Ningaloo Reef

There are some much better pictures on a professional DVD taken by the Whale shark tour company buried in a suitcase somewhere that I'll dig out when we finally make it back to Boston (only 7 hours and 2 more flights to go now), but for now here are a few of our time at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.  Turquoise Bay lived up to its name, Hannah and Pete managed to see some dolphins in addition to the whalesharks, and Abbey made it through an entire mountain hike without complaining (but not without needed 3 bandaids for her various plants-related injuries).  We just couldn't pass up the Giant Prawn.

WA Day 1

For our last Australian vacation (at least for now, but we'll be back!) we made the trek to Western Australia.  Our first day was in Busselton (Margaret River area) complete with a family bike ride, beachside lunch, and a LONG walk down the Busselton Jetty which is the longest wooden jetty (that's a pier, for our American readers) in the southern hemisphere stretching almost 2 km out to sea.  And of course some fashion photos of Abbey (prerequisite for any Whiting Family Vacation).  Finished the day with a run along the beautiful beach ending with an amazing sunset.  I really am going to kick myself for leaving this beautiful country.

Hannah and Abbey's Farewell Party

It was another crazy party at Flip out with all of our friends from Beauty Point Public School.  Thanks everyone for coming to send the girls off with a bang!

Hot Air Balloon!

Happy Anniversary to me and Pete!  To celebrate, we took a hot air balloon ride in the country southwest of Sydney.  It was EARLY in the morning which you can tell from a) Abbey's usual position in the car complete with neck pillow and eyeshade and b) the fact that I look still asleep in all of the pictures.  The scenery was amazing and the audience participation part of the day was fun for all.  If not for the offensive (to Abbey) cow poo smell in the pasture we took off from, it would have been a perfect morning.  My favorite part of the day was discovering that the basket is an actual basket (I thought it would be plastic or something in this day and age).  See if you can spot our companion balloon in the amazing sunrise shot, and how cool is the shot of our shadow on our landing approach?!