Finally.... an itinerary!!!!

So, I leave in 5 days.... and I have officially finalized my itinerary and booked all of my tours!

I'm going through a local travel agency called PeterPans. No clue what the deal with the name is, but they've been pretty funny to deal with. My travel agent, Natalie, is not an Australian, nor is she a native English speaker. We communicate mainly through email and Skype (thank god for my new iPhone.... skype to skype is always free- even when calling Australia!!). They're definitely not used to overbearing Americans that want to confirm every last detail, so most times they act like I'm crazy. I've gotten a lot of itinerary help from a travel agent with Cheap AZ Travel, and felt like a cheater for booking with PeterPans, but in the end PeterPans has way more stores, gives you a half hour of free internet per day in their stores (perfect for blogging!) and I know people who have gone through them. By people, I mean Katie- my resident Australia expert, of course.

I had my first credit card issue last night,which I assume will become common. Even though I put a travel notice on my card, the security center blocked my transaction with PeterPans last night. So after my card being denied 4 times, and Natalie thinking I was a liar and didn't really have enough money, I called my credit card company and had them reset my card and made them promise not to block the transaction. They held good to their word and it went through when I skyped Australia again. Thank god... I was beginning to have a mini heart attack.

I have a fabulous line up of things to do while in Australia:
-Hunter Valley Wine Tour (outside of Sydney)
-Surf Lesson at a private surf camp north of Sydney (it's gonna be cold!!!)
-Fraser Island 2 day tour (it's the largest sand island in the world... and full of dingos)
-2 days and 2 nights on a sailboat around the Whitsundays Islands
-1 night at an Outback Ranch- spending time learning how to lasso a goat!!!
- 4 days in Cape Tribulation exploring the rainforest including: ziplining, sea kayaking, and a nightime guided rainforest walk (potentially scary... they tell you not to wear skirts or dresses... which I clearly was planning on wearing :) )

and last but not least...
-1 day trip to the Great Barrier Reef- on the Rum Runner where I'll get to find Nemo!!!

Needless to say, I think I'll be needing a vacation when I get back from Australia!