Day 21: City Gardens

Someone somewhere might have a picture from this day, but I don't think it is me. This was a surprisingly busy day, what with all of the packing and shopping for snacks for the plane ride and in general the mental preparation for a 24+ hours travel time back home. We did get a chance to take the City Cat (ferry) to a downtown-ish farmer's market, which turned into a trek to the City Botanical Gardens (as opposed to the suburban ones we were at 10 days ago). We had a picnic lunch at the gardens while the kiddos had a frolic and a romp. And coffee. There was definitely coffee.

We took the ferry back to M and P's house (well, to the car and then to the house), and while Amity was napping Wes and I snuck off to Woolie's for snack procurement. We've learned over the years that one can never have enough snacks (healthy and junky) on hand for international (or really, any) travel with preschoolers (and elementary schoolers).

Day 19: Queensland Gallery of Modern Art

We had so much fun at the Modern art museum the day before that we figured it deserved another visit today. Plus, it was raining, and the museum was free and super kid friendly. So win on multiple accounts. There were quite a few hands-on/kid-oriented exhibits. This one had you creating a mask in the style of one of the artists featured in the museum. Here you see Zara diligently working on her mask. In the second shot, all 3 family members show off their creations.

Day 16: Queen Vic Market and the Melbourne Museum

Amity, Jo, Wes, Johanne, Ian, and Clare all took the tram to Queen Victoria Market. First though, we stopped at DeGraves St to get coffee for all of the grown ups. Meanwhile, Zara had been sleeping over with Marmee at Peter and Lee's house (Buelo Phil was on a business trip to Sydney), so Peter gave them a ride in his car to the market where we all met up! Marmee got Zara a challah roll, and since it was Friday (Shabbat, the Jewish holiday) it was extra special.

Zara: The market was huge, enormous! When we first got there we were in the fish and meat aisle, and it smelled terrible. Then we went through the diary section and that's where I got the challah roll. Then we met up with the rest of the crew and walked through the fruit section of the market. We bought grapes and strawberries. Then we went to the clothing and everything else section. We saw a zebra blanket (not made of real zebra). We saw a kangaroo and koala puzzle that was in the shape of a cylinder. We also so a lot of tchotkes, as well as many Australian-themed souvenirs.

One of the vendors had princess/fairy costumes, and the kiddos loved trying on the crowns (see picture). We heard someone playing Peruvian music, it was really pretty. After walking through rows and rows of vendor stalls, we came across a jelly donut truck. After a donut snack, we met up with Jenny and (baby) Matilda and shared some chips (for those of you who might be confused here, in Australia when they say chips they mean what we call french fries. If you want what we call potato chips, you ask for potato crisps.)

While the group was finishing their snack, some of us went and got supplies for a picnic - bread rolls, cheese, ham, olives, artichoke hearts, and more fruit. We all then walked over to Exhibition Gardens and had a picnic beside the Royal Exhibition Hall (the site of the first parliament) and the Melbourne Museum.

While Jo and Amity played in the very awesome kids area (see picture of the bridge Amity built), the rest of the crew took in the museum. A particular highlight was Phar Lap, whose preserved hide resides in the Melbourne Museum.

We took a quick a last stop at the museum cafe for... you guessed it... skinny flat whites! We said goodbye to Marmee who went back to Peter and Lee's, and the rest of us hopped on a tram to head back to Johanne and Ian's house. Friday in the Singleton house is Pizza night, which was delicious. Amity hadn't especially napped, so she was exhausted and went to sleep pretty early. Zara stayed up a bit later to play with Auntie Clare. All in all, we're really enjoying Melbourne, it's a lovely city (and, as compared to places like Brisbane or Charlottesville, delightfully flat.)

Day 15: Chillaxing in Melbourne

After all of the excitement of Healesville and Sovereign Hill (both trips that required considerable car time - thanks again Jo and Ian for loaning us the wheels!), we were ready for a chill day with some downtime and nothing particular planned. We spent a lot of time hanging with Auntie Clare, playing at a local playground (pictured here), consumed plenty of coffee, met up with my Mom, had a little walking exploration of greater Thornbury, had naps, and just generally did as much nothing as you can do when you have 2 young(ish) children. Since Phil was away on a 24 hour trip to Sydney, Maryann had dinner with us and then took Zara back with her to their friends Peter and Lee for a sleepover.

MY GOLD!!

