so I guess it made up for it in the end. :)

We continued to sail on to the next location which was another highlight. We got to go snorkelling and see some beautiful coral and fish. It is so hard to believe that there is a whole other world underneath the sea.

We set anchor that night and the weather played in our favour and stayed beautiful. We got to watch the sunset once again and marvel at the stars. What a great night.
The next morning we didn't think there would be enough wind but there was so we sailed. Before we sailed we got to go snorkelling again at a different location which wasn't as great, but still cool. We just ended up doing flips and dives off the boat instead. :)

We arrived at our resort by lunch time and said our goodbyes to the crew. Our resort was beautiful! There was several pools, glorious beaches, and good company. It made for a great night to say the least.

Yesterday we headed to Cairns which was a 9 hour drive in the bus. That sucked, but I took some gravol and slept most of the way like I usually do. When we got in last night we got settled and went for a swim at one of the three pools here. (Life is rough, I know)After that we all got dressed up and headed out to do pub crawl. Let's just say that the night was highly entertaining for me as I stayed sober and everyone else was drunk. Good times for sure.

This morning Kim and I took a scenic train up to the town of Kuranda up in the rainforest. It is a cute little town and we had fun looking through the markets. We also went to a butterfly sanctuary which was beautiful. We had huge butterflies landing on our backs and everything. Now, we are just hanging out and will probably go for a swim.

Sorry this is so long.... Im almost done. I realize how blessed I am to be having this whole experience down here in Australia and I want everyone to know that I don't take one minute for granted. I am in awe of God's power, especially through creation. I have seen koalas, kangaroos, exotic birds, humpback whales, dolphins, sharks, millions of fish, sea turtles, and so many other amazing creatures all in the wild. Tomorrow I am snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef. I would be crazy if I didn't see Gods craftmanship in everything down here. It is hard to put into words what the last few days have brought me. Many mixed emotions and the primary one is happiness. Someone once told me that happiness is circumstantial and joy is a lifestyle. I feel both immensly right now in my life and there is only one thing that I can say:

I AM BLESSED