Sydney road trip

A couple weeks ago we decided to head down to Sydney to see friends and family, some we haven’t seen since we were last in Sydney six years ago and some who visited us while we were in Oman.  Emma couldn’t take many days off from work so I drove down on my own with the kids. Early Wednesday morning, we packed up the van, made sure we had lots of DVD’s and headed out. Our trusty GPS assured us it was 1000 km (620m) to the Creech’s house in Sydney. We had a wonderful drive down the Coastal Highway and the kids were very good. Despite the name of the road, you only get about two small glimpses of the ocean. It is a really pretty drive and the kids were kept very entertained by their DVD’s. With wireless headphones for them, I can listen to what I like and we are all happy. We made a few stops for fuel, food, toilet, and to change the DVD. As we went through Coff’s Harbour, Alex was asleep and Ellie was engrosed in her DVD so she paid no notice when I tried to point out the large banana and decided there was no point in stopping this time.  Am sure this won’t be the last time we do the drive.  Our total trip was 14 hours and we pulled into the Creech’s just in time for a snack and bedtime.

On Thursday, the kids and I took the Rivercat ferry into Sydney and then the slow ferry out to Manly.  The kids love riding on big boats and enjoyed the gorgeous views all along the way. We had a lovely picnic lunch by the beach then walked around to Shelly beach where the kids had fun playing and running in the sand. It was another fun couple of ferry trips back home. Emma flew in on Thursday evening after she had finished work.

Friday we met up with Emma’s good friend Renee, who had visited us in Oman, and her kids Will and baby Emma and went to Taronga Zoo. I had never been before and we had a fabulous time. The zoo is on a steep hill across the harbour from Sydney. As you walk around and look at the animals you have spectacular views of Sydney Harbour in the background. The kids loved the elephants, giraffes, gorillas and many of the other animals. Once again they loved seeing the snakes and even got to touch a snake for the first time. The seal show was a lot of fun and watching the seals and penguins swimming around was a huge hit. When we got to the bottom of the hill we rode the cable car back to the top. This was the kids first ride in a cable car and they loved being able to see all the animals from above as well as the views of the harbour!

Saturday was more relaxing as we had a big BBQ at the Creech’s. We got to see the rest of the clan, Mrs J, Uncle Daryl and Aunty Lynn for the first time in six years. We had lovely warm weather and enjoyed a lovely BBQ, lots of catching up and chasing the soccer ball in the backyard with Alex and Ellie.

Sunday morning we stopped by to visit a friend and former colleague of Emma’s from Oman for a quick tea then off to Renee’s for a huge brunch. The kids had fun playing with Will and baby Emma and all their toys and trampoline, while us grown ups had a few minutes of peace to chat. Renee’s aunty Sue was there and we hadn’t seen her since she was in Oman with Renee visiting us.  Ironicaly Renee had to head up to Brisbane for work so we headed off the Bronte Beach with Aunty Sue, Will, and baby Emma.  Alex and Will spent the afternoon chasing the waves and Ellie found a friend and enjoyed digging in the sand. The surf was really pounding and it was rad watching the surfers riding the huge overhead waves.  Alex tells us he wants to be a surfer boy.

Monday morning we headed back into the city on the RiverCat.  Since our trip to Disney World in March Alex has been obsessed with monorail trains. Fortunately Sydney has a monorail so we couldn’t pass up a chance to ride another one. Then we went to the Sydney Aquarium.  Ellie was too scared to have her picture taken in the fake shark mouth at the entrance, but as we walked through the first few exhibits all she wanted to know was where the sharks were. She was running as we got to the shark tanks and they both thought the sharks were awesome! There were some huge ones.  The kids enjoyed the ferry ride home once again. Emma had to fly out Monday night, no time to drive back up with us!

Early Tuesday morning I headed out with the van packed and the kids as we headed home. The plan was to take our time and do the return trip north in two days. We headed inland and drove up Bucketts Way, Thunderbolts Way and the New England Highway. The scenery was even more spectacular than the drive down. Much of the way we were in the mountains at over 1000m elevation. The kids were really good again. We found a nice motel in Glen Innes. Staying in a little motel may have been the highlight of the trip for the kids. It still amazes me what things they get excited about. We were just a block from downtown so wandered through town and stopped awhile in the wonderful park by the river. We grabbed some pizza for dinner then had an early bedtime.

We headed out early Wednesday morning and went off road into the bush in search of Emmaville. Most people know of the famous Emmaville, Minnesota, not far from where my parents live, so of course we had to check out how the Australian version compares. It is actually much larger then Emmaville, Minnesota. The scenery as we drove on the very bumpy dirt road through several small towns and lots of farms was fabulous. I did get a bit nervous wondering if we were on the correct road as the trusty GPS was no help and I had no phone coverage. We were on the correct road, drove through several more small towns and then came back out on the New England Highway just where I hoped we would. We had an uneventful drive the rest of the way home with lots more pretty scenery as we drove through wine country and some more mountains.

