Home sweet home

Well we made it. And it was really good to see our kids at the airport (THANKS JESS and STEVE). The crazy thing is they each had to drive separately 'cause just as they went out to leave our van decided that it didn't want to start (Maybe she was mad at us?). Turns out the battery just lost it's charge so no biggie. It was good to catch up with them. Things look the same and different at the same time. Like coming from summer to winter. And driving on the opposite side of the road (which is the right one?) I have to admit that when we first got home it felt a little like we were at another stop on our trip. Who knows maybe we are, there are a lot of places still to see...

So Long Down Under

This will not be my favorite day to write about that's for sure. Today we have to head for the airport. Now it isn't all bad really. It will be really good to see our family and friends again. But we have had a great trip so...anyways, we packed up our bags one last time and somehow everything fit and weighed out ok. Judy took the long way to the airport so that we could see a bit more of Sydney before we left. It really is a nicce city, lots of parks and lots of water. Liz met us at the airport for one last round, but soon it was on to the plane and the long ride home. Pretty unevetful really.Watched a movie, napped, took a three hour break in the Fiji airport,watched some more movies and slept quite a bit. Sandra seemed to really get some good sleep and as she has been fighting a really sore throat for the last few days this was great. The most bizarre thing is that, though we left Sydney at 1:30pm on Monday morning, we got home at 1:05 pm Monday morning! Quite strange. But it really does feel like it took the 15 or so hours that it took. Oh well, small price to pay.

Sydney day 2

Well another phase of the trip is coming to an end as we leave the cruise ship today. It has been a good 'home' for the two weeks. But there is more to see in Sydney and more folks to meet. Today we are meeting up with Liz's good friend Renee's parents (Renee came down from school in Redding to see Liz at our house). And Sandra recognized her right away as she, Judy, looks alot like Renee. Judy and Mal took us on a tour the city some and we went up the observation tower to get a birdseye of Sydney. It is a big city with a huge bay so there is lot's of waterfront properties. We had lunch on the edge of one of the harbors along with Liz and her dad Rob. Later we took a couple of ferry rides to get another aspect of the city. It gives you a whole different way to get around besides busses, trams and the downtown monorail. After the boat ride we drove into the suburb were Mal and Judy live, dropped of our bags, had a quick bit of tea and shot off to Hillsong church. Hillsong is a really big, quite well-known around the world church that has alot of energy and excellent music. And tonight they were doing a pre-recording run thru of a big event that they will tape for a worship cd so we got the full experience. Huge auditorium with tons of younger people, a great worship band, a mosh pit, and a really vibrant worhip service. A lot of fun and as we haven't been to church since Auckland it was especially good. Sorry but I had left my camera at home so you will have to check out their website to get a feel for it. We really needed dinner after that so we picked up some chinese takeaway and had a real nice time back at Mal and Judy's. And then we all crashed.

Sydney Harbor

Well we woke to another killer sunrise today, this time in Sydney Harbor. The ship was anchored in the bay (too many cruise ships here at the moment) so we had to be tendered in. Hey, free harbor cruise. Sydney is a cool city and it was nice to walk around a bit. So we criused thru 'The Rocks' district and then we met up with friends for lunch. It was really good to see Liz again (she's a Aussie gal who stayed with us in December) and to meet her dad, brother, sister-in-law and baby nephew along with a good friend Lindsay. They are all really great folks.In the afternoon we walked around some more, checked out the opera house and then stopped at a little pub on the way back to the ship. On the way we came across this wedding party that was a 1930's era theme with all the people decked out like flappers and such and classic old cars. Must have been a fun time. There was still a littel sun left so we soaked a little befrore heading back to our room to start the packing process. Kinda sucks. Two weeks on a ship seemed like a long time before we started but now it is basically over. We did get to share one more dinner with our tablemates and exchange email addresses and such. Good times.

