A few days in Paradise...Port Douglas, Queensland, AU

From the time we knew we were coming to Sydney, Ethan was determined to get to the Great Barrier Reef.  Because his work schedule is packed tight, we could only squeeze in a few days for the vacation up to northern Queensland.  We left Friday night and flew up to Cairns.  Then it was about an hour drive from Cairns to Port Douglas, the town we stayed in.  We had a wonderful villa with a gorgeous tropical pool right off of our balcony.  It was most definitely paradise!

The climate up there is much more tropical, it is the one place in the world where the rainforest meets the reef, the Great Barrier Reef, that is.  We had 3 full days to enjoy.  The first day we just decided to hang at our pool and also took a picnic lunch to the famous "4 Mile Beach" right on the coast, which is along the Coral Sea.  This beach was unlike any other beach we have been to.  First of all, there was a net enclosure within which we could swim.  It is stinger season down here, and we have learned that the box jellyfish, also called the sea stinger, is the most deadly animal in Australia!  They are very large jellyfish and if you get stung, it is most likely fatal.  We definitely stayed within the swimming enclosure!!!  But the waves are very small, and you can go out really far and still quite shallow.  Plus the water was much warmer up this far north, so it was my first time actually swimming since we've been here!

You can see the mountainous coastline that meets with the beach.  The sand here was much finer than down in the Sydney area.

You can see the swim enclosure behind them, that white floating line.

Check out the sign behind the boys.  Stingers!  But it sure didn't keep people away.  The beach was quite crowded, you felt very safe inside the swim enclosure.

That night we had dinner at a restaurant along the strip of the town of Port Douglas.  It was a really cute town with just one main strip full of restaurants, reef tour and rainforest tour storefronts, and shops.  

Our second day was our Reef tour!  This was definitely the highlight of the trip.  We went out with Quicksilver Cruises, the largest tour group out of Port Douglas.  They took us for an hour and a half ride on a very nice and large boat out to the reef.  They recommended that we all wear their "stinger suits" so that we would not get stung in case there were stingers.  We never saw any, luckily!  They have a large platform that stays out at the reef, and they can do scuba diving from the same platform.  We all chose to snorkel.  They also had an underwater viewing site that you could see lots of the reef from without going into the water.  And then there was another option, a semi submersible boat that drove around the reef with the seating about 5 feet under water so you could see a lot of the fish and reef as well.  Elise, Brady, and I took that ride and our highlight was seeing 3 different sea turtles!  They were really cool to see, but Ethan had our camera at the time so we didn't get pictures of those!  Ethan had an underwater camera and got lots of really cool pictures of the reef and some gorgeous colorful fish.  

Brady snorkeling...

This is me, Suzanne...not a great picture but I wanted proof that I did in fact snorkel!  :)

Ethan...he is NOT laying on that coral, by the way...

Luke didn't like the fins or the snorkel...but still managed to snorkel the entire time with Ethan!

Such vibrant colors!  They were so beautiful!

Look at this starfish!

The kids with our boat in the background.

Modeling the stinger suits!

I know that's a ton of pictures...if you are still with me you deserve some reward for hanging in there.  Guess what your reward will be?  Some more pictures of the most amazing CROCODILES you've ever seen!  Our third day we decided to go to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure!  Brady has wanted to see some crocs since we got here.  This was definitely the place for that!  They were like nothing we have ever seen.  This place was crawling with crocs...both saltwater (who do eat humans) and freshwater (who don't eat humans.)  We rode this boat (picture the Animal Kingdom safari boat ride) but with real crocs.  The tour guide was quite the stereotypical Aussie.  I wish we had videoed part of his commentary!  He was hilarious.  He would hold a stick out over the water attached to the head of a fish, trying to get the crocs to come get it.  They sure would come, and jump up to get the fish!  We got some great pictures of them...

This was the boat we rode.  Those are windows on the bottom half...we were NOT going to be that susceptible to them!

Jason, our Aussie "Crocodile Hunter" tour guide...

They look fake.  I know!  Those are REAL!

These were the saltwater crocs.  They are much larger, have less pointy noses, and Do see humans as a food source.

The kids posing by the WARNING sign.  I have never been so paranoid in a "theme park" or zoo of the animals getting out!  It sort of freaked me out.

The Saltwater croc feeding time.

This is a freshwater croc.  At least they are smaller, and can't fit a human in their mouth!  They don't chew their prey, so they don't consider humans a food source.

The obligatory kangaroos found in every Australian wildlife park!

We got to take our picture with a real baby croc!!!

