There and Back Again

Well Hello Everybody :D

It's been awhile. And we do apologize for that. Been a bit busy and nothing new really going on.

Until now!!

So, we went parasailing last week. It was awesome! We went with a few guests so we were out on the boat for a good 45 minutes and Linds and I opted to let them go first since we were staff. The guys taking us out knew we were staff too since we only had to pay half (woot woot!) and didn't feel too bad about messing with us more than the others. Once we were up in the air it was actually quite peaceful. Not windy at all and it was a gorgeous day so we had a good ten minutes just hanging there enjoying the weather and the view. 

But of course towards the end they slowed the boat down enough where Linds and I got dunked into the water (her more than me somehow). For the guests they just got their feet wet but for us they really let us sit in the water. And they didn't take us back up right away, no, they dragged us through the water for a bit before pulling us back up :) It was great. We were laughing the whole time. It wasn't as much of an adrenaline rush as skydiving was for me but it was still some pretty good fun and I got to do it with Linds!

We worked in events the next four nights since there was about 130 people on the island for a conference. That was kind of crazy. People cooped up in conferences all day all of the sudden come to dinner with a bar tab open for 3 hours are pretty demanding. Whew, that worked on my patience a bit.

Oh! but the last two nights I was supposed to work in Waterfalls for dinner they moved me to Mermaids! I was so happy. It was crazy busy of course but it was a good kind of busy. I had a good time. Linds was just happy she got a few nights back in events for awhile :)

Then came Thursday and our Ocean Rafting trip to Whitehaven!

Linds and I were actually the only ones they had to pick up from Daydream so when the boat came around it was already pretty full of people from Abel Point Marina. Felt pretty special :)

Took about a 30 minute trip through the islands to Border Island where we spent about an hour snorkelling. It was awesome! So many fishes :D Linds even bought an underwater camera and took about 27 pictures of coral, fishes, and of course us. Didn't get to swim with any turtles though :(

Then from there it was a ten minute trip to Hill Inlet where we bushwalked (i.e. hiked) up a trail to the lookout over Whitehaven and Whitsunday island. Gorgeous views and the color of the water was just breathtaking. But after snorkelling and hiking we were all pretty starving. We got lunch included with our trip and our man in charge of our trip took us from the North side where three other ocean rafting tours were to the Southern side where we could all spread out on our own secluded little section of beach. 

The sand is sooo soft in some areas though that it was just like freshly fallen snow. Our feet just disappeared. It was a bit awkward trying to walk through but also reminded us of home a bit (what with the trying to walk through snow drifts. The sand was even white too) mwahahahahahahaha.

Anyway, Linds and I had a nice relaxing beach trip. Wish we could have stayed there longer. After lunch was finished we only had about 40 minutes to explore and lay out before we had to head back. Still, the trip was worth it. Especially since we somehow ended up on the side of the boat instead of stuck in the back again. Basically we held on for our lives the entire 45 minute trip back but it was awesome. We got soaked too. We were going so fast it was almost like flying as your leaning half on and half off just getting sprayed with water every now and then and bouncing up and down..... :D It was just sooo much fun. Better than any other trip I reckon (i.e. Camira or Ferries).

The guys dropped us off back to Daydream a little after 4 and we got back to the announcement that Jess Dunn was going to cook us all dinner tonight. She's awesome and we love her too :D  A little time at the pool to finish off the daylight and then some much needed showers and we were ready for dinner. 

It was a proper family barbeque too :) Jeff, Amelia, Jess, Ben, Jenita, and Cameron with Linds and I and a few guest appearances by Chef's Alfie and Sean and we were all set. We had heated up and melted cheese, dips, chips, grilled corn, chicken, and sausages. It was a pretty good dinner to the end of a good day. With some desert from Fishbowl and we were ready to pack it in. It had been a pretty long and exhausting day :D

Then this morning, Friday the 6th, we resigned. 

We have a week and two days left on Daydream Island. Our last day of work will be next Saturday the 14th and then the 15th we will take a ferry to Hamilton island airport and fly to Brisbane. From there we will be spending Christmas and New Years with Jeff and his family. Our plan is to do some temp agency work over the holidays and hopefully earn a lot of money and then find a semi permanent job in Brisbane where we can rent our own place for two to three months before moving on to Melbourne. 

We've had some pretty amazing experiences here and have met some amazing people, but due to some unfortunate circumstances we just don't feel like we can last another three months here and be happy. Too much has happened and we don't feel comfortable here anymore. So, it is off to travel to other places and start a new chapter in our Australian travels :D

As always, thanks for your love and support!!!

Love ya,

Britt and Linds xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

We Live!!

I apologize for continuously reminding you guys that Linds and I were suffering in our illness and then not updating for awhile. We are better. Antibiotics are wonderful and saved us from much pain :)

It's been raining here quite a lot recently. I love it, even if it doesn't cool down and stays the same hot humid sticky weather.

