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.