Brisbane - Day 2

Brad at Surfers Paradise - he was mostly unco-operative at being photographed so pictures of him are either of his back or the side of his face - as he attempts to get out of the picture.

The sun was shining at 7 am this morning – good thing because Queensland is known as ‘the sunshine state’. They have 300 sunny days/year so I would like at least a few of those this week. Obviously it doesn’t matter where we are or what time zone we’re in, the kids have a hard time getting up and mobile on a Sunday morning when church is involved. Church starts at 9:30am here, which is a travesty according to the kids because they have to get up that much earlier. We do make it there by 9:20. We met everyone after and they kept misunderstanding where we were from…”Canberra? Toowoombah?” It must have been our Australian accent that was confusing them! But then they got that it was Canada.

We went to the Carrara Markets after that. It is a huge market place that sells pretty much anything under the sun. We had lunch there as well. Jeff and Steven ordered a hamburger. You could get it plain or ‘with the lot’, so they both had ‘with the lot’. When Jeff and Steven’s burgers arrived they looked really good. I thought it almost looked like there was a fried egg on it but Jeff said it was just cheese……until he bit into it. Apparently “with the lot” means with tomato, lettuce, cheese AND fried egg. We also know now that an Aussie burger comes with beet root (a slice or two of beet) and ‘sauces’ are not readily available. You have to ask for tomato sauce (ketchup) or BBQ sauce or mayo. I don’t think I’ve really seen mustard or relish. Also you order your food at the cash and pay for it at the same time. Then they give you a number for your table and when the food is ready they bring it to you. This works out well because there is also no tipping required in Australia. So, when you’re done your food you leave – you don’t have to wait for the bill.
We then headed to Surfers Paradise. Even on a Sunday, in the winter, there is still a lot of cars parked everywhere. We tried to use the ‘automatic parallel park’ but it didn’t work (who needs the manual anyways?!) so Jeff had to rely on his instinct to squeeze us into a spot – which he did admirably well. We walked up to the Esplanade (or ‘es-pah-lawn-dey’ as Brad says to bug Steven). Again, another beautiful beach with waves that remind me of Virginia Beach.

We didn’t see any surfers but maybe that was because the tide was out? The boys spot a McDonalds (or Macca’s as the Aussies say) and they start salivating just thinking of the free wi-fi it offers. We don’t have any internet connection at our apartment and they are starting to go into withdrawal.

While sitting in the McD’s area we see 2 bronzed girls in gold bikinis done up to the nines. They are walking around in high heels, cowboy hats and blue sashes; we think they must have won some type of pageant. As we’re walking around later the one girl approaches us and as it turns out she is a ‘meter maid’ and they are fundraising for the ‘Surfers Paradise Meter Maids’….really? There is such a thing that needs fundraising? She holds a can out with change in it. Jeff ponys up a donation. I asked if we could get her picture and she said that they ask for a $5 donation for pictures. I said ‘forget it’. Ironically we head back to the car shortly after that and discover that some lovely meter maid has given us a $50 parking ticket. Turns out the 1P sign does not mean 1 hour free parking (which we were over anyways) but pay and park for one hour. I hope I run into that meter maid again at some point and I’m glad I did not ‘donate’ $5 for her picture.

Kristen at the park

We have a few things planned for this week. We are going to the Australia Zoo (Crikey!) and into the city of Brisbane….also the boys are on a mission to find Buckleys Hole (yes, it’s an actual place) and they want to go back to Surfer’s Paradise and ride the waves on some boards….(of the boogie type).

Brisbane - Day 1

The boys watching t.v. and Jeff reading the paper.

Actually, since we only flew into Brisbane but are staying on the Gold Coast I will have to change the title of this week to “Gold Coast”. Our rental car was almost an Audi (since they were all out of the standard size car that we reserved)….but he didn’t think it would fit 5 of us so we got a Skoda Superb hatchback instead. It is a sweet ride. It has the sensors at the front and back that detect if you are going to back into or hit something – Jeff wants to test it on one of the kids but I won’t let him. It also has the auto parallel park, which we haven’t tried yet. It took just over an hour to drive from the airport to our apartment. There is a double set of bunk beds in the one room so the kids all get to room together. How fun – just like camp!!

