Monday from Canberra (7/28)

We left the cousins this morning in Queensland to fly down to Canberra.  What did we leave behind us?  This weekend has been a lot of fun – and just overall a lot.  We have a lot of cousins and they were all in full force during Gregory’s 50^th birthday celebration.  The only one missing from the Lukes’ clan was my cousin Michael – whom I haven’t seen since 1982.  I’ve actually decided that he may not exist… I don’t remember meeting him even when I was five.

The weekend at Burleigh Heads included an afternoon of swimming at the beach (the Pacific Ocean), a rousing game of Cranium between three generations and lots of wine and bourbon, and an outing to a natural bridge at a nearby state park.  

Sunday night brought us all to a mock-awards ceremony and some birthday cake for Gregory.  Each person in the family group of 22 was awarded their own special award.  Alexandra won a joint award with her cousin, Nikita, for being the cleanest campers.  I guess the fact that they took multiple hour-long showers was noticed by the adults – especially as Queensland is trying to deal with drought conditions. 

I was excited to win a box of chamomile tea – it was an appropriate gift for “camper who most enjoys alone time.”

Did I mention that there were 8 children, all under the age of ten?

 

Leaving Burleigh Heads this morning, we went into Brisbane for a bit with the girls – my cousins Marianne and Suzanne, their daughters, Regina and Nikita, my aunt, Dianne – and my cousin, Gregory, and his wife, Chelle.  We walked along South Bank – which is a beautiful section that the city created after the 1988 World Expo that took place in Brisbane, upon that site.  It’s really lovely.

 

As we begin our last week in Australia, we’re missing those cousins already – but looking forward to exploring Canberra and spending time with my Uncle Lou.

Another Belated Blog! (Friday, 7/25)

Where have we been and what have we been up to??

 

We left Lismore and New South Wales on Monday to go north to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island.  We took Regina (my cousin’s 14 year old daughter) with us and picked up Nikita from her mother (another one of my cousins) along the way.  As I pointed out to my uncle whom we visited while up at Hervey Bay, my father was traveling with four Windsor women – watch out for us!

 

Once we arrived at our accommodations in Hervey Bay, we were disappointed to discover that all the day tours for Tuesday to Fraser Island were booked.  No openings for us.  We decided instead to go on a whale watch cruise the next morning and spend the afternoon at the beach.  Mother nature had different plans for us, however.  We did get to enjoy the whale watching – despite the overcast weather on Tuesday.  There was only a few slight sprinklings of rain – the biggest complaint from the younger girls was the cold wind, but that was mostly the result of the boat going at high speeds to find the whales.  I had an absolutely wonderful time seeing the whales – and even managed to get a good photo of one right next to the boat!

After the whale watching cruise, however, we all wanted to go back and change into warm and dry clothing - and then didn’t really want to go to the beach when the rain began to come down a bit more frequently. 

We went to visit my Uncle Tony who lives up there that evening and then had a low key evening with some television viewing after dinner and then bed. 

 

Wednesday was another travel day for the five of us – going south from Hervey Bay to Beerwah, near Australia Zoo.  Yes, we decided that we would go see the home of the Crocodile Hunter at one point earlier in our trip – and when we thought about going on Friday, we discovered that Thursday was going to be Bindi Irwin’s tenth birthday and that all children got into the park for free.  Our plans quickly changed so that Thursday became the set-in-stone Australia Zoo day. 

Wednesday evening brought us my cousin Tracey for a little while – which was lovely to see her! 

Thursday (did I mention this was Australia Zoo day??) brought us rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  We managed, however, to have a really good time at Australia Zoo – which may have been influenced primarily from the last activity of our day being feeding and petting the kangaroos.  That morning though, before we’d even gone through the gates, the children had all gotten to pet a koala who was hanging out with a zoo keeper outside the front gate.  Lots of face painting and Crocodile Hunter excitement also occurred throughout the day – which seemed vaguely disturbing as there was an obvious lack of stingrays in any of the exhibits. 

There was – however – plenty of Bindi birthday cake. 

Alex and Regina tell me it was good – I was more in awe of the Bindi-wave and the Crikey wars – where they separated the crowds in the Crocoseum and challenged the sides to see who could yell Crikey the loudest.

We didn’t win.  I’m okay with that.

 

We left Beerwah this morning – Friday – on our way to the big camping weekend to celebrate my cousin Gregory’s 50^th birthday.  Because of the rain, though, plans were changed and instead of camping at Neurum Creek we are now pleasantly ensconced in a scouting dormitory in Burleigh Heads with 14 adults and 8 children – all my Australian family.  

