Home again!!

Thanks for all the well wishes on our trip!!
Massive thanks go to my parents for cleaning the house, doing the wash, loading the fridge, prepping two meals for us, AND picking us up at the airport at almost midnight!!! After a month of living like gypsies it was wonderful to see them at the gate.
The return trip was, for the most part, uneventful...not counting the sheer 23hrs of travel.
Jet lag is raging right now and we will probably live like vampires for the next few days...determined to get everyone in bed tonight by 2AM and see where we go.
More to come as we decompress!!


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Location:Home

Next post from LA!

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Location:Sydney

At airport -- mixed emotions

It is w mixed emotions that we wait now for the big plane...sad to be going but ready to be home...

Been an amazing adventure!!


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Location:Sydney

Last day blues...

Wrapping up our last day of the trip. At this point we're all a little tired and almost ready to go home -- except for the daunting return trip!
All the Christmas decorations are up-- which is hard to grasp since it's so warm...but we did gawk at the windows at David Jones and were tempted to go visit Santa but decided to wait until we get home.
Yesterday we went to the power museum and then played down in Darling Harbour most of the day. There are heaps of pubs and restaurants w specials on food and drink at happy hour -- and at this point in the trip funds are running out!! But you can sit, have a drink, eat dinner, watch the kids play, all for 20-40$! Highly recommend for anyone coming here on a budget.


Today was due to rain so we went to the amazing indoor pool just off the park.

And tonight we're back for more!!
The play ground is definitely one of Sydney's best!! Plus there's free WiFi!


We don't leave until 3 tomorrow so maybe we will do more in our last minutes!!
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Darling harbour playground

Having a bit of a play before dinner...easily the best playground in the city



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Sanctuary

Kids and I had a great time at the sanctuary this morning - koalas, a Tasmanian devil, feeding the kangaroos and watching the eels get fed.
Just hanging out at Hungry Jacks for a bit longer before feasting!!


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Location:Tugun QLD

Wifi!!!

I've taken the kids out while Robb & Grannies do the cooking.
Some pics...



















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New pics

Recreating before the climb




Midway up...




Lu post wipe out...




Coffs Harbour strikes again...




Then we took them to a pub...

More laters!!

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Coffs Harbor with details

Hiyas to everyone who's following us!!

We are currently in Coffs but here's a bit of a recap of the past few days...
We had an amazing visit w Uncle Brat and Auntie Sue in Taree / Old Bar after a long few days of driving almost non-stop.

Canberra to Umina was 7hrs, Umina to Taree was a little over 4 and leaving Taree today was a bit rough on us as we're all a bit over the car (or, cahhh).
Uncle Brat & Auntie Sue have done so much work on the farm and the house it was great to see it all come together...and the chickens/roosters/roos/kookaburras/fruit bats all made it that much more exciting!!  They have this amazing fig tree that is almost as wide as their house and attracts the most amazing birds day and night...coupled with the frogs chirping / thumping and then the fruit bats squawking and the stars blowing your mind with how bright they are...we were just gobsmacked taking it all in.

Our caravan was beautifully made up by Sue (who went flat out getting ready for the Braidwood invasion) and suited us perfectly.  Robb found a HUGE huntsman spider in it right as we arrived and was a bit twitchy the whole time ... but we managed :)  We took heaps of photos this morning before we left (yes, Mum, we got all four of us, the tree, the Jacaranda, the kids w Brat, etc -- your Xmas card will be fine)

Kirby The Dog was a huge success and Sam cried and wept as we pulled out the drive the last time, convinced that Kirby missed him as much as he missed Kirby...such a sweet boy.

Coffs is a cool little harbour town with a huge surfer scene...this is really where that culture starts to pick up and people from all over the world come to follow the waves ... "no way Bells is bigger than Waimea, bro!" ... we hiked up the big hill at the end of the harbour just as we did four years ago with Sam and he was a gem not falling and scraping his knees...Lu was a champ and marched up with no worries but started to run on the down and totally wiped out, scraping hands, knees, nose, etc...Coffs Harbour strikes again!!  Don't worry, we copied the photos from last time to well-document the scars along the way.

Tomorrow we'll be in Tugun, with Grannie, and finally able to unpack, unwind, and settle a bit for the "home" part of our trip.

Hope everyone's well and hope to hear from you all as we trek along through the MotherLand.
xoxo

NB. There is this crazy song on the radio right now -- Bom Bom Bom -- stupid song but catchy and EVERYWHERE!!!!

Coffs Harbour!!

Just arrived Coffs
Some pics from Taree -- more later!















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Hello from Old Bar / Taree!!

Safely arrived yesterday afternoon in Old Bar with Uncle Brat & Sue.

