G’day and Happy (belated) Easter from Down Under!

(the photo above is the view from the balcony of the hotel we just arrived at in Surfer’s Paradise…)

 We’ve finished up our adventuring in Sydney, and we’re now headed north to the Gold Coast of Queensland!  We’ve had a terrific time here in Syndey, covering a huge amount of ground… and to quote Kristina “we’re holding up a lot better than I expected”.

 To satiate your curiosity, here’s what we’ve done so far:

 Wed 4/4               Arrival at 6:30am…
Ferry ride around Sydney harbor, check into hotel room at 2pm, swimming and then room service for dinner!  We stayed up until about 8pm, we rock! 

Thurs 4/5             Sydney sights in the Sun
After waking up at 4am or so and waiting for the sunrise, we spent a *gorgeous* morning hitting the major sights…  the Opera House, the Centre Tower in the morning,  and Darling Harbour and the Aquarium in the afternoon.  Alexander in particular LOVED the aquarium… he thought the platypus was funny, thought the sharks were “fantastic” (yes, that’s a quote), but his FAVORITE activity was running zig-zag up and down the switchback ramps down to the underwater clear-tunnels as fast as he could ahead of mom and dad, laughing insanely the entire time.

Fri 4/6                   Blue Mountains
We rented a car and headed out of town at around 7:30am, and spent the whole day touring in the Blue Mountains.  Alexander and Kristina slept for the 2 hour car ride all the way to the “Zig-Zag Railway” where we spent about 3 hours riding on an authentic Steam train and a diesel.  Mr. Boogs was in heaven on all these trains… yowza… and he didn’t even care that he was wet most of the time (rain) and cold to boot  (wearing shorts because his long pants got wet in an accident…)

Sat 4/7                  Joe Climbs the Bridge, we all visit “The Easter Show”
The Sydney Bridge Climb is a pretty famous tourist attraction… but once a month they do climbs at dawn and we were lucky enough to be here on that day… so of course Joe POUNCED!  The coolest part was being in the under-the-bridge steel rigging in total darkness, lit only by headlamps, as the last of the early morning rain dripped musically from all the girders.  Of course, the sunrise view wasn’t bad either.  

That afternoon, we headed to Sydney’s version of the Puyallup Fair (we are not kidding – check it out online), called “The Easter Show”.    Easter is a big holiday here, there are a number of public holidays and everyone travels, so this seemed like the place to get our fats on with all the local barbie-loving Sydneysiders.  Yum.  (And, btw, they had a cool fashion show here and fruit bats flying around that were as big as my arm… take that, Puyallup!)

Sun 4/8                 Bronte Beach to Bondi Beach
We had gorgeous weather for a day out on Sydney’s beaches, and we did a two hour walk from Bronte beach to Bondi beach, enjoying the sights and stops all along the way.  Our newest family tradition – baseball on the beach.  I think we’ve now done this at 3 beaches and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. 

Mon 4/9               Opera House Tour, Fly to Surfer’s Paradise the Gold Coast (and how good does that sound!)
Check-out day, and we spent a quick hour finally viewing the inside of the opera house.  Gorgeous.  As I write this, we’re on a plane headed north to Queensland, to Surfer’s Paradise.  Thar’s Theme Parks up there…  sounds like the Orlando of Australia.  Can’t wait!

We’ll be in touch… hope you all are well and had a great Easter!

Greetings from the tropics of Northern Queensland…

Alexander explores the desolate Daintree Rainforest… the farthest north (most tropical and remote) point on our trip.
 

Wow, we sure have done A LOT since we last wrote to all of you.  I know from some of your pleading emails that you are just DYING to hear more about our travels, so here’s a little taste that might satiate you.   As I write, we are sitting on a plane that just departed Cairns and are headed for the Whitsunday islands off the Northeast Coast.   We’ll be spending 3 days on Hayman Island – and then NEWS FLASH – we have extended our trip a few days to add on Alice Springs and Ayers Rock as a 3 day extension.  We’re having such a great time, we figured we might as well take advantage of the fact that we’re here in Australia (and almost certainly won’t be back for 5 or more years) to go see Uluru.   We now return to the US on Monday morning instead of on Saturday.

