It was another beautiful day in Australia. The weather was perfect today - perfectly warm, perfect humidity, and perfect waves for beginner surfers.
We took the public transit ferry ($6.40 each way) across the bay to Manly. Manly beach is not only a highly sought out tourist area for shopping, beaching, and surfing as there are many locals who call this area home. The commuters to/from Sydney are plentiful as the ferry travels every half hour from early dawn to late night. It is quite an enticing little world over there - kinda makes me want to change careers, relocate, and open a boutique on the beach. but until then, I will just have to continue living on my motto of: work hard to play hard.
Manly Surf School here we come. I couldn't help but wonder how these professional surfers can stand their job dealing with clumsy novices like us all day. Having said that, I did get UP on the waves three times and Kate got up several as well. We were VERY hapy to have achieved some success during our first time surfing! Prior to going out in the water, we had a half hour lesson on the beach on how to assess the ocean, interpret the waves, how to handle the (heavy) board, and safety tips. I know it looks so light when those experienced surfers are walking with their board under their arm down the beach, but I'm here to tell you they are conditioned and it was not as easy as it looks. My upper half got a good workout today from pushing myself up on the board while catching the waves. We had a two hour lesson and were totally exhausted byt the end of it. I don't think I phsically could have lasted much longer without a break. Now I completely understand how Cameron Diaz has sculpted that rock hard body on the water. And here's my souvenir from the day - a jellyfish bracelet sting bracelet.
We both got stung by a Blue Bottle Top jellyfish. It feels like a bee sting that just doesn't stop stinging. They were plentiful and there were announcements on the beach warning of them, but we were willing to take the risk for the experience. We had full bodied wet suits on but mine was a little big and my arm sleeve kept sliding up, hence the location of the sting. Kate got stung on her hand though didn't get much of a mark left behind. I would definitely go surfing again. It was a fun, fun, fun experience!
We browsed through the mall and street shops and even a bit in Chinatown. No super fabulous treasures were found, though we were pleasantly surprised at the prices - way more reasonable than the Cairns area. 
We were anticipating an exciting day in the wild of Australia and experiencing the beauty of this world that God created. While Hollywood blows things up and way out of proportion, I was looking forward to entering the Daintree Rainforest after seeing MJ's "This Is It." I saw that big blue beautiful butterfly that soured through the videography in his final work. It was a beautiful and emotional moment for me. I was so thankful to have shared the love/life/music of one of our greatest talents. 
We saw a birds nest. Look closely...
Once across the Daintree River, our tour guide met us with the big 4-wheel drive vehicle we were to continue our adventure on. We drove through the mountains and stopped in the heart of it all. He guided us through a walk in the Daintree Rainforest which was cautiously entertained by both myself and the child. The smell was so luscious and fresh, a pure and welcoming aroma. After viewing that monster spider at the ladies room entrance, we were both hyper-alert to our surroundings. And having been such, I was the one who spotted that ugly little dragon lizard (whatever kind he was) on a tree trunk. Of course, all those tourists in our group were snapping pictures left and right and in my way that I didn't get one with my crappy little camera. I ust mention tha I miss my Canon Powershot that got beached in Hawaii last year and three cameras later, I want that one back...UGH! 
Oh and here is the vibrant beautiful cassowary that blessed our ice cream stop...
