Ozarks to Oz

Goodbye Sydney

2008-08-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since we left Sydney so I guess it is past time to put some closure on the blog. I've been avoiding it as we only have a dial up internet connection (I had 100 errors when loading)!

Sydney feels like a dream now. It was amazing to me how quickly and easily we slid back into our old roles. It was a bit surreal to come back and have nothing change (although Emma did say that while we were gone Orbit came out with a new flavor of gum). Some things are nice to be home to. Such as a breakfast of farm fresh eggs, using a real coffee maker instead of the plunger type and listening to NPR every morning. It's nice to hear the birds instead of the sirens (last week there was a Pileated Woodpecker in the back yard). I love the smell of the hay field after it's been freshly cut, and the scent of the woods after it rains. It's wonderful to be back to the scents and sounds of nature and it seems I don't even mind the heat as much as long as I have a shade tree to sit (or work) under.

On days that I just need to get out I miss the hustle and bustle of the big city. I miss being able to walk two blocks to the grocery store and I even miss public transportation. It was nice to walk two blocks, get on a train and have it take you anywhere within Sydney (don't miss the cost though). We really miss the rocky shores and sandy beaches and the amazing animals (even if they were in a zoo). I miss DSL and even the Telly. It was really nice to view the news from a different country's perspective. It seemed that Australians think much more globally than Americans. I get the impression that Americans are a bit self absorbed and "my way or the highway" thinkers. I miss walking down the street in Sydney and seeing the United Nations on parade. I'm afraid we don't get a very diverse culture in small town Missouri. I learned to appreciate the Asian culture a bit more. We were so close to Chinatown that most days I could forget I was in Australia and think I was somewhere in Asia. I remember when we went to Featherdale Wildlife park I saw a mother and daughter that were obviously tourists. The daughter was wearing a traditional bush hat and the mom was wearing a t-shirt that said, "I love culture". I want one of those shirts. That's what I hope that we have gained from our trip to Australia is a love of other cultures. A more diverse and global perspective. We hope to go back to Australia some day for a real family vacation when Ray doesn't have to work all the time. Maybe we can rent an RV and see more of the bush. A trip to the Great Barrier Reef and Tasmania is a must.

Australia, we'll be back! And hopefully, next time we'll behave like real tourists and have lots of money to burn! I would like to thank Karen, Mary Alice and Gayle for keeping me going on the blogging by your continual feedback. If it wasn't for you I probably would have quit long ago.

If anybody would like to continue reading my rants and raves I'll try to keep blogging at my farm, library and homeschool (in the works) blogs.

Greenpeace

2008-06-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

We heard the Greenpeace ship was going to be in the harbour this weekend so we had to go. Unfortunately, we didn't figure out exactly where we needed to go before we left so we ended up in the wrong place. Where it should have taken us about 20 minutes to get there, it took us over an hour. Sheesh, we're so bad at this city living. :-) It was really neat touring the ship, talking to the workers and hearing stories of their efforts to stop the Japanese whaling.

Happy Birthday, Marra!

2008-06-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

We have celebrated 3 birthday's since we have been here. Marra did not want to turn 3 (interestingly, Hanna is the only other one of our children that cried when she turned another year older). So I was surprised on Sunday to hear Marra talking excitedly about turning 3. She insisted on wearing her pink princess dress. We took her shopping (Tessa had to take a picture of her favorite building on the way to the store) and much to her sisters' dismay, she picked out a cake with sprinkles and m&m's on top and some ice cream/popsicles. She asked for her birthday bag (Hanna got her presents in a gift bag) but promptly forgot about it after eating her cake and ice cream. I forgot about her presents too until we got home Sunday night and she had already fallen asleep. I'm going to wait and give them to her on the airplane so she has something new and exciting to do.

Blue Mountains

2008-06-29T15:15:00.001-07:00

Wow, I wish we had more time to spend there. It was absolutely stunning. I have always loved the mountains and these were even better than driving up Mount Washington in New Hampshire ;-). The only down side was that it was very touristy. It was the first place I have seen that so obviously catered to tourists that I wish we would have just rented a van and driven around on our own to see the parts of Australia that are off the beaten path. We have been saying that we are very poor tourists because we don't spend a whole lot of money (although the Australian economy has boomed since we have been here). We had to pay over $100 to ride one of those tourist double deckers just to get to the 3 Sisters which was less than 5 miles away from the train station where we got off. The girls had a wonderful time riding the cable car across the mountains and we walked around the rainforest floor before heading up to the 3 sisters where we had stunning views for miles around. A definite highlight of our trip.

Apple and Queen Victoria Building

2008-06-29T14:32:00.001-07:00

It's really nice to live in an area where you don't feel like the odd man out. Ray has been an Apple fan for years and we always seem to be in the minority and can never convince others that Apple is THE superior product. Apple is the in thing here, even on television. Apple just opened a store in Sydney last week so we had to go! Very cool store! The girls were having fun and had a hard time leaving. We have been trying to pack as much as we can into the last few days which really doesn't work well with 4 kids. I had been feeling like I hadn't done enough since we have been here but I think in hindsight, it worked very well. It would have been too stressful to be running all the time and I now feel really good about all that we have seen and done. Anyway, we "planned a lot more for that day but only made it to the Apple store and then attempted to do some shopping with a very tired toddler but just had to give up. We went to the famous Queen Victoria Building because I had heard so much about the great shopping. Every once in awhile we will tell people where we are staying and they will say how lucky we are to be so close to great shopping (David Jones??). It's really too bad that it's wasted on me. I'm not really into shopping unless it's gift shops, thrift stores or shops like Australian Geographic.