Another "Crocodile Hunter" wannabe...Duncan.  He is holding an Inland Taipan, the #1 most venomous snake in the world.

Look at this croc checking out the kids helping with the snake show...this totally freaked me out!!!  He seemed ready to pounce on these kids.  There was a 5 foot glass wall in his way.

What an amazing trip we had!  I have to post a few other pictures from some stops along the coastal drive, more hotel pool swimming, and another dinner in town.  Too many photo ops plus a photo crazy dad, makes for thousands of photos for this trip!!!

You just can't drive along this coast without stopping for some photos.

We are holding little starfish.

We will be home to KC in less than 3 weeks.  Time is flying now and we look forward to coming home for Christmas, however a trip to Queenstown, New Zealand first.   There will be more pics to come I am sure.   

My first concert down under by Luke

Last night was awesome.  I went to the coldplay concert and the whole thing was in the dark and we had these wristbands that automatically glowed up in the dark and it lit up the night in all kinds of colors. There were fireworks everywhere and my eyesight got all blured for a second and it looked like a huge  rainbow explosion.  They played all of my favorite songs and the whole crowd sang along so it was my most favorite moment in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After that night I was shocked and I thought I would be blind.

LUKE

What a Weekend: By Brady

Man, we had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday, we started things off by staying home alone while my mom and dad went to get Starbucks. Afterwards we all scurried to the wharfs and caught the next ferry to Watsons Bay. Next we got off immediately and went to eat at Doyles, a famous fish 'n chips restaurant. We then went to a really fun park, and all me and Luke did, was get dizzy and sick. After that, we went on 2 hikes and look what we saw on one of them...read closely.

Pretty wierd right. After all that, we went to $10 pizza night at our favorite restaurant down here, Bar 333. Weird name huh. Well thats our Saturday. On Sunday we went to Palm Beach and it was really pretty and all, but we had to take a bus for an 1:30 minutes. Not worth the bus ride. Also I had built a HUMUNGOUS sand city, I called it, New Brady City. Here it is

It looks bigger in person, but I had a little help from family and newly found friends.  Next we went to try to find a restaurant and we did, but they only serve breakfest and lunch. What a rip off right. Well we just settled at Mcdonalds back by the hotel. Thats it for now and I'll catch you later.

A Weekend of Exploration: Watson's Bay and Palm Beach (by Suzanne)

We had another busy and fun packed weekend in Sydney!  The kids and I had been to Watson's Bay one day a few weeks ago, but we did not do a lot of walking around the area, and Ethan really wanted to go see it.  So Saturday afternoon we took the ferry over to Watson's Bay, one of the furthest Eastern suburbs of Sydney.

The famous restaurant at Watson's Bay is Doyle's, where you have to have the famous fish and chips.  We had lunch as soon as we got there.  Doyle's has been there since 1885!  Ethan was able to confirm that yes, it was the best fish and chips he has had since we've been here.  (I actually preferred the fish and chips that I had last weekend in Bondi, but don't tell anyone!)

We took several walks along the shore, seeing the city of Sydney in the distance, several old lighthouses, and gorgeous views all around.  We took the Heritage Trail, where we had good views of the North Head of the Harbour, Manly, and Middle Head.  We stopped at Camp Cove Beach, where   there was one topless woman who really put on a show for the clearly uncomfortable beach goers.  (The members of my family were definitely some of the uncomfortable beach goers, especially Brady and Luke, but they were not the obvious ones! Both of the boys actually managed to keep their eyes completely away from the topless woman. )  A little further down the path, we saw Lady Bay Beach, a marked nude beach, much more hidden from plain view, where we noticed two men completely naked on the beach.   :)

The kids' reactions to seeing that the beach allowed nudity...

We  took the southern trail where we could see the South Head of Sydney Harbour as well.  The two heads represent the entrance to the Sydney Harbour.  Our feet were quite tired after this day of walking! 

This was taken in the park right as you get off the ferry at Watson's Bay.  You walk up this small hill to "The Gap" bluff, where you can look across the other side of the peninsula to South Head.  On this side you can see the city behind us.

This picture was taken up at "The Gap."  The bluff right behind us is South Head, and in the distance you can see North Head.

This was taken during our walk, in the distance below the kids you can see the Camp Cove Beach.

This red and white lighthouse is called the Hornsby Lighthouse.

Watson's Bay must be a big place to get married.  We saw 4 wedding

 parties while we were there that day!  