Linds and I did not get to have the same days off this week so our parasailing plans were moved to this Sunday before our evening shift (both at Lover's Cove! it's a miracle).

I should warn you guys that we won't be on Daydream for too much longer. Only until the second week of December actually. We are going to spend Christmas with Jeff and Amelia's family, working temp jobs for a few weeks before moving on. Next stop is either another island called Lord Howe or working along the Gold Coast until March when we can move to Melbourne for our last 6 months.

This gives us more of an opportunity to see other parts of Australia, earn more money, and do more things than we would be able to here on Daydream. Pray it all works out with jobs. Jeff and Amelia will always make sure we are fed and sheltered :)

Our last few weeks should include parasailing, ocean rafting to Whitehaven, and Lindsey getting her tattoo :)

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers while we were sick and also for everyone's continued love and support.

Love,
Britt and Linds xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Close Encounters with Popcorn

You know you're integrating into the Aussie culture when you start using the Aussie language, for example saying, "rubbish" instead of trash, but the defining moment came for me Saturday night.

I was still sick, having only gone to the doctors that afternoon, but I was determined to get out of the room and was feeling better than I had earlier so, upon hearing there were going to be two movies played just for staff, I got dressed, plopped myself down on a chair in front of the outdoor cinema, and hunkered down with a free 'get well' smoothie from Tobias (awwwww) and some popcorn (which is always free for staff).

Now, you should probably take note of the 'outdoor' part of this story and remember we do have more than a few animals on this island. I didn't realize how laid back I had become since my first day here when Linds and I were so excited to see all the kangaroos and different birds, even some of the lizards, until we were halfway through the second movie and a smaller sized kangaroo came slowly crawling up to me and tried stealing my popcorn! Ironically, later I found out his name is also Popcorn (pretty much raised by staff and not afraid of people much), but getting back to the story....There I am minding my own business when Popcorn gets all up in my personal space nosing around for some food, and do I freak out that there's a kangaroo two inches from me sniffing at my popcorn?....nope. I tell it off like I would a neighbor's dog back home, 'No! This is not your food. Go away.'

Ken, another staff member we've recently befriended who was sitting with us, remarked as Popcorn crawled away empty handed, 'Ummmm, so he got pretty close there.' He said it with a nervous chuckle too. And then it dawned on me.....

I had a kangaroo in my face and I didn't even pet it!

Not all days are good, but there are silver linings

         Okay, okay, we're sorry. It's just we haven't gone anywhere exciting and we never think you guys want to hear too much about what's going on with work. But I think I can pull together a pretty informative update.

First of all....Halloween. One of my favorites :) Mostly cuz dressing up and candy!

Apparently it is a holiday Aussie's know and celebrate. It's not as big or as extravagant as some places in the States, but still. Staff had a Halloween party put on by the Social Club. Linds and I spent four hours catching up on Supernatural (fitting) and then got dressed. We kind of pulled outfits together a few hours before (we got ideas off pinterest).

Linds dressed as a scarecrow (straw hat, checked shirt, jeans, and face paint) and I got my idea from talking to Molly. We've read this book called The Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern and the theme of this circus was all black and white. So, I had a black and white dress with some cool designs on it and Linds did my make-up. (the internet is being stupid so I cannot upload pics here. there are some on facebook if you want to see).

While there was no bobbing for apples or halloween music besides Thriller, we did have a really good time. Some people went all out with their costumes and it was pretty cool seeing them and all the hard work they put into a few hours at staff bar. Megan should have won best costume for her Mad Hatter outfit but she arrived too late :(

I will confess that I did drink way too much and I don't really remember much of the second half of my night (eep!) and if it wasn't for Amelia I would probably be dead (a bit dramatic, but still). No, seriously, she took care of me and she is amazing and I love her.

I have vowed though never to drink again so we'll see how long that lasts. Probably until we go to Denman's again :)

Unfortunately, Halloween on Thurs night was the last good day for most of us. Jeff had flown home for three days to get his last check up at the hospital (HE IS 100% CANCER FREE!!!!!!!!!)
and he got back Friday (so he missed the Halloween party).

(for those of you who need an update, Jeff and Amelia are pretty much our closest and most trusted friends on the island and we love them and would die for them)

Anyways, we've all had continuously bad days at work. We're all pretty broken when it comes to work at the moment. Just complaints from guests, service falling apart, heat from managers, etc.) And to top it off, I haven't been steadily feeling worse and worse until today, my throat felt so swollen and I couldn't swallow without it feeling like glass shards tearing it up and my head hurt so bad...I still managed to pull my butt out of bed at 6 a.m. the past two days to work breakfast and dinner last night and breakfast again this morning...ugh.