It was a classic road trip and we got to see lots of the country between here and Sydney . It was really good to see so many friends again that we haven’t seen in a long time. The kids proved they are game for big road trips as long as we have enough DVD’s and don’t run out of batteries for the headphones. Australia is a big place so we have lots of road trips planned.

Brizzie

Many people have commented on my correspondence since arriving in Australia that it sounds like we are tourists! Well I can confirm that I am a tourist.  I am here on a tourist visa so am making the best of it. My paperwork to get my resident visa is all in, including all the extras that they don’t mention you need when you first submit your application. We have no idea how long it is going to take so I am playing the tourist role as best I can.

We had a good trip over and I highly recommend Air New Zealand. The food was excellent, the service was friendly, the entertainment systems did a fantastic job of keeping the kids entertained, and this was all for less than half the price of any other airline. They were very friendly and helpful with the kids and it was far easier than I had feared. It didn’t get off to the best start when only a few minutes into our trip, Alex peed all over his shorts while we were having lunch in the Minneapolis airport and some quick math had me worried that I hadn’t packed nearly enough spare clothes in our carry-on. We didn’t have any more issues though. We had a few hour layover in San Fransisco and it was nice to look out the windows and I could see our old apartment building just up the hill!  Our pushchair didn’t make the the plane change in Auckland but it was delivered later that day. It was very nice to see Emma again after two months!

The kids and I have really enjoyed exploring and seeing all the sights in Brisbane. There are so many everyday experiences in “civilization” (Oman and Cayman don’t count) that we have missed and are so exciting for the kids. One of the highlights is taking the train into the city and then riding the CityCat up and down the river. We are only four train stops from the centre of the city and a short walk from Central Station takes you to the river. It is a beautiful city and the kids love just riding up and down the river in the big CityCats.  Sometimes we even get to meet Emma for lunch. Her office is right next to the river.

One of the highlights of September was the Riverfire celebration on the river in Brisbane. It is a huge firework display all up-and-down the river. Emma’s office is on the 39th floor right by the river. Her firm had some food and drinks in a conference room and we had fantastic views of the fireworks all along the river. The kids oohed and aahed the entire time. The fireworks went on for more than 20 minutes. The highlight of the display is the dump and burn by a F-111. They dump the fuel out the back between the two engines and it creates a huge fireball across the sky.  They say this will be the last time as the Australian Air Force is retiring the F-111 and moving to the F/A-18. Check out the short version or a longer version.

We have been to the Australia Zoo twice already.  (Home of the Crocodile Hunter.) The kids enjoy getting to feed and pet the kangaroos and koalas. They also get to feed the elephants.        ( Ellie is “too scared” to feed the elephants but likes to play with the snakes.) The zoo has mostly Australian animals. One of the highlights is the croc show in the Crocoseum. The kids really enjoy it and it is impressive seeing the big crocs leap and chomp on the meat.

We have been up to the beach at Caloundra and Manly, South Bank several times, Mt Coot-tha, and many other sites. Brisbane has a huge number of parks. Many days I take the kids to a new park to play on the play equipment or ride their bikes or scooters. They just have a blast as every new park has different climbing frames and other fun play options. They have been so deprived that when we first got here they thought the bike racks were part of the equipment. There are also pools everywhere. Spring has just started so the weather is warming up. Alex and Ellie are very warm water swimmers so it is just getting to swim season for them. Last week they had a great time at Newmarket Pool. This week on Wednesday they start their first swimming lessons. It is also where I swim on the two days a week that the kids are at nursery.

Our shipment was delivered a few weeks ago and we are mostly unpacked now. Just about everything made it OK. For the first time in all our moves, even including our move from San Fransisco where we packed everything ourselves, we had some broken plates, pictures, cookie jar and some other small items. Australia is very strict on inspecting incoming shipments. After customs checked ours at the port we were told they had found a Christmas wreath made out of twigs and some other Christmas decoration made out of pine-cones. Our options were to pay $250 to have them sprayed or $25 to have them destroyed. Since we couldn’t even recall what these items were we are now without two of our Christmas decorations.  Every move we have made since we left San Fransisco we have changed standard voltage. We went from the 110V US, to 220V England and then Oman, then to 110V Cayman, and now to 220V Australia. This has caused major issues with our electrical devices. Some are dual voltage and we don’t need to worry about, family have received lots of hand-me-downs from us as we leave, and recently we have used a few voltage converters for some of our more expensive items that we didn’t want to buy again. It can get hard to keep track of which items are which and we have already had a small mishap when I blew out our electric toothbrush charger. I thought it was one of our dual voltage devices but I obviously didn’t check it well enough. Our other issue is plugs. Why do there have to be so many different types? The only break we got was Oman and England have the same outlets. (Although most electric devices sold in Oman come with a continental European plug.)  We now have a wide variety of plug types on our devices throughout the house. We have had to ship in a large number of adaptors from the US as they are much cheaper, even including shipping, than they are here.  The challenges faced by global nomads like us are really difficult as you can see!! ( just joking, and we wouldn’t trade the traipsing around the globe for anything!)

