So, we’ll start out with my wild adventure down under 🙂

I stayed 3 full days after the baby was born. On Saturday I went snorkeling with a group from MeetUp.com. And had an awesome time. Great way to wrap up 4 weeks in Adelaide.

I then rented a car and started out on the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne. It was a long, but lovely 700 mile drive.

Fun things to see…

Then I got to Melbourne and stayed a few nights with Kay. A Scottish midwife I met in Abu Dhabi. We went for a long walk and lunch down by the water…

The second night we met Melissa a Kiwi midwife I met in Abu Dhabi and Jax, a friend of a friend for a Thai fusion dinner…

Then it was off to Malua Bay to see Gen, Dean and Gracie. I met this lovely family in Abu Dhabi, as well…

We hiked, went to the zoo, BBQd breakfast at the sea, hiked some more, burned a bonfire, FUN!

Then off to Sydney to meet up with Gail. Gail was my trainer in Abu Dhabi and my neighbor. And she is one of the funniest people I know. She invited me up for “tea” one night and so I ate dinner and went up to her flat only to find that “tea” is dinner. She’s called me Dickie since then… I’m sure it’s derogatory, but she says it with sarcasm and love at the same time 😀

We drove from Sydney to The Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, in 16 hours… Long ass day, but wonderful company! She lives about 30 minutes from Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo!! We went with Gail’s daughter Olivia and her wee little man, Angus. What a fun day!

And after cuddles and see ya laters, it was time for my 6 week Australia Adventure to come to a close. I flew out of Brisbane with ZZ Top, no kidding. On my second favorite plane…

And, no, I didn’t get pics of ZZ Top, I try to think how I’d feel if people were interrupting me for pics.

And now I’m home a week. It’s Easter. I had a lovely day with my mom and Tiff, Joey and ALL the grandkids at church and then a wonderful dinner at Jenni and Chris’ house.

Now my update. I’ve gained 18 pounds since I’ve come back to the States in September. 9 of them in Australia. The first 9 creeped up. I’m freaked out. My clothes still fit, but are snug. I noticed my undies were snug last week and couldn’t imagine what was up. Then I got on the scale. I have stayed gluten free. In Australia I logged more miles on my RunKeeper app than any other 6 weeks in the past year. I hiked almost every single day! i swam and snorkeled. I climbed a freaking mountain!!!

I’ve done a few things that I need to rein in… 1. Too much full fat cheese. 2. Replacement foods (in Australia I splurged on GF pretzels, muffins, crackers… One night I ate GF crackers with organic honey!!!) 3. Wine. I’ve had a couple glasses a week, which is a lot for me. Moscato… Damn you, Cathy Cook! LOL

So, starting tomorrow, I’m doing 4 days of attack and then alternating PP (Pure Protein) and PV (Protein Veggie) days until it’s off. And I’m going to blog EVERY.SINGLE.DAY… To hold myself accountable and to get the support I need from all of you.

So, I’m back… Daily posts. Looking forward to getting back on track!

Ciao!