Here’s a summary of our activities from the last week:

Gold Coast / Surfers Paradise,   Brisbane

Tues 4/10            Amusement park and surfing day… what a combo!
Our last email showed you the spectacular panoramic view of Surfers Paradise beach from our hotel—and in many respects this area sure reminded me of my home… kind of the “Orlando of the Southern Hemisphere” …  so what better to do than hit a local amusement park!    We spent the day at Coomera Dreamworld,  a full-fledged theme park complete with some pretty cool thrill rides.  (You’ll have to wait ‘til we get back to see the video shots.  J)  After a day of fun, tired Mommy and Alexander rested up at the hotel while Daddy managed to rent a surfboard for the very last (and very windy) hour of 4pm-5pm, where I (and this is a real quote) “got my ass totally kicked”.  Oh well…. couldn’t visit Surfers Paradise without seeing whether a summer of wakesurfing really helps (it doesn’t). 

Wed 4/11            Brisbane
After a nice breakfast right on the beach and some hanging around the shops, we drove one hour from Surfers Paradise to Brisbane, and then spent a nice afternoon hanging out by the pool, getting in a run, and napping (guess who did which things).   In the evening, we had a terrific stroll and dinner along the river in Brisbane—really a *beautiful* park and restaurant area – and Alexander and Daddy spent a good hour after dark splashing around the fountains and pools in the park.  Try that in Seattle in April… 

Thurs 4/12           Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (Brisbane),  travel to Cairns/Port Douglas
Although we’d already seen Kangaroos and Koalas a few times (!), we’d heard nice things about the Koala Sanctuary right outside Brisbane… and wow, were we glad we visited before catching our flight to Cairns.   The area was like a reserve, where Koalas were quite accessible and where the Kangaroos were totally free in a giant enclosure.  We took a MILLION photos of Alexander (ok, and Mommy & Daddy too) playing with the Kangaroos. 

Quote of the day:   Alexander, riding in his carseat, looks out through the car windshield to the car in front of us on the freeway and exclaims with great alarm “Mommy, Daddy!!  There’s nobody driving that car!!!”   (if you don’t figure this out send me email and I’ll explain. J)

 Fri 4/13                 Great Barrier Reef aboard Quicksilver
Not only did we find the name fitting, but the engineering and natural setting were impressive as well… check this out online…  the folks at Quicksilver have installed a permanent “platform” on the Great Barrier Reef (Agincourt reef) complete with snorkeling gear, dive boat(s), submersibles, underwater viewing area, and helicopter platform.   You ride the hi-speed catamaran 90 minutes to get to the platform, and then play for 3 hours, and then return.  It was a great chance for me (Joe) to get in a scuba dive—cuttlefish!  Giant clams! -- and for Kristina to do some snorkeling (no Scuba when pregnant!).  Even Alexander had fun in the submarine and trying out a bit of snorkeling himself (no snorkel, just a mask).   Although we had a heavy rainshower for awhile, the sun was out at beginning and end of our aquatic expedition.   For dinner that night?  Nothing like a delicious Kangaroo filet after a dive on the GBR.  (Not kidding.) 

Sat 4/14                Cairns Rainforest – Skyrail to Kuranda and the Barron Gorge
Having done the reef, we decided we needed to check out the landscape.  Our car rental secured, the next destination was the Barron Gorge just north of Cairns.  They have MILES of skyride that takes you up and over the rainforest, to a village called Kuranda where we ate a nice lunch (Joe had a Croc Burger… yes, that’s real) and where Alexander got to visit the Australia Butterfly Sanctuary to see the huge blue Ulysses butterflies live.  Wait ‘til you see the t-shirt he picked out  … it was his favorite by far.

 

Sun 4/15              North to the Daintree Rainforest and Mossman River Gorge
With rental car, we journeyed to our farthest north, most desolate point—the Daintree Rainforest.  (Keep in mind this is a close to Papua New Guinea as we would get!)    Getting there didn’t involve JUST driving the car, we had to load onto a cable-pulled ferry for the 15 minute trip across the croc infested Daintree River.  We toured the rainforest on aluminum platforms and looked for Cassowaries, Ulysses Butterflies, and giant praying mantis bugs.  Lunch in the Daintree Village?  ‘Roo-Burger.  (Totally serious.)  In the late afternoon we hiked into the Mossman Gorge where Alexander and Daddy swam in the river.  Our brave little man wouldn’t go under, but Daddy did…  and we got a MILLION great photos of the boogster sitting on a giant rock.  You will all be forced to suffer through seeing them at some point.  J

… and now we have arrived at Hayman Island after departing our hotel room at 4:45am … it took us (1) a bus ride (2) a plane flight, (3) a boat ride (nice boat!), and (4) a van ride to get here.  But this place is nice….   more coming later!!