When we went to Sovereign Hill, I went panning for gold and found a few gold flakes. I'm keeping them in this jar of water. I went to the Chinese camp. There was a Chinese temple, a lot of tents, and a general store. While I was panning for gold, a "police officer" came to check that everyone had their mining license. Not everyone did, so he chased them away and shot his gun at them. It was so loud! Later we saw red coat soldiers marching in the street. They also shot their guns (rifles), very loud too. Instead of bullets, they shot wads of paper and gun powder.
I got to see "lollies" being made, that's what they call candy, here. It was small, pink, round and was musk flavored. I liked it. I also got to play nine pin bowling. You roll the ball with two hands, not one. I got to meet two Australian school boys, Rhys and Drew. They were very nice. Their whole school has only 42 kids.

Day 13: Healesville Sanctuary

Today we set out on an adventure to Healesville Sanctuary, which is a bit of a trek from Melbourne proper. Auntie Clare came along for the ride though, and that made it even more special and fun.

Highlights from the trip include "Spirits of the Sky" where we were oh so very close to some beautiful birds of prey. We also got up close and personal with some more Roos, saw the Koalas at feeding time, Echidnas at feeding time, finally saw a platypus (the one in Brisbane had not been at home)and kept the Ibises at bay while eating the delicious picnic lunch Johanne packed for us. We also learned all about the Zoo's "Wipe for Wildlife" campaign. Truly Australian.

After a long and fun filled day at the Zoo, we stopped by a bakery in the town of Healesville and had skinny flat whites and a delightful assortment of Australian baked goods. We closed the day out meeting up with M and P and having delicious homemade pizza at their friends' house. Here's a shot of Wes and Phil lounging on the couch pre-dinner.

Trams, Trains and Airplanes and some Jellyfish too!

On Monday we arrive in Melbourne and then went to the beach. The sand was really hot - it burnt my feet! We saw jellyfish. Some were curly, clear and do not sting. Another kind was big, blue and we think that it could sting, but luckily that did not happen. Then I went on a tram with Aunty Clare and we got stuck in a tram jam. It was 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit!) outside with no air-conditioning and we were stuck on the 10th tram in line. We decided to get off and walk to the train station which was about 3000 steps.

At the train station we just missed the first train, the second train had the wrong destination, we could not get the drink vending machines to work, then the next train was not taking passengers and went backwards about of the station. We finally caught the the 4th train and made it back to Jo and Ian's.

Day 12: Arriving in Melbourne

We packed up and said a temporary goodbye to Brizzy. The nice cab driver took the six of us to the airport where the Qantas agents made us check our stroller & car seat while nearly missing our flight. The actual flying was uneventful, perhaps because two hours is much less than fourteen. When we landed, Ian met us at the baggage carousel and ferried us all down to St. Kilda, a beach on the bay, to meet Johanne and Clare. We all got a dip in the water and saw a number of the large jellies pictured below. Clare & Zara took the tram and train home, where they were delayed for a bush fire. The rest of us got the car tour of central Melbourne from Ian and lots of ideas for what to visit during the rest of our stay.

Day 11: Brisbane Botanical Gardens and Visiting with Camp Friends

In the morning Zara went next door to play with a neighbor kid, Abby, and we heard very little from her until it was time to go visit my dear friend from camp (who I had not seen since the early 90s), Geoff. Meanwhile, Amity, Wes and I decided to check out the local Botanical Gardens (the nearby one to us which is the suburban one, because apparently there is one in the city as well.) It rained on and off during our visit, but we managed to take in some lovely flora between downpours. We're really not ones to let a little (actually kind of a lot of) rain dampen our sense of adventure, so we persevered.

Amity managed some lunch and a nap, and when she woke up we retrieved Zara from her marathon play date next door. We set off to see Geoff and his kiddos Abbey, Blake and Chloe. Sadly for us his wife Belinda, a nurse, was working so we didn't get a chance to meet her. What we did get to do was have a lovely, relaxing time while the 5 kiddos went nuts. They were clearly excited for us to visit, as evidenced by the awesome welcome decorations that greeted us.

This was awesome. The kids got on super well, and Geoff and I got to catch up on the last 20 years. Even on his own with the kids, Geoff hosted us in the elaborate Australian style we're growing accustomed to.... snacks/appetizers, drinks, BBQ, loads of sides, more drinks, dessert (sticky date pudding and ice cream, we'd never had it before and it was lovely), cappuccino, and even after dessert chocolates. We wished we could stay longer, but the kids were getting tired, and some of them had school the next day while the others were flying to Melbourne and needed to leave for the airport early-ish in the AM, so we had to say our goodbyes and call it a night. What fun!