I'm calling in sick tomorrow. I can't work another breakfast shift. But even then, in order to get off work I have to still walk ten minutes to the North End and see the nurse to get her signature on it :(

And those who know me know I hate being sick and missing school or work because of it, but no one here is taking me seriously when I say I'm not feeling good. I've had so many people say 'oh, it's the heat. you just need to drink lots of water.' Linds finally got home and I made her feel the sides of my throat and that got her attention. She made me tea with mint, cinnamon, and honey and she went to get me ice cream (oh the coolness felt so good!) and she's asked Amelia to grab me some proper dinner :)  I love my sister!

So yeah, drunk parties, awful work days, and sickness are what we are going through at the moment. We wanted this blog to be a place we can put our good times on but I think everyone needs to be aware of some of our bad days too.

On a more positive note (and I do have Lindsey's permission to put this up), Lindsey is going to finally get her tattoo on Friday :)  She's going in with Jeff, who is getting his cancer survivors tattoo on his arm. I am determined to drag myself with them if I still feel sick. I want to watch and take pictures!

She's super excited. She's been thinking about this for over a year now and has known exactly what she wants to get. It's just never been the right time, till now. Stay tuned to here and facebook for a picture :)

Oh, and I have decided I am going to post the 'poem' I wrote. I haven't written anything besides school papers since Freshman year and it took some talking to Jeff to get me wanting to write again. (He's apparently also a published poet and won an award at 16. He's also a photographer, master cheese maker, international wine judge, magnificent hospitality worker, and has survived cancer, so.........he awesome!) Anyway, we got to talking books and poems and then he wrote something spontaneous at a wedding and included us in it, which made me teary eyed, and then I couldn't help but want to write. It was kind of driving me nuts.

I ended up writing this. It's definitely not a finished piece, nor may it all forever be true, but here it is:

I fell in love with sunflowers

By Brittney Wheeler

I fell in love with the smell of petrichor,

        And from there, learned to relish

        Thunderstorms, to marvel in the power

        And beauty.

I fell in love with the color of dying leaves

        And the sound they make when they crunch

        Beneath my feet.

I fell in love with the way the light plays

        Across the water and through panes of

        Glass, shifting, shimmering light.

I fell in love with the sound of mirth

        And the sparkle in laughing eyes

        The struggle with held back smiles

        And shaking shoulders.

I fell in love with the night

        When the sky is clear and

        Black nothingness draws your eyes to

        Tiny pinpricks of light, silence.

I fell in love with falling

        Heart pounding, racing towards

        The ground and that small uncertain

        Feeling that the chute may catch

I fell in love with a girl

        The rapier wit that falls from her mouth

        Even when she’s grumpy or sad

        She keeps me grounded,

        Grounded in this world and several others

I fell in love with travelling

        The freedom of choosing where you want

        To go

        Meeting people, listening to stories,

        Learning how to be a better person

        The person I dream of being.

Bolder, Calmer, Powerful, Still, Silent.

I fell in love with singing at the top of my lungs

        Dancing in dresses that twirl about my

        Hips, swish about my bare feet

I fell in love with the smell of lipstick

        And the way it reminds me of my

        Grandmother

        The way she would let us dress up in hats

        Too big for us and pearls too valuable for a childs hands

I fell in love with words

        Not just their meanings and defintions

        But the way they sound in your mouth

        Twist you tongue,

        Tug your heart,

        Trick you mind into saying them over

        And over and over and over

I’m so caught up in the look of words

        I want to brand their script into my skin

        Keep them with me forever, infinite.

I fell in love with possibilities, opportunities,

        Long nights, and early, hazy mornings

        When there’s a car trip to

        The airport, a new destination waiting

I fell in love with the surety of peace

        A grace given to those who just believe

        And trust that the hard parts are worth it

        That storms are worth standing your ground

        Sometimes

And sometimes,

        Storms are meant to break you, just a part

        So you can be put back together with gold

        The cracks more beautiful all

        For the splendid multitude of them

I fell in love with fictional characters

        The Little Prince, Ender, Celia Bowen, Eragon

        Danica Shardae, Maximum Ride, Eve Dallas,

        Captain Malcom Reynolds, Fat Charlie

        They taught me loyalty, strength, passion, dedication

And I fell in love with their creators

        Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, J.D. Robb

        Who taught me that good doesn’t always win

        But love is always worth the risk

        There doesn’t have to be a happy ending

        Your protagonist doesn’t necessarily need a lot of morals,

        Just needs to be recognizably human in their imperfection

I fell in love with sunflowers and Halloween

        I love both sunshine and midnight

        Those blessed and cursed

        With fairies, werewolves, magic, symbols, dead languages

Oh, how I’ve fallen in love with languages!