We have successfully tested the health system. One Saturday while out at the shops Emma took Ellie to the toilet. As Ellie tells it “ mummy didn’t hold the door and it pinched my hand”. There was a automatic door and Ellie likes to drag her hand along walls and doors and it closed on her left ring finger. It pulled her entire nail right out, even the part that is usually under the skin and it was hanging on her finger. We took her to the doctor and without any anesthesia he pulled it off. Other than a couple tears right after the door shut on her, she was very brave and is not afraid of telling even the doctor or nurse what she will or will not do, or allow them to do. Her nail is growing back nicely.

There are a few other daily activities that most of you take for granted but are highlights for the kids now that we live in civilization.  In Oman and Cayman there are no postmen. The mail is all delivered to a work PO box. A highlight of coming home in the afternoon after a day exploring here are the kids’ shouts of “post, post” as they rush to the post box on our front gate. Even better is if we get to see the post man ride his motorcycle down the sidewalk, with his bright yellow visibility jacket on, putting the post in the postboxes at the houses on the street.  Even on Sundays when there is no mail delivery, the kids still enjoy running down to the box to check anyway. Another is the gabage collection.  In Oman and Cayman, all rubbish was put in a large dumpster at the end of the street and was usually collected very early in the morning. Here the garbage truck and recycling trucks come down the street on Wednesday mornings. We can’t go out early on Wednesdays as the kids love to watch the truck from the front balcony as it stops in front of each house, the hydraulic lift (looks like a large claw) comes out, picks up our large green rubbish bin, lifts it up and dumps it in the truck, then slowly lowers it back down. The trucks look just like they do in their favorite movie from the summer, “Toy Story 3” and they compare them every Wednesday and relive how similar they are for me.

Much as I am really enjoying Brizzie, there are a few very serious issues that I have come across here that really worry me.

Beetroot: This is a vegetable that the quaint locals believe needs to go on everything. Now I may not be a vegetable guy, but I come from the US where our constitution gives everyone the right to eat whatever vegetables they want. There are some foods that beetroot just does not belong on. The beloved hamburger, served in more places around the world than any other food, other than the accompanying french fries, ( I know I have travelled the world in search of my favorite food) has been done in many ingenious, bizarre and sometimes unusual ways. Most I have enjoyed or could see why others would enjoy them that way Aussies have crossed the hamburger Rubicon when they decided that the standard Aussie burger would include beetroot, even in the hamburger standard around the world, McDonalds. I am not sure I can raise my kids for long in a land that believes beetroot and hamburgers are a national dish.

Australian Rules Football: I am really enjoying watching the Australian Rules Football (AFL). Even in the early days of ESPN they would show a little back in the US and my friends and I always thought it was chaotic, unusual, and somehow compelling to watch. I have watched more on TV since arriving as it is the number one sport in certain parts of the country (mostly Victoria).  A week ago they had their championship game, the AFL version of the Super Bowl. I was in Melbourne back in 1999 when the Grand Final, as it is called, was played and can vouch for the hoopla and excitement that goes with the game. Last Saturday the Collingwood Magpies played a really exciting game against the St Kilda Saints in the home of AFL, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).  After 80 minutes the game was tied for the first time in AFL Grand Final history since 1977. There are many sports where ties are part of the game, soccer being one which is frequently discussed in the land whose constitution strongly frowns on ties. Even soccer has a means to settle a championship game when it ends in a tie. You may argue whether it is the best way, and soccer has tried many different formats, but at least at the end of the championship, there is one winner. Australia is a great sporting nation, one whose passion for soccer trails well behind even the US. You would assume they would be just as desirous of having a winner. As I wondered what the AFL system was to decide the tie, I was shocked to my core, yes, I considered repaking my bags and moving again. What do you do when the championship game ends in a tie? The Super Bowl tied at the end of the game? They go home and come back again the next Saturday and play the game all over again!  Large chunks of life have to be rescheduled, even horse races in Victoria had to be rescheduled as a result. Supporters have to go wait in line overnight again to get tickets for the next match. This raised the question to my Aussie friends in the know, what happens if the second game ends in a tie? Do they come back the next week and keep playing every Saturday until someone wins? Fortunately if the second game ends in a tie they play some form of overtime until a winner is decided. The rematch was a blowout for the Magpies as I am sure they didn’t feel like rescheduling their holidays and weddings again.

Rugby shorts: It is obvious that you should wear rugby shorts when you play rugby. Much as I am enjoying watching the rugby, Rugby League is the top sport in other parts of the country, even someone with as tenuous a grip on the rules as I have, I know rugby shorts don’t belong off the pitch. It seems the national dress for many Aussie men is to wander around town in rugby shorts and a singlet. For those of you that don’t know, these rugby shorts are short shorts. They are like the original jogging shorts everyone wore in the 70’s when jogging hit it big, or the short shorts basketball players in the NBA used to wear in the 70’s. It is disturbing seeing so many men in short shorts and a singlet everywhere you turn: shops, parks, city streets, restaurants.  

In spite of these serious issues, we are loving being in Brisbane. The weather is getting warmer as we move into spring and the kids are enjoying having so many places and things to explore. I will try to be more current with the updates. Come on down and visit anytime!!