sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

aside from my now-burned arms (as compared to the fading burn on the back) and the annoyingness of the hostel which has no actual utensils in the kitchen and forces us to trek the long way over to reception each time we need a pot, pan, or fork to put down a deposit so they can lend us a mismatched set, i'm having a pretty decent day. yesterday was decisions day about airlie beach and the whitsundays. each time we get to a place, we have to figure out what we're doing here. why did we come? do we want to pay for the nice tour? or are we trying to do it budget? and if we do it budget, will it even be worth it to do it at all? so after stressing in the heat for a while, we decided to do it piecemeal and budget. people come to airlie beach to sail the whitsunday islands. generally it's a 3 day, 2 night sailing cruise. some of these are shmance, some are party boats. all have you sleeping on a mid-size boat on the water for two nights. na and i, being both prone to seasickness at times and feeling particularly thrifty at the moment, decided not to do this "must-do" activity. we opted instead for a sea kayaking trip today near the group of inner islands, then tomorrow we'll go on a day trip around the main group of islands, to the famous whitehaven beach (the sand's supposed to be so white it reflects the sun, so get ready for some more burn complaints), some snorkelling around another island, and some bushwalking on yet another island. sounds good, right? i think so too. should be great. except that there was a cyclone up north in the gulf of carpenteria last week and it sends nasty weather over down the east coast. so it may thunderstorm tomorrow. that's ok. should be cool anyway. we just won't get the postcard shots. but if the weather's really bad they'll cancel the trip and we might just stay an extra day to see if we can eke out some sun on friday. we can't, as our slightly sexist kayaking guide said this morning, leave the whitsundays without seeing whitehaven beach. so we'll go if they go. and it'll be great.

speaking of kayaking, we saw a few sea turtles today!! a few meters away from the tandem kayak, a wise green head pops up out of the water, glances around and plunks back under, only to reemerge a second later and then to disappear into the depths. no pictures yet, but we're hoping to see some more tomorrow snorkelling or at very least laying their eggs on the beach down at mon repos beach near bundaberg a little further down the coast.

speaking of down the coast: we've got 11 days until our flight. not much chance we'll be making it to sydney by then if we're making the stops we'd like to make, and not much point in rushing it when we can just push it back a week or so. but i maintain that i will be out of australia before march happens. even if it's on february 28th.

ok. only two entries in the picture contest so far. you don't have to make your own web page, people. you can just post a link to a page you found a picture and write the caption in your comment. but i don't want to force you. this particular cassowary challenge (as i've dubbed it) will close friday night at midnight, i think. your time. wherever you are.

speaking of pictures: we're going to try to get some pictures of australia up and online before we actually leave here. that's a daunting task, but i think we might be able to handle it. we just have to find a place that we can sit and work on the computer for hours on end. no worries.

speaking of speaking of... i guess that's all for now. happy upcoming valentine's day, everyone. and if you're in or near new york city, you should be going daily (or as often as possible) to The City Bakery (18th st between 5th and 6th) for the Hot Chocolate Festival. trust me. it's amazing. go. and then tell me about it.

i guess that's all for now.
love and PLEEAASE keep the comments coming, even if they're short,
amy

email me