Kristen in the kids bedroom

It is a really nice place though, we have a view of the ocean from our balcony and breakfast nook…well, really it’s a view of ‘The Broadwater’ and it’s an inlet but it is all ocean water! Since it’s a drizzly day, and is forecasted to stay that way, we head to the Harbour Outlet Mall. Kristen and I do a little shopping while the boys go to see Rise of Planet of the Apes. The cost for a Saturday matinee: $14.95 each for the boys and $16.95 for Jeff, the look on my face: priceless.

Cairns - Day 7

Not too much to report today. When I was hanging towels outside this morning I came across this little guy.

We think he is a Dainty Tree Frog. He stayed snuggled onto the chair leg all day. The sun is going down now and we’re keeping an eye on him to see when he makes his move. We also had a visit from a kookaburra.

We headed into Cairns one last time today to pick up a few things. It’s strange because suddenly when you’re looking for souvenir t-shirts you can’t find any – yet, last time we were in town I’m sure every other store was full of t-shirts, towels, cheap boomerangs and hats. We indulged in gelato too, apparently not as good as what they serve in Italy….but as good as I’ve ever had! It really puts cheap ice cream into perspective. As we were walking we heard a lot of commotion up in one of the big trees - we thought it was birds but Jeff pointed out that they were huge fruit bats.

If you can enlarge the picture you can see the bats are hanging in the top branches - this was only one of the trees and probably had the least bats on it.

We visited the beach and the pool one last time and lamented about our early departure tomorrow from this paradise. Cairns was a last minute addition to our itinerary but now I can’t imagine coming all the way to Australia and not spending any time here (take note all you who plan to visit Australia!).

The boys spent most of the time wrestling in the water and Kristen tried her best to body surf.

Cairns - Day 6

The morning is filled with a little trepidation. Bradley only ate 1 piece of toast and peanut butter for breakfast….unusual…..he must have some butterflies because today is the BIG BUNGY day! We head out to AJ Hacketts just before 10. We saw the ginormous steel platform on the side of the mountain when we drove to Port Douglas yesterday. It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the location and fortunately they weren’t busy at the time so once the boys register they head straight up to the platform. I’m surprised and amazed at the lack of fear they showed (i.e. neither peed their pants). Once they shuffled themselves to the edge of the platform they only waited a few seconds before they dove off.

If you can zoom in on Bradley's face the look is priceless!

We watched one girl stand at the edge for a few minutes, then the guys pried her hands off the bar and tried to encourage her but she ended up backing away and not jumping. Steven got unintentionally dunked on his first jump – then he decided to do a second one.

The boys have posted pics and videos of their jumps on their FB page if you want to see more. If you ever jump with AJ Hackett I would recommend NOT buying the pics or video up front (they try and get you to buy them when you pay). After you jump, they let you watch the video and then they cut you a deal to get you to buy it (which we did!). After the adrenaline rush of taking a long jump (50m) off a short pier I’m surprised they were excited to move on to our next big event – holding the koalas (or ‘ko-aye-lahs’ as Steven has been calling them all week).

We head back up the mountain to Kuranda, but this time we have come prepared. The kids all have a book to read so they don’t get carsick on the sharply curved road. When we were in Germany and travelling on the same type of mountainous roads, I was insistent that the kids look around and take in the views….which made them all feel queasy. But, if they are reading a book it seems to distract them enough that they don’t notice the S curves that we are taking at 60km/hour. We have a quick lunch at the German Tuckerhaus. Wurst and kraut for everyone….surprisingly there seemed to be a lot of Asians eating there. Then we immediately head to the Koala Garden for the next highlight of the day. We (I mean “I”) had done research prior to our visit and I was surprised to find out that you can’t just hold koalas anywhere. There are very strict rules on the amount of time that koalas can be held per day and they are also on a monthly rotation schedule. I’ve heard them called “nasty, filthy little creatures” but they really were so soft and cuddly – they did not disappoint! The koala-keeper went and peeled a sleeping koala out of a tree and brought him over for us to hold. Apparently they sleep for 20 hours/day. He did plant his sharp little paws right into my shoulder and then promptly closed his eyes and dozed. He woke briefly when the koala keeper peeled him off one of us onto the other. We each held him for about a total of 11 seconds….long enough to get a picture for posterity.