A few pictures from Saturday...

Alexandra and Angus waiting at the car for the rest of us...

The beach we visited at Byron Bay

Alex and I at Byron Bay

two shots of the bay at sunset...

Just Another Day in Paradise...

We went down to Lismore to watch Regina play netball this morning - her team didn't win, but I enjoyed watching and learning about a new sport.  It's kind of like basketball; I have been told that it's the game that women used to play in the US as basketball.  It's just different from the basketball I know.  

After the game, we drove over to see where the boys (Angus and Drew) race their go-karts, then up to where all three children go to school.  Their campus is lovely!

When we got back to the house, we relaxed briefly and Alex took a ride with Angus on the riding lawn mower before getting into her swimsuit and taking (or attempting to take) a dip in the pool.  Once she realized how cold the water was, it wasn't too hard to convince her to get out of the water and go to the beach with us at Byron Bay.

Yesterday, as we drove back from Coff's Harbour, we must have passed a million kangaroos.  Okay, maybe not a million, but there were a lot.  It seemed as though every field we passed was filled with them.  Yet for all the 'roos we saw, I couldn't manage to get a photo of any.  That whole moving vehicle thing made photography difficult, to say the least.  I consoled myself with the idea that we'll be going to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's place) next week and will get good photo opportunities there.  

Today, on the way to Byron Bay, I had my camera out and at the ready.  Kangaroo warning signs, next 10 km, abounded.  Kangaroos, however, did not.  

We stayed at the beach until the sun went down.  Alex played in the water; I collected shells.  We all went for a walk up to the rocks and then we drove up to the lighthouse.  

Things we couldn't get over this afternoon:

1)  how soft the sand is at the beach.  and when you walk in the dry sand, it squeaks.  

2)  the gorgeous black sand just under the white top sand.  I'm kicking myself now that I didn't get a picture of the beautiful contrast in a simple smiley face drawn in the sand.

3)  the moon didn't rise until almost an hour after the sunset.  When it did, it was a huge fireball.  The moon, not the sun.

4)  Alex fell asleep in the car on the drive back to the house.  Unusual.

5)  Alex had a huge meltdown later on (around 8:30 or so) and had to be carried in to bed.

6)  why anyone would have settled in the midwest when there was a place on earth like Byron Bay at sunset.

G'day from Lismore (NSW)

I've been meaning to blog, I swear!

We arrived at my cousin Marianne (and family)'s home just outside of Lismore Tuesday afternoon.  It was a good ride down - we had meat pies and sausage rolls in the car (YUM!) and took a little stop in Surfer's Paradise to find the Hard Rock Cafe (we did!) and briefly visit the ocean.  Alex dipped her feet in the water and then we were off again!

Their home is beautiful - an amazing view down to the valley below out of their kitchen and living room windows... and lorikeets that come down to feed outside the kitchen door in the afternoon.  

Alexandra and Regina hit it off right away - Regina is twice Alex's age, but the 14 and 7 year olds play wonderfully together.  After all, Alex does say constantly that she wants to be a teenager.  

I think it took her a little bit longer to warm up to Angus.  The fact that he was working the first couple of days we were here may have contributed to that.  Actually, I'm fairly certain that his absence was really what made him seem more distant.  He's been with us yesterday and today, however, and Alex is really enjoying beating up on him.  Regina is teaching her well.

So, what have we done??  Wednesday morning brought us to see "Meet Dave" (thanks Regina for that recommendation) - Regina, Alexandra, myself, my Aunt Dianne, and my dad (oh, and Regina's friends).  My aunt loved it.  I'll allow it the place of best Eddie Murphy movie I've seen in a while.  It was better than I feared it would be.

Afterwards, Aunt Dianne, Dad, Alex, and I went into downtown Lismore, visited Heritage Park (a park with a pretty good playground and a train ride!) and wandered up and down the main street in town.  We had quite a day attached to what we thought was just an early trip to the movies.  

Thursday brought us back to Heritage Park for the NAIDOC festival (National Aboriginal Islander Day Observance Committee) which was lots of fun.  We all got our faces painted (well, Angus didn't, but he walked around with us for a while, so we'll give him that!); I got a platypus; Alex, a kangaroo; my dad, a boomerang; my aunt, a fish; Regina, a yin yang.  

It was fun!

We got back to the house and decided to visit the beach ... so off we went to Ballina, my dad, Alex, Regina, and myself, and visited the beach and collected some shells.  It was lovely. 

Happily, we got back to the house in time to go to the movies once again and see "Mama Mia."

