Saturday, June 5, 2010

Well it is 6 am here in Sydney (and raining).  We will be leaving this am for our flight back home.  It is bittersweet but I think we are ready and excited to see everyone at home.  We regain the day we lost when we left (of course on a plane!) - we should be in to LA around 11:30 am (your time) on Sat morning and at JFK at 5:30 pm.  It has been a GREAT trip.  Truly a trip of a lifetime.   Can't wait to share the 10,000 pictures we took between all of us.   See you all soon!!!!!!!!!!!  And Sara - enjoy your last three weeks - we love you and will look forward to you coming home!!!  I'll be sure to have a quiznos grinder and buffalo dip with me when we pick you up.

Final update -me made it home safe and sound....and THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Today we leave Hamilton Island and head back to Sydney - but first we had to say goodbye to Sara for the next three weeks.  Her flight was to Brisbane where she will drive down the coast back to Sydney with her friend Shelley.  It was hard and I so much wished she was coming back with us but she will be back in 3 weeks so at least it is a short time and she will be home.  We arrived in Sydney around 6 pm.  Of course I HAD to get the internet!  We were starving so Katie, Mike, Tony and I went out for MORE italian.....boy was it good!  Not gonna like that scale when I get back.   

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Today we had a knock at our door at 10 am asking for our luggage.   Apparently when I added a night here noone bothered to tell me that we would have to go to another room.   We tried to fight it but I guess they had someone or some situation that we needed to get out of the room we were in.  So we packed up and moved to a new room.   It was a rush for us because we were taking our last trip on a boat to Whitehaven Beach which is one of the top beaches (6th - Katie and I googled it) in the world - Lisa - #2 is in the Bahamas (Pink Sands Beach on Harbour Island).  So we packed up and moved to a new room then we went out to Whitehaven Beach on the "Fanasea" boat....  It was cloudy and cold but the beach was amazing.  When we got back to the room they left us a bottle of champagne so we all celebrated in the hot tub!  We had a blast.   Next we went out to an Italian dinner.  This is our last night here - we leave for Sydney tomorrow and start our journey back home.   Sara is going to Brisbane with her friend Shelley - they are driving back down to Sydney.

Wednesday June 2, 2010

Today was another low key day - feeling like a RI vacation. We slept in - Katie and Mike did a bush walk while Sara, Shelley and I did what they call "retail therapy" (shopping - surprise, surprise).  We also walked the island and we saw some awesome butterflies.  We all met for lunch and had these cool pizzas and caesar salads.   At night we cooked burgers on the grill and botatos (Katie).  I was saying my blog is getting boring because all we are doing is "relaxing" for the most part.  My picture taking was not so successful today either.  I think my camera is tired!    And MJ I LOVE my Kindle....

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Today we had breakfast with the koalas.  That was alot of fun.   After that we hung out at the beach for the most part.  The weather has been absolutely perfect here.   Then we went on the catamarans but it wasn't windy enough so we really didn't move that fast.   It was beautiful and fun though.  Around 4:30 pm we went up to see the sunset (it gets dark early here).    Those views are stunning.  We then just had an early dinner and then the some of us attempted to watch a movie.     

Monday May 31, 2010

So we arrived on Hamilton Island this morning and this is by far the BEST place yet.    They call this spot Whitsundays -  It is comprised of 74 islands on the Great Barrier Reef.   It is unbelievable.   The island we are on is Hamilton Island.  We are on the 17 floor of the Reef View hotel and boy is it a view.   We were supposed to stay here till Thursday but within 10 minutes of getting here I was on the phone rearranging our plans to stay here until Friday.   Plus that gives us an extra day with Sara.  Here are some views from our room.  And we have a hot tub on our deck which we wasted no time using.   The entire island has golf carts to get  around.  The beaches are gorgeous.   We have great visitors too - Cockatoos.....they come right up to our deck.   Now the kids are on the deck looking at the beautiful stars.  

Today was a low key day. We slept in (well some of us) - then went to breakfast and hung out by the pool. Later in the afternoon we headed to Cairns (the city) to what they call the Cairns Esplanade. It was a marketplace of shops and food. A funny story though - when we went to the front desk to ask some questions before we left - the guy at the desk asked us if we had watched the local news. We did not and he continues to tell us to not be alarmed- we thought maybe something bad happened in the city. When we asked him why - he said "it is the koalas - they are acting up". Apparently they were attacking people - he added they like jewelry and sunglasses. He said if we see one koala, no big deal but if we see many together (they are like gangs) - just lay down on your stomach and do the "koala chant" which come to find out is a "hmmmmmmm". Of course everyone (except me) was excited about all this and couldn't wait to see the koalas. I swear he was pulling our leg because every other person we asked subsequently did not hear anything about the koalas. And Tony just got back from the lobby and it turns out he WAS joking all along. The new guy at the desk said “oh he loves that koala story”! Ha! One thing is for sure the people here have great senses of humor. So tomorrow we leave at 7:25 am to go to Hamilton Island for the next 4 days.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

So after a great day yesterday - when we went to bed - around 3 am - I heard some swearing out my window (the F word).  It was outside the place we are staying and it escalated quickly - there were a bunch of what I have now come to learn are native Australians (known as Aboriginals) that apparently live closeby.  To my surprise they were fighting with each other with "spears"....only Tony, Sara and I were awake to experience this...we called the reception and the police came shortly after.    (Something Tony wanted me to blog).

