Sydney - City Life

On June 28th we embarked on a journey that took us by plane, train and automobile. Our winter holidays had begun and we were headed to Sydney.

This trip was going to be exceptionally special because we were going to meet Elaine (Dave's mum) and share the next four and half weeks of our Australian adventure with her. After a day and evening of catching up with Elaine and other extended family we ventured into the heart of the city, Circular Quay and the Harbour.

Although Sydney is Australia's largest city, with a population of over 4 million, it is very scenic. It is set on a spectacular harbour which is home to the world famous Opera House with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which joins the North and South shores, as the backdrop.

Sydney has done a great job of using the harbour to transport people around - there is an extensive ferry system that will take you over to and along the north shore.

We hopped on the ferry leaving from wharf #2 to go to the Taronga Zoo. This is a classic city zoo which has been in operation since 1916. I loved the historical buildings on the site as much as the animals.

The kids loved tripping around this typical city zoo with the prerequisite elephants, giraffes, big cats and variety of birds and reptiles. But it was the red panda and meerkat that captured our attention.

Sydney is also Australia's oldest city- Aboriginal tribes inhabited this area dating back 40,000 years and the first Europeans settled in 1788. As a result it is a city steeped in history. Two of the oldest areas are Circular Quay and The Rocks. According to our guidebook, the Rocks was a "squalid and notoriously dangerous place full of convicts (as you may already know, Australia was colonized by convicts from England), whalers, prostitutes and street gangs" up until the 1830s.

Today the Rocks is a tourist haven with its Saturday market, set among narrow streets lined with historical buildings under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is well stocked with crafts, souvenirs knick-knacks and sweet treats - a favorite with Gemma and Ruben.

After spending the morning wandering around the market, we headed into the heart of the downtown area to see the historical buildings and have dinner in Chinatown. We walked for hours - again the kids were troopers and got into the role of tourist without complaint.

After spending a full afternoon walking through the streets of Sydney, we were thankful to rest our weary feet and dive into some tasty Chinese food.

Stay tuned for part II of the Sydney blog.

Love Heather, Dave, Gemma and Ruben

Winter Weekend Getaway

We were invited to join a family, from Gemma and Ruben's school, at their holiday home, the Bear's Lair. We passed through the rural town of Canungra before winding our way up into the mountains of Lamington National Park, hugging the steep side of the mountain along, at times, a one-lane road. It was very dark so we had no idea what lay beyond the narrow strip of road illuminated in the headlights in front of us; we would have to wait until the morning to see our surroundings.

We awoke to a beautiful and crisp (the Aussie term for anything below 15 C) morning. As we sipped our morning coffee, we were treated to visits from a variety of rain forest birds (pictured below are King Parrots) and wallabies. The views looking out at the Darlington Range and surrounding rain forests were stunning.

The kids had fun riding bikes around the property and playing badminton but the real highlight of the day was hiking in Lamington National Park. This park covers over 20,000 hectares and is part of the Gondawana Rainforests of Australia which is a World Heritage area. Lamington Park makes up some of the largest subtropical rainforests in the world, and they are truly magnificent.
We walked through the Green Mountains section of the Park along the Morans Falls and Gorge trail. Ruben and his friend Tom raced ahead to lead the group on the 4km walk. The forest was filled with the sounds of Bowerbirds, parrots and Rosellas, lush plant life and towering Antarctic Beech and Strangler Fig trees. Once we reached our destination we were rewarded with views of the neighbouring ranges and the Moran waterfall.

We went to see the famous O'Reilly's Guest House and took a walk along the Tree Top Track - a series of suspension bridges 15 metres above the forest floor. These bridges lead you through the rainforest to give an up-close view of the plants and flowers. There is one viewing platform that gives you a view, and experience, to remember. We took turns climbing 30 metres up a Strangler Fig. I think Dave was the most scared of all of us!

