We arrived in Brisbane Australia on the 28th of June and were greeted by our good friend Courtney. She took us to where we would be staying after feeding us some amazing manacotti.

Jordan and Joy Allen are friends of Courtney and Jason and had an extra room for us to crash in while we were in Brisbane. They were very hospitable and had some Tim Tams waiting for us when we got there. This was the first house that we stayed in for a long time, so it was nice to just lounge around and not worry about where we would be sleeping that night. We had a lot of fun spending time with them and there little boy Micaiah. What a fun kid! We also hung out with Chloe and Melissa, their two housemates. Chloe taught us how to talk like true Australian's and "how to listen to our hearts." In return we brought extreme charades to the house and had a few evening sessions of tim tams and charades.

Courtney showed us around the city of Brisbane after church on Sunday and got us acclimated with the area. The three of us also took a trip up to the sunny coast which is about an hour North of the city. There were some waves there and I was able to catch a few while the girls caught up over some coffee.

We made some great dinners every night and really enjoyed the company. We also took a ferry to Stradbroke Island (Straddie)for a day as well. It was really nice over there. We saw some whales of the coast from some amazing lookouts and the waves were the best I had surfed since Hawaii.

One of the other highlights was the fourth of July party we had at Joy and Jordan's. It wasn't the same as being in the states, but we made the best of it. There was a big BB-Q, some makeshift horse shoes, red white and blue streamers, and since fireworks aren't allowed, the best sparklers that we could get. The night ended with the streamers catching on fire and someone trying to put the out with juice. When that made the situation worse, Ashleigh insisted I put my skills to good use and extinguish the fire.

Our good friend Jason arrived back to Oz for the last 5 days we were there. We had a fun welcome home/birthday party for him. Courtney and Jason decided to take us down to a little hippie town called Byron Bay for a couple days before we left. It was a really cool town and a great surf spot as well, so I was really excited. We got some Thai food that we had been craving for a while the night that we got there, and got a little sleep before getting up at 5am to see the sunrise from the lighthouse and the most easterly point of Australia.

It was a rough start, but well worth it. After the sun came up, everyone headed back to get some showers and I headed out to catch my last few waves for a while. After a fun session, we all headed into town to check out some more of Byron. We got some organic donuts, Byron Chai and some Kabobs. We were told all three of these were a must. We left Byron and headed to Sierreme, a great winery that Jason happens to be a member of. We enjoyed a cheese platter, great wine and even better conversation. We had a blast with Jason and Courtney. We finished the afternoon up by stalking wallabies in vineyards.

We spent the next couple days getting ready to head out. We couldnt have asked for a better time in Australia. We met some great people, got to relax and spent time with our friends.

Next stop...Singapore!!