Someone told me they compare to the raccoon…..they give the illusion of being all cute and fluffy. I think of the movie Elf ,when Buddy came across a raccoon on his way to NY City and says “Hey, little fella, it looks like someone needs a hug” and the raccoon hisses and launches himself at Buddy. But it would be hard to think of these cute, little koalas doing that. We also saw a wombat (also a strangely cute creature – kind of like a potbellied pig) and lots of kangaroos!! Kristen found a little redtailed one hiding under the step and was feeding it. It looked just like a small dog eating out of her hand.

There were also bigger kanga’s, most were snoozing in the shade but there was one that was ready to eat out of anyone’s hand.

Suddenly something startled them and they all jumped up (literally) and hopped off. Once they hopped a few times (they cover a lot of ground) they all stopped and looked back. We’re not sure what caused all the ruckus, but we did notice that one mama had a joey in her pouch. It looked like he barely made it in there before she hopped away because his hind legs and tail were still sticking out. I wanted to do some more shopping up in Kuranda but since there are 3 boys and only 2 girls I was out-voted. We headed home with lots of time for the kids to frolic in the ocean (which means playing in the surf since I won’t let them go out more than 10 feet). We also all go in the pool. One gentleman came by and said “You must be from a cold weather country to be able to swim in THIS water, are you from Norway? Or Canada?” He said that the weather is pretty cool right now…..I find 28 degrees to be pretty nice myself.

Update on the wildlife:

• Upon further inquiry we found out that pythons are a ‘docile’ snake and since it is winter here they are in hibernation (where they can stay until we leave)….however, the innkeeper offered to show me where the resident one is residing– I politely declined.
• We did see a python in the reptile enclosure today….which the boys forced me to go into. They figured if they could jump off a 50m tower then I could surely walk through a snake hut. Luckily the snakes were sleeping. Holy crap – a piece of loose hair just fell on my arm….NOT a good thing when I’m thinking about snakes. I think I actually have a kink in my neck now from my sudden jerky movement to get whatever was on my arm (piece of hair) off.
• With only one day left to go we haven’t seen anything worse than sugar ants (and they actually look nicer than the ugly black ones we have)…….I’m knocking on wood right now that my luck holds out.

Cairns - Day 5

Since kids like nothing better than to hear, “Let’s go for a drive” – we did just that. We headed north up the coast to Port Douglas. We’ve heard it’s a really beautiful drive and it’s true. Unfortunately the road is so full of curves and “S” turns that Jeff really got to see none of it. They did have lookout points but by the time we noticed most of them we were already on our way by. We did manage to stop at one though.

The lookout on the way to Port Douglas, people hang-glide off here.

Comparing Cairns to Port Douglas is like comparing Niagara Falls to Niagara on the Lake. While one is mostly commercialized with all the tacky souvenir shops and tourist-y things, the other is a more laid back, upscale (aka expensive) little town. Much to the kids delight we didn’t spend long in Port Douglas (although anything longer than 5 minutes was too long).

St. Mary's by the Sea church in Port Douglas

Fortunately for them there was another educational opportunity close by. Mossman Gorge was only about 10 minutes down the road and it is “a very accessible and scenic section of the World Heritage listed Daintree National Park”. Luckily I picked up a map and brochure at the information stand and could fill them in on all the details on the way. Since we hadn’t planned on hiking today we were all in ‘thongs’ (interpretation: flip flops) but ‘no worries mate’ the path to the gorge and suspension bridge was mostly manmade and again, many were in their barefeet anyways.

