Visit with mom

I arrived back in Sydney, waited around for my bags and then wondered over to baggage claim 4 where mom was to pick up her bag, and waited for her. It was about 15 Min's before i saw her.....IT WAS AMAZING to see her!!! I don't think i really realized how much i missed her until we met up again!!!
We headed down to Wollongong for 2 nights, before headed back up to Sydney to then head to Cairns. Unfortunately i was sick so i wasn't able to go out on the reef diving. I had been fighting a cold since mid Malaysia. We only spend one night in Cairns and then headed to Port Douglas. Since i wasn't going out on the reef mom and i decided to head north to some of the scenic attractions. We went to a wildlife sanctuary. Mom got to see all the "aussie" animals Crocs, Parrots, Wallabies, Roo's and a Joey. He was 4.5 months old and had been abandoned by his mother.
Then it was off to Hamilton Island.....I could spend all my free time there, it was amazing. We stayed in the same place that Robert, Mandy and I stayed in back in April. We rented a golf cart for the 3 days that we were there, it was great, we would just drive around and explore the whole island, a few times! On the second day we took a tour with Fantasea to Whitehaven beach...wow no wonder its in the top 10 beaches in the world. Unfortunately we didn't make it into the pools at all since it was a bit chilly. We did however watch the sunset from "mom's property".
After Hamilton Island it was off to Hervey Bay for a few days. We did a whale watching tour, which was great, we saw a few whales, but not too close so it was hard to get good pictures of them. Talk about cold on that water. The following day we did a day tour of Fraser Island. The worlds largest sand island. it was really interesting and pretty. We had a great day and saw most of the island. The next morning we drove down to Brisbane and checked into our hotel and explored the city a little. There really isn't anything to do in Brisbane. The drive was really nice, i forgot how much i love driving.....After Brisbane we fly back down to Sydney and headed down to Wollongong. I went to school for a few days and then we headed back up to Sydney. We did a nice harbour cruise, went to the Aquarium, did a bus tour of the city and of Bondi beach. Then the highlight of Sydney was going to the Opera House to see an ABBA tribute band. It was a fabulous way to end a fabulous trip. I wish mom could have stayed until the end of the year!!! Off we went to the airport and checked in, then i pretty much just left right away....rip the band aid off right...but talk about a horrible and lonely trip back on the train!!