Slice of paradise just a hop, skip and a jump away :)

 There is a little island directly east of Brisbane called Morton Island.  My adventure crew had never checked it out before because it is fairly expensive to get to and a few of us are on fairly tight budgets so we have never given this place “a go” before (that’s some Australian phrasing for ya ;) ).  In order to help celebrate my recently earned freedom; Al, his new girlfriend (Katelyn), Todd, Roman, some of Todd’s friends from work and I headed to Morton on Friday morning for some 4 wheeling, snorkeling in shipwrecks (amazing), surfing, and LOADS of yummy food.  Morton was absolutely gorgeous.  It mirrored most of the beautiful beaches here: white sand, crystal clear blue water, prehistoric looking shrubbery, blue endless sky etc.  I think the close proximity to Brisbane made the experience even more unreal.  At one point we climbed up these HUGE and I mean HUGE sand dunes.  Huge to the point where we would reach the top of one only to find an even bigger one towering behind.  As we stood on the top of the tallest one we could see Brisbane’s sky scrappers silhouetted.  It was fun to wiggle my toes in soft, white sand while looking out at civilization. 

4 wheeling is a new favorite hobby of mine.  I know it is probably not the best for the environment but at least these tracks are not paved and so don’t require more damage by construction workers coming in and stomping around while pouring asphalt.  We are always sure to drive on the tracks and it is really fun to go traipsing around the bush in Todd’s Toyota Hillux.  I kinda feel like a mix of Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones and it is SO much better than the rides at Disneyland. 

I am really going to miss these trips when I go home.  I have such an incredible (but small, ha ha) group of friends here and I am going to miss hanging around the campfire with them; swapping stories, comparing food, playing cards, competing for shooting star sightings.  I am constantly bugging them about coming to visit so I hope they take me up on the offer!

Here are some pics from this weekend:

Sunset from the first campsite

Our second campsite guarded by two Toyota Hilluxs ;)

Todd and I after snorkelling :) 

Roman and I :) note his broken arm- he just wrapped it 10 times and snorkelled anyways!! crazy :) 

Morton seen from the lighthouse 

Beautiful Australian beaches... just the best!