On our way to Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest

On our way home we were all scanning the sugar cane fields for any signs of kangaroos. Apparently they are ‘all over the place’ here but we still haven’t seen ANY! At this point any type of jumping marsupial would do. FINALLY, about 10 minutes from the resort we noticed about 50 of them out in a field with some horses. They were small and most were lying down and looked like little mounds of dirt….but one was hopping. I think we were all blabbering hysterically and Jeff spent the next 10 minutes circling around trying to find a way to get closer to the field…which we couldn’t do – so no pics, you’ll just have to take our word for it! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s exciting adventures – bungy jumping and holding the koalas.

"Crocs" in the pool

Cairns - Day 4

We decide to head up the mountain to Kuranda today. The brochures advertise it as, “the village in the Rainforest”. The twisty-twirly, super-curvy drive up the mountain leaves Kristen a little grey by the time we get to the village. By the time we start on our 3km hike on the JumRum Jungle Trail Walk she is better. I was a little disappointed with the lack of wildlife…..don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t looking for any reptiles or large furry creatures but I thought there might at least be some birds in this tropical forest (although I’m glad the rest of the animals are nocturnal). We did see a couple of little skinks and Bradley, who was out in front for the entire walk, kept crying wolf and alerting us to non-existent pythons. There was a lot of vines hanging from the canopy and huge nests in some trees…..we found out later that they weren’t actually nests but just the way the ferns grew on the trees…..and incidentally they also happen to be a favourite sunning place for pythons during the day. The little town is packed full of markets and has a high concentration of Aboriginal souvenir shops (since this is the traditional home of the Djabugay people I guess it stands to reason). Steven and Bradley buy a didgeridoo – I knew it was only a matter of time. It comes with instructions and Steven gives it his best shot….by spitting into it.

Bradley, with his natural talent (which his music teacher says doesn’t exist) nails it the first time.

We drive to the Barron Gorge Falls Lookout. I thought it was just a photo opp but it turns out there is more walking involved to get to the lookout. The kids have been go-getters and haven’t complained once about the copious amounts of walking we’ve been doing....and rightly so :) We made sure we were back in time for them to swim before dinner. The weather has been fantastic. The temperatures have averaged 26degrees Celsius, with lots of sun. Yesterday there was quite a breeze – actually that is their winter hardship. Snow for us, cooler breezes for them.

Points to Note:

• There have been commercials on t.v. and signs in the mall for Father’s Day. Jeff thought he might get lucky and have TWO Fathers Days in one year –unfortunately for him and luckily for us it falls on September 3^rd and we’ll already be on our way home.
• The plugs all have an on/off switch. Like the lights you flick the switch DOWN to turn it on and UP to turn it off.
• There seem to be a lot of people up north who walk around in barefeet. Some of them are Aboriginals but we’ve seen Caucasian ladies and kids in the grocery store with no shoes on……and one little dark skinned boy, about 7, walking in barefeet and chewing on his shoe.

Cairns - Day 3

Kangaroo Crossing Sign

Today is a well-deserved and much needed lazy day. Although the intent was to sleep in the sun was shining in our windows at 7am – and who really wants to waste the day sleeping anyways, we can do that in Canada. Breakfast was at your leisure (i.e. make your own when you’re hungry) on the patio. Still on high alert for any type of wildlife I almost spilled my tea when something caught the corner of my eye….turns out it was just a little green plant growing in a crack on the patio.

Jeff kept the getaway car running

We had no real aim for today. The boys went down to the beach but it was pretty windy. We travelled around a little bit, picked up lunch and some groceries…..and couldn’t resist a few photo opps.

Buckley Street - what luck, there is a lot for sale right on the corner!

We narrowed down our to-do list for the rest of the week:

• Cuddle a koala
• Visit the rainforest
• Bungee jump (crazy boys only)

Cairns - Day 2

Today has been one of our best days so far….and that’s saying a lot! We had our adventure out on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), we saw lots of fish, coral, sea turtles, weird sea creatures and NO sharks so it was a great success. Eventhough it was suppose to be a calm day it was a little windy so we had some choppy waters going out (and coming back – which didn’t bode well for some of the Chinese tourists…but that story is too gross to share so I’ll spare the details). Luckily we all handled it okay (although 5 hours on dry land and I still feel like I’m rocking). Jeff, Steven and Brad did the introductory dive on the first reef.