Around the apartment

2008-06-23T00:54:00.001-07:00

I was asked to send pictures of the apartment and for some reason I never got around to it. I should have done it the first day we moved in because it was all new and exciting then. It's a two bedroom apartment so we had to create another bedroom. Emma has the bedroom with the green couch and Hanna gets the great outdoor porch with the amazing views. Tessa sleeps on a couch that is in our bedroom. I would love the kitchen if it was a bit bigger. I like having the laundry room right off the kitchen and it has a lot of cupboard and drawer space for such a small area. In some ways it has been great living in such a small space because it doesn't take us that long to clean it (my idea of cleaning anyway)!

Sydney Harbour

2008-06-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

We thought we would visit some more beaches before we left so we travelled by subway to Circular Quay (pronounced key) and hopped on the Ferry. It was absolutely gorgeous and I could almost imagine we were riding in one of those high powered over priced tourist speed boats. We were one of the few who stayed out on the deck to experience the spray of the water and the roar of the loud engines. It would almost make a good movie. The hillbillies from Missouri riding along the water with all the European tourists in their designer clothing. Tessa shrieking with excitement added just the right touch. I have been feeling quite proud of ourselves lately thinking we were blending in pretty well. We can ride escalators, buses and trains without losing our balance and stumbling and we don't walk around with our nose in the air looking in awe at everything around us (well, not as much anyway). Then the ferry ride kind of brought me down a notch or two. Gosh, people are so proper. I mean really, don't they just feel like shrieking with excitement when cruising around all those bays watching the Opera House fade away in the distance? Nobody said anything or even looked at us (that I noticed) but I was just amazed that people just sat inside and looked out the window! The ferry ride ended at Watsons Bay and from there we walked along the beach and up a walk way to the top of the hill where we saw the entrance to the Harbour and the lighthouse. Walking along the water, the girls just had to let loose, run back and forth, jump in the water, dig holes in the sand. They tried very hard not to stare as we walked past a nude beach, where interestingly enough had only males over the age of 50 (or so it looked)! It was very obvious they were trying to make a point (what that point is, I'm not sure) because they just walked back and forth and then stood there facing the trail. Now you might think that I was watching them a lot but it doesn't take that much surreptitious glancing to figure that one out! And it pretty much looked like they wanted us to look! The girls were very serious but their hillbilly mom got the giggles upon passing. This ferry ride and walk was one of our fondest memories of our visit to Sydney, the views were just incredible and I cannot believe we haven't been there before. We were looking out our window today and noticed we can actually see the entrance to Sydney Harbour and the lighthouse from our window!

Getting Away

2008-06-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

This has just been one of those weeks that seem to happen more often than I would like. I've had this crazy rash on my face for a week which I think is something I picked up from the pool as we had been going swimming daily. We didn't go any where because I didn't want to scare anybody. Also, Ray needed to pay for a domain and internet service for a project he is working on and they were supposed to take out a monthly charge. Instead they wiped out our entire checking account of over $500 by charging for the year. They still have not reimbursed us and we're hoping they actually get around to it before we leave. We also received an email from my sil saying that the local police needed us to email them regarding our property (still don't know what that is about). Needless to say, it has been a pretty stressful week, so it was very nice of my mil to add some funds to our checking account so we could actually do something. After a bit of internet work we decided maybe we would go north of Sydney to Gosford. They were having a walk that went along the coast going through 5 towns, I believe. Of course, by the time we actually left the apartment it was noon so we missed the walk but thought it would still be fun to go up there for the pelican feeding at 3:30. We didn't count on it actually taking us 3.5 hours to go 1 hour north of Sydney. The train ride was an hour and 20 minutes and then from the train station to the part of Gosford that is along the coast took us another 2 hours. The one good thing about sitting so long is that you get to meet a lot of interesting people. On the train we met a man who was from Gosford and was wondering why we were actually visiting there when we live in Sydney. He taught us another version of the Kookaburra song which Marra wanted him to sing over and over again. He recommended we go to The Entrance which I guess is the only thing in Gosford worth visiting. It was a nice scenic ride though, riding along the Hawkesbury River, seeing the oyster beds and visiting with the locals. Amazingly, Marra managed to get a picture of a Kookaburra sitting on the electric line. Once we got off the train and found a bus we thought we would get there in plenty of time to see the Pelican feeding. The bus ride was unbelievable. We were watching the signs thinking we should go one way, seeing certain landmarks and 1/2 hour later see the same landmarks again. We thought maybe we hopped on the wrong bus but after striking up a conversation with a local, he mentioned that there are only 2 buses that go from the train station to The Entrance and the other one is only about 5 minutes shorter. He seemed a bit amused that we were visiting too, along with the bus driver who said that it was a "bloody long ride". Crazy Americans! We were still quite happy to have gone after seeing the town of Gosford (I thought it was quite the cool town), all the pelicans and walking along the water finding seashells. We also met another American who was from Milwaukee and was biking from Sydney to Brisbane. He said that he can tell who the Americans are because we are the only ones wearing shorts!

