Safe and sound in New Zealand

Hi folks,

We have arrived safely in New Zealand and are making our way to Rotorura to check out all the cool geothermal activity going on there. Hope to post with more pictures soon.

The Great Barrier Reef

We spent the last four days on a boat named the Reef Encounter on the Great Barrier Reef. We had an awesome time diving and snorkeling the Saxon, Hastings and Norman reefs. We saw sharks, turtles, many fish, beautiful coral gardens and bioluminescent plankton. We even did a couple of night dives, which were very cool. Here’s a taste of what we saw (thanks for the camera case, Bret and Annemarie!), for more check out our web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenniemerrill/AustraliaDivePhotos?authkey=iNXemlX51tE#

The Great Barrier Reef

Reef Encounter, our home for four days

School of fish

Nemo fish (clown fish)

Giant clam

Awesome coral!

Black Tipped Reef Shark

Trigger Fish

The boat and crew were excellent. We also made several friends on board. Flat Sandy enjoyed herself too, but since she is made of paper, she chose to skip the water activities and enjoy the reef from above. Now we are back in Cairns for one night before we head off to New Zealand.
Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

Port Douglas, Australia

Well, we are nearly one week in to our honeymoon and so far we are having a fantastic time. Australia is great. We have had amazing weather the whole time we have been here and everyone we have met have been delightful. Flat Sandy is enjoying herself too and is proving to be a wonderful companion. (For those of you who do not know, Flat Sandy is our traveling buddy, thanks to our cousin Charlotte’s class project.) There is a lot to catch up on so lets get started. We spent the first three days in Port Douglas, a very lovely and hot town on the north east coast of Australia. We had tons of fun exploring the Daintree Rainforest, Cape Tribulation and Four Mile Beach. We saw lots of critters and cool plants. We also had breakfast with the birds at a sanctuary named Rainforest Habitat in Port Douglas. Here we got to see up close over 100 native birds, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies and crocodiles. Flat Sandy’s favorite part was feeding the wallabies. Check out the highlights:

Flat Sandy feeding a wallaby

Rainbow Lorikeets - these guys are all over the place and are super noisy!

To see more visit our web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenniemerrill/PortDouglasPhotos02?authkey=DoxMIUZ9yss#

We're in Australia!

G'day mate!

We're having a great time in Port Douglas, Australia. Sadly, we have been unable to find wi-fi so we are unable to post pictures, but we found an internet cafe that would at least allow this post so we could let everyone know how we are doing. So far our trip is great. Our accommodation is lovely - 100 ft to the beach and very close to the downtown area. Today we went on a day-long guided trip to the Daintree Rainforest and on the Daintree River. We saw some crocs, lots of spiders, birds and BIG fruit bats. Tomorrow we will have breakfast in a nature sanctuary and later go on a night tour to the rainforest to see all the nocturnal critters. Then it's off to the Great Barrier Reef for four days and three nights!

We promise to update with photos as soon as we get back from our boat trip.

Been married 3 months ... time for the honeymoon!!!

Hey there!

Remember last August when we got hitched? Well, now it's time for our amazing honeymoon to Australia and New Zealand. Thanks to everyone who helped us get on our way. We will try to update our blog as often as possible ... hope you enjoy!

Jennie & Chris