Ready to SCUBA

Kristen and I went snorkeling and because we were one of the last ones in the water one of the crew offered to take us on a guided tour of the reef. Although Kristen has never been snorkeling before she handled it like a pro. We got to touch a sea cucumber (ugly, black, squishy, extremely large sluglike creature), saw lots of giant clams, saw Nemo in the sea anemone (in a strange coincidence Finding Nemo was on t.v. last night….of course we watched it). When we got back the boys were done their dive and they snorkeled with us for a bit.

Kristen snorkelling like a pro!

Even with a wetsuit on Bradley was shivering (no surprise since he doesn’t have an extra ounce of fat) so we all got out and had lunch. Soon after we headed to the next reef.

Bradley underwater

Steven and Jeff went on another dive so Bradley, Kristen and I went on the glass bottomed boat tour. We learned about the different types of corals and fish. Then we snorkeled – again, we were lucky that there was a crew member in the water and he offered to take us around. Kristen was the youngest one snorkeling so I think that’s why we got the preferential treatment. They probably wanted to keep an eye on her since it was a little choppy. This was the bonus round for us. We touched a pineapple sea cucumber – the least grossest of the sea cucumber family. He is orange and looks like he has little starfish stuck to him....and…..the best part: we saw 3 sea turtles and I got to give Crush a bellyrub! I touched Crush – and he wasn’t in a pet store!!

Crush - for real!

We also saw lots of other fish and coral and a huge Wrasse fish (who is a resident on that reef and pretty friendly – they call him Wally). Jeff and Steven also had a good dive. They saw 5 or 6 sea turtles and because there were only 2 of them with the dive master he allowed them to swim on their own and follow him (on the first dive they all had to join arms and go around as a group).

Steven - just before he did the "Happy-Little-Scuba-Diver" sign.

Steven aptly noted that starting their snorkel/dive experience on the GBR meant there was nowhere to go but down. Jeff said that Mexico compares pretty well – obviously not for the vastness of the reefs but for the coral and fish. We arrived back at the wharf in time to catch a parade on the Esplanade. It’s the start of the Cairns Festival. We also met up with a few nice people who gave us some tips on where to go and what to do while we’re here. When we told them we were staying in Yorkeys Knob they asked if we had seen any pythons yet since Yorkeys Knob is known for their population of pythons. I almost passed out right there. They didn’t seem too concerned with the fact and said that this is the tropics and that’s where they live….still, I would prefer NOT to see one at all. The one lady is doing a teacher swap and coming to live in Halifax next September.

We warned her about a few things:

• cold weather and snow
• the Tim Hortons addiction
• the Newfies (just kidding – Lord Tunderin’ we love our Maritime friends!)

The evening ended with an amazing fireworks display, I would say it was probably almost equal to the one we saw in Ottawa on Canada Day. It ended with the sky absolutely filled with a golden cascade of lights, Kristen said it looked like a lot of chandeliers. And so it was a great ending to our absolutely great day.

Cairns - Day 1

The beach at Yorkeys Knob

We arrive to warm weather in Cairns! Just to put it in perspective – their winter is our summer. We get in our rental car and barely make it out of the parking lot before we come across the first roundabout – that Jeff has to navigate backwards (to what we’re used to). He seemed to pick it up the whole driving opposite thing pretty quickly and I didn’t have to step on my imaginary passenger-side brake too often….although turning corners is tricky…as is parking. We stopped for breakfast at a little German café called…..wait for it…..’ Beethovens’ and ate on the patio. We toured around the city stopping at a huge market for some fruit and also stopping at the information booth to book our tour on the Great Barrier Reef. We found our way to Yorkeys Knob, seriously, that is the name of the little town we’re staying in. It’s about a 10 minute drive north of Cairns. Apparently the resort’s office closes at noon on Saturdays so the lady left our room key in an envelope taped to the office door. This is very nice since we haven’t even paid for the place yet and the office doesn’t open again till Monday. The kids find the path to the beach straightaway and we’re off to visit the ocean. Again we wish we had winters like this in Canada. Although, to be fair, the summers here are VERY hot (Cairns is the Australian Florida).