Day 10: Farmer's Market, Mt. Coot-tha, and Seisiún

First things first, and that is that before we went off to the farmer's market, we took a family picture (probably the first with all of us since Zara was born) and then we bid a fond farewell to Bri, who was returning to Hawaii. The kiddos are very fond of Uncle Brian, and not just because he can pick them both up at the same time, though I think that helps.

The farmer's market was fun. It was a smaller, more suburban one that Maryann had not yet been to, so it was an adventure for all. They had multiple places to get coffee (by this time we had figured out our favorite of the coffee drinks is the flat white - skinny optional) so Wes and I immediately loved it! They also had more diary than we usually see at our markets here, including someone selling greek yogurt with fruity toppings. Kids loved that, and Wes found a crepe guy who made him a very delicious breakfast crepe. We procured some fruit (including figs and strawberries, summer how we missed you) and then set off on our greatest adventure yet.... Wes driving on the right aka wrong side of the road!

Wes drove for the rest of our errands, which included a stop to drink coffee and eat ice cream (guess who did what) at Mt. Coot-tha, which is certainly the tallest thing going in the area. After some sightseeting fun it was home for lunch and naps, and then off on the train to the Stadium Bar to check out what an Irish Session in Australia is like.

While nobody took any pictures,session this afternoon was a blast. It was a 4 hour chunk that was loosely divided into something like a song circle for the first 2 hours (though not the teaching/sharing kind, more like someone starts a song and people who know it sing and play along, and almost everyone played an instrument along with the singing, and turns were loosely taken) and then more tunes oriented for the latter half. Which Zara danced along to for several jigs and a bit of a reel. She was, as you probably could guess, dear reader, a real crowd pleaser.

In the songs half there was a bunch of Aussie folkish songs we didn't know though we may learn and bring "back to the States" as well as songs like "Draft Dodger Rag", "Sloop John B", "Shook Me All Night Long" (I believe AC/DC are at least part Aussie) as well as Carrickfergus, Ordinary Man (Christy Moore), Dirty Old Town, Whiskey in the Jar and more typically Irish faire. Instruments also varied greatly, many guitars in the song part as well as double mandolin, banjo, harmonica, fiddle, accordion, recorder, metal flute, and my fave, trombone!

The ride back on the train was largely uneventful. We spent the evening having dinner (BBQ, and SO much more) with M and P's friends S and P, who served up a most decadent spread (Australians love to entertain and they do seem to go all out) and provided us weary traveling parents with a nice mental break by putting on a post-dinner DVD for our over-tired and cranky children. Everyone we've met so far have been such wonderful and delightful hosts. We're getting spoiled.

Day 9: Morning Tea Playdate

We had a lovely morning (which spilled on over into lunch!) tea with some friends of M and P's (their former landlords) Dave and Mel. They have a 4.5 year old daughter, Eden, who was a perfect playmate for both Z and A. They also have a kid friendly house, which is so awesome when you are traveling far from home. It was incredibly relaxing to be able to enjoy coffee and fruit and cake while the kids did their own thing, and not need to worry about micromanaging every little thing. Not to mention the chance to form a coherent thought and have a discussion with other grown ups. Plus the kids had a blast, playing in the yard, the sandbox, jumping on the trampoline, chasing the chickens (aka chooks), playing dress up, putting on make up/face paint, and generally being kids. So that was really fantastic for everyone involved.

It's raining now and Amity is napping. Tonight we BBQ, and it is my brother's last night here before he heads back to Hawaii tomorrow morning. On tap for tomorrow is a visit to the farmer's market, attending an Irish session, and a BBQ with neighbors. Sunday we visit with an old camp friend of mine and his family (more kid time!!) and Monday we head to Melbourne for a week.

As of 15:22 Queensland time, Zara has taken 13,815 steps today! Also, it has nearly stopped raining.

Day 8: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Five minutes from Marmee's house is a lovely free-form zoo (see above). In addition to said koalas, we saw a sheep herd and shearing demo, wombats, many bold eastern water dragons, roos, emus, dingos having walkies, and a kookaburra.

Day 7: Byron Bay to Brisbane, nearly detoured

We found a little playground just a short walk from our house swap. The kids enjoyed romping about, and I explored "Baz & Shaz Fruit & Veg" market, picking up some frozen juice pops for the kiddos and a bunch of grapes and stone fruit for our ride back to Brisbane. Since we didn't quite have our act together and there was no real rush to get back, we had some take out Indian food and shared several pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (a rarity in Oz) for lunch. Amity slept through this ice cream excitement, but Zara was introduced (by Uncle Brian) to the concept of eating directly from the pint. She's ready for college now!