Sydney Observatory

2008-06-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain and more rain. We have been needing to find things to do inside as it's getting colder and has been raining a bit lately. We took a train to Circular Quay and then walked to The Rocks (upscale shopping area) to try to get to the Observatory for their last 3-D viewing of the day at 3:30. Of course, we missed it but we were still able to walk through the Observatory. The observatory is on a hill between Sydey Harbour and Darling Harbour so it was neat to go to different areas of the building to see the different Harbours (and to walk around on the grounds). I really love the gift shops at the tourist attractions (even if they are overpriced). The Observatory didn't have much of one so I think we're going to have to go to the Powerhouse Museum to get a map of the southern hemisphere skies and a world map with the South Pole at the top.

Sydney Craft Show

2008-06-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

This is one show I was determined to go to. I've been wanting to get some craft supplies that were authentically Australian since I've been here. It appears that people that live in Australia probably don't want to craft about their icons. This was more supplies than people actually selling their crafts and it was quite upscale. Fabric is really expensive. The quilt show was amazing but after looking at rows upon rows of beading booths, fabric booths and stamping/scrapbooking booths my eyes glazed over and I was happy to leave. We did manage to find some Australian applique kits (which I know I could make appliques myself so it wasn't all that Australian). I probably never would have gotten around to it if I had to find/make the pattern myself and Emma has been enjoying the process of putting them together. We would like to make a quilt of our travels to Oz so this is a good beginning. Hanna would have loved the craft show but she decided that 9:00 am was too early to get up (I wasn't going to argue because it saved me some money). She regretted if after seeing our little stash of beading supplies we brought back. We couldn't find any beads or charms with australian animals but Hanna says just the fact that we're bringing beads home from Australia is good enough. I'm still going to hunt down some local shops to see what I can find.

Botanic Gardens/Sydney Opera House

2008-06-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

We have taken so many photos that it is hard to pick and choose which ones to blog about. I kept meaning to post the "Please walk on the grass" sign but it got buried in the mass amount of Botanic photos we took. I'm also posting some Opera House photos. I was saving them hoping to actually go inside (I still might check into taking Hanna to Edward Scissorhands) but I might as well post them now. The girls also want to climb that bridge that is in the background. There are so many things we want to do that we're starting to panic just a bit that we won't get to it all! I didn't go back to check out the photos I already posted so there might be some that you have already seen.

Australian Museum - Sydney

2008-06-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

We visited the museum in Melbourne and decided we needed to compare the two. Well, that and the fact that it was raining that day so we needed to find someplace to go indoors and it's just a couple of blocks from our apartment building (on the other side of Hyde Park). This was a museum that catered to the younger crowd. We went on Monday and the schools were out because of the Queen's Birthday so the place was packed. I have never seen so many 8 and under kids all in one place since we have been here. It was about $26 for a family of 6 so it was pretty affordable and they had a lot of hands on stuff for the children to touch. I was amazed at the amount of fossils, bones and stuffed animals that everybody was allowed to touch. It reminds me of the sign we saw at the Botanic Gardens that said, "please walk on the grass, hug the trees, etc". They had a special dinosaur exhibit which seemed to be the big draw. I really enjoy looking at the Aboriginal art and we found the museums bone displays to be quite fascinating. For some reason I think bones are pretty cool but seeing the animals in their preservative jars at the Melbourne Museum didn't appeal to me that much.

Featherdale Wildlife Park

2008-06-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

We should have visited this park when we first arrived. It was pretty affordable ($58) for a family of 6 and it only cost us about $25 for public transportation. This was much better than Sydney Wildlife World! They had a lot of animals just roaming around the walkways which was great for the kids. I think the places in downtown Sydney are for city people that don't like to touch anything. We even got poo on our shoes at this park. Made us feel right at home! I really have not been looking forward to going home to the states and back to the farm with our load of responsibilities so I was a bit surprised when we entered the children's petting area to feel a bit homesick for our animals. Marra loved the little goat and did not want to leave her. Emma loved the gray kangaroos (really soft). Tessa really enjoyed the emu's and Hanna loved all the colorful birds and the reptile area. It was nice that we got to take pictures of the koalas up close and it didn't cost us $20 but we have to admit that koalas really don't have much personality. They sleep around 20 hours a day! It was really exciting to see the Tasmanian Devil, which are becoming less common. My favorites are the kangaroos and wallabies. It was great to see the baby wallaby (which is almost as big as it's mum) nursing. Extended nursing is common even in the animal world!

A Visit With Friends

2008-06-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

A colleague of Ray's invited us to her home on Saturday night. Elyssebeth is well travelled and every nook and cranny in her house is filled with wonderful treasures. Hanna says she thinks her house is going to look like that when she grows up. I always enjoy being around the world of academia. It seems that the conversations are deeper and more global and rarely do they talk about specific people (unless it's political). Or maybe it's just that the only professor friends we have are international and not american. I'll have another post to generalize about americans later! :-) We had a wonderful time, met another super nice Aussie family and had a delicious feast. The girls made "fairy bread" for the very first time. Marra's favorite part was using the butter knife. She had a nice pile by the time she was done but I think she perfected the art of spreading butter. The girls went outside using a torch to look for spiders, watched movies (taking breaks to play 'hot potato' and 'piggie in the middle' with some pillows), and hide and seek (children's games really are cross cultural). We travelled by public transport from the library, hence a bit late because we still haven't quite figured out the public transport system, and we got to walk some more (the pounds are just falling off, HA!)

Happy Birthday, Hanna!

2008-06-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Hanna was a little disappointed not to celebrate with her friends this year so we tried to make it as painless as possible. :-) We had french toast which I haven't made in years followed by cake and ice cream (nothing like a carb overload) as Ray had an evening business meeting. We bought her the 4th book in the latest series she is reading by Chris D'Lacey (The Fire Eternal) and her very own camera. Not as good as I would have liked to get but it is better than the one we have and she's having a wonderful time learning its functions.