Haven't seen it?  GO NOW!

The plan for today was to visit the Big Banana.  It's made appearances on the Disney Channel and was the top thing that Alex wanted to visit while in Australia.  fyi - the Big Banana is a lot smaller in person than it seems on the television.  We had assumed it was a building unto itself.  It's not; it's 11 meters long and 2 meters high.  Really, it's just a tunnel to walk through with some photos depicting banana growth inside it.  We took photos, ate frozen bananas, visited the gift shop and the candy factory, and lamented the over three hour drive it took to see the Big Banana.  

Yesterday, on the way to the beach at Ballina, we stopped briefly at the Big Prawn.  It wasn't as exciting as what we assumed the Big Banana would be, but it was the size of a building.  

The Big Prawn was more impressive.

So, today, after the visit to the Big Banana, we drove into Coff's Harbour and down to the beach - it was gorgeous!  We played in the ocean; I found some seashells.  Fish and chips for lunch and then a little bit of walking around before we got back into the car and off we went, back to the house.

I'm now curled up in my pajamas and exhausted in the living room...  I'll post photos later; dinner's served!

Last day in Toowoomba...

We're leaving tomorrow for Lismore - but today we spent a couple of hours at the Japanese Gardens by the university here and had a fun lunch of meat pies and sausage rolls.  

These are the delicacies that I do so miss in the States.  

Alexandra adored both the pie and the sausage roll and had half of each.  She and her cousin, Nikita, complimented each other yet again in this regard, managing to polish off more than their fair share of the meal.  

Yesterday we adventured to Toowoomba's Picnic Point and enjoyed spectacular views, fun playground equipment, and a yummy snack of coffee for the grown ups and ice cream cones for the children. 

What may have been the coolest part of that outing was when we got to the lookout point and I opened my car door.  There, written on the guard rail, was a special message...

I was greeted with love from a perfect stranger!

Playing in Toowoomba

Yesterday the girls (Suzanne, Nikita, Chelle, Alexandra, and myself) had an outing to a production of Cinderella (it was such fun!) while the boys stayed home and apparently bonded over video games.  This followed another walk through the gardens next door and some avocado tree climbing.  

Dinner last night was, I think, the main event of the day.  The four children ate first and then the six adults after the children were put to bed.  I'm getting the hang of that arrangement.  The wine was free flowing from the time we got back from Cinderella really - so there was much discussion of world politics and Abba (who wouldn't group those together??).  

What I think is the best part, though, of the intoxicated evening is watching my father make pancakes with the children after all that wine last night.  

Can We Fix It? Yes We Can!

Yesterday we picked fresh avocados - here are the kids in the avocado tree after picking a backpack full!

Today...

We went to see Bob the Builder, live on stage, this morning.  Unfortunately, some of us overslept (okay, I was part of that guilty party) and we arrived a few minutes late for the show.  As there were seven of us and they'd already filled the theatre with standby, we didn't get to go in - at least, five of us didn't.  Suzanne was able to get herself and Mitchell (the three year old) in to see Bob and the rest of us went to wander the attached mall.  

Cool thing we discovered:  the donut shop here sells dinosaur shaped donuts.  Alexandra, Nikita, and Logan each had one and I got myself and my dad a coffee from Gloria Jean (yes, her franchise is over here as well!).  

We then wandered around for a bit before splitting up by gender.  I took the girls to ogle the children's clothes that were on sale and my father took ten year old Logan to the electronics store to look at video games.  We met back up with Suzanne and Mitchell and we all wandered the mall a bit more before heading home.  

This afternoon we drove out to Meringindan, the town where my aunt has a few houses, another one of my cousins lives, and where I spent time when I was eleven.  It's much changed - and sad to see some things have gone.  The shop and post office that I helped out in as a child is now closed; they've been taken over by a newer shop across the street.  The main house, though, look good and has been improved nicely.  

We then drove down to look at Coby Dam - a beautiful area that is sadly seeing the effects of long term water shortage.  The children enjoyed the playground and I love looking at the gum trees.  No koalas were out in sight today, but we did have an encounter with a couple of wallabies as we were driving back.  

Thing I learned today:  Never take seven people, including four children, grocery shopping if you expect to just go in and out.  

Dinner became a production as well, as the children all helped me bread the chicken and attempted to wrestle the mozzarella cheese from me.  Aside from rather well done garlic cheese bread, it came out decently.  

Thing I was most proud of for this meal:  That I finely diced fresh garlic, and then mixed it up into unsalted butter to spread on the bread before melting cheese over it.

