Koala

Tonight I saw my first wild koala! We were walking at "Crystal Waters" which is a park near our house and a woman and her daughter stopped to say that there was a koala down the path a bit in a tree. She said it was the first one she had seen around in a long time. So exciting!! The Koala was actually rather awake and watched us as we looked up at it. It was probably mid-sized and had a nice, silky-looking coat. We watched for a couple of minutes before continuing on our way. Unfortunately the koalas in South Queensland are threatened due to habitat loss, traffic, dogs and chlamydia. I think this is why this is the first one I have seen. I hope it makes it back to it's home without any incidents with traffic or dogs.

Birthday Hike

Spent my birthday hiking in the Binna Burra section of the Lamington National Park here in Queensland. It was a beautiful day. I even got to get under a waterfall!

the view

on top of Surprise Rock

Got underneath this waterfall

Crayfish!

Waterfall

Falling from the Sky

Today I went sky diving for the first time. (An early birthday present to myself) I did a static line jump which means I jumped out of the plane by myself and my parachute was deployed by a line attached to the plane. I jumped out at 3,500 ft. I wasn't completely happy with my take off or landing. My jammed finger makes it hard to grip and to get out of the plane you are supposed to hang off the strut for a moment before letting go. I wasn't able to hang for more than a couple of seconds because of my hand. As for the landing, I didn't do the release fast enough so I awkwardly rolled. But it is okay. I can now say that I have done it. I'd love to do more but it's expensive. Paul got some footage so I will post it once we get it off  the camera.

RIP Rufus

My precious baby Rufus died a couple days ago. Even though it was not entirely unexpected, it was really hard to be so far away.  He was such a sweet, funny kitty. I am going to miss him.