BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
January 5, 2002
On the road yesterday, Kim and I went to Mt. Warning yesterday and wanted to trek up to the top of the mountain to be in the spot where the sun first hits the eastern coast of Australia. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, we realized it would be a 4-5 hour hike and we would've been caught in the rainforest at nightfall so we settled for a short hike (for "training"), caught a glimpse of the rainforest, came across a few wild turkeys (no wombats), and heard an array of cool bird calls.

Kim and I did, however, manage to go to the lighthouse while at Byron Bay where walked to the easternmost point of the Australian continent.

This morning Kim and I had a taste of toast with VEGEMITE, quoted in the song by Men at Work. It's a Kraft brand product and is basically the leftover yeast from beer. Gross. We both give it a thumbs down. We did manage to get a free hashbrown for smiling at the waiters, and will do a nice little walk around Brisbane and the Brisbane River this afternoon that the waiters recommended. So far, all the food we've eaten has been amazing and CHEAP compared to the States. Kim and I have had Italian, Thai, Indian, Australia (which is like fusion cuisine), and Japanese food. The Australians are great cooks and they have wonderful presentation - we haven't been disappointed by a single meal.

Oh, I forgot to tell you guys - Kim got to feed a giraffe at the zoo in Sydney. That was cool. We also saw a Tasmanian devil who gallops around (he doesn't look anything like the cartoon), an echidna who waddles, a dingo (looks just like a domestic dog), a platypus (funny creatures they are), and wallabies and kangaroos.
Okay, that's all we can remember for now.
More to come (you can bet on it).
Kim & Hani