The drive from Umina was short and we stopped at the best pie place and found out that Sam & Lu both LOVE meat pies!! Hooray!! One more victory for the Australian blood in their veins!!
Meat pies always make me think of the many summers Lance & I spent in Tugun ~ walking down to the beach from the house and stopping for pies/sausage rolls on our walk back up...many a summer was spent over meat pies, crumpets, veg & toast, tea time w the oldies and spending the summer on the best beaches in the whole world.

Speaking of beaches, we hit Saltwater/Walabi Point this morning and it was gorgeous!!!  No one else on the beach but us ~ I guess when you live in a place where gorgeous beaches are a dime a dozen no one beach is ever croweded.  We waited until low tide to look at all the creatures in the rock pools before heading back to the farm for lunch.

Just now back from an aquatic center with huge water slide in in for Sam & Lu.

Going to sit under the enormous fig tree for tea and listen to the cookaburras cackling at us.

More to come from the Gold Coast tomorrow -- and hopefully some pictures of our last couple of days.

xoxo

Finally!!

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Random pics

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War Memorial, Back on the coast...and random topics

Yesterday was a bit of a long day of driving from Melbourne to Canberra. Once arrived, we ate dinner ate a local pub and went to bed.

On the route, couple of things to note we forgot to highlight in our last post:
- there is a "fruit fly exclusion zone", which means no state-to-state fruit transport...weird, right? Not weirder than the road signs showing cartoon images of fruit flies devouring native plants and spring harvests...clearly not something we deal with at home
- here, you can easily drive more than 250k without seeing a single gas station...a little scary considering we almost ran out of gas yesterday....don't worry, mum, we didn't.
- I actually drove yesterday and today...mostly highway but today was basically on the Sydney equivalent of 495 but up and down around mountains...bit sketchy but I managed!!

We posted about Braidwood earlier but after that we drove back to Canberra to visit the Australian War Memorial and hear my grandfather's oral histories about being a RAF pilot in WW2. Only trouble is that Charles and Camilla are stopping there on their Jubilee tour, which is trouble since tomorrow is Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day). We made it before them but still the memorial was swarmed w people obvy given the historic weekend. We looked around and found an exhibit on G'pa Bear's flying and even a photo of him in the museum but the library wasn't open until later and could not persuade them to open sooner for us...being from America w great-grand babies even. Still, we bought a poppy to wear tomorrow and really enjoyed the Memorial and thinking about him looking down from heaven knowing we were there. "Cheers! Here's to us, to those like us, damn few, and most of them are dead!"

Safely arrived in Umina, about an hour north of the city, on the coast as we wind down the major driving portion of our trip in favour of time w the fam -- we arrive at Uncle Brat's day after next and Grannie on the 15th.

Umina camp park is a LOT like Beth Page, Keith & Janice, we hope you're reading!! All the same trappings but of course on the other side of the world. Definitely made us think of our weekend with you!!

Hoping to post pictures tomorrow!!


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Location:Umina NSW Australia

Braidwood NSW Australia & War Memorial

We rushed out of Canberra this morning to trek ~75k to visit Braidwood, a trendy little village. We ate breckie at the Braidwood Bakery and bought a copy of the Braidwood Times. The village was very yuppie... Considering we've driven through a million little towns like that...lots of young hipsters walking around. Photos to follow...Internet has been spotty/slow...might have to go into a Maccas for free wifi to upload them all...and grab a lamb burger while we're at it!

Now back to Canberra to visit the War Memorial and hear Grandpa Bear's oral histories as a young pilot during WW2. Only problem is that the Royals are here on the Diamond Jubillee tour and will be visiting the Memorial in honor of Remembrance Day, which is tomorrow...wish us luck that it's not too crazy to get in/ out and on our way to Umina along the coast north of Sydney...
More later!


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Location:Braidwood / Canberra

Off like a herd of turtles...

Traffic here is AWFUL!!!! Worse than DC and as nonsensical... It's 10AM on a Friday and we've been stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on every road on our way out of town.

In other news, tired drivers or accidents from truckies falling asleep at the wheel must be a real problem here. The state of Victoria spent 16M$AUD on a campaign to decrease this -- which includes some awesome road signs to encourage drivers to take breaks and not die.

Some of our favorites:
- Weary? Powernap now!
- A microsleep can KILL in seconds! (our guess is that a micronap is a snooze?..)
- OPEN YOUR EYES!!! STAY ALIVE!!!
- break the drive - stay alive


Also, there are a lot of speed cameras but there are heaps of signs warning you when one is coming up...so you have plenty of time to slow down before you get caught on film...

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Location:Trying to get out of Melbourne

One week in - wake up and decide to go to Canberra

One week into our trip!
Today we weren't really sure where we were headed exactly...only knowing that we need to make some miles up to get back up the coast to Taree.
We decided to get to Canberra today to go to the War Memorial and hear my grandfathers oral histories and make our stop at Braidwood Australia.
More later but right now we need to hit the road!
Love to all!