Pool at the resort

We head out to Smithfield which is another larger town about 5 minutes away….which has a 24 hour McDonalds –we note this for future reference. We stop at a small mall, which ends up being a lot bigger than it looks. We notice a lot of people walking around in the mall carrying cases of pop (Coke to be more specific). We deduce that it must be on sale somewhere and sure enough we find it at Kmart for the low, low price of $15. Considering we have been paying up to $3 for a can of Coke this is a real deal. We also find kangaroo meat (sausages and steaks) at the grocery store – but we decide to pass …although we’ve been told its low in fat and tastes like beef. So, as our day began at 4:30am this morning we are ready to end it at 8pm. We have another early morning tomorrow as we have to be at the wharf by 7:30am for our reef adventure.

Sydney Day 7 - The last day

Well Sydney is sending us off with a wet, blustery day. Not deterred we head out…making sure not to utter the infamous words “It can’t rain ALL day” that doomed our visit to Salzburg back in 2006 (when it was proven that it can downpour ALL day). First we head to the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) for a closer look at the clock that features the beheading of King Charles I (dioramas complete with puppetry).

The Royal Clock. King Charles is beheaded every hour on the hour between 10 & 5.

Nice architecture for a shopping mall!

Then we dodged rain drops and headed towards the Harbour Bridge. It is quite a hike to get to the lookout located in the end pylon. We buy tickets and climb 200 stairs to the top – Jeff and I are pretty sure that we’re going to lose weight on this vacation. Although the wind is gusting at 40km (I think this qualifies as more than blustery) we take in the view of the harbor and suburb areas of Sydney. We are feeling sorry for the people who paid $238 each to do the bridge climb today (they cable you to the bridge and you can climb all the way to the top). As we’re standing on the lookout we can see what looks like a mist floating out of the city. It’s very eerie because there is this white mist rolling out between the buildings at rapid pace – then Jeff points at the water and we can see that its rain, and its approaching at breakneck speed. Steven bellows for his comrades (there is only us 5 up there) to ‘hold your ground’ – however rain flying in your face at 40km/hr really hurts so Kristen and I scurry back inside – followed by all the boys.

See the spooky mist? You can see the rain hitting the water too.

Luckily there are a lot of displays and history about the building of the bridge and by the time we’re ready to leave the rain has stopped. There is an outdoor market down in The Rocks today and we lunch on gigantic meatballs wraps, chicken tikkala wraps and steak sandwiches. I force everyone to take one last family picture in front of the Opera House on threat of being sent home. A kindly lady who admits she has a shaky hand agrees to take it for us. Adieu Sydney!

A few other things we’ve noticed in Australia:

• All the kids wear school uniforms, some include hats (it’s very cute)
• They have “McCafes” which are connected to McDonalds but is the Starbucks equivalent (in all things including price - $4.40 for a small Chai Tea Latte and $2.50 for a pretty small donut).
• In the convenience store a can of Coke was $1.99 while Fanta is considered “American soda” and cost $2.99/can
• They do not have a penny. They round up or down.
• Their tax is INCLUDED in the price – so the price you see is the price you pay! BRILLIANT (my new favourite word)! No surprises at the cash register.
• Their bills are ‘plasticized’ which means you can forget your money in your pocket and put it through the wash and it’s still there when you pull it out of the dryer.
• And…..they have started making plasticized bills for Canada which are targetted to start circulating later in 2011.

Sydney Day 6 - Bondi Beach & The Aquarium

It would be a tragedy to come all the way to Sydney and not visit the famous Bondi Beach (pronounced Bond-eye). We make our way to Central Station and with our handy multi-pass (which is our all-access pass to the trains/ferrys/buses) find the elusive Platform 25 (thankfully not 25 ½) that goes out to Bondi Junction. Once we arrive at the station we jump on the next bus headed to the beach – again, very thankful for the extensive transportation system that someone had the foresight to design, because it’s a lot farther than the map would lead you to believe! It is a spectacular beach – I can see how it would be wall to wall people in the summer.

