happily ever after

Today I realized that growing up on fairytales is not healthy. No matter how far you chase that rainbow, you will not find that pot of gold. No matter how hard you search for him, finding that perfect white knight that will come riding up on his horse is impossible. And lastly, those adorable, cuddly Koala bears . . . smell like shit. Strangely, I didn't even care. Unfortunately we didn't actually get to cuddle them, but I got my picture right beside one and got to pet him. They are extremely soft, but they really smell awful.

But there is hope for those fairytales. Because no matter how many times those stories let you down, there is eventually a happily ever after. You may not find the pot of gold, but you might find a few dollars on the street one day or a $20 in your pocket. That white knight you thought you found may let you down, but that just leaves the gate open for the one that won't. And those koalas may smell like shit, but when you round the corner and see a field of kangaroos that you can feed, cuddle, pet and roam with at your leisure . . . that my friends is happily ever after. I have never been so overcome with joy in my entire life. Its like a petting zoo, but instead of goats it is real live kangaroos. America sucks. Hanne and I stayed in the park for a while cuddling with our new friends and taking more pictures than facebook will probably allow me to upload. She finally dragged me away to check out the rest of Currumbin Sanctuary. We saw a crocodile that looked almost 20 feet long. He was gigantor. And then we saw tree kangaroos. So cool. Right in that area was a non exciting bird called a Cassowary. I came to find out later that it is one of the most vicious birds in the world and if it escaped they would have to evacuate the entire park. Cool. Then we headed towards the Dingoes and Devils. Evidently they have some new dingo pups who are only a few weeks old but are the size of 3 month old puppies. They grow so quickly because otherwise they won't survive in the wild. I didn't get to see the lil pups, but the zoo woman who talked my ear off for 15 minutes told me all about them. Dingoes really just look like big dogs, and they made me miss my Soco. I got a sweet picture of a tazmanian devil showin his vicious teeth and visited with the Ciscos for a lil while. That was all good times, but I desperately missed my kangaroos. So we went back and spent the last 30 minutes with the kangaroos. And I took even more pictures. Absolutely amazing. I was sad to leave, but believe me, I will be back.

We then headed to Coolangatta for lunch and a lil beach time. It was gorgeous and being only an hour away from Brisbane, I will definitely head back there when it gets warmer. We attempted a jumping picture, but we were slightly unsuccessful. We then boarded the bus for Surfers Paradise. I have never seen so many hotels in my life. Its a small completely overdeveloped toursit attraction. I did a little shopping and then we headed down to check out the beach. It was quite windy and freezing, but still pretty. We then met up with the Swedish guys and my German roomies and grabbed a quick brewsky before getting back on the bus. I also bought Carter a sweet present from some scantily clad women, for a good cause of course. :)

It was an amazing day to say the least. . . and I'm loving Australia more and more each day