Good on y’a… Regards from the Red Centre

Uluru glowing in the magic-hour sunrise yesterday morning.


Sigh…  we have had a fantastic and wildly diverse last week and we’ve now begun our 2-day long trip home.  Just an hour ago I looked backwards out the plane window at Uluru and Kata Tjutu as we took off headed for Sydney.  Alexander, in the seat in front of me, sung out “goodbye Ayers Rock!  Goodbye!”

I know you all have been dying to hear the run-down, so here it is:

Hayman Island, Whitsundays

Mon 4/16            Hayman Island… beach time
Our arrival day was a glorious, sunny relaxing day.  (Jealous, eh?)  We had a nice lunch outside at their beach barbecue—although we had to protect Alexander from the swarms of wild cockatoos (yes, cockatoos!) that swarmed for free food after anyone left their table unguarded.  Aah, the untamed tropics!

Tues 4/17            Hayman Island… Whitsunday Cruises day on the Great Barrier Reef
The weather in the Whitsundays was SUPERB, and we took advantage by spending a day out on a platform in a completely different part of the Great Barrier Reef.  This presented another diving opportunity for Joe, who got the unique opportunity to cuddle a bit with a giant wrasse.  Kristina got in quite a bit of snorkeling and Alexander literally went down the waterslide on the reef over 20 times.

Wed 4/18            Hayman Island…  Seaplane to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island
Whitsunday Island is the largest in its chain, and the entire island is reserved as a parkland, with visitors arriving only by private boat or plane.  We chose the more dramatic latter, of course.   And we loved our glimpse into the island-pilot lifestyle:  pontoons up, soaring majestic mountain views with turquoise reef and pearl white-sand beach necklaces, and then a quick splash down for a swim or a game of baseball.    Ours happened on world-famous Whitehaven Beach, frequently voted one of the 10 best in the world.  Like powerded sugar between our toes…

Alice Springs, Uluru (Ayers Rock)

Thurs 4/19           Borrowed time…  diversion to Alice Springs.
We had planned to return to Seattle starting 4/19, but we were so enthralled by the immense variation of Australia that we figured the experience wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Soul of the place…  the “Red Centre” where Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjutu erupt out of the vast red ocean of sand.  It took some doing to change flights, get hotels, etc, but it was well worth it to have a 5am wake-up call followed by a boat ride to the airport, plane ride to Alice Springs and then to look forward to… 

Fri 4/20                 5 Hour Drive:  Alice Springs to Ayers Rock. 
After a quiet afternoon in the sleepy town of Alice Springs  (not kidding – very few people, probably MOSTLY tourists and aboriginals.. and some COOL artwork) we rose before dawn to start the 5 hour drive through nothin-but-desert to Ayers Rock.  Imagine this…  a 23-week woman pregnant with twins in the (right) front seat, a singing, counting, questioning 3-year old in the back, and CRAZY JOE behind the wheel, driving on the left, on a one-lane desert road WITH NO SPEED LIMIT.     Can you say YAH BAAAAABY!?   200 km/h?   Heaven.

We had a pretty uneventful drive—if you include stopping for a ride on a camel (!) uneventful--  and made it to Ayers rock in time for lunch in the wilderness and then hiking until the sunset.   What a day.
 

Sat 4/21                Uluru Sunrise; Beef (and more) on the Barbie
It’s our daily habit now to get up well before dawn… which serves the dual-purpose of getting us in the desert when it’s still dark and starting our re-acclimatization to PDT.  We had a gorgeous sunrise this morning (photo at top) and then we basically took it easy the rest of the day with some hiking, sightseeing, and then some swimming.  We capped off the evening with a visit to the Pioneer BBQ, where the menu covers your range of Bush meats…  RAW of course… and you hit the  Barbie.   Only some of you have expected that Joe could be “king of the croc skewer” or “master of the emu sausage” but it turns out to be true.  The aussie diet lends itself well to his low-carb bias.  J 

Sun 4/22              Sunrise, hike, head home.
And that brings us to today.  We fly back to Sydney where we should see our first in-room internet connection in 6 days, and then tomorrow at 1pm we start our 20+ hour journey home.

