Could It Really Be Over Already?

On Monday we drove to Sorrento which is a nice little town of the coast and we did one of the coolest things ever. We swam with seals. Yep you read that right we SWAM WITH SEALS. Australian fur seals to be specific and by god they were adorable!! They were all males the too old and too young to mate so they were not in the same place as the females. I wanted to kidnap the little seals.

But we were in a very large group of people who were not swimming calmly all the time per say. So I was fairly disappointed when a few times I got very close to one of the seals and they would swim off because a group of flopping and flailing tourists would scare them. I got close enough to touch once but only for a few seconds before the seal swam away. But I was still happy and contented with what I had experienced when we were called back into the boat. I took my sweet time, swimming slowly and enjoying the water on the warm day when all of the sudden it happened. By "it" I mean a seal swam right up to me virtually and hung out next to me for at least a minute but it felt like and eternity of me and this seal just floating by each other. And then the tide pulled him away and the moment was over while most of our group was already in the boat. Once on the boat, Mom informed me that the seal had virtually made a beeline for me. Looks like I had a friend.

Seriously...I want one. But once that was over with we decided to head back to Melbourne and when stopping to get gas we discovered the car we had borrowed was leaking something. A lot of something. We made it back to the city but once we got there the car started overheating which meant we were leaking coolant. One thing that I have found interesting about Australia is how early that things close here. Come 5 pm virtually everything but restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and gas stations are closed. Malls shut down and the works. So we got back into Melbourne around 5:30 meaning we would not be seeing a mechanic that day. Now the issue was that the next day we had plans to go horse back riding in the high country areas which was a three hour drive and our ride started at 9:30 in the morning. So needless to say the mechanic wouldn't be open at 6:30. So we had to cancel our plans to go riding. But instead we got a well deserved day of rest (aka movie watching and Mom napping). But once we started to get a little restless we got up and walked down to the Fitzroy Gardens, which was a very nice park area with lots of flowers, fountains, and even a little history. We did a tour of Cook's cottage which was the house of James Cook the explorer.

We lounged in this park reading and people watching for an hour or so before we became hungry and found a little Italian place called Le Duca if I remember correctly. The food was incredibly delicious. With full bellies we retreated back to Mom's apartment for the evening to play cards and watch movies. Today (Wed. 9th), has been our last day in Australia. Tomorrow we head back stateside. Spending a few days in Hawaii with our father before heading back to the very cold Colorado. We ended our trip in the best possible way. We slept in and then headed down to the museum of Melbourne. We went through the history of Melbourne exhibit and the mind and emotions exhibit which were both very interesting. We then got some food at Hungry Jacks which is Burger King just with a different name. There I ate a tropical Whoper which had pineapple, bacon, and barbeque sauce. It was interesting but not bad. From there we headed down to the Tattoo shop called Liquid Silver which is by far the coolest tattoo place I have ever been in.

It was here that we would get the tattoos that we have been discussing for almost three years now. When Mom and I sat down to figure out what we would get we found many ideas but it came down to something that my Mother wrote in the book she made for my 18th birthday. It says, "It has been said that music is life. If this is true, then you are my music. You are that rockin', driving beat that makes me smile and makes me dance. You are those touching, tender lyrics that bring tears of joy to my eyes. You are the melody that dominates my thoughts and my sweet dreams. You are the harmony that perfectly balances out everything. Keep blessing those around you with the music that is you." Once we remembered this the decision was easy.

Taryn also got her first tattoo as an early birthday gift from mom.

It was the perfect way to end our trip. Twenty four days ago I stepped onto this soil and fulfilled a dream. Tomorrow I leave full of life long memories and bittersweet feelings of not wanting to go home just yet but ready to get back all the same. It has been the trip of a lifetime and there's only one person I can thank for that. Thanks Mom...for everything.