        The way they lilt and catch and rasp

        Through your entire being

        And your brain is telling you it doesn’t

        Understand, but your ears are

        Straining to pick up every sound

        (Gaelic, Arabic, Japanese, Creole, any African dialect)

I fell in love with a married father

        On a 30 minute flight from Dublin to London

        For telling his son that the clouds

        Were marshmallows, that our plane

        Was the Enterprise, and, with a great sigh,

        “I suppose you can be Han if I can be Chewy.”

I fell in love with the idea of being heroic

        Making that snap decision,

        Not for the glory, but for

        The knowledge that I am capable

        Capable of taking care of others

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

As always, thank you for your love and support.

We love you! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Britt and Linds

3 Day Vacay!

Guess what!? We got 3 whole days off in a row together!

So, being us, we made plenty of fantastic plans. 

Sunday we needed a lazy day so we just slept in, did laundry and yes, the banana boat. You've already heard all about it. It was sooo funny right? NO! I have bruises from being run over by a freaking banana, thank you! Okay rant over.

(notice: Brittney has taken over writing this)

Monday, the day we started a new adventure. We made sure to catch an early enough ferry to Hamilton island (the biggest in the Whitsundays, yet still small-ish). Hamilton island is gorgeous. We love Hamilton island. They even have free shuttle rides all over the place! Woot :)

We made our way to the Wild Life Preserve first, because koala's! Nick, the GM of the preserve, recognized Lindsey the minute she walked in and gave us a discount cuz he's awesome. We saw some wombats, a cassowarie, a giant crocodile that was over 80 years old, 4 meters and still only halfway through it's life, and koala's. We totally stuck around to cuddle the koala's too, and get our pictures taken (which will come soon). 

When not hanging out at the Wild Life Preserve we could be found at the beach. Real sand (not dead coral) to walk on and a great spot to just sunbathe and take a nap or two :)

Hamilton was pretty awesome. 

We caught the last ferry back to Airlie beach and had a taxi take us to one of the hostels so we could get a room for the night. We paid $18 each for a six share dorm room and had the whole place to ourselves (nice!). We changed and then made our way to the Moroccan restaurant we've been wanting to try out. It was a bit of a challenge to find but it was out of the way so there were not many people there. We were the only ones outside and the whole place was so cool. It was called Cha'mah and they had some amazing food. We splurged and got wine with our entree and mains, then tea/coffee with our desert. 

We tried ending our day with a night out in the Airlie nightclubs but three places we checked out were pretty dead. Granted it was a Monday night but still....

We did get a free shot from a bartender who said, and I quote, "You two just don't look happy. Here, have a shot of redbull and alcohol." (I'm ad libbing with that last part cuz I don't know what he put with the redbull). Even the Irish pub couldn't keep us interested for very long. I did manage to get real beer (Guinness) finally :)

No worries, we still were in bed by 12:30 (mostly cuz we wanted to get up early enough for a good breakfast).

Which just so happens to have played out perfectly so we could meet Jeff and Amelia at Mr Bones and have breakfast before doing our shopping and eventually ending up at Denman's beer cellar and cafe.

Now, Denman's needs to be given all the awards :) This place has over 700 beers and ciders (only 500 of which they can carry at one time) and so many tapas plates to choose from.

We were there for about 4 hours :D

Between the cheese board, the dips board, and the olives, we also tried the aussie board which consisted of crocodile, emu, and kangaroo (we were adventurous). Then we had scallops, asparagus wrapped in pancetta, and some pork belly. All while trying different beers (they had pages upon pages of beers listed by country!) It was awesome. And each beer was brought out in a different glass and with the bottle it was brought in. (pictures to come).

Then, the desert.....

It was recommended on the menu to have a chocolate stout with the chocolate platter, but our waitress, Amber, suggested something way better....a double espresso beer. Life changing. 

All in all, we had a pretty good couple of days. So much good food, good beer, and good company.

 wombat

 linds sees the koala's

 dingo's!

 cha' mah

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"They're gonna see us from outer space"

We would like to share a few songs that have been pretty much on repeat.

Ellie Gouldings song Burn: a really good one to dance to. Makes you feel like you can do anything :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyEd0aKWZE

Avicii's song Wake me up: a favorite, pretty much sums up life at the moment   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y_KJAg8bHI

Florence and the Machine's song Dog Days: Lindsey's absolute fav. We're even coordinating a dance (mostly involves a lot of shaking back and forth, start with the shoulders and jiggle your butt)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2yPrOUNguk

Once you've finished listening you may continue reading :)

Today was a day off for us. I (Brittney) allowed Linds to sleep in (she needed a good nights rest after this past week). A pretty busy work week, just a bit mentally draining so the day off was much needed. So after sleeping in we made our way to the Bakery and got coffee, tea, pie (chicken and veggie), a ham and cheese croissant, and a chicken wrap for later. Ate our brunch under the gazebo and enjoyed watching the jet skis.