We’ll be in touch when we get home, and of course I’ll have a whole BEVY of photos posted on Belfiore.org shortly thereafter.   Hope your last 3 weeks have been just a FRACTION of as fun as ours have!

I know you’re dying for them, so here’s some stats:

                Number of flights:                       10 so far, will be 12 total
                Number of diff’t hotels:              8
                Number of pounds gained:         NOT TELLING!  But Kristina has BARELY edged Joe out on this one

Good night!

View out our seaplane window onto the miles-long Whitehaven Beach,  Whitsunday Island

Future Australia Trip Advice

Some of you asked about what places we stayed, things we did that we would do again and which ones we wouldn't.  Here's a quick summary!

 ·         Sydney, 5 days/nights:  Quay West Suites, Circular Quay as a hotel and staying for 5 days were both great.  In fact, Quay West Suites was pretty much a PERFECT hotel for us as a family travelling with small child, with the morning breakfast included (an easy and good breakfast) + separate bedroom for putting kids to sleep + laundry.  Great view, great access to the city.  Sydney in general was super fun, we loved having a car for a little while to go to Blue Mountains, but did great with public transportation being right by Circular Quay.  The location was absolutely perfect… we’d do this again exactly the same way.

·         Gold Coast, 2 days/nights:  Loved the beaches here, loved the “holiday” feel of the whole place, it was a great and fun change from Sydney.  We’d definitely stay at Surfers Paradise Marriott again or we might consider the Sheraton Mirage because it’s closer to the beach. But the Marriott was terrific… only downside at all was that the super-neat pool water was pretty cold…    it was fun to go to an amusement park there and fun to surf.  Might have been good to have 3 days instead of just 2.

·         Brisbane, 1.5 days, 1 night:  We were glad we spent a night here -- we COULD easily have enjoyed spending 2 nights.  Brisbane surprised us…it’s a great city…especially the area along the river.   Hotel (Quay West Suites again) was great… better pool than we expected and great sleeping arrangement with laundry.  Also, we really enjoyed the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary – it was a great place to see and interact with koalas and kangaroos.  We ended up deciding to go there instead of the Australia Zoo just because the Zoo was farther north and because it didn’t seem as “natural” as the sanctuary.  We *really* liked how open this place was—it didn’t seem like a zoo, it seemed more like a preserve.  Would definitely recommend it to other people.

·         Port Douglas, 3 nights.  If we could do it over again, we would NOT stay at the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas – the beach OR the pool there aren’t nearly as nice as the gold coast or Hayman.  In fact, we avoided spending time at the hotel because of that – we didn’t go to the pool, the beach, or eat at any of the hotel property restaurants with so many neat places in the town of Port Douglas.  We’d MAYBE consider staying at the Coconut Beach Rainforest Lodge in the Daintree Rainforest (you may have suggested this to us), but of course that’s much farther north and would have made getting around a lot harder.  Not totally clear to us what would be a “perfect” hotel in that area.  We did drive through Palm Cove and thought it was super nice, so maybe a slightly better choice for people like us would be staying in Palm Cove.  I also think that for this part of the country having a rental car to/from the airport would be better, as we ended up renting one pretty much the whole time since so much of what’s fun to see is a drive -- but then we couldn’t use it to get to/from the airport.

·         Hayman Island, 3 nights – this was our favorite hotel.  We had a very good time here.  It was terrific.  Would have liked to have spent one or two more days here.  Beautiful place.

·         Alice Springs, 1 night – would probably skip Alice Springs, although it was fun to go there, see the city, and then do the long lonely desert drive to Uluru.  We did see some aboriginal paintings in some of the galleries which we liked and might end up buying-- it seemed like the BEST place for shopping for Aboriginal art was Alice Springs, actually.  There was a lot of it there, and not much of anything else.  As an aside.. the Thai restaurant in the Crowne Plaza hotel was great.  Hotel was fine… but nothing to remark about.

·         Ayers Rock, 2 nights – Sails in the Desert was a good hotel.  Would stay here again. 2 days was about perfect for this area.

·         Sydney at Exit, 1 night.  Medina Grand Harbourside was a very nice hotel – as nice or nicer than Quay West, though both were really perfect for us with a separate bedroom and laundry facilities in the room.  Glad we stayed here for our last night.  We enjoyed this location and proximity to restaurants… it was perfect to have been at Circular Quay on the way in and at Darling Harbour on the way out.  This made it easy to experience both parts of the city.