Green Island, Great Barrier Reef, Rugby Game, Elders

Saturday we booked a 10 hour boat ride to 2 islands on the Great Barrier Reef--Green Island and the Outer Barrier Reef. We snorkeled, swam with the fish, ate and watched people get sea sick and hurl on the boat. Sunday we went to the Cairns District Conference and met Pres & Sis Richards. We then flew back to Brisbane, stayed there Sunday and Monday nights. We took Tyler's favorite mission companion and his comp to dinner. The food was good but the Australian service leaves alot to be desired. The family then went to see the Gold Coast Titans rugby game. It is an interesting sport. We saw a plumbers truck and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the driver's side of the truck. Tyler lost his passport, so we sent Brad, Nathan and Emily home and Tyler and I made arrangements to fly to the US embassy in Sydney to get clearance to leave the country. As we were waiting at the gate, the hotel owner called and had found Tyler's passport under the couch cushion. We called Nicole Samuela (a member who tyler knew, and was so good to us). She was so kind to stop at the hotel and come to the airport. We were not able to get another flight out until the next day but and on our way to the airport, Tyler realized he left his backpack at Samuela's house. Bro. Samuela pulled over. We waited for Nicole to meet us and transfered our baggage into her van because Bro. Samuela was late for work. We got to the airport and our plane was delayed 2 hours due to a medical emergency on the flight prior to ours. We eventually made it home safe and sound. It was a wonderful trip! I love Australia and the people that we met were so friendly and hospitable. Too bad it is so far, or else we would be planning another trip back.