Today was an awesome day - we took a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef - and pretty much snorkeled all day.  I was the wimp of the group.   I did snorkel but always got spooked when I saw any kind of resemblance to a shark..so I made my way back to the ladder of the boat often (and by the way I thought of Laura the whole time (Matunuck boogie boards?) - you would have LOVED it and I would have loved you there because we would have stuck together!  These guys are WAY too good for me.)  We collectively have TONS of pictures but you will have to wait for most of them when we get home.  It is hard to upload them as we pay for internet by the hour!  We are exhausted now and going to bed - tomorrow we are going to do a "whatever we want day".  No wake up call for us!   And we were all so excited to hear about the arrival of Lucca!  Congrats to Gino, Amanda and Rocco!  Hope everything goes well for you over the next few weeks.  Gino/Amanda/Steve/MJ - we are waiting for some pictures! We miss you all.

Thursday May 28, 2010

Today was another great day.   We took a tour to a place called Kuranda where they have a train that goes all through the mountains in Cairns.   After that we took a sky rail down and the scenery was breathtaking.  It was a gorgeous day so that helped. We then went to a Crocodile tour and saw even more animals and got up and close to the kangaroos.   When we got home we finished off with a barbeque of mussels (Katie's favorite), hamburgers and hot dogs by the grill.  The pools here each have a nice grill area.  Mike, Katie, Sara and Shelley are getting ready to go swimming in the pool as it is absolutely beautiful tonight.   Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for - we are finally going to the Great Barrier Reef.   We are excited for that.   The time is flying - 1 week from tommorrow we come back to reality.   But until then after we leave here we saved the best for last - Hamilton Island (Whitsundays).  That part is going to be all R&R - at the beaches and pools - weather permitting!  We are all starting to miss Hayley and Maggie but are sure Grandma and Grandpa are taking great care of them.  And lastly, we are POSITIVE our lawn looks perfect.  I will put up pictures in abit.  

Thursday May 27, 2010

We left for Cairns today at 4:30 am.   We added a passenger - one of Sara's friends - Shelley - she is a delight.  It was a challenging trip getting to the airport (long story) but we are here and boy is it beautiful.  So different from Sydney.  The weather today was so sunny and 80's.   We hung  around the pool for the most part.  Then we had a buffet dinner which was awesome.   Mike actually tried Cream of Celery soup - he did not like it!  Tony and Mike headed to the city to do some sightseeing while the girls are watching tv....Tomorrow we are doing  a day trip to Kuranda - a rainforest and more which I will learn tomorrow.   The apartment we are in is different but nicer I think in alot of ways.  All is good.    Oh and Tony got his seat he has been waiting for!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Okay today was the worst day weatherwise. It was on and off pouring all day. So we got on the bus, then the monorail and went to the aquarium today. We saw alot of fish and sharks that we will probably see at the Great Barrier Reef. After that Tony, Katie and Mike climbed the Sydney Tower. I was a chicken - it was way too high for me. But it was so cloudy they did not get as good a view as they hoped. Then we waited for what seemed like forever for the bus in the cold and wind and rain and came home for a bit. We just got back from eating at a great Italian restaurant right across the street from us. We are leaving here at 4:30 am - yikes and heading North to Cairns (pronounced Cans) where it is like going to Florida here - it is hotter the farther North you go. The forecast looks great. We get there at 10:15 am our time. Tony already has his beach chair picked out.

Tuesday May 25, 2010

Today was another not so nice weather day but it did not stop us. We did a 4 mile (or Sara claims it is 4 miles - seemed more like 8) walk from Coogee Beach where we are staying to Bondi Beach. The scenery is breathtaking. When we were done with our walk we went to Mooburger and got these gigantic burgers and great fries....and after that we went to the races! It was Randwick Raceway - horse racing. That was alot of fun and Mike won on the very first bet he placed. He won $22.80!!! There are 8 races in all - a great time. We also noticed UNSW (Sara's school) can be seen from the racetrack. If our feet weren't so tired we would have gone there to walk the campus - something I want to do before I leave. After the races, we just came back to our "pad" and hung out - played setback, ate - all the things we like to do. Tomorrow is our last day in Sydney - then we are headed up north to 90 degree weather (so we are told). Sara will be done tomorrow - yeah - so she will be in more of the photos going forward - ha. We are sharing one computer between the 5 of us so that is probably why we aren't as communicative. Hopefully when we get to Cairns they have wireless!

Monday May 24, 2010

Another great day here in Sydney.   This city is breathtaking and the views are unbelievable. The weather finally is looking up - we decided to make breakfast this morning - not an easy task with the minimum amount of utensils this apartment supplies!  Then we were off to the Tarango Zoo - it was fantastic and I never knew there were so many living creatures in this world.   Sara is busy studying so it is just Tony, Katie, Mike and me till she is done on Wed.

Sunday May 23, 2010

Today was another rainy day in Sydney to start. Sara brought us to the Market Place that had all kinds of souvenirs and stuff like tshirts etc for cheap (I taught her well :)).  After that the sun came up but it is cold here in Sydney - definitely not beach weather - that we will have on Thurs when we go to  Cairns.  So the rest of the day we went to Sydney Wildlife World.   It was awesome.  We saw koala bears and kangaroos and that was the best!

  

May 22, 2010

Our first morning in Sydney. Our apartment is excellent - roomy enough for all of us. It is right on a busy street so can get noisy but we are fine with that.

 But of course our first day and it is RAINING! Something we are told happens rarely here in Sydney.

So we decided to go to the movies and see Avatar in the Imax theatre. It was awesome.  I would see it again and again.

When we came out it was much nicer but alittle chilly. We walked around Darling Harbour.  Darling Harbour is like a big square around the harbour with loads of food/shops and fun.  We then took a water taxi around the harbour and a tour of the Syndey Opera House which is amazing from an architectural point of view.  It is a great story about a determined architect - so try to read about it.

Syndey Opera House