Sunday we decided to go north of Sydney to a little town called Palm Beach.  We had heard from several people that it was a beautiful beach to go to.  One person had even compared it to Hawaii.  We took the bus, which isn't a great comfortable means of communication.  The busses are very crowded, but we were fortunate enough to have seats for the 100 minute bus ride.  The beach was beautiful and did also have a very nice rock pool right on the side of the water.  But as with all of the beaches here at this time of year, the water is freezing!  I have yet to actually get in the water!!!  There were some neat rock formations that went out into the water here, so we got lots of pictures out on the rocks.  Elise and I did some sea shell collecting here as well.  Palm Beach had the largest and best shells that we have found yet!

Luke is not shy with the waves.  He loves it!!!

Brady, on the other hand, is usually on the beach designing huge sand cities. They get larger each time we go to a beach!

Luke and Elise got "buried" in the sand.

We stopped by a charming restaurant on the water called The Boat House before we left Palm Beach.  We were so sad to find out that they had stopped serving food after lunch, so all we could have were some "chips," or french fries as we Americans call them.  I also had my usual glass of "sparkling wine."  This is something I love about Australia!  Everyone drinks champagne all the time!  It's not just for special occasions.  It is one of the main wine choices everywhere, and I love it!  I no longer need an excuse to drink champagne!  :)  

Well, we had a great day at Palm Beach.  We decided that it maybe wasn't worth the hour and a half bus ride, but lovely none the less.  Probably if we had a car the gorgeous drive would have been more enjoyable.  But then again, we are liking getting to see new places all the time.  We love getting to know new areas around Sydney!

A Show at the Opera House & A Day at Bondi by Ethan (Nov. 3-4)

So, I never thought I would have the opportunity to actually see a show in the famed Sydney Opera House, but that is exactly what I was able to do with my family this past weekend.   On Saturday night we had the good fortune of seeing the Sydney Symphony performing selected works from various Pixar films along with short film clips including, Toy Story 1,2 and 3, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Brave, UP and Cars 1 & 2.  What an enchanted evening.   I am not sure that my children were as impressed as I was, however, I know that in years to come they will remember the evening with fondness and maybe a bit of pride.   Having played the Cello for 9 years of my life, I was thoroughly impressed with the entire event (Lisa J., you would have loved it).    The picture below is our family with the Sydney Harbour bridge in the background just before the show and the next one is the family to the side of the Opera House at twilight.

Here we are in the Opera House at our seats just before the start of the show and just before I was chastised for using my camera inside the Opera House (oops - didn't know that was prohibited).    We had amazing seats just above the orchestra stage with a wonderful view of the musicians and the movie screen.   Luke did manage to catch a few ZZZZZs during the performance (shocking!).    All in all it was lovely evening at a beautiful venue and one that I know I will never forget.  

Sunday was just beautiful and we decided to spend it taking in the sights at Bondi Beach and viewing the exhibitions at Sculptures by the Sea.    Apparently this has been an annual event for the past 16 years and various sculpture exhibits line the Bondi and Tamarama coastal beach walk for everyone to view.   Sunday was crazy crowded and until you reached Mark's Park about halfway between Bondi and Tamarama Bay it was shoulder to shoulder.    Despite the crowd, I did manage to get a few pics of the wonderful exhibits which Brady previously commented about in his blog.   I personally enjoyed the bamboo windmill field entitled Mengenang (Memory).   This picture below is a glimpse of the beautiful array of windmills -- there are 222 of them and each was tuned to a pitch of D-minor and were created as a reflection and memorial for the 222 lives lost in the Bali bombings which occurred almost ten years ago to the day.  

I loved the exhibit below -- a simple red chili pepper in contrast with the rocks and the sea.    This one was aptly entitled - The Chilly.   Not sure if there is a deeper meaning but not necessary for me.

The kids had fun posing in this strange yet beautiful exhibit.    Apparently this one - Whale Hide 2 - is supposed to be a viewing platform with slotted windows to allow an unobstructed opportunity to view whales migrating off the coast.   Interestingly enough, a few blue whales put on a show for us off in the distance for roughly 5 minutes jumping in and out of the water in what appeared to be a frenzy.    We got a better show from the coast than we saw on our paid whale watching tour (go figure)!

This one below called Upside Down Again was just cool.   My kids found the view quite entertaining as well.

I think this one below was one of the exhibits that Brady found "disturbing".    Called, No Return, this one drew my attention from many different angles and I rather enjoyed its simplicity.   I could have gone on all day and walked the coast looking at and taking pictures of these cool sculptures, but honestly Bondi Beach was calling and all my kids wanted to do was play in the surf and have Dad join them in a few games of tag.    I gave in, quit being a geek, and joined my children's call for more fun.   The rest of the day was spent frolicking on the beach enjoying the expansive and beautiful Bondi Beach.