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Location:Melbourne

Dinner with Katherine, Melbourne parks, and the pool

We had an amazing dinner with an old friend and her kids last night out in Brighton, a suburb just outside the city.

Katherine Benson and her kids, Ted and Nicolette, welcomed us into their home. The kids had a great play and never even fought!! It was so amazing to watch our kids play and to reconnect after such a long time!!

This morning we went up to the Executive Lounge for breckie and Robb and I threatened the kids with painful torture if they misbehaved. Though they weren't 100% angels, the woman running the lounge complimented us on how well behaved they were! Will wonders never cease!!

After breckie we walked across the street to the park, saw the fairies tree and had a bit of a play -- our tour of Australian playgrounds continues!

The hotel has an outdoor heated pool and the kids got out more wiggles while Robb and I caught up on election news...no political commentary, promise.

We are having abut of a flop before meeting up with Katherine and going to the Queen Victoria Market and a bit of a walk around.

Plotting now the next few days of our trip as we work our way back up to Taree and Uncle Brat!,

Hope everyone is well!
Photos to follow when Internet is better!


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Location:Melbourne

G'day & other things

Yesterday, driving from Merimbula to Melbourne, I said G'day at least three times in response to someone saying it to me on the street. People really say that, not just Mic Dundee.

Also, language equation:
"ya's" = "y'all"
As in, "how long are ya's in town?" "would ya's like sugar in your coffee?" "see ya's laters!"

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch at a playground about half way through the 7hr drive and found this huge zip line!! Sam was brave enough to try right away and even Lu had a turn while I cringed inside

At a local coffee shop along the way, I ordered Robb and I two coffees, a long black and a flat white, and the man next to me (who had just ordered a sausage roll, delish!) gave me his change to "help w the cost". Crazy, right?!

The Hilton here upgraded us to a suite with gorgeous views of the park. Internet is a bit spotty so pictures will have to wait.

More to come as we take the metro out to meet up with an old friend and her family.
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Location:Melbourne

Someone please post an update!
News is spotty here on results mostly bc we've been in the car all day!


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Location:Just arrived Melbourne - what's happening w election?!?

Merimbula

We left Sydney at 9:30. We arrived at Merimbula at 5:30. Slightly longer than we had expected, but here are some funny notes from the drive:



[Robb driving on the wrong side]




[kids in back of minivan]

* Robb saw a dead kangaroo on the side the road and said, "look, kids, a kangaroo!!!" -- thankfully they missed it.
[no picture-- you're welcome.]

* We got stuck in a huge traffic jam when a lorry carrying hay took a hairpin turn in the mountains a little too tight and crashed, spilling his hay and petrol all over the highway -- this was hilarious, mostly because all the drivers stuck got out of their cars and walked down to the site to see what had happened...we got out but didn't go down...the guy behind us got out of his olive VW bug, trekked down and back up -- I asked him if we were going to be okay -- "She's a real beaut down there , al'right"-said the toothless man, right before he showed me the video he took of the wreck on his mobile.



[picture of people out of their cars and our awesome mini-van.]


* We finally turned around and went the wrong way back up the two-lane highway like most of the other drivers around us and decided we should wait to visit Braidwood Australia until our way back from Melbourne.

* Merimbula is a small little town on the Sapphire Coast - we'll be here for two days before driving down the rest of the way to Melbourne.

Sam and Lu have finally crashed and we're close to being on the right time!
Thinking about the States with the big election tomorrow...

More to come from the adventure!

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In the car on our way south!!

That's Robb driving on the wrong side!!



Kids in the mini van!!

Love to everyone!!
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Little known facts...

Revolving doors go the wrong way
Up escalators on are the left

WAY more cool than the toilet water flushing the opposite way!!!

Packing now to get our rental car and head out!!
More later!


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Yes, we made it!!!

Barely!!!










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Are we there yet?

Right after we left the house at 5AM on our way to the airport, Lulu asked if we were "almost there" -- not by a long shot Lu!!! Thanks to the most amazing friend in the world, Janice, for getting up with us and taking all 3000lbs of luggage to the airport!! We couldn't have done it without you!




Our connection in Atlanta was only 40mins and we made it fine. As we were boarding, they told us there wasn't any more overhead room and we needed to check our carry-ons...which we did. When we got on the plane, not only was there room but the whole back section was wide open!! Robb went racing up to try and get our stuff but it was too late -- stupid airlines!!




We've been in LA in a few hours and have had some time to play at the hotel pool before gearing up for the big plane. A little nap went a bit longer than planned but we're up and moving!!

Next post from Sydney!!!

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Who's awake at 4AM?!?!

We are!!! Getting the last things together!!


Let two days of travel begin!!
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Someone's ready...

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