Manly Beach / Shelly Beach (part 4)

SUCH A FUN and GORGEOUS DAY AT MANLY BEACH!  

And, Kenzie is in heaven with her second round of Aussie fish & chips w/vinegar!

second round of the trip; not the day

:-)

 ($75 worth of fish 'n chips, btw -- dang, stuff's expensive here!) 

Porter surfs in

(kinda looks like he's having fun, huh?)

uh, not really

And we are off to Shelly Beach!

Most Aussie beaches have these 'rock pools' -- the first one we encountered (at Bondi) had been drained for cleaning, which was a major disappointment to Porter.  

So he was very excited to explore this one during our walk to Shelly.

Lest you were wondering about the water temp --

It IS winter-time in August down under!

(Abbie DID eventually dive in & swim across - polar bear, that girl!)

Darling pewter sculptures along the path

Aussie Bubbler . . . Abbie's turn first!

Zach's up next!

Shell collecting on Shelly Beach

Such a contrast from nearby Manly's soft white fine sand; 

Shelly's 'sand' was coarse & full of tiny shells.

Just LOVE those two!

Australia Fair (part 3)

My wonderful tour guide sister hauled us all to "The Gap" -- the narrow opening from the ocean into Sydney Harbour. What beautiful cliffs. Carrie mentioned that standing there on those cliffs made her feel so far away - I felt it too. So much water & distance separates our continents. (Wah wah)

This picture is at The Gap, but looking toward the Harbour Bridge --

see it in the distance on the right?

Porter passes the time while we gaze.

And just so you know, Dogs are Totally Prohibited at The Gap.

TOTALLY . . . !

Next we were off to Bondi - the main Aussie beach I had heard of before our trip. It was not at all as I had pictured it -- much smaller & not so touristy. (we couldn't even find a souvenir!)

But the sand was soft & white and the water gorgeous aqua. Such a beautiful day - the sun was warm & the breeze was cool (just the way I like it!)

Porter was the only one of us brave enough for a winter ocean dip!

(video clip proof below!)

He was really looking forward to swimming in a rock pool (found at many aussie beaches - it fills with ocean water as the tide rises - below left), but unfortunately Bondi's was being drained for cleaning . . . it's not exactly the height of tourist season (just they way I like it!)

Anyhow, the rest of us were content to play in the sand

And eat our Aussie meat pies, while trying not to notice the topless sunbather next to us. (no picture, you're welcome, believe me...)

Abbie & I were particularly enthralled by the clever tomato (toe-'mah-toe) sauce packets. (i.e. ketchup). As Abbie demonstrates, they have two little pouches of ketchup on the bottom . . .

....so when you fold it in half, it squeezes out a tiny hole on the top! Coolio!

I know, we are easily entertained!

I also enjoyed how easy it was to remember where I was --

thank you kind budgee smuggler wearing grandpa!

As promised, here's Porter & new friend, Shaymus, in the Bondi surf!

Aussie Wildlife, (part 2)

This is Dave setting a BAD example for our newest driver!

On day two in Sydney, Dave began driving

-- on the wrong side of the car -- on the wrong side of the road --

in Matt's new Mercedes "SPECK",

as it is affectionately referred to because of it's microscopic size.

(we couldn't all fit in one car, so he successfully followed Carrie & the rest of us in the van all week - we only had one near mishap, and it wasn't even dave's fault!)

I'm not usually a big fan of animals (sorry, jake) . . . or zoos, but we had so much fun at Featherdale Wildlife Park getting up close & personal with some unusual animals indigenous to Australia & New Zealand.

Some were cute . .

- sweet kangaroos & little wallabies -

And some were NOT!

(ugh, Emu's are ghastly)

don't miss the clip at the end, of 'Sue the Courageous' feeding one...ughhh, again

...and this little guy sure ended up with an

unfortunate design (he's an echidna)

Some were VERY cute!

Others were, well . . . . not-so-much

(although I kinda liked the wombats)

Some were positively scrumptious, and well-behaved!

And some were NOT!

(Have you ever seen boxing albino kangaroos? Kinda comical; and it explains the souvenir pens shaped like kangaroos with boxing gloves on!)

more on this on my sister's blog here

Just a little sidenote: Amazingly, not one of us stepped in poo while we were there, making this a tremendously successful visit to Featherdale!

Enjoy . . . I didn't, so much.

And, since the kookaburra refused to cooperate

and share his laugh with us, Bryson performed a

spot-on lipsync. Now that's hospitality!

(love you brys-ie!)

*******************

Well, this has nothing to do with the zoo, but it took place when we got home;

hence, it's placement here!

We had a fun visit with Elder "Hole" as he is known in Sydney. We know him as Tommy Hall in Mission Viejo. Dave & I were team teachers of his Sunday School class when he was 12. He's now 21 & has been serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the past year & a half in Sydney. He has grown up to be an awesome young man

(. . . who doesn't think he has acquired an Aussie accent - -

we beg to differ!) See you in 6 months!

The Land of Oz! (part 1)

It's been a bit overwhelming for me to think of posting anything that will do our summer vacation justice -- we had such a wonderful time visiting my sister & family in Australia -- but here I go (before Dave shoots me for taking so long). Here's a bit from our first day!

Ready to head into the airport for our midnight flight on Saturday - oh, the anticipation!

Trying on all the complimentary gear to make our next 15 or so hours comfy. I think I watched more movies & TV on the flight than I've seen in the past year!

Our first glimpses as we prepare to land Monday morning in Sydney (we lost our Sunday to the international dateline)

My awesome sister had our itinerary fully scheduled - so after a quick stop to see the cousins before they headed off to school, we showered & headed over to Sydney Harbor. What a beautiful day! It was so hot & muggy when we left CA, we welcomed the cooler 'winter' weather!

On the steps of the Opera House (Aubrye skipped school & came with us, and that's Taylor, front & center, all grown up & walking!)

Next stop - The Chinese Gardens. They dressed the kids up to get us in the 'mode' to take in the beautiful gardens.

Porter had more practical uses in mind for his staff. If we'd let him, I'm quite sure he'd have speared a big fat koi.

Still in the gardens, but the uncomfortable head pieces had to go!

Abbie & Aubrye (Madi, as she is known in Oz) were inseparable for our entire visit.

Much more to come! But first this --

Aboriginal Elvis (in gold rimmed sunglasses) plays hip hop Didgeridoo, for your listening enjoyment! Dave was ever so tempted to buy the cd...but he resisted the urge to do that, as well as to sit on the kangaroo-skin covered crate next to him holding a boomerang & have a picture taken! :-)