Luke transforms into another person at the beach.   He enjoys everything about the ocean and could stay at the beach for hours.   The face says it all.    I love his smile and his zest for excitement and adventure.  

 

Brady, Suz and Elise walking through the windmill field.   Beautiful!

Elise gets surprised by a rogue wave -- well it was rogue to her as you see by the next picture below!

What a great weekend full of more experiences that simply continue to amaze.    We only have 6 more weeks and so much more to do before the adventure ends.   As much as I miss everyone at home, the time has gone by so very quickly and I want to soak in the next few weeks with my family in this beautiful country.    I hope all are well back in the States and we pray for anyone who may have family and/or friends affected by Hurricane Sandy.   Our thoughts are with all of you.    God Bless!

Our Latest Adventure: By Brady

Well it has been really fun down here, and after this weekend it got even BETTER. On Saturday, we started off the day being home alone. Just me, Luke and Ellie. Afterwards we all headed down to the Rocks down by Circular Quay. There is a big market every weekend and we wanted to check it out. For lunch....... some chicken, shrimp, and lamb kebabs...... from a STREET vendor. They were mighty tasty. Later on in the evening, we went to the Opera House to see " Pixar in Concert". It was pretty fun watching and trying to get over the fact that you are in a worldwide monument. Anyway, on Sunday we headed down south to go to Bondi Beach. First up on the to-do list, walk the sculpture walk. There were 113 sculptures, but we only saw about 60. There were ones that were funny, exciting, and some were just flat out disturbing. It was kind of hot outside. Next we headed down to the beach to get clobbered by some waves. I tried building a sand castle but when I was almost done, a wave came in and crushed me and my civilization, so I built a city. We were all having fun and we even played tag in the water for about 30 minutes. Then, we headed up to the street, and found a nice cafe to eat dinner at. Me and my Dad had the Rump Steak. It was awesome. Anyway if you are reading this I'm going to let you go so see ya when I get back.

Halloween Down Under by Suzanne

So we had wondered what Halloween would be like from the time we knew we were coming to Australia!  We did not know if they celebrated it at all.  Ethan learned from his colleague, David North, that yes they do trick or treat.  He invited us to come to his neighborhood and go with he and his kids.  My kids bought some minimal costumes, Elise got a "hula girl" outfit, and the boys just got ski masks and weapons, their usual gig.  Last minute Luke did get a cape and a hat as well.  We took the bus yesterday to meet David's family at Willoughby Park near their home.  It was about 6:15 and still very light outside, but we could see several children already trick or treating.  We began walking up and down some neighboring streets.  We would skip most homes, and only really go up close to the homes that were obviously participating.  Probably 1 out of 18-20 homes participated.  And the ones who did, were usually outside in the front yard with their "treats", gathered with friends and family.  Several had already run out of candy -- or lollies as they say --, it seems like they thought there were more kids out this year than ever before.

They call their candy "lollies."  Elise obviously posing!

For the most part kids were wearing costumes, but it wasn't as much of a big part of the evening as it is in the US.  Also, the treats that were handed out were smaller.  It may have just been because people were getting low on candy, but my kids got one marshmallow at one house, a little foil wrapped gummy worm at another, Elise even got one piece of popcorn at a house (which I think we will incorporate next year at the Vaughan household).  OK, not seriously, but people clearly were not as generous with giving out the goods here in Australia.   We were scraping their pantries dry!!!  We walked around for about 1 1/2 hours and had a great time.  There was one house that had tried to make a little "haunted house," with plenty of dry ice for effect.   

  

Halloween clearly has not taken root with the entire populace here in Oz.   In fact, at one house, Ethan and I got lectured by an elderly lady who just did not even like the idea of Halloween.   She told Ethan that he was neglecting his fatherly obligations/duties by hiding behind a mask.   I told her that many people were just having fun, but she responded by saying (insert Aussie accent), "but at whose expense, at whose expense?"  She continued to rant for another 2-3 minutes and we simply said Happy Halloween and moved along to the next house.   Very strange indeed.  

The kids didn't quite get the loot that they get in the US, but luckily Nana had sent a few bags of Halloween candy for us, and I had bought some more at the store yesterday.  Of course it's more expensive here but that hasn't stopped us from making sure we don't miss out on our sugar fix!!!  Thanks to the North family for including us in their Halloween!

Ethan and his friend David - Arrrgh!

The gang that we went out with!  They enjoyed hearing about Halloween in the US from my boys.  :)

So Happy Halloween to everyone in the US!  We have enjoyed seeing everyone's pictures on Facebook!