On Sunday we spent the whole day at the Great Barrier Reef. Phenomenal. I went scuba diving for the first time. I think i'm hooked, would love to get certified. Do I have time for another hobby? Also spent a ton of time snorkeling with the fish including petting a fish that was bigger than me (photo later). The undersea photographer could actually call this fish (wally) over for photos. Amazing.

Monday we went to Kuranda, a rain forest near Cairns. We took the scenic railroad to get there, which past a couple awesome waterfalls and the Barron Gorge. The way back was a "Skyrail" gondola, which was the highest, longest, scariest gondola ride I've ever taken. It was breathtaking.

People here are incredibly friendly.

There's a TV show called National Bingo Night that includes an Indian guy whose only job is each round to say in a thick Indian accent "Noooooo Biiiiinnnnngoooo"

Not surprisingly, the cell phones here are much, much better than what we get in the US. And they are all free with 2 year contracts. Luckily I have my unlocked iPhone so I'm cool.

Australia has phased out 1 and 2 cent coins. AWESOME. Also, all their bills are the same height but different width. I love this since it goes into your wallet nice and clean. I HATE european money that's really tall.

I've seen a bunch of Peugeot "Utes" which remind me a lot of Josh's Subaru Baja. Though the Ute only has one row of seating, it looks more like a car than a flatbed truck. Why does the US hate the Baja? And hatchbacks, for that matter.

Starwood Preferred Guest Amex rules. I wrote about this earlier when Roy's dad told us how you should use your points for hotel rooms. It works. I got a $250/night room in Sydney for $50 and 2500 points. So for 4 nights I'm using 10000 points but saving $800 cash. That's like getting 8% cash back from your credit card! Well worth the $45 annual fee.

Back to Sydney in 12 hours...