The Wallaby's

2008-06-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

My favorite part of Wildlife World. The girls were able to pet the Wallaby's and they even hopped out of their area and tried to get out through the multiple doors they have to keep them in. An aboriginal was their keeper and he played the didgeridoo for everybody. We have a small video clip from our camera so we'll upload that to our site as soon as Hanna gets to it.

Sydney Wildlife World

2008-06-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

We were able to purchase combined tickets at 40% off so we went to the Aquarium last week and saved the Wildlife World for this weekend. Not exactly what I was hoping for but at least I can say we got to see all the native animals of Australia up close even if some were behind glass. I was really disappointed in the Koala Bear area as it was on the rooftop with a few trees and some red dirt. Ray was going to pay $20 to have our picture taken with them and I told him no way. If we were going to wake up the Koalas to take pictures at least it would be at a sanctuary not in a tiny space on a city rooftop. Wildlife World redeemed themselves with the Wallaby area so I left thinking our $100 for the combined package wasn't too ill spent after all. And wow, their insects, reptiles and amphibians are so much bigger than the biggest in Texas so that was exciting to see!

Our own private pool

2008-06-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Some days it is really difficult for me to remain positive when living in the city on limited funds so I need to try to be a bit more grateful for the places we have been and the things we have. On the 8th floor of our apartment building is a pool and exercise area that we really should be using every day. The girls enjoy the pool when we get down there but we've only recently been going more frequently.

Sydney Aquarium

2008-05-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

I tend to think that once you have seen one aquarium you have seen them all. I have a hard time really enjoying watching the animals in their small tanks but we broke down and went to the aquarium anyway. It's very difficult to get to the places where we want to go when we have to rely on public transport and the aquarium is only a 15 minute walk from our apartment. This aquarium was a bit different then any I have seen before. They had a glass tunnel that we walked through for viewing the sharks and a glass floor so that we could watch the fish swim under us. My favorite part was the replica of the Great Barrier Reef. We enjoyed all the clown fish but couldn't find Nemo (couldn't find any with only one fin so he's still in the ocean, right?).

The Loo

2008-05-25T19:35:00.001-07:00

Oddly enough, I really like the bathrooms here. Heated towel racks, drain in the floor and ceramic tile. But the toilet is the best. It has a full flush and a half flush and not much water in the bottom, and no plunger needed. The downside of not having much water is that the acoustics are not that great! M.A. you wanted photos of the apartment, how's this? ;-)

Bad Hair Day/Bad Barbie

2008-05-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

Marra decided she wanted to experiment with different hair styles. She really liked the horn, didn't like the hair under the chin and loved the pony tail. As you can see from the photo, she didn't like the pig tails. I told her to go look in the mirror ( I thought that was the cutest style) and she came running out of the bedroom sobbing and saying, "there are no pigs". Toddlers are so entertaining. (sorry I didn't prep her for the photos, hence messy face) This is the best place to write down some fun things Marra says because I can't misplace the paper or forget which file I put it in, so bear with me here. Sometime in the first week that we were here, Marra noticed the painting in the sunroom, screamed, said, "bad Barbie, let's hide Hanna" and her and Hanna hid under the bed covers (that's where Hanna sleeps). She has not talked about Barbie's much since we have been here. Good thing because any Aussie over hearing would think she was talking about grilling! For awhile, Marra would say everybody that wore a dress and had breasts was Barbie.

Happy Birthday, Ray

2008-05-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit that I actually forgot Ray's birthday this year. I told Ray that subconsciously I knew it was his birthday because I haven't made any cakes in a long time. Ray came home from work that day and asked why I made a cake. Of course, I had to tell him about my bargain hunt at Salvos which resulted in a muffin tin which led to making cupcakes and a chocolate cake which then led to making pizza. What a relief! We also tried some new fruit that day that I had picked up from Paddy's on Sunday. Dragonfruit was pretty blah, no flavour but great colour so I wonder if they use it for dye. The custard apple was great. The inside reminded me of paw paw's but the taste was much better, tasted like apple custard. ;-)

Train ride back to Sydney

2008-05-18T03:14:00.000-07:00

We saw a lot of kangaroos on the way back. It was pretty exciting for us but we couldn't get any good shots. We also saw thousands of sheep along the way! Ray was finally able to watch Michael Moore's movie, "Sicko". The girls were complemented from the lady behind us saying how well they did on the long trip and said that my husband sounded like Kevin Costner. She wondered if our accent was from America or Canada. Okay Karen, I'm done for awhile. Do you think this will keep you busy? ;-)

Heading Back

2008-05-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

We had to get up bright and early Saturday morning to catch the train back to Sydney. It was cold and raining when we left and had a bit more worries as they were working on the tram tracks. We had to take a shuttle bus to Flinders station which would take us to the main station. Then we get to the station and the train was delayed a half an hour (again do to the NSW tracks ;-)) so we were relieved not to miss the train, even if we had to wait! The second photo was taken from the tram stop looking toward our apartment building.