Last day at Sea

Today we are heading from Melbourne to Sydney and we have sun! Well we have sun and some wind. But that's cool 'cause after a slow morning we went for some laps and the wind helped the workout. If we had wings we would have easily flown away.Later we found a sheltered spot by the pool and soaked it up while the staff whipped up some Aussie BBQ.
No shrimp thrown on the barbie, real Aussie - Kangaroo, Emu and Crocodile. I thought they were all quite good. Emu and Roo are really lean so they were a bit dry ( hard to cook that much meat and get it hot off the grill) and the croc was in patties with a bit of onion (white meat, a bit like chicken but also different).

Tonight is the last formal so after our share of sunning we starting getting ready. Once again we had a really nice dinner (and Sandra looked fabulous!) And to top it off was the traditional Baked Alaska Parade. Later we went to a dance show in the main theater.

Kangaroos, Koalas and Dreamtime

That is the name of the tour we are taking today. And the day is starting out quite well. I even got to watch Liverpool win their Champions League match this morning. The sun is working on burning off the morning cover as we headed down to the bus. It is a 45 min. ride out of town but the guide is good and filling us with info. Our first destination is a place called Serendip which started as a goose breeding habitat but was adopted by a bunch of kangaroos. They basically stay inside the fence but only by choice as they can easily jump it. (An adult can clear a 5 ft fence from a resting position). We walked out into the field and got pretty close. They are not tame but tolerate us. Interesting to see. We also saw a billabong (water hole) with all sorts of birds (no crocs here though) and walked among some emus (ostrich like). The make this strange thumping sound that you almost feel more than hear. Reminded me of a program I heard about dinosaur sounds once. After a bit of lunch (I won a bottle of wine answering the question 'what is a group of kangeroos called') we meet a young aboriginal man who talked about their culture some and treated us to some didjeridoo music. It is a neat sound that I think is pretty neat. (I suppose it is like bagpipes-you love it or hate it). It is interesting that they have to inhale and exhale/blow at the same time, something called circular breathing which allows them to play continuously. Try it. We learned how to make 'billy tea' (From the Waltzing Matilda song - '..waited while his billy boiled..') and drove to a huge granite rock that gives a widesweeping view of the flatlands beyond (a bit like pride rock in the Lion King). It is a sacred place to the aborigines and there is evidence that they have used it for a very very long time. Around this mount is a Koala refuge and a local guide led us in the bush to some areas where we were able to see some koalas. They are very private animals and spend almost all of their time alone (one koala per 5 acres average). They will climb up in the trees and sleep in the daytime were they are safer and can be cooled by the breezes. While today is maybe in the low 80's they recently had temps as high as 115 around the time the fire started. That and 19 years or so of drought and... The Koalas are quite cute. And so unique. Well it's back to the ship as we are leaving soon to head for Sydney ( after a day at sea).

Melbin (That's Aussie for Melbourne)

We woke in port this morning hoping to see the sun but it is overcast again today. But it is still nice to put feet on unmoving ground. There is a really nice public transit system here so we took a ride into the CBD central business district and then took off on foot. There are lots of parks here and we headed out to towards the main botanical gardens. We came to a memorial to their soldiers first, very formal tree lined processional to a large forecourt and up a staired platform to the memorial building. Lots of young school kids in their uniforms were getting tours and it was nice to see them taking it seriously and attentively."Lest we not remember" as written in the stones. Quite nearby was the start of the gardens, a bit of the feel of the Huntington Gardens and open to the public, just walk on thru. Very nice to just stroll around and enjoy. I know that it fed Sandra's spirit. Nice tea house in the middle, but the coffee was good too :) As we roamed around it was easy to see that they are really having a drought here (the lake is very low) but the have worked hard on keeping the plants healthy. At the border of the park the parks keep going and follow the river in to town. Lots of people walking and running on the paths here, some most likely on the lunch break. As the river heads into town the path blends into a nice riverfront area of cafes and such. Very nice. We walked thru quite a bit of the CBD and then the sun started breaking out so we headed on back to the ship for some sunning. Feels good. We are feeling very relaxed now. So after a walk back down the pier to use the local wireless internet (quicker and cheaper than the ship) and a short nightime stroll along the beachfront we headed back to our cabin for a little (yeah right) room service dinner and an early lights out.