The ride back was uneventful until we got a text from Phil and Bri saying there was a traffic jam up ahead. Never ones to sit through traffic when we can take a scenic detour, Wes re-routed us (thanks, iPhone) through some very interestingly named places such as Mooball (many things in town decorated with cow print, including light posts and gas stations), Murwillumbah, and Nerang. Somewhere between the latter two we encountered "Zara Road" (which turns out to lead to a town called Zara, to which we did not go). You can see Zara posing with the eponymous road.

The alternate route lead us on a crazy adventure wherein we encountered a "road closed" sign, but after turning back we noticed another car pass us by. After a few minutes of waiting, they did not turn back so we figured we'd give it a try. Less than 1 km past the road closed sign we encountered a flooded causeway, and a sign that told us in no uncertain terms "do not cross when water is over causeway." Since we'd already began to embrace the spirit of adventure, rather than heed the sign's warning, Wes got out and did a little reconnoitering. He determined that yes, there was water on the causeway, but it wasn't so deep the car couldn't easily pass. So Wes walked across and the rest of us followed in the car. Wes got back in on the other side and we drove along on our merry way, congratulating ourselves on our ingenuity and bravery.

We made it to the Queensland border (and we may or may not have still been in the possession of fruit from New South Wales), and soon realized that no, we had not dodged the proverbial bullet. Those rain storms they have been having didn't just leave behind a mildly flooded causeway, but apparently there had been a rather large avalanche/mudslide on the road we were taking. Seeing some trucks actively working on the scene, we drove past the barrier that warned us "road closed, do not enter" to merely ascertain the best way to proceed, having encountered what seemed to be an unsurmountable obstacle. The friendly gentleman we spoke to let us know that yes, the road was closed, but that if we just proceeded with some caution and waited for the truck in front of us to be loaded with debris, we could follow that truck on through. For the second time that day we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (and are starting to believe all road signs are cautionary rather than absolute!) and so, after a few minutes wait we were on our way once again.

The rest of the drive was considerably less eventful. As in, not at all. We made it back to the M1 and it was a straight, not super traffic-ful shot on into Indooroopilly. We went out for Mexican food (mmmmm...Sangria!) and then... yup, you guessed it. After all that adventuring it was straight to bed (though we're all on Brisbane time now).

Day 6: More Surfing, More Beach

The kids managed to sleep until sometime between 4 and 5 am, so we are definitely adjusting. In the morning Wes and Bri went off for surfing lessons while Zara, Amity, Marmee and I went to the playground in town. The above pictures show what Wes and Bri were up to (thanks to Phil and a telephoto lens) while the following pictures show Zara teaching Amity what she had learned during her surfing lesson the day before. So really, everyone was surfing, again.

We met up with some friends of M and P in the late afternoon for some beach playtime, which was followed by a fish and chips picnic.

The kids enjoyed the musical stylings of a bunch of hippies playing guitar right next to where we were eating (see photos below, guitar playing hippies in background), and charmed the players with their own singing and dancing. In return, one of the guys played the Israel Kamakawiwoʻole version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Totally cliched, but awesome, too.

The Surfboard In The Ocean

Yesterday I learned how to SURF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's REALLY fun!Yesterday we also (tried) went to the bottom of a lighthouse!Then,we went to the beach.While we were there,we saw the lighthouse glowing in the distance.We also heard a lot of birds.They are called Lorikeets and Rosellas.
-Zara

Day 5: Byron Bay

For the fifth time in five days we woke up in a new place. I will review the previous 4 days in far too much detail, possibly even for the most devout no dashiki fans, when I get a bit more down time. For now, day 5 of our adventure began at 5 AM NSW time. They observe DST here, unlike in Queensland. This is our 5th different locale in 6 days (though we crossed the dateline so one of those days doesn't really count). I'll go into far more detail than even the most devout no dashiki fan is interested in about the previous few days, but for now I'll start with where we are.

So, where we are is awake too early in the AM. On balance the kiddos are doing really well, Zara especially. Amity has been pretty prone to meltdown, but considering all she's been through recently, I probably would, too. Everyone's slowly getting over jet lag, it helps that the weather has been gorgeous so we can get outside a lot.

We're in Byron Bay for the next few days, participating in a house swap. On tap for today is a hike out to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, during which we will pass the eastern most point in Australia. Then this afternoon Zara will have her first surfing lesson. Wes and I have yet to decide what we'll do this afternoon. Amity will likely spend a great deal of time digging in sand and splashing in waves.


In the background on this shot of Amity and I walking you can see aforementioned lighthouse.