The Melbourne Museum

2008-05-18T02:01:00.000-07:00

This was one of the affordable places in town (adults $6 each, children free). I used to love this kind of museum when I was younger but now I find them a bit morbid. I enjoyed the rocks, minerals, fossils, the 3D movies, the live insects and the rugs hanging on the wall. It's kind of depressing to think that the closest we have come to a kangaroo has been a dead one in a case! I've been avoiding the zoos, hoping to get to a wildlife sanctuary instead but transportation plus the cost of getting into a sanctuary seems to be really pricey! I really miss my mini van! Anyway, Hanna had fun taking pictures and we didn't realize that they had Pharlap in a case too!

The Melbourne Museum

2008-05-18T01:25:00.000-07:00

I thought Marra would enjoy the smaller children's museum that they had on the lower level and she liked the books and kitchen play/ shopping area. The difference between the larger museum and the smaller one for kids was that the smaller one had dead mom and baby families and babies in the preservative jars! ????????

Eating out

2008-05-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

We rarely eat out as the cost is definitely not affordable but we really wanted to try the food in Melbourne. The first 3 photos are from our visit to an Italian restaurant. The restaurants all seem to look the same. They gave us free drinks and a chocolate "footy". I was half way done with my water and I noticed some lipstick on the glass. I asked the girls if they drank out of my cup (they sometimes wear the Burt's Bees stuff that is lightly tinted) and they said they didn't have any lipstick on. So I was a bit grossed out to find lipstick on my cup and it seemed to have colored my lips some because the napkin that I used to wipe it off with was quite colorful! The next day we thought we would try Nepalese food so we went there and enjoyed some interesting dishes! We went to http://www.gurkhas.com.au the Gurkhas on Flinders Street and ordered Mo Mo, Chicken Chow Chow, BBQ mushrooms (spicy). Ray and I got the Banquet Menu for 2 so the girls got to sample a little bit of everything. Hanna was not impressed (she has a pretty sensitive palette) but the rest of us enjoyed it. A good blogger would have taken photos before digging into the food! :-)

Around Melbourne

2008-05-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the architecture of some of the buildings. Maybe I didn't get out much in the states but it seems that Australian architecture is so much more artistic. I'm also fascinated with their schools so I had to take a picture of a college (high school). We enjoyed riding the City Tram which takes you on a free ride around the town and we bought our first souvenirs (Emma picked a chocolate Bilby which Marra adopted, then had no trouble eating). We walked through a park after visiting the natural history museum and were drawn to a tree that a family was oohing and aahing over. The possoms were so adorable and the girls were able to touch the one that was hiding (after the aussie family did it first!)

Federation Square

2008-05-17T22:40:00.001-07:00

Melbourne seems to be a nice artsy town! It looks like they have a great children's art program called ArtPlay which is affordable and unusual. I never would have thought to see a class for the under 12 group on Microscope drawing. It would have been nice to stay there longer to take advantage of the great workshops they offer. We took the girls to their very first Art Gallery and they had a great time looking at the art work. Marra was so funny. There was a statue of a naked man and I watched her as she walked over to it. I thought it looked like she was pretty intent and focused on a certain part of his anatomy. She walked within a foot, stopped, gasped, squealed, said "eeewww" and slowly backed away. I was stunned at her reaction. I guess that is what happens when you only have daughters. Later, when we visited the Natural History museum they had numerous naked statues of men and women all lined up and she barely batted an eyelash. I guess she got over her shock pretty quickly!

Albert Park in Melbourne

2008-05-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

The girls enjoyed feeding the birds at this park (Hanna's favorite was G53), which was only a couple of blocks from our apartment. What a marvelous collection, we really need to identify them.

Apartment in Melbourne

2008-05-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

After getting up at 5:30 on Sunday morning and spending about 12 1/2 hours on the train, we were a bit exhausted when we finally reached Melbourne. I have to admit our first experiences were not good and if we hadn't just spent so much time in the train, the girls and I would have went right back "home" (luckily there is only a morning and an evening train to Sydney and we already missed the train back). Ray and I thought that the public transportation was much worse than in Sydney. We mostly travelled by Tram, the people that worked at the station were grudgingly helpful and when we finally found the right tram it left right after unloading passengers. I told Ray I think he saw all of our luggage and didn't want to wait for us to get on as the tram light was green! There were also a couple of german tourists that were left behind too, so it wasn't just us. :-) After standing around waiting for about 15 minutes for the next tram, a couple of young women took pity on us and informed us that we can actually take any tram to where we were going, that all but the #1 tram went to the university (and our apartment was a stop on the way). So we finally made it to our apartment at 10:00pm (thanks to a nice mother& son who helped us figure out which stop to get off at).

Then we had to figure out how to get in! Intercom system, after hours operator with an Australian & Indian? accent, key to the lock box, key to the building, ride up the elevator with 12 pieces of luggage, dropped everything in the living room, walked through to claim bedrooms, tried to figure out phone to call for take-out, call to after hours operator again, phone still didn't work. About this time Hanna discovers ants and one of the girls loses it. Starts sobbing and says she wants to go home (not mentioning any names)! We managed to get everybody calm enough and said we would get a new apartment in the morning. Looking through the entire apartment, I couldn't believe we didn't notice the ants right away we walked in. They were everywhere! On the kitchen cupboards, kitchen floor, living room floor, hallway, bathroom and even a couple found in the beds. Since the majority were in the kitchen and dining room, we figured we could co-exist until morning. Upon awakening I discovered they were now in a perfect line from Hanna's bedroom all the way to the kitchen. I was almost admiring them and thought maybe we could co-exist, that is, until I saw the mass of them all over one cupboard door and I decided we really needed to get another place. The girls couldn't get out fast enough! The apartment people were very helpful and relocated us one floor up where we are happy to report we found only 3 ants in Hanna's closet. Overall, we were quite happy with our apartment. I loved the maid service, everybody was very friendly and helpful and we had much more space than our place in Sydney! Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures so I'll see if I can find some stock photos of the apartment online.