Really, all these children as so wonderful.  Nikita is almost as sensitive as Alexandra, but Alex still has her beat.  She is quite possibly the most sensitive soul in the world.  

Logan is an instigator but so smart and really funny.  I know I keep saying he reminds me of me, but he does.  I think it's because he's a wise ass.

Mitchell announced to the dinner table of eight people that I make the best porridge.  I said no, that I'm sure he loves his mum's porridge, and he shook his head and said mine was better.

He devoured the chicken too...

Did you know there's a rainforest next door to my cousin's house?

Today we spent the most relaxed day so far of our vacation.  By relaxed, I mean that I learned how to cook porridge this morning after repeated attempts by multiple children to get that Auntie Kylie with the silly thing in her nose out of bed.  

Yes, my nose ring is the object of much fascination with Mitchell, my cousin's three year old son.  Mitchell is a darling, though.  Utterly rambunctious and so not how Alex was at that age, but he has the most charming smile that has completely melted my heart.  

So although Alexandra and Nikita jumped on me more than a few times this morning, I didn't get up until Mitchell came up to the bed, pulled rather insistently on my hand and said "will you make brekky please?"

A pot of porridge later, I had fed all four children, plus my father and was completely proud of myself.  (My cousin had an appointment this morning and so left us with the children for a bit.)

Have I mentioned how much I adore these children?  I can't help but love Nikita - she's so much like Alex, only braver.  If only I could get Alex to be so brave!

Logan is the quietest of the lot, but he's the most like me, I think.  He started off last night with the snappy comebacks and sarcastic (but all in fun!) replies that I love!  The kid is ten years old and has a great great wit!

So, anyway, they all had breakfast, then had breakfast again when Suzanne came home and made boiled eggs and toast.  I had forgotten how much I adore boiled eggs and toast - and Alex also learned how wonderful they are!  I'm always amazed at how often children are hungry...  After our second breakfast, we went for a walk in the public gardens next door to their house.  It's gorgeous - and there's even a rainforest!  After walking through the rainforest, we went up a hill, upon which there were a few trees that looked perfect for climbing.  

The children immediately started climbing them and picking... avocados!  They had a lovely time picking avocados - as did the three adults (Suzanne, my father, and myself) - and they also enjoyed playing in the trees.  I managed to capture some pretty great shots of the four of them in the trees - and discovered that Logan has a new career prospect as model: "Auntie Kylie, here, take a picture of me like this!"

After our walk, I finished up a couple of things I was writing and then accompanied Suzanne to the market, where we picked up a few groceries and I was able to drop some letters in the post.  I learned today that it's very expensive to mail anything from Australia.  Two dollars for a letter to the States.  And I also learned that the woman who works at that particular post office doesn't appreciate good natured joking about the cost of postage.  

Shortly after we got back to the house, another cousin of mine, Gregory, and his wife Chelle came over for dinner.  It was a lovely meal - the children ate first and went to bed and then the adults sat down to eat.  It's a custom that is vaguely familiar to me - I can remember being sent to bed like that when I was a little girl in Sydney while all the grown ups stayed up conversing.  It's not one that I practice, however - I always eat with Alexandra and so am a little thrown (not in a bad way, just a different way) by the whole thing.

In all, it was a relaxing, hanging out with the children, nursing the headache that four children bring on, kind of day - but it's just past nine at night and I'm exhausted and ready to crash.

Unfortunately, I told the girls they could fall asleep in my bed and I'd move them to theirs when I went to sleep - so I have to at least wait until they're asleep, I think!

From Sydney to Toowoomba...

  Okay, I’ve not blogged nearly as much as I’d wanted.  

After our day at the aquarium, we ventured out to Narrabeen, to visit the house where so many people in my family grew up - or at least lived.  It’s no longer in the family, but the house retains the name “Windsor Cottage” - and is located at the end of Windsor Parade - the road named after my grandmother.  

We then rode down to the beach at Narrabeen and walked out around the tidal pools before venturing out to Ku Ring Gai for a visit to some beautiful scenery and a walk up to the aboriginal rock carvings.

The next day we joined Auntie Shane for a church service before venturing out to Sydney on our own.  My father, Alexandra, and myself had a lovely visit at the Opera House and were able to do a tour and learn much more about the building than we’d previously known.  What was also fabulous about that experience was that we were able to see the inside of the building - something that neither my father or myself had done before (obviously, neither had Alex as this was her first visit).  

