Erika writes--

Yep, the beach is good. The thing about the beach, of course, is that there is not a lot to say. We swim (swam, this is past tense because we've come far enough south that it is pretty chilly now), sunbathe, read a lot, walk, watch sunsets and sunrises, camp and generally relax.

Right now, we're with an old friend (we knew each other as kids in Roanoke, Virginia) in Caloundra in the Sunshine Coast. We're enjoying catching up with each other and reminiscing about old times. We're doing a little shopping, walking around town, eating what Sarah cooks for us(!) and enjoying the hot tub (!!!). Today, we drove up to Noosa Heads to see KOALAS. We walked out to a headland along the coast (in the rain, it's pouring today) and peered into a certain kind of eucalyptus trees and eventually found a lump on a branch. A couple of little koalas were huddled up together and were adorable. We thought we'd do a scenic drive but it's hard to see very far when the rain is pelting down on you so that plan was nixed. Still, you can't hope to accomplish much more than koala sighting in just one day.

We're visiting some new friends in Brisbane tomorrow and flying out in a week. How could that be possible? We'll fly for 40 hours and arrive around the same time that we left Australia. Oh, int'l dateline, you are so strange. And a six month trip being over after all of what's happened is even stranger. So we'll see how that goes.