Scenery to Melbourne

2008-05-17T21:05:00.001-07:00

We loved reading the town signs we went through, such as: Bundanoon, Binalong, Galong, Cootamundra and Wagga Wagga! We did have a delay on the NSW side because they were fixing the rails. Once we crossed over to Victoria (and a change in crew) we were amused by the conductor pointing out several times that he apologized for the delay, it was out of his control and had to do with those NSW rails! A bit of competition between the states, we think.

Train ride to Melbourne

2008-05-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Ray had a business trip to Melbourne this past week so we tagged along to get more views of the country. I rather enjoyed traveling by rail. The girls could get up and walk around whenever they needed to, we didn't have to stop and take a break and the girls didn't fight as much in the company of strangers! ;-) Marra did remarkably well considering it was about an eleven hour trip! We picked some great seats near the front and were able to enjoy them until we were told we had assigned seating and had to move to the next car. It was still very comfy, better than a plane trip. Hours after we got off the train, we felt like the ground was still moving beneath us, so that was fun too! :-) We got our first view of kangaroos in the wild (without any good photos to post) and we enjoyed watching the change in scenery and the drop in temperature as we travelled south!

more Royal Botanic Gardens

2008-05-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

The girls and I have visited the gardens many times but Ray had not had a chance to see them. He really wanted to see a Wollemi Pine after reading so much about them in the news.

More Darling Harbour

2008-04-27T18:06:00.001-07:00

Couldn't resist taking more photos from a different angle. Sydney has wonderfully artistic sculptures and fountains. Notice Hanna seems to have an affinity for that tower!

Australian National Maritime Museum

2008-04-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

The museum was offering free admission until Sunday night because of the school break. We managed to get there 1/2 hour before closing. Our favorite displays were the beer can boat, the Sperm Whale teeth with carvings, the lighthouse light and the 10 ft long model ship. The boats outside were pretty neat too but we didn't go into any of those. We figured we didn't have enough time to justify spending the money to tour them.

Sydney Fish Market

2008-04-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

This is one of those places that we have wanted to go to for awhile. Ray thought it would be a nice short walk. But notice the photos. Walking......still walking...... Ray's a man with vision. That's what I love about him. He knows where he wants to go, just doesn't count on all the detours and deadends that get in the way of his ultimate goal, therefore, taking him twice as long to get there (and that seems to be OUR life story). Luckily a young Aussie boy was outside playing in his yard and was able to give us some real directions. But hey, if we had taken public transportation like I suggested we wouldn't have seen that part of Sydney. ;-) Anyway, I'm glad we can now cross the fish market off our list of places to visit. I don't think we will return even with public transport! There were many warehouses filled with shops and restaurants but we didn't find it any cheaper than Paddy's. We ended up buying a seafood platter which included baby octopi, clams, squid rings (like onion rings, but not fried), cod, and skewered prawns on a bed of chips (french fries). The Octopi were not too bad but not something I would eat again, the texture being a bit of a turn off with the suction cups on their tentacles. The squid was kind of rubbery, the prawns were pretty good. Hanna and Emma were the only two to try the cream cheese clams and they really liked those. Overall, I think Ray and Hanna enjoyed the seafood the most! Tessa wouldn't touch it, she felt like throwing up just looking at it. Marra spent her time under the table taking photos.

More Bondi Beach Photos

2008-04-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

There is always something new to see or do at Bondi. We have watched the series on television called Bondi Rescue so I was more paranoid this time about letting the girls go in the water. I went in with them and it wasn't as scary as watching them jump the waves themselves. In fact, it was quite fun!

Bondi Beach

2008-04-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorite places to visit. This time we meandered along the walking trail and were in awe of the beautiful scenery. Hanna took some great shots of the waves but the photos didn't quite capture the experience. There is a man that lives up along the cliffs. Notice the pet cow that he needs to feed by donations. You can read his story here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/times-up-for-caveman/2007/03/14/1173722530504.html

A Toddler's Perspective

2008-04-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

Budding photographer!

Marra decided that she wanted to contribute to the blog.

More Darling Harbour

2008-04-22T23:24:00.001-07:00

I believe it has rained every day for the past 11 days. It started out sunny last Saturday but by the time we left it was looking quite stormy. If I use my imagination a little bit, I can almost imagine being back in New England.

Darling Harbour

2008-04-22T23:13:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we walked to Darling Harbour. I have often wondered where all the families are and this may be one of the places. It was a great place to let Marra just run around and be a toddler. They had a playground, paddle boats, some kind of kids bungee jumping, Chinese Garden, Imax Theatre (I think it said the biggest screen in the world?) and the Sydney Aquarium (all to be experienced at a future date when we win the lottery :-). The sights and sounds of Sydney are just amazing. I really should record some and put sound bites on the blog.

Wiseman's Ferry

2008-04-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful drive to Wiseman's Ferry. Despite our cramped quarters in the car (Jodi would be proud of us ;-), the drive was unforgettable. We had to ride the Ferry to go to the campsite, drive over a suspension bridge, not to mention drive on the wrong side of the road. When I think of Australia I think Outback, not beautiful green hills and forests. It's nice to see more of Australia besides the touristy areas. I wish I had had a better camera!