Spent some time chatting up the guys on activities about what movie would be playing, how we could set up parasailing (our plan for Sunday) and a banana boat ride (which we did today)

The banana boat was crazy!  Linds and I got stuck in the front so most of the time was spent with water in our faces but it was still good fun. Linds fell off twice (once she went flying and we nearly ran her over and the second time was right after she got back on and the guy took off without waiting for her to secure herself again. It was pretty funny). I managed not to get thrown off but I did fall off when our driver made a sharp turn to go back for someone else who fell off. I still had a hold of the handle so I wasn't left behind but still....). It was a good experience. Would like to do it again if we could be in back so we can see better but may wait before going out again. Stinger season is starting up and so everyone needs to start being really careful when they go out into the water. 

Most people here are more afraid of the stingers than sharks (even if there are plenty of those too). The Irukangi (think I spelled that right) are small little types of jellyfish no bigger than a finger length that, if stung, sends most people into cardiac arrest. It's supposed to be really painful and people need to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Most wear wet suits, aqua shoes, gloves, and masks. 

Sorry about the more serious turn to that conversation. On a more positive note, everyone on the banana boat ride, but me, saw a stingray jump out of the water ("like a dolphin" says linds), flap around, and splash back down. I was so mad I missed it. No one's seen that happen around here before (at least most of those we've told so far). Linds says it was pretty cool :)

We also have the next two days off and have planned an epic time so be prepared for a new post come Wednesday or Thursday. There may or may not be koala's :D

Thank you for all your love and support!!! 

We love you and think about everyone back home every day xoxoxoxoxox

Britt and Linds

Best Day Ever

Okay it seriously was.

I know I keep saying it, but Britt and I had a fantastic day. In the morning we picked up our North End Passes, got our snorkeling gear and walked to Lover's Cove. It's a private beach that is awesome to snorkel at. So those of you who don't know, I actually really don't like sea creatures and snorkeling makes me feel claustrophobic. We gingerly made our way down to the shore line and realized the water is probably going to be freezing. Yes, we were right. It took about 5 minutes to get all the way in but at about half way, all of these fish started surrounding us and I kind of had a little freak out. Yes, they are pretty and whatnot but I just don't want them to touch me. Once I got them to go away so I could actually get in the water further, and when Britt stopped laughing at me. We finally put on our masks and put our heads under water. Again, I started freaking out and hyperventilating. I don't know why I freak out but I just couldn't get my mind over it.  It took a few minutes to calm down and enjoy all of the fish and coral there. We ended up swimming around for about 45 minutes and then decided we were exhausted. Snorkeling really takes it out of you.

Britt returned the gear (so I didn't have to walk with the bum ankle) and we had the bright idea to walk the rainforest walk back instead of the boardwalk. Terrible idea. It was a really steep hike and didn't help with me limping. But we got some really nice views and a few pictures once we got to the top.

Then we changed and took the ferry to Airlie with two friends who had errands to run as well. Britt and I were starving so we went to this pizza bar that we've heard about called Mr Bones. It was the coolest little place we've found yet. The pizza was absolutely amazing. We got the tomato, prosciutto, olive oil, balsamic, and mushroom pizza. Britt ordered one of the best beers ever called White Rabbit Pale Ale with Honey, and I ordered a cider. Then we had to get dessert as we waited for a friend to catch up with us so we ordered a chocolate bourbon terrine with orange marmalade and creme fraiche. Yummy

Now that we fulfilled our craving for good pizza, we took the bus to Centro to get groceries. I want to make some homemade mac and cheese and we needed more food to eat at the house instead of the staff canteen. Once grocery shopping was done we also went to the bottleshop to get wine (hey we need it!)

Back to Airlie we went and took a bunch of nibblies to Lover's Cove again with Amelia. We ate cheese and crackers, hummus and olives as we watched the sunset. Once again, we took plenty of pictures so no worries about that. Britt even climbed a bunch of rocks to find a cliff jumping spot. When it got a little too dark we went to Fishbowl to get some cocktails and food (ice cream for me).

Overall, the day was pretty amazing. One of the best we've had since we got here. A day of food and exploring and hanging out with great people. We really wish everyone could have been here with us! We miss all of you and hope you are able to come for a visit soon!

All our love,
Linds and Britt

Better days

We had a pretty good weekend. Saturday and Sunday we both had weddings. Saturday we did different ones but both ended up pretty good. Sunday was awesome. Jeff switched me with another girl so that Linds, Jeff, and I were working the Lover's Cove wedding together. It was soooo beautiful and the people were the nicest.

