No trip to this part of the world would be complete without a trip to Australia, it was just really hard to figure out where to go with only a weeks time. With Grandma Linda and the three kids in tow, we left for Sydney and Melbourne. We opted not to go to the Gold Coast and amusement parks, and we will be snorkeling later in July in Tonga so left the Barrier Reef for another trip.
We arrived to lovely sunny weather and a hearty Aussie welcome!
Right out of the taxi, we dropped bags and got on a water taxi to explore the harbor. Pretty awesome to see the Opera House in person!
Darling Harbor in all its glory
Noah and I on one of the many ferries
Cool sink in the Opera House
Close up detail of one of the millions of tiles used to decorate the House
A remarkable engineering and architectural feat from all angles
Jack's new cover photo
Noah's new cover photo
Dinner out on the town
And just so Maggie knew how much we loved her, we told her that her brothers had orchestrated these fireworks for her 7th birthday!!
First full day we had tour of the city, covered all the villages and out to the beaches. It is a big city with lots of color and charm! Here we are looking north to Bondi Beach.
At Bondi, the beach famous for having the first surf life saving club, saw this surf row boat out doing their training.
Yes, boys you are almost as tall as your mother!
Bondi Beach in the background
Looking back towards city from out on the coast
Here we are waiting for one of the many ferries to take us from place to place.
Ferry from Darling Harbour toTaronga Zoo
A wombat, our new favorite animal
Kukabarra sits on the old gum tree...
Figured if you can't live in the African plains, having a view like this is not so bad…
Finally the one we were waiting for, asleep in the tree, so sweet!
And explosion of cuteness!!!
Lemurs from Madagascar
Can't ever get enough of this building! And en route back, Maggie saw Nemo and Dory swimming in the harbor!
Day three found us boarding a van to go to the Blue Mountains, west out of town, a UNESCO World Heritage destination. Blue for the oils that come up off the gum (eucalyptus) trees. First stop of this day was at Featherland Wildlife Park to pet some koalas and kangaroos, and meet some other native animals and birds.
These sweet mammals are so soft and cuddly, though sharp claws that will rip you up. Way too cute though, and they sleep most 20/24 hours/day!
Maggie and her wallaby friends, see the baby in the pouch below!
Jack and the kangaroos
Looking out over the Blue Mountains
The Mountains are all a very cool sandstone formation and here was an even more amazing layering.
The 3 Sisters formation
The ferry ride back from the Blue Mountains to Central Harbour
And to end our day we found ourselves in one of the villages for Pizza and amazing mountains of gelato, loved the Pavlova and Messy Juliette!
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