Sydney

First stop on our extended holiday was the fabulous Sydney in NSW. It is said to be the most populous city in Australia, and I'm tipping that only half of that population is Aussie. There were so many different nationalities and accents around each corner you could almost forget you were in Australia if not for the iconic Sydney opera house and harbour bridge always in the background. 

We settled into our lovely (if in a somewhat dodgy location) apartment in Parramatta, and promptly headed to the beach for some sunshine.  Into the city by train (Ottawa take note, this system is simple, efficient and affordable) and hopped a ferry across to Manly Beach. 

We came to love our beaches in Victoria (Frankston, St. Kilda, Inverloch) but these beaches were like nothing we've ever seen before. There were people everywhere! 

Like Surfers Paradise there was a lovely little boulevard to walk along, and heaps of places to eat and shop.

Check out this bathing beauty in her new bathers :)

The smile says it all, nothing beats a great day at the beach!

While we're on the subject of beaches, we hit the famous Bondi Beach a few days later on New Years Day. This one is more of a challenge to get to - a train to the city, another to Bondi Junction, and a bus down to the beach. Phew, by the time you get there all you want to do is lie down in the sand and have a nap!

There were heaps of lifeguards on duty, but do you see the line of people in this pic? That's the space "between the flags" that the lifeguards are watching most diligently and where it's suggested you swim. It's really pretty funny since it's so busy that everyone is shoulder-to-shoulder and you couldn't possibly swim.

It was a bit cooler the day we were at Bondi, so Scott and the kids came up with something to keep them busy for an hour or so.

People then proceeded to line up and have their picture taken with this masterpiece, suddenly we were the hotspot on the beach!  No kidding, at least 50 people stopped to take a picture.

Another successful day at the beach, another happy kid!

Every day that we went to the city, or through the city we were treated to another great view of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, giving us more than one great photo op.

Another holiday, another zoo! This time it was the Taronga Zoo, best accessed by ferry as the zoo sits right on the waters edge. So across the harbour we went for some more Aussie animal adventures.

We were treated to a sea lion show that got us a we bit wet, but kept us laughing.

And despite the heat, the lion was up and moving around. I couldn't believe the great picture we got of him.

And can you believe the amazing view that the giraffes have? Incredible!

On our last day in Australia we packed up, left our apartment and made our way over to Darling Harbour.  We didn't need to be at the airport until later in the afternoon so there was a whole day to still enjoy.

First up the Maritime Museum. We didn't actually make it into the museum, but spent a couple of hours touring the submarine and destroyer that were moored here.

After some lunch harbour side, there was just enough time left for one more attraction. Much to our surprise the kids picked Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. We had the most ridiculous time posing with models it was a great way to end the day with smiles all around.

Australia's power couple was a must. Who could walk away from these two?  Even in wax they're gorgeous!

One Direction was an absolute must for Hannah...she might actually be blushing, it was hard to tell with all the giggling!

This combination of pictures was great, who's going to save who?

There are no words for this picture, we couldn't stop laughing and the kids couldn't figure out what on earth we thought was so funny.

And with that our last day in Australia had come to and end.

It may be time for us to leave, but we promise we'll be back!

New Years Eve Under the Harbour Bridge

When we first booked our round trip tickets to Australia we planned our return trip after Christmas through Sydney, because if you're going to be in Australia for New Years, shouldn't you of course be under the Harbour Bridge?

We spent sometime beforehand planning our day. We wanted to pick a place where we could see, and also one where we didn't have to stand in place from early in the morning with the kids. 

We decided on Milson's Point. It's on the backside of the bridge and we could see the opera house. It was also large, grassy and had all sorts of space still at 4:00 when we got there. 

At about 6:00 the clouds came in and we had a quick shower. Just enough to rattle those that weren't in it for the long haul.

We came well prepared for our afternoon with a blanket to sit on, another one to cover up with later, snacks and games. The kids were awesome. After the showers some of the evening entertainment started to help pass the time with ariel acrobatics over the bridge and the fire tugs floating by. 

But when it started to get dark and the lights came on, it was difficult not to get excited!

3 hours later with the day behind us, and the marathon of waiting over, it was time to stand up and get ready for the first of the worldwide celebrations ringing in 2014. In the last 30 minutes security opened the gates and let everyone waiting outside in to watch the show and suddenly our cosy little space we'd been camped out in was chock full of people hoping to get a glimpse of the show.

And then it was 3, 2, 1 - Happy New Year! Welcome 2014!

I do apologize, I was far to consumed by watching the fireworks to take any of my own pictures so I've borrowed a few from the Sydney NYE site. But I can honestly say that the show was awesome and all our planning worked out fantastic, we had an amazing vantage point and didn't miss a moment. 

The Blue Mountains

After arriving in Sydney, we decided to hold off getting caught up in the city just yet and drove off into the Blue Mountains. 

The Blue Mountains are densely populated with eucalyptus trees that let droplets of eucalyptus oil into the air that give the mountains a blue tinge when the light hits them. 

In October 2013 there were severe bushfires in the mountains, and sadly 200 homes were lost. After watching all the media coverage of the fires from home in Ferntree Gully it sounded to us as though most of the area had suffered some sort of fire damage. 

And from the pictures, can you blame us?

A bush fire in Australia is always a big deal. However, when you look at the numbers, in reality only 2% of the mountain range suffered fire damage.  Yes, still a large amount, but all the popular tourist destinations were unharmed and are open for business. The people at the information desk were telling us about how tourism numbers are way down and consequently businesses are losing money. 

Well we brought our money! It was a gorgeous sunny day so we took advantage of the many incredible walking tracks as we drove through the mountains. We stopped and hiked the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, another track that took us to the top of Katoomba Falls and of course Echo Point, the best place to get a look at the "3 Sisters".

We had such a good time in the mountains, we decided to go a second time later on in the week and visit Scenic World where we could ride a skyway, railway, walkway and cableway to get better views of the mountains, the 3 sisters, Jamison Valley and Katoomba Falls.

First we took the railway down. At a 52 degree incline, it's the steepest railway in the world.  Tyler was totally unfazed by this crazy ride. Did I mention that part of it took place in the dark?

After surviving the harrowing railway, we trekked through the rainforest for a while longer.

Of course, since you're now on the floor of the rainforest you have 2 options for getting back up. Either walk the 864 steps back up, or ride the cableway up to the top.  We definitely took the cableway!

Last, but not least was a trip on the Skyway across the Jamison Valley.

This is where we got one more great look at the 3 Sisters in a haze of blue and Katoomba Falls from top to bottom. They're spectacular to see from that height.