Making it:)

We are just getting back into our "normal" routine here in Sydney.  Term 3 is up and going for Carter.  I know we are only a week into it, but I think he seems a little more focused this term.  He began the last term coming down from being off for a month and a half and still getting used to so many things that went along with the big move.  He is much more established in our Australia life starting this term.  Sometimes he seems so grown up to me, and then sometimes  I think he acts young for his age.  I guess that is typical.  He got a haircut this weekend and that always seems to make kids look older.  

Carter after his haircut.

Aubrey is really growing up as well.  She is still very shy when meeting new people or going into new situations.  But, I can tell she is getting much more comfortable here in Australia.  She has started to talk to people that she sees on a regular basis (i.e. other moms and kids at Carter's school).  Getting her into a preschool has been a bit of a problem since the move.  She usually goes to Mosman Occasional Care for a few hours once or twice a week though.  They do operate a true preschool for 4 year olds there 1 day a week.  Today she was offered a spot in the preschool program.  Plus, her "best friend", Tilly, also goes to this preschool.  I have a good feeling about this.  Even though she is in a lot of activities, she is really getting used to Mom being close almost all the time.  Since she will be starting Kindy in about 6 months, I want to make sure she will be successful in that environment. 

No big adventures to report on in this post. We did not do much this last weekend.  The weather was kind of cloudy/rainy and I think we were