One thing that freaked us out at first but we have come to appreciate and love: 95% of the people we meet and serve (especially at the weddings) always looks at our name tags first. They always say "Thanks Brittney" or "Thanks Lindsey." I'll say 'Good evening' and 'how can I help you' but most people won't let me help them until hey know my name and ask how I'm doing. This hasn't just been a few instances but every night. It helps also make connections when you have the same families and groups that stay on the island for a few days or up to a week because we do work a lot and in the few restaurants and see the same people all the time.

Anyway, that's how the Sunday wedding went. We even had people stay once the event ended to tell us how much they appreciate everything we did and we could only look at them and just say how much we love doing our job. I mean the speeches that night were some of the most sincere and wonderful we've heard so far. The groom's speech even brought most of the staff to tears (*cough* Lindsey *cough* Jeff)   :)

We officially got to work with Amelia (who is awesome!). She's been friends with Jeff since they arrived on the island at the same time 7-8 weeks ago. The four of us had some good laughs and just a general good time breaking down. We did stay until 2 a.m. but working with these people makes it feel fun than work.

Monday Linds and I both got off (finally) and we cleaned, did laundry, laid out at the pool, and then went on the staff sunset cruise. There were about 19 of us and we left around 4:30 and the Sundowner took us around the islands for about 2 hours while we chatted, ate cheese, crackers, fruit, and drank. It was pretty great just to escape for a bit with a small group. Everyone hang out together too afterwards until we could go to Fishbowl (staff is allowed to eat and drink there in the last hour). Linds and I split a meal and we hung out with everyone for awhile.

This week is going to be our first week since more than half of the guests on the island have gone home. We got through the crazy busy time and now we have easier services and more events! Linds and I are doing a wedding Friday, Saturday, and Sunday coming up. We also have Thursday off together. We plan on going snorkelling in the morning at Lover's Cove and then go into Airlie with Amelia around 12. We've been craving pizza so I think that's our lunch plan :) Anyways, here's a pic of Linds with some friends on the cruise. I'm gonna try and upload the ones from my phone to but you may have to just see those on facebook (oh! there's a lot more on Lindsey's facebook page if you guys are curious)

 

Love Brittney and Lindsey

Mozzies

So...

Mozzies are what Australians call mosquitoes. And this being a tropical island there are apparently a million of them. So, if you don't put on bug spray then you'll get bitten. And when you get bitten you get bitten a million and one times. Mostly all over your legs and then you are allergic so they welt up horribly and itch so bad it wakes you up at 3:30am....

This being said, we are pretty miserable when it comes to the intense itching happening. And then you get itch cream from the nurse and can't find it when you get back cause your roommates probably threw it out.....ughhh. Someone help us!!! Send us bug spray and itch cream! We are desperate!

We still love you, and sorry for the complaining

<3 Lindsey and Britt

More pictures!

 mermaids!

 cappucino and corona with an amazing view

 the Texas, so gorgeous

 Jeff, our boss, and his old friend hanging out while waiting for the ferry

 that's a curloo!!!!! they look taller than the photo shows

Pirates, donuts and sunsickness

Apparently we need to update. Sorry peeps, it just doesn't seem as exciting when you are working working working and doing nothing new. But here is our update anyway :)

Our first week we worked our butts off. Mainly we are in Mermaids, which is the a la carte restaurant, we always work the lunch hour then we have at least an hour to an hour and a half break before working our dinner shift. Dinner varies. Sometimes we work Mermaids dinner (which is soooo hectic) and sometimes we will work Tavern (Fishbowl is the name) where we get to dress up as......wait for iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttt!

..............Pirates!!!!

Woot Woot! I love dressing up. The kids that come in are always so enamored by us and we get to have more fun there. Although the curloo's (the skinny tall birds, picture to come soon) always find their way inside and hiss at everybody. The kids chase them around too.

And most Fridays and Saturdays (some Sundays) we will work an event (which means a wedding!). We usually get the morning and afternoon off on those days because the weddings always end around 11:30 and we still have to tear down and clean so we get home between 1 and 2 in the morning.

The first week, we were so sore and our feet hurt so bad (first of all, because we are out of shape, and second, cuz our shoes that they make us wear have no arch support!) oh well, Linds got some new shoes once we got paid and my feet don't hurt as much (I think I'm getting used to the shoes, they've stretched out a bit).

We arrived at one of the busiest times of the year so we are only getting a day off during the week (spent mostly sleeping or laying by the pool and doing laundry). We haven't gotten a day off together yet so we haven't thought about going anywhere on the mainland (also need to get a few paychecks in).

Although, we did manage to take a morning before an event to go to Airlie on Saturday and went to the farmer's market!!! Got a donut each while we walked around. Pretty sure that's where most of our gifts will come from as there are so many vendors with some pretty cool things. Linds and I got sushi for lunch and spent most of the morning and afternoon in the sun which probably contributed to both of us getting sick that night. Both of us got sent home (everyone was so nice about it and got someone to drive us in a buggy straight to our door). But by the next day we were better and ready to work again. (found out there's a bug going round the staff village which we probably got from Jeff, our event supervisor, who went home sick the day before too).

