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Published: August 7th 2008
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So I decided to give blogging a try because what fun are pictures without the stories to go with them! This first one is a little bit of a recap of the last couple of months. Enjoy.
May
Well I finally arrive in Sydney. The flight was pretty uneventful. I highly recommend Qantas (even with their current flight issues). Free alcohol and food and even real silverware! (Yes, they even give free WATER!!! - US Air.) Next on the list was making it through immigration and customs with my piles of luggage. All US flights arrive in Sydney within 30mins of each other which means very long lines at custom. Luckily, I managed to avoid this. In an effort to find the correct line, a customs agent took pity on me and checked me out through the Aussie citizens line. Yeah bonus for me! Off to hotel...
My first few days involved seeing the typical sights (Harbor Bridge, Opera House, Bondi Beach) and recovering from jet-lag. I headed down the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia the second weekend and managed to find a good boat to sail with for the winter series. Very friendly people. Before I knew
it May was over, and Zoe was back from quarantine!
June
June kicked off with the Queen's Birthday Holiday break. I was in Melbourne for work and decided to take the time to explore. I headed off to Philip Island, home of the Penguin Parade. They are the cutest little animals. At the state park, the penguins come in nightly to mate (different penguins each night). During the high periods it can be in the thousands. I arrived in a low time but we still had over 800 penguins! You sit in the grand stands and they march right past you. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed. You will just have to come see them for yourselves. 😊 Other attractions on the island include kangaroos and koalas. I was very excited! The kangaroos managed to elude me, but the koalas were plentiful. And this was only day 1!
Next, the Great Ocean Road. I couldn't wait. Some of the best pictures I had seen from Australia came from this drive. I spent two days driving it and saw some of the best views so far.
I also stopped at the Grampians National Park. I would call these
hills versus mountains, but not much to say about them unfortunately as the weather took a turn and the next day was fogged in. I did however manage to get my first kangaroo picture! They scare so easily that it is quite hard to catch them still.
All in all a great Queen's Birthday weekend.
Middle of June I experienced my first Rugby Union and Aussie Rules Football games. Both were lots of fun after I figured out the basic rules or in AFL case no rules.
The end of June meant a trip to Hunter Valley Wine region approximately 2 hours outside of Sydney. A group of 13 of us headed off for a sure to be fun weekend. Funny enough, not an Aussie among us. Check out the pics of our housing. We found a hotel made out of old railway cars. It was actually a good idea for a big group of people. It had an outside patio that we braved for cooking after a day of wine tasting. It was a little chilly, but I don't think any of us noticed.
There were kangaroos everywhere. The first morning we saw a
mob of kangaroos come across the hotel grounds, some people even saw a joey. We proceeded to see them throughout the entire weekend. Yeah, more pictures have been obtained! Still searching for the wombat. Saw the warning signs all over.
We rented bikes from the winery next to the hotel and road from wine tasting to wine tasting, as total of 7 wineries and way to many tastings to count. Sunday involved taking the car around to collect the wine we bought and then off to the Champagne House for lunch. Did I mention there was a chocolate factory too?!? A fabulous weekend.
July
The heart of winter...here in Sydney it is not that bad. Most days are in mid to high 60s or low 70s with evenings in the 50s and a fair bit of rain. Rain means snow in the mountains. Yeah...time for some snowboarding! A group of 6 of us signed up for a bus trip to the Snowy Mountains. A six hour trip in a cramped party bus, but still good fun. All of us being foreigners from snow areas (Finland, UK, Canada, and the US), we didn't have high hopes for
the snow or mountains in Australia. We were all pleasantly surprised. The Snowy Mountains have had an unusually large amount of snow (by their standards-measured in cm not feet). We even got a powder day on Sunday. A great trip, but not sure it is worth the 6 hours drive and ridiculously high lift prices (more expensive then Aspen!). NZ here I come!
The Sydney Boat Show was this past week right outside of my office. Crazy big. It filled the entire convention hall inside and the harbor outside.
Well I think that catches you up. I am off to NZ next week, Hamilton Island Race Week at the end of the month, and then my parents arrive for a visit....Talk to you again soon.
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Lois Eby
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God Job!
What a great idea. I did see the pictures you sent before but I like the stories to go with. Sounds like you're making the most of your time there, but that isn't a shock to us! Keep the pics and stories coming. Lois