Camping

2008-04-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

We slept in cabins over the weekend and had a chilly night because I didn't bring enough blankets (that seems to be a tradition with us and camping). Others were talking about the Kangaroos they saw upon waking on Sunday morning (they seem to be like deer here). I was disappointed that we didn't get to see them but I was thrilled to see Kookaburra's and bush-tailed possums (size of a cat with big bushy tails). The possum was soo adorable and the kids were hand feeding (not sure if that was a good idea but it was neat to see). I think this will definitely be a highlight of our stay here and it makes me want to try camping again before we leave. I had visions of spiders and snakes around every corner and was pleasantly surprised not to see any snakes all weekend. The girls had fun around the camp fire and made some Damper's (bread dough on a stick roasted over the coals), heard some Australian camp songs and were happy to sing along with the traditional Quaker songs.

Extreme sports?

2008-04-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, my idea of extreme sports anyway (can you spot Hanna and Emma in the trees?). Over the weekend, we were able to see the "real" Australia and meet some wonderful people. Thanks to Elizabeth for letting us borrow her car and to the NSW Friends for letting us experience the Adventure Camp for Junior Friends in Wisemans Ferry. It was an incredible experience that we wouldn't have had otherwise. The girls were able to enjoy abseiling, canoeing, archery and high ropes. Hanna is a natural and I can see her living in Australia and trying out all the extreme sports they have to offer. Emma was amazing. She was scared to death of the abseiling and high ropes and did it anyway. She ended up abseiling (repelling down cliffs) 3 times, her panic lessoning each time. Tessa did archery and canoeing. She really wanted to do rock climbing but we got there too late to do it on Saturday (surprise, surprise but I can blame getting lost trying to get out of Sydney for that) and on Sunday everybody was having too much fun on the abseiling to do the rock climbing. Marra tried to play Cricket and enjoyed Canoeing with mom. She was quite good at keeping the paddle in the water ;-). Unfortunately, we didn't have enough batteries with us so didn't get pictures of the abseiling or canoeing (little fingers removed the batteries from our bag before the trip) so we'll have to try to go again just for the photos!

It's a boy!

2008-04-11T01:57:00.000-07:00

We're quite excited to announce the birth of our family's newest arrival . Nina had a baby colt earlier this week (April 8th at 6:00am?). Aunt Joan is taking care of Nina and Storm for us while we're in Australia. Emma is pretty excited about her new baby and kind of sad that she is not able to be there to "imprint" him from the start. We think he's a keeper! Now, I'm sure we'll have a countdown to departure!

Enjoying Paddy's Market

2008-04-06T17:35:00.001-07:00

Paddy's Market

2008-04-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

We first found Paddy's Market online before we left for Australia and were looking forward to shopping there. We were not disappointed. There are hundreds of vendors there from Thursday through Sunday, selling everything from lipstick to luggage (and everything in between). Emma tried on a hairpiece at one of the vendors. They first wanted $25 and reduced the price to $15 by the time we left. I'm not very good at haggling but I didn't have to that time. Around 5:15 on Sunday night the food vendors try to get rid of all their fruit so they drastically reduce their prices. If you don't like crowds it would not be the place for you. People were packed in there like sardines (Hanna thought that was great fun), trying to find the vendors with the best deals. We came home with bags of fruit that we paid a $1 a bag for but I think I prefer shopping there on Thursday's to avoid the crowds and get fresher food. We bought mandarin oranges, passion fruit, persimmon's, chestnuts, green beans, basil, spinach, soy milk, tomatoes, plums, sweet corn and eggs. That is where I will be doing most of our grocery shopping. I think we might be eating pretty well here after all!

More Bondi Beach Photos

2008-04-06T16:58:00.001-07:00

Can you spot Hanna in the wave?

Bondi Beach

2008-04-06T16:51:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful time at Bondi Beach on Sunday! We took the subway and then the bus for a 1/2 hour ride to the ocean. The girls had a blast, and I was holding my breath, hoping they wouldn't drown. Next time I will have to don the suit so I can rescue them, if needed (ha!). Marra preferred the sand and "little water", Tessa thought the waves were a little too big and held back a bit but Hanna and Emma were right in there with the big waves! I was happy to leave. Next time I think we'll explore those cliffs you can see in the distance. That will definitely take me out of my comfort zone!

Kangaroo

2008-04-06T16:46:00.001-07:00

We decided we couldn't very well go to Australia without trying Kangaroo meat (sorry to our vegetarian friends). Some enjoyed it and others did not, and I will not say who liked it and who did not because they don't want it known by their friends back in the states. The texture kind of reminded me of liver. We tried hot dogs and kebabs and the kebabs were definitely better. I think they were able to season them enough to hide the aftertaste. I thought maybe it would have tasted like chicken. Definitely NOT and I don't think it will be on our menu again.

Royal Botanic Gardens

2008-04-04T00:30:00.001-07:00

We made it to Sydney Harbour today. I didn't realize it was so close. Probably a 20 minute walk (maybe 10 without kids). We only got shots of the Opera House from the back as we went through the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was very nice to find out that the gardens are free to get into because everything else in Sydney costs a fortune! I think that will be a place for us to frequent! Marra was a real trooper. She walked the entire way there and didn't want me to hold her until we were on our way back, so she walked for at least an hour and a half. On the flip side she is very difficult to take anywhere because she wants to walk. It's entertaining to watch her try to act like the millions of other people walking the streets of Sydney! She does amaze me though. She stays close and does exactly as I say as long as I don't pick her up or take her hand (so she has been throwing a few fits)!

