Sydney: The Highlights

Disclaimer: Words and pictures really don't do justice to Sydney. It's far too beautiful. But we'll try anyway. Here are a few highlights from our trip.

We started our two day whirlwind tour of Sydney down by the water with a quick trip to the fish market to pick up a fresh catch for our dinner.



Then it was off to the botanical gardens where we had lunch in the park.

With bats...not as bad as it looks.

Too bad we didn't have better views!



Sydney Icons: The Bridge, The Opera House, The Harbour.

Zach and Dad took time to ham it up in front of the Opera House.

And Zach wanted to climb every step in front of it.

And there are a lot of steps!

Day Two: Zach meets a mini sting ray. He's fascinated by the fish and sharks and dugongs at the aquarium!

Then we took a quick ferry ride through the harbour. The boys seemed to enjoy themselves.

Eventually we ended up back at the Opera House and took a tour. This was Mom's favorite part.

The bright purple carpet was worth the price of the tour ticket!

And Zach found a room where he could demonstrate his speed and acrobatics.

On our last evening in Sydney we watched a full moon rise over the city. If only we had more time here. Guess we'll need to add it to our list of places to come back to! (It's getting kind of long.)

Road Trip to Sydney, Part III: Almost there...

Holy sheep, Batman!! North Dakota isn't the only place with giant animals lining the highway. We stumbled across this large merino sheep on the road to Sydney, and low and behold there was a wool store inside. Anna just couldn't pass it up.




After that experience Dad and Zach needed a break near the ocean.




Our little angel!




We took the long and windy road up the coast to Sydney. The views were stunning.



Eventually we made it to Syndey where we took an evening stroll and enjoyed the lights of the big city.

Road Trip to Sydney, Part II: Can Do Can-Bra

After our drive through the mountains we had time for a brief stop in the nation's capital, Canberra (pronounced Can-Bra). It is a relatively modern city, just over a century old, that the guide book describes as a mix between crop circles and suburbia. It's an accurate description but it really is a lot better than it sounds. The highlight of our stop was Parliment House pictured above and below.

The building itself is modern, impressive, and surprisingly accessible to the public.

For those of you not familiar with the parlimentarian process Down Under, there is nothing civilized or polite about Australian politics. We listen to clips of the latest parlimentarian debates most days on the radio and it almost always involves two people yelling at each other and saying unflattering things about their opponent. In the background the person assigned to keep control of the proceedings is always yelling, "Order! Order!" to which the politicians raise their voices even louder. Makes American politics seem tame.

This is the chamber where all the yelling happens. It was quiet the day we were there; it was the weekend and nobody, including the politicians, works on the weekend here.



"G'day Mr. Prime Minister. How're you going, mate? Yes, I have a question. Do you like my kangaroo?"

Zach enjoying the views from the roof of Parliment House.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted to in Canberra so we made a detour there on our way back home from Sydney a few days later.

We stopped at the American Embassy hoping to stand on some American soil. But we didn't have official business so they wouldn't let us in. They wouldn't even let us take any pictures of the complex itself. Initially we were just going to settle for a picture in front of the boring sign.

But then Mom snuck a picture out the back window of the car while Dad packed things up in the trunk. The buildings were classic colonial style--red brick, white shutters, slate roof--and could have been taken straight out of Virginia. Very un-Australian.

Despite our failed attempts at touching American soil and taking a few snapshots of our native embassy, we instead managed to enjoy the Australian turf and snapped a few nice shots of our little American Down Under with his kangaroo in front of the old Parliment House.

All in all we thought Canberra was a can-do city and would love to make it back there again someday. Maybe when Zach is old enough to remember. Hopefully he won't still be dragging his kangaroo around everywhere by then. Gotta love Mr. Kanga!

Road Trip to Sydney, Part I: The Snowies

We decided to take the long way to Sydney this past weekend with a drive through the mountains. We passed through a lot of country that reminded us of Montana: trout streams, cattle country, and alpine peaks. We were in the heart of The Man From Snowy River country.



The town names were a bit unfamiliar, however.

As were the road signs. No, we didn't see an emu along the road. There were plenty of wallabies and kangaroos, though. Some alive, some not so alive.

Zach stopped to take in the views.

Maybe someday he'll tell us Montana reminds him of Australia (rather than the other way around).

Standing Ovation

This one's for Auntie Laura. The Sydney Opera House must have been inspiring for Zach!

Playing in the Park

We took Zach to the park across the street from our house tonight for some fun.

He didn't care for the swing. Never cared for the swing as a little babe either.

The monkey bars weren't bad.

But the slide was the best!!

Here is a live action shot of the slide. It's a little long, but he was having so much fun!!

And for those of you who might have noticed his attire, Zach was wearing jeans and a sweater for the first time in almost four months. No, the seasons aren't changing, yet. We're heading to the mountains this weekend en route to Sydney and figured we had better find out what fits him in case the temperatures are colder up there. The last time we were in the mountains it was over 100 degrees! Should be a little cooler this time.

Little Penguin

In the penguin world, Daddies look after their chicks. So it is in the Maki family. They even waddle like penguins!