I’m trying to take lots of ‘people pictures’ but not surprisingly, the family is not co-operating. I try to bribe them by saying “This might be the last time you’ll ever be here”. The boys are pretty sure that it won’t be their last time.

We decide to grab some McDonald’s before we head back and I am pleasantly surprised -not by the quality of food but by the cost. It pretty much tastes the same as home but lucky for us it’s an Anniversary Celebration and its $1 cheeseburgers!

Once back in town we head straight to the Sydney Aquarium for our (only) encounter I want to have with a shark. One of the first displays is a platypus. It surprises me how small (and kind of cute) it is. Reminds me of an otter, except the poor thing can’t see, smell or hear underwater so he had an awfully hard time finding his food as he was bashing around into logs, roots and the plexiglass. There were underwater viewing areas for the dugongs (like a manatee), stingrays and a variety of sharks. Then we watched the penguin feeding. These penguins are the smallest in the world and live in Australia because they don’t like the cold (smart bird).

We met up with friends and relatives one last time before we head north to Cairns. Nothing like sitting and chatting in the shadow of the Opera House in Sydney Harbour. Once the sun goes down (around 5:30) it drops about 10 degrees and gets pretty cold pretty quick.

This might be the last post for a few days. We are heading to Cairns and I’m not sure when we’ll have internet again.

Sydney Day 5 - Downtown

Click on this pic to make it bigger - and take note of the last item on the menu.

Later we'll dedicate a post to all the signs we've seen.

Again we were all up by 7am. So far all the days start out clear and sunny but cloud over by the afternoon. Today was forecast to be rainy all day but at 7 this morning it didn’t look like it so we changed our plans from the Sydney Aquarium to the street tour of the downtown. First things first. The kids and I head out on our daily excursion to the bakery. Steven is on the hunt for a chocolate croissant that he’s positive he saw at one of the Korean bakeries (yes, I’m as dubious as you about this). I go to the ‘other’ bakery for cheese and ham buns while they try to track down the elusive chocolate croissants. As it turns out the Korean bakery has chocolate horns, salmon mousse buns (!), and danishes but no chocolate croissants. The chocolate croissants that are on the shelf in front of me in the ‘other’ bakery do not make the cut. We head home. I’m not sure if I mentioned that we are staying in the Eastwood suburb of Sydney. It is ‘Little Korea’. It works out well because there are lots of outdoor fruit/vegetable stands. There are also lots of bakery shops, butcher shops and fish stalls….. I don’t even know what some of the sea creatures are that are in the window. They also have a shop that sells cooked duck and chicken – I’m assuming this because that is what’s hanging in the window. There is always a line up at this place so it must be good. If only I could read Korean.

We head downtown on the train and arrive at the big anchor by city hall. Our tour guide is Justine, she started this ‘Free Walking Tour” business that I read about on Trip Advisor. She does the tour for free and you tip her at the end or whenever you leave the tour. There are about 20 of us. The best part is she gives you a map with all the free things to do in Sydney.

The QVB (Queen Victoria Building) is a shopping mall

She has lots of tips about where to eat – which is how we ended up at the Cargo Lounge and Bar for lunch. Kids under 18 are allowed with a ‘responsible adult’ - somehow we all got it. We had the $10 steak special that comes with salad and ‘chips’ (fries). There were a few toddlers and babies in the place with their parents but I must say that our kids were the only ones between the age of 3 and 21. But I digress, we found out lots of interesting info about Sydney….like the fact that it was named after the first governor’s neighbor – back in England. The Rocks is the oldest part of the city that was just restored in the 70’s. It was originally the dock area for the colony so it was the rat infested slums but cleans up pretty good!

Cadman's Cottage. The lucky coxswain who lived here got to row the convicts ashore.