Hyde Park

2008-04-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hyde Park saved me from my slump. I should have known that me and concrete just don't mix and found the park sooner but hindsight is 20/20. This is a beautiful park (Karen, you would love the trees!) The bats (flying foxes) are as big (or bigger) than crows. We loved watching them flying around at dusk. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera so we had to go back during the day to take pictures and didn't get any of them flying. Hanna is our photographer so we have a lot of pictures of birds (notice the Magpie and the Ibis) and trees.

Stir Crazy

2008-04-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

I must still be suffering from Jet Lag because the last couple of days I've been plotting my trip back to the states. I was really beginning to wonder what on earth I would do for 3 months in a big city. I mean, a city is a city, really! Maybe I was suffering from lack of green (not that muddy Missouri helped in that area) but I felt a little stir crazy. I was up at 3:00 in the morning, the internet didn't work, I couldn't figure out the dang television (why are there so many remotes?) and I thought to myself, "what do city people do at 3:00 in the morning?" I'm thinking maybe my chaotic life wasn't so bad after all! At least I could always go de-clutter somewhere in my house, or read one of my thousands of books or even talk to the animals. There was always something to do! But here, I was wandering aimlessly around the apartment looking for inspiration. I hate to admit it but I used the "b" word. I told Ray I was actually bored! I ended up watching t.v. without the sound on. Thank goodness for sub-titles.

Seasoned Travellers

2008-04-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

I know the posts are a bit out of order but I thought I should post photos of traveling. The girls did so well on the plane, I think they could get used to this kind of life. Emma really enjoyed it and "demanded" the window seats. Tessa was sick so that might have made it easier for us. Hanna is a book addict and finished two while traveling (I think she learned the hard way that most of her books should have gone in checked luggage instead of in her carry on bag). And Marra, well she attracted lots of attention (whether she liked it or not) maybe because she looked like a girl that knew where she was going!

Time Change

2008-04-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we never made it to the library. I fell asleep at 6:00p.m. Didn't hear a thing until 1:00 in the morning when I glanced out the window from bed and thought I had slept all night and it was morning. Upon getting up and actually looking out the window, I realized that the city lights were just lighting up the sky. I think it might take us awhile to get adjusted to Australian time (we're 16 hours ahead of you all back home. Does this mean I can predict the future?). It will be interesting to see what time the girls wake up this morning. Thought I would post the view from the sunroom at 2:00 in the morning.

We made it!

2008-03-31T22:22:00.001-07:00

We're here! And I think I could get used to this. The plane ride went well, the girls handled it remarkably! No fighting, kept pretty quiet and entertained themselves pretty well. Almost makes me want to live in an airplane! The only time I almost panicked (okay, DID) was when we hit some serious turbulence over the Pacific ocean. At that point I vowed never to get on a plane again and was really wondering if we would stay in Australia forever. But that moment passed and I began to plot my next trip abroad, especially upon watching the sun rise while descending into Sydney. At least now the girls can say that they actually have seen a sun rise!

Our apartment is wonderful! We have amazing views of the harbor and if we go up to the roof we can see for miles around in all directions. We have everything we need close by. The girls and I walked to the grocery store (where everything seems really expensive) and I'm thrilled to death to have a trash chute and recycling pickup about 10 feet from our door. If any of you saw the dumpster and pile of recycling outside our home on the farm, you would understand why it is such a big thing for me!

We're going to walk to the city library tonight and see about getting some cards. I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time there, but that's nothing I will ever complain about. We have DSL and TV which we have been taking advantage of (even though we have only been here a day). I think it might be very difficult to leave all these luxuries behind in a few months. Well, TV I don't think I'll miss but it is nice to see the local shows in a different country and I think Marra might be saying, "give it a go" by the time we return. I absolutely love the accent and dreamily gaze at anybody talking loud enough for me to hear their conversation. I'm sure they can tell I'm American. :-D

We'll get some pictures posted and hopefully get a panoramic shot of the view on our roof. If anybody downloads Skype we can talk online and the girls could talk to their friends "face to face". They think that is pretty cool!

The Countdown Begins

2008-03-14T06:25:00.000-07:00

We purchased our tickets! Finally, we can allow ourselves to get excited about our trip to Australia. The day after we bought the tickets, I was packed and ready to go! The girls are making lists of what to take and where to go once we get there (hopefully short ones) and we're scrambling to tie up all of our loose ends. I've been on a de-cluttering mission. I find that things are put into perspective a bit, knowing that I won't need anything in my house for 3 months! In fact, I won't need my house at all, or the farm, or the animals, or the vehicles (although I'm sure it will be nice to have them here when we get back). The girls don't need the gymnastics lessons, music lessons, swim lessons and horse riding lessons. My responsibilities will be nil and we can just enjoy each other's company (I can dream)! Free to have fun for 3 months. That opportunity doesn't come around every day, or month or year. Shucks, maybe it only comes around once every 38 years or once in a lifetime. I would like to think that this will be the impetus we need to change our priorities. My hope is for the girls to build global perspective by traveling rather than just spending their entire lives working at a job to make money to pay the bills, to put their kids in daycare, to drive the dream vehicle and own the dream house. Though the status symbol thing seems to have eluded me all these years, I have plenty of things to clutter and cloud my perspective. Gosh, I'm becoming a little too introspective and this is supposed to be about FUN!

Time 'Till Takeoff

2008-03-12T18:38:00.000-07:00