Monday we took the ferry to Manly - which was lovely.  Our original plan was to find a place with free wireless and catch up on my blogging, Alex’s webkinz, and my father’s internet puttering.  Ideally, we would sit online and people-watch after visiting Manly’s beach.  Unfortunately, we didn’t find anywhere other than a seedy bar with free wireless - and I didn’t feel all that comfortable bring Alex into there.  We walked down to the beach to dip our feet in the Pacific Ocean and Alex had a blast.  She was running in the surf - in her regular clothes as we didn’t bring anything else to the beach - when all of a sudden...

SPLASH!

Alexandra took a header into the water and came out looking like a drowned rat.  We found a shop selling tourist-cheap t-shirts and bought a large adult t-shirt for her to wear as a dress and then we went back to our wandering.  After Manly, we took the ferry back to downtown Sydney and walked around the neighborhood called “The Rocks” - the old part of Sydney.  It was lovely!

Tuesday it was just Alexandra and myself who ventured out into Sydney.  We took the ferry into the city, another ferry across to Luna Park, and yet another ferry to Darling Harbour.  We had a nice lunch at the food court there, then took the monorail to Chinatown.  We walked a bit there, then took off down George Street in search of shopping.  Our search seemed to be a bit in vain, so we hopped on a bus for a bit further before finding a city rail station where we then took the train back to Circular Quay - the main ferry hub.  Another ferry and then a bus brought us back to Auntie Shane’s house where we packed for the next day’s flight.  

Wednesday (yesterday) was a day of travel.  We left the house early and got to Sydney airport for our flight to Brisbane well in advance of our flight time.  The security didn’t make us take off our shoes - which was a nice change from the States - but it did confiscate the small pair of scissors I had in a sewing kit.  Strangely, those scissors were allowed on the plane in the US.  We got to Brisbane earlier than scheduled, I think, but my Aunt Dianne was there to greet us, as were my cousin Marianne, her husband Peter, and their son Angus.  Lots of hugs and bag gathering ensued and then we went for lunch before we got in the Land Rover and headed off to Toowoomba to see my cousin Suzanne and her children, Logan, Nikita, and Mitchell.

Sydney Aquarium

While we had a wonderful time yesterday at Taronga Zoo, we also enjoyed the aquarium this afternoon. I can't wait until I can get my own computer online and post some of the photos I've taken thus far.
While at the aquarium, we witnessed a huge stingray - and by huge, I can't even describe it. I never knew they got so big AND the signage informed us that the animals were actually about 25% larger than they appeared. Seeing that stingray made me understand just how Steve Irwin met his untimely demise. That thing was HUGE.
I may just have to wikipedia the thing...

The other thing that stands out in my mind was the Japanese tourist who asked to have his photo taken with Alexandra. I wasn't sure how to respond so I let him take his photo with her - and then wouldn't let Alex out of my sight... or her hand out of my hand.

Other interesting bits about the aquarium? The playful seals were fun - and the sharks were absolutely hypnotizing.
The sharkray was neat too - Have I mentioned how I can't wait to post the photos???

G'day from Down Under!

Well, that's cheesy. However, it's also apt - we're in Australia and having a wonderful time. We spent the first afternoon here at the zoo - which was a blast! Today, our second day here, we went to the aquarium and saw all manner of fishy folk! So much fun!

Alexandra has been a star through all of this - she's eaten dim sum for lunch, she's done more walking than she's used to, definitely. She had prawns with rice for dinner tonight - -

And tonight, for the second night in a row, she's fallen asleep early, still wearing her jeans and sweater. At least she waited until after dinner today - last night she missed dinner.

I'm fascinated with the little differences as we see more of Sydney. Today, in Chinatown, I realized that while I was getting accustomed to the cars driving on the left and the drivers being on the right, I was continually heading to the right to get on escalators - and was repeatedly discovering that I was heading to the wrong escalator.
There's a fast food place we've driven by a few times now - Hungry Jacks. Fine, just another regional fast food place, right? Except that Hungry Jacks' logo is identical to Burger King at home. Coincidence? I doubt it.
There's still McDonalds and Starbucks... and Alex pointed out a KFC today.
"Thank goodness, Grandpa, they have KFC and Starbucks in Australia too!"

Uhmmm.. yeah. Thank goodness...?

We were parked waiting for someone today in the city when Alexandra asked
"Mom, do you do digital photography?"
"Yes Alex. Why?"
"Well, Mom, then Ted's is the place!"

I looked across the street to a discount digital photography store with big bright yellow signs advertising "Ted's Digital Photography"

At least she also enjoys learning about new places and trying new things. She's not wholly based in consumer capitalism. Only about 90% or so...