At the end of a great day hiking (and climbing) in the rainforest we were whisked off to one more 'must do' - watch the sunset from Kamarun Lookout. So with wine, cheese and crackers in hand we made our way to the lookout. It was beyond beautiful - we had clear views to the Goldcoast, Brisbane and the many ranges to the west. I will leave you with a series of pictures from this spot, click on them to enlarge.

While we miss our family and friends from home, we have been making new friends who have welcomed us with open arms and shared their special places with us.

Until next time,
love Heather, Dave, Gemma and Ruben

Noosa

Another long weekend brings another camping trip. Noosa the destination this time. We didn't camp in the heart of Noosa but in a more remote area called the North Shore. To get there we had to cross the Noosa River via a 10 car ferry. While we were setting up camp the sound of the birds in the trees was deafening. We soon became accustomed to the squawks of the lorikeets, cawing of the galahs and laughing of the kookaburras, and enjoyed watching them swoop and fly above us. It wasn't long after our arrival that a kangaroo bounded through the camp area. What a thrill to see a kangaroo in the wild up close. The kangaroo in the picture is a young one, it came along while we were getting ready to have a swim in the pool. It stopped to have a look at us before hopping away into the forest - a perfect moment to take a picture.

After we finished setting up camp we decided to check out the beach - we walked and the kids rode their bikes. It was a great walk alongside the road with wetland on either side which eventually led to North Shore beach.

The next day we headed back into Noosa to spend a day at the beach and hiking in Noosa Headlands National Park. We decided to do a longer hike so that we could see more of the park and hopefully get away from some of the crowds. The hike was about 8km and took us through coastal rainforest, open woodlands, wallum heath (type of plant) and sedgelands, and atop cliffs overlooking the ocean and beaches of the area. It was a beautiful hike and the kids did very well considering it was a hot day and we had very little water to quench our thirsts - it is amazing how good a motivator a chocolate bar can be!

We have been very lucky in that the drought in Australia has been broken (I guess we brought the west coast rains with us). The rains (there has been a lot in the last month!) have brought the forests back to life - they are lush, green and teaming with all sorts of plant(and fungi) life. I love the textures in the forest, I think I could take pictures of the bark on trees and the patterns of the plants all day long. Photography has provided an interesting vessel for me to explore my surroundings.

Well if all the sights and sounds were not reward enough for us, at the very end of the hike we were fortunate to see a koala. Both Ruben and Gemma have been waiting for this moment ever since we arrived. We have seen plenty (Gemma and Ruben have also held one) in sanctuaries. But that is too easy. We wanted to have the satisfaction of spotting one in a eucalyptus tree in the wild. We were at the end of the hike heading towards one of our favorite beach spots when we saw a crowd on the path looking up with cameras poised. This could only mean one thing- a koala was up that tree!

Koalas live up to their reputation as heavy sleepers - this particular koala did not move from its precarious perch in the tree the entire time we were at the beach nor during the heavy rain shower. Their need for sleep is the result of a diet consisting solely of eucalyptus leaves. These are very low in calories and the koala uses a lot of energy to detoxify the chemicals found in the leaves. There is no doubt in any of our minds that the koala is one of the dearest animals we have ever seen.

Dave and I like to think of ourselves as seasoned campers but for some reason we cannot quite seem to get it all together for our camping trips here - there is always something of importance left behind. Shortly after we had unpacked and set up camp we realized we had left our pots at home - we would not be able to cook our dinners we had planned. But there is always a bright side, now we had to eat out! We had our Sunday dinner at the Noosa Heads surf club (these clubs dot the Queensland coast and are always situated on the beach allowing for amazing ocean views). As we had our dinner, we were treated to a beautiful sunset and three dolphins playing in the bay! Now that made forgetting the pots worthwhile.

We just had to fit in one more swim and surf at the beach before heading home, so we stopped in at Sunshine Beach. We are lucky that even in winter the air and water are still warm enough. After a fabulous day and weekend it was time to brave the traffic heading back into Brisbane. The full moon rising over the horizon made this trip home much more bearable.

Until next time,
love Heather, Dave, Gemma and Ruben