I (Brittney) am working a new venue tonight. Waterfalls is our buffet and they offer different themed nights. I'm pretty sure tonight is seafood night and while it sounds delicious it's also $70 a person (yikes!) so I think most people may go to Fishbowl tonight to eat. We'll see.

Linds got the day off, we both work only tom night and then I get Wednesday off and then we only work Thurs night. An easy first half of the week compared to the last two.

Hung out with some of the staff last night after work and had one of the chefs from Mermaids say we are doing really well and the other chefs like us (so far at least) which was amazing and wonderful to hear!!! :) Just got to keep up the good work.

Alright, that's about it. We'll try to take some pictures of all the birds, lizards, and some more Joey's for you. Maybe we'll do a photo shoot one of our mornings off  so you can see our shining faces :D

Thank you for all your love and support!!!!!!

We love you xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Brittney and Lindsey

P.S. If anyone wants postcards just message us on here or on facebook and we will send you one!

Week One Pictures

Hey everyone, so we posted a whole album of pictures on facebook through my (lindsey's) account but I just wanted a few so you can check out a few.

We took a bunch during our flight to L.A. and then the rest is in Airlie beach and then Daydream Island.

Paradise

We are working in paradise :)

Everyone we have met is so nice and helpful. We have already made a few friends. There are kangaroos everywhere (which we seem to be the only ones excited about) and also.....bats! Which we found out walking the boardwalk last night.

It was a full moon and even though there were some clouds, they were scattered enough you could see the moonlight on the water, the shadows of the bats flying overhead, and the kangaroos munching on some grass along the paths.

We are still a bit off with our time here. Going to bed early and waking up early, but we start work today so hopefully that will keep us up a bit later.

We are sorry we cannot post any pictures yet. No fear though, we are taking dozens each day. I'm sure you all will be bored with the same view we keep taking pictures of everyday.

Induction was yesterday which meant a lot of slides about do's and dont's, but also included a trip to Lover's Cove which is the best snorkeling site around the island and a fish feeding excursion. The Resort has a few live reefs with a variety of sea creatures including stingrays, two reef sharks, and a lemon shark named Bruce :)

After a few months of working we will be able to take some day trips around the Whitsunday's. At the moment Linds and I are focusing on learning our new positions and working as hard as we can. When we get a day off together we will go back onto the main land and hopefully buy a few necessities (i.e. snacks, chocolate, our own internet).

There have also been mentions of whale sightings which keeps our attention drifting back to watching the surrounding ocean as often as we can. I hope we get to see some in our time here. The only thing that will take some patience in getting use to is the birds (they are so loud, especially at 3 in the morning). Seriously guys, there is one that wails like a little child in the middle of a grocery store when they can't get what they want.

Anywhooo, that's all for now. Hope everyone at home is doing well and as always, thank you for all of your support and love.
Britt and Linds

Safe and Sound

All flights went well.

I (Brittney) would say 'let's not do that again' but....... we gotta get home somehow. I do have to admit, it wasn't too bad. we both managed to sleep the first half of our 14 hour flight and then watched some movies the rest of the way. Still, economy seating is cramped!

Proserpine airport is also the smallest airport I have ever been to. Literally one run way that you turn back around and come back on to get to the small little building. Shuttle from there dropped us off right at the Base Resort/hostel that we are staying at. Our room is pretty cool.

Going to rest, eat, sleep (hopefully), then do some exploring. Tomorrow is our journey to Daydream and we probably won't be able to update till we get our internet squared away (may take a week or so) so love you all and thanks for all the prayers and well wishes :)

The City of Angels

We landed here in L.A. about an hour ago. Got some food, and found a spot at our gate, but now it's another 2 hour wait before boarding and then take-off an hour after that.....

The flight here went well. Watched Hercules, then the plane was playing the new Star Trek :) so watched the end of that movie. The plane was only half full too so we were able to spread out, and no one sat behind us so we could lean our seats all the way back. yay :) It was also a very pretty view, because the sun was setting right over the canyons or whatever we were flying over so we took a few pictures (that we hope to post after we get there and get settled). Also took some pictures of L.A. because it was all lit up.

We are really tired right now though, and we are just trying to stay up until we can get on the next plane and sleep (hopefully) half of that 14 hour flight. We we're hoping to maybe take a nap before but it's not very clean here and we don't fancy laying down on the crumbly stained floor.

Hope to get some form of wifi after we arrive in Australia, but if not, and if you're worried we didn't get there safely, then our parents will know :p No worries though, we are sure everything will be fine. Just pray that we don't go crazy on this flight and make it to our hostel in Airlie Beach.

