Come along with us on our September 2008 visit to Australia! We visited the tropical far north, the red central desert, the Great Barrier Reef, and the mountain rainforest. With us were old friends Annie J. and Cheryl W. Were there spas, bikini beaches, nightlife, fine dining, and "the beautiful people" in our vacation? Well, we figure that getting a massage, dressing up for dinner, lazing near a pool, and manicures can be done right here in our home town, so why go halfway around the world for such mundane pursuits? We think these are mostly boring, anyway! But -- could we see wild parrots, bowerbirds, giant bats, rainbowfish, kangaroos, ghost gums, thorny climbing palms, blue trevally, and orange-footed scrub birds here where we live? Nope! These are the sorts of things we considered when planning this trip. As it happened, we did meet beautiful people and had wonderful meals. Bats and possums provided the nightlife, the beaches were gorgeous but no bikini-waxed bodies were in sight -- and the experiences were priceless. Please click the buttons below to go with us to each of our destinations. We are happy to have you come along!