Featherdale Wildlife Park; By Brady

Last weekend we all went to the Blue  Mountains. On the way there, we stopped at Featherdale Wildlife Park. We all got the chance to feed, hold ,and pet Wallablies and Kangaroos. They are all adorable. The park was fun-filled, and had many Australian animals. We even saw penguins and a 7-8 foot saltwater crocodile. Man it looked fake at first, and then when everyone was off guard ,it hissed and freaked everyone out. We also got to pet little, fluffy Koalas. They are really cute, but they STINK! It smelled like something died. There were so many species, it was like a jungle. We saw some Dingos( which are related to the wolf and dog), and Emus( which are big flightless birds). Thanks for reading, and I'll keep posting.

Luke's weekend

Guess where I went on my weekend? I went to the Blue Mountains.  It was so much fun. I also got to hold a baby wallaby at Featherdale. I loved that trip a lot. We also went to Scenic World and went on the skyway, the railway (the steepest in the world), the walkway, and the cableway. Then after that we went to the three sisters, a famous rock formation.   And guess what I hiked down and touched the first one. It was an awesome sight.

                 BYE!!!!!!




LUKE

A Fun Weekend in The Blue Mountains by Suzanne

We've had a busy weekend, so I feel like I need to blog about it!  Friday was Ethan and my 16th anniversary.  Usually we take turns planning the date, I do even numbered years.  But since he has more contacts down here, he took this year to plan.  We are fortunate that the kids are old enough we can leave them in the hotel for a couple of hours to go out.  We went to The Rocks area, just a short walk from our hotel, and ate at an Italian restaurant called Apetito.  It was a very nice meal, probably the nicest we've had since being down here.  The funny thing was, as we ordered, another couple ordered next to us.  They both had the lasagna, and so did I.  (Ethan had gnocci.)  Both of these people quickly finished the quite large portion of lasagna, and I thought to myself, "they sure are going through their meal quickly!"  I ended up really only eating a little more than half of the lasagna.  (To be fair, we did share some bruschetta first.)  But soon I realized that these people next to us both had another even larger entree in front of each of them.  The lasagna apparently was only their appetizer!  They each finished another full meal...one I think was the swordfish special, and the other some sort of chicken entree.  With each entree not only being quite large, but expensive as well, (mostly in the $30's) we were very surprised with their appetites!!!

Anyway, the meal was good.  Then we went next door to have a drink at the "oldest pub in Sydney,"  Fortune of War.  A solo guitarist was just starting to play, and he ended up playing all covers to songs that we knew.  It was a blast, the crowd was getting larger as he continued to play and eventually everyone was dancing and singing at the top of their lungs.  He even handed out instruments to those close by, and Ethan played the cowbell for several songs.  We had a wonderful time!

This pic was taken on our tiny balcony off of our hotel room.

Then Saturday morning we got up early and rented a car to drive to The Blue Mountains.  We had been told to stop at Featherdale Wildlife Park on our way there.  It was a great place!  There were many areas with the wallabies and kangaroos just wandering around where you could not only pet them but even get some food to feed them.  They were not too scared of people so it was fun to get to spend time with them.

Look at the little baby sticking out of the mama's pouch!

It was also the closest we had gotten to koalas.  We didn't get to hold them, but got pictures right with them and pet them.  Yes, they do stink!!!  :)

Here are several more animals that we saw there...

(That dingo ate my baby!!!)

There is a huge salt water crocodile behind him...

Here is the saltwater croc...

OK so on to the Blue Mountains!  We stayed at a lovely resort much like a mountain lodge in Leura, called The Fairmont Resort.  The two towns that we looked through were Leura and Katoomba.  Both felt like quaint European towns with one main street filled with cafes and shops down both sides.  Ethan had to get used to driving on the left side of the road.  We did have a few scary moments!  

We got to see the main attraction of the Blue Mountains, "The Three Sisters" and we hiked down to them as well.  There is an old legend that a witch doctor turned 3 aborigine sisters into stone long ago.  

Amazingly, the first day we were there it rained on and off...but we got a perfect shot of a rainbow over the 3 sisters!  It's not fake!!!  Absolutely gorgeous...

We got to ride on a skyway, a railway, and do many walks through these mountains.

This is the railway, originally made for coal miners to ride down into the valley.  Now it is only used for tourists.  It is the steepest railway in the world, I believe...it goes down at a 52 degree slope!

This is in the Fairmont Resort Hotel

Katoomba Falls, one of the waterfalls in the Blue Mountains.

Inside the Skyway!

We had a great weekend, and it was nice to have a change of scenery from the big city!  We do miss you all back in the states, but our time here is going fast already and we'll be home before we know it!

Suzanne

My Weekend in the Blue Mountains by Elise

We went to the Blue Mountains.  We saw the three sisters.  We went on the railway.  I got to pet and feed a kangaroo and koala.  I liked the zoo best.

This is actually a baby wallaby, from the same family as the kangaroo.

Featherdale Wildlife Park, on the way to the Blue Mountains

"The Three Sisters" is the rock formation behind the kids, the most famous sight in the Blue Mountains.

We rode a railway which is the steepest railway in the world.  It was originally made to take coal miners down into the Jamison Valley, now only used for tourists.  You travel 52 degrees on a downward slope!

by Elise

Brady on the Bridge; By Brady

Hey guys! Its me again. Here is my latest adventure. Today, we went across the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was amazing. There were so many incredible views, I couldn't walk 3 feet without stopping. While we were on the bridge, we saw some bridge climbers . That looks fun, but you are up really high. The bridge was vibrating A LOT, so it was kind of freaky. Anyways, after the bridge we stopped at the Rocks. It is a really famous shopping place in Sydney. We stopped at a bar and had some cokes on the way home, and they were refreshing since it was hot outside. It was an incredible adventure, but I have to go, we are off to another amazing and magical place.

The Rocks Shopping Area

Jackson's on George Street for a Coke!

On The Bridge by Luke

You will not believe where I went today. I went to walk across one of the most famouse bridges in the world, the Sydney Bridge.  There were some great views. I saw the the opera house and the whole harbor. It was great. There were so many boats in the water I could not count all of them. There on the bridge it was really bumpy.  Then we shopped at the Rocks. At the Rocks I got a new sweatshirt that is very comfy.  After that we got coke for everyone. It was sweet and tasty.  That sounds like a very fun day to me. P.S. We had kangaroo burgers for dinner.
                                                                        BYE!!!!!!!!!!

By   LUKE

The Magical Second Weekend; by Brady

Yesterday we finished up our second weekend in Sydney, Australia. On Saturday, we went on an adventerous journey all the way across town, to Chinatown to be specific. We visited all sorts of chinese venues and learned a little bit about their culture and way of life ( I never thought I would have learned about Chinese people in Australia). We also saw a movie in the Event Cinemas.  We saw Madagascar 3 in the small theater. Then on Sunday, we went to a really cool and funny church called Hillsong church. It is huge, like 2500 a service huge. After that we caught a train to Olympic Park the sight of the 2000 Olympics. We saw the big, the only  ANZ statium, where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. It was HUMUNGOUS! It could probably seat 80,000 or more. I saw a basketball court for the first time, but I didn't have a ball so I couldn't play. Oh well, theres always next time. Friday night ( KC time, Saturday morning here) I got to talk to my baseball team for the first time. They were all a bunch of goof balls. I think I totally interupted their practice, but they won their last game by 10 runs, so it didn't matter. Oops sorry, got to go, I'm off to new sights and more adventures.