Day 1.... Crystal Clear!!

Day one began, at 6:30 am, as a layover in Auckland after a 12.5 hour flight from LAX. We arrived in Brisbane at 10 am and officially began our tour of Australia. James took us out for a relaxing afternoon at the shore. We saw armies of tiny crabs who were marching around on the low tide... hundreds and hundreds of them! It looked as if the mud was moving! I did my best to capture the scene but they sense you stomping up behind them and burrow down into the mud so quickly and all at once. Coral had a great time playing at an adorable park awhile I enjoyed watching wild cockatoos frolic. James

a delicious dinner for us which of course included "Shrimp on the barbie." His "Mum" and Dad joined us as well. We had a really nice visit accompanied by some delicious cab from the Margaret River wine region in Southern Australia.

Sooooooo the fact that the sun rises here at 4:45 was withheld from me. Being the morning person that I am..... the fact that this is announced by a variety of very loud birds is a definite plus! And the orchestra that the mix of breeds creates is fantastic! But seriously... what has stood out to me the most, so far, is the lack of smog. I mentioned to James how "bright" everything seemed to be. He pointed out that the air is so clean here. Especially compared to SC. The difference is amazing and disturbing!

Well... today is the Melbourne Cup!!!! So I better get busy on selecting my winner! Updates on the outcome tomorrow :)