It is the oldest building in Sydney.

We also checked out the Maritime Museum. It basically has historical information and facts on anything concerning the ocean and its activities starting with Aboriginals and how they fished to Captain Cook (who claimed Australia for the British) all the way up to surfers and the Sydney Olympics…..and its FREE!

Everyone told me that food is expensive in Australia…they were right.

For example:

• Coke – 2 cases of 24 for $34.00
• Coke – one 500mL bottle for $3.45 …..when we found a 1.5L bottle on sale for $1.99 we thought we hit the jackpot
• A plain loaf of bread from the bakery - $3.45

We haven`t yet eaten at McDonalds. That will be the true test of value equivalency!

Sydney Day 4 - The Blue Mountains

Waiting for the train. Most of the stations are very quaint.

Thanks to some chirpy birds the majority of us were up at 6am this morning. We headed to he bakery for some cheese buns and chocolate croissants. Since it’s a 2 hour ride to the Blue Mountains we wanted to get an early start anyways. We went through interesting little towns with names like Toongabbie, Rooty Hill, Warrimoo and Bullaburra and eventually arrived in Katoomba. Luckily for us our multipass rail/bus/ferry tickets also work here so our legs are saved from a 40 minute hike in a hilly city that compares to San Francisco. The trolley dropped us off at Echo Point and the view is spectacular. I would compare it to the view from the Eagle’s Nest in Germany (minus the large rocky mountains).

The Three Sisters Rock Formation with an Aboriginal history

It was a challenge to get pictures as there was an extremely large contingent of Japanese tourists everywhere today. We went on a 30 minute hike on the trails and ended up at the ‘Three Sisters’ rock formation where, in 1932, Ranger McKay kindly cut 900 steps into the side of the mountain for future tourists to experience acute leg burn and hyperventilation. The Blue Mountains get their name from the eucalyptus trees that grow in the valley. They give off a vapour and when the sun shines it looks like a blue haze. After lunch we rode down the mountain on the steepest incline railway in the world. Its on a 52 degree angle although it looks like its just shy of 90 degrees. I swear it is almost straight up and down.

The Scenic Train down into the Jungle. Note the angle of the train above and below the sign!

The Blue Mountains date back to the Jurassic Era and are 10times older than the Grand Canyon (I’m sure this will shock all the Americans). After experiencing the cool 12 degree mountain air all day, 17 degrees in Sydney seems almost balmy. We should all sleep good tonight.

A couple of Ugly Koala's hanging in the trees.

Sydney Day 3 - Manly Beach

What was suppose to be a grey, overcast day turned out to be bright and sunny….so change of plans and we headed out on the ferry to Manly. Eventhough its ‘winter’ and the locals are wearing coats and knitted hats there are people surfing in the ocean (in full wetsuits). We had fish and chips for lunch and didn’t share any with the screeching seagulls – who seem to have the same personality in any country. “Mine, mine, mine”…speaking of Finding Nemo, the boys looked up 42 Wallaby Way Sydney but its way on the other side of town. The kids bought some souvenir today, including warm sweatshirts – which they will need when we head into the mountains tomorrow.

Things we’ve notice about Australians so far:

They use some colloquial English words like rubbish, beautician and rumpus room in everyday language

They extremely dislike their Prime Minister at the moment, mostly due to the carbon tax she is imposing.

They like their tea

The standard coffee is espresso

They are pretty much like us but with a really cool accent.

Sydney Day 2 - The Wedding

We have heat! Lauretta’s sweet aunt Maria and her cousin Michelle gave us some of the best news we’ve had so far! As it turns out, the ‘air con’ unit is NOT our equivalent of our ‘a/c’….don’t be fooled fellow North American travellers. The ‘air con’ is a true air –conditioning-unit-providing-both-cold-AND-hot-air. Brilliant! Our first night we pretty much froze but night number 2 we were toasty warm. Although we were very excited about the heating unit, the wedding was equally exciting. Congratulations to Tony & Lauretta!

My Aunt Ann (although I still call her Aunt Annie) and me!