Amazing Australia

Australia is FAR away! But since we currently live as close as we'll probably ever be, we decided to stop there on our way out of Indonesia to enjoy our first bout of winter in 2 years. After bundling ourselves in sweatshirts and scarves, we explored the bustling streets of Melbourne. How wonderful it was to walk through a busy city without having
to negotiate our way past obscene odors, deadly mopeds, and bizarre bugs. Melbourne felt much like downtown San Francisco with it's cutting-edge fashion, small community parks, and exclusive price tags. But the real reason to visit Melb met us at the Aquarium. Anouk's first "true love,"  Harry James arrived with his Australian intonation where he and his mom, Rebecca, were all decked out in
their winter woolies (my kids, unfortunately, only had their tropical clothes and a sweatshirt to suffice). Throughout the day, we explored the aquarium and some fascinating art exhibits around the city. The kids explored light as it was harnessed and shared by different artists in a variety of ways. My favorite memory, though, was when the kids decided to lie on a bit of AstroTurf grass where they stared up at the gorgeous display of clouds and chatted about the pictures hidden within. Ahh... to be young!

After saying goodbye to our friends in Melbourne, we began our slow-paced drive to Sydney. We decided to explore some of the interior and coastline on our journey. Our first day on the road took us to the city of Bairnsdale, a small city of about 11,000 people. During our tour around, we stopped at St. Mary's Church which is known as the "Sistine Chapel of Victoria." The church has become famous for its murals which were painted during the 1930s by an out of work Italian artist named Francesco Floreani. Though it pales in comparison to the sight in Rome, it's not bad for this little "hole-in-the-wall" city.

From there, we drove to the city of Bega, a small city in New South Wales. Bega is in the heart of Australia's dairy land and is vastly important to those of us who live in Indonesia (who like to eat cheese) as that is where our cheese is imported from. To track our food from table to farm, we visited the Bega Heritage Center where we learned about the milking process and cheese making methods that began in this region during the 1850s.

The next stop on our journey was a trip to Buchan Caves. During our hour tour of the cavern, we learned that the stalactites and stalagmites of the caves began forming over 400 million years ago when underground rivers burrowed through the limestone rock in the area. It was truly a site that won't soon be forgotten especially when you take into consideration that our little claustrophobic kid didn't freak out...too much!

After escaping the wonderfully warm caves and returning to a cold and overcast morning, we were confronted by our first collection of wild kangaroos. The quiet and graceful creatures are far bigger than we anticipated but we could have stayed watching them for hours as if we were on safari. Unfortunately, we were freezing our bums off and decided to get moving on.

The following day, we made our way to the Illawarra Fly Treetops walk. Anouk was pretty excited about hiking through the rainforest and then onto the Fly where we were able to see the forest below from our canopy height of 25m. Watch the video below to see the beauty for yourself:

After our treetop journey we had no plans between this area of New South Wales and Sydney. We decided to go wherever our heart desired. As we drove, we saw a sign that read: "The Famous Pie Shop so we decided to stop for a snack. The "famous" Robertson Pie Shop sells mouth-watering mini-pies that are both sweet and savory. We fought our way to the front of the line and ordered individual-sized (and incredibly delicious) lemon meringue and Rocky Road pies. If you are ever in the region... stop by. They are yum-mo!

The next attraction that caught our eye was a sign for Fitzroy Falls. We parked and walked through a bit of the Morton National Park until we reached the platform from which we could view the amazing 80m drop that dumps water into the Kangaroo Valley. Unfortunately, enjoying this beautiful natural view from so close (this picture is from another vantage point rather far away) chilled us to the bone so we decided to pack it up and move on to our last stop--Sydney!

Sydney was a wonderful treat. We booked an apartment overlooking Darling Harbour and enjoyed the view from the warmth of our room. When we were adventurous enough, we cloaked ourselves in our "winter" clothes and enjoyed a glorious walk around the harbour. Our last full day in Sydney included a tourists-favorite trip to the Opera House and Sydney Harbour. From our initial vantage point under the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House looked quite miniscule in size, but our investigation up close proved otherwise. As we departed the Opera House we looked up to see a skywriter repeating the word "HOPE" in the crystal blue sky. It certainly left the visitors, and ourselves, with a true sense of peace.

And that would have concluded our peaceful and low-key trip to Australia had we not spent days bribing and cajoling Anouk to force out her loose tooth. After days of hearing her moan the pain and avoid wiggling it, mama grabbed her mouth and pulled. Clearly, this picture shows that she isn't too upset by the event.

Now... to reflect and reminisce our time in California. Will write again soon.

"Worldwide Fish & Chips Challenge" Scores:
Melbourne (with HJ): 5/10
Sydney (greasy but good): 7/10
Fremont (while watching the Euro cup): 9/10

For more photos of our journey, click through the Flickr stream below.