Love you all,
Lindsey and Brittney

Last Supper

So I (Lindsey) was making dinner tonight, and I think my cookware is upset I'm leaving because it tried to sabotage my braised brisket by shattering the glass lid when it was in the oven....thankfully I just strained all the glass pieces out.

The pie server was to lift it off the pan and the baking sheet slid under it so it wouldn't shatter any more over the food.

Cold days

Just enjoying the fall weather....

Left- Brittney's Caramel Macchiato
Right- Lindsey's Chocolate Chai Tea Latte

Last Night Home

(Contains flight info, resort address, skype info, and free smart-phone app info for international calls)

It is September, Friday the 13th (eeep!) and we are just about finished packing. We have even weighed our bags just to make sure we are below our limit :) pretty exciting when it says 49.2 lbs! Technically we are both allowed two bags plus a carry on but we don't really want to deal with four pieces of luggage, two carry ons and two pillows, plus our purses. If we need to we can always buy another duffel before coming home.

We'd like to just post what our flight schedules are and what time we should be arriving plus our address for the resort (just in case).

Okay, so we leave the 14th from Indianapolis airport at 6:40 on our flight to L.A. We have a few hours there before getting on our flight from L.A. to Brisbane (pronounced Briz-bun, not like Bane from Batman). That flight is going to be about 14 hours (ugh). And once we arrive we must go through customs (hopefully quickly because we only have a short layover there before we must get on yet another flight).

From Brisbane we fly to Proserpine which is the town closest to Airlie beach where a shuttle will be taking us from the airport to our hostel (we already booked the shuttle and hostel online and have confirmed both because dealing with that when we are tired and grumpy would not be a good idea).

We are going to try our best to stay up and acclimate ourselves to the time change as best as we can but who knows how that will go. We need to stop by our new bank to confirm activation of our accounts before getting to the resort that is one stop we need to get done before sleeping.

OH! I (Brittney) have a smart phone and if anyone else does too there is a free app (Viber) that allows free international calls and texts so if anyone wants to download that and I'm in your contacts (if not just ask me on facebook and I'll send you a private message with my number) we can chat whenever :)

Our skype info: Brittney Wheeler (brtwhlr90) or Lindsey Wheeler (lwheeler7896). I'm not sure exactly which one you should use to find us but our pictures are up there too so shouldn't be too hard :)

The address for the resort is: Daydream Island Resort and Spa
                                                                                PMB 22
                                                                          Mackay QLD
                                                                        Australia 4740

(Just put our name(s) above Daydream if you'd like to send any mail)

Alright, that's a lot of info and hopefully the next couple of posts will be more exciting and with a few pictures.

Love you all and thank you so much for your support!!!!
Britt and Linds

Pre-departure preparations

Hey everyone!

This is our first official Australia travel blog post!

It is the Tuesday night before we leave....only 4 more days home before our two day flight to Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia! More specifically, we will be working and living on Daydream Island Resort and Spa. The Whitsunday Islands are a part of the Great Barrier Reef.

Here's a link to check out the resort :) daydreamisland.com

Preparations are a little more complicated than packing and jumping on a plane.
We had to apply for a visa, get travel and medical insurance, an international drivers license, book flights, shuttle and hostel reservations, as well as the most important part, actually applying, interviewing and finally getting a job in Australia.
The little details are important too. Contacting credit cards and banks, exchange currency, cancel gym memberships, downgrade phones, research Australian phones and internet (very important), and buying uniform worthy shoes are among the many things we could overlook.

The whole process actually started when a company called Work Enjoy Australia came to my (Lindsey's) school last winter. They basically helped me find a job but also with applying for the visa and other things. After about two months of talking with WEA, Brittney decided to join me! By June, we had both passed our application (resumes, and references were required) for WEA and were waiting for an email that we had a job interview. Finally, at the beginning on July, we received an email that a "great job opportunity in the Great Barrier Reef wants an interview with you both!" This was exciting news because we were staring to worry that we wouldn't find a job so we could leave in the fall.

The first interview went well, although we were both freaking out because it was over Skype. We wrote a list of questions to ask after we did as much research as possible about the resort. A week with no word was making us worry. Then Hayley (our WEA correspondent) told us that we did great and they want a second interview, a phone one this time, with the Events Coordinator. This one, was shorter and gave us more of an idea of the job we would be doing.

Another week went by.....then the email came saying "Congratulations!" Welcome Aboard!"

By this time, it is the end on July and they want us to be there by September 17th. The first thing we had to do was book a flight, which takes two days to get there, so we figured fly out the 14th, get there the 16th to have a day to rest, and then get to the island on the 17th.

Well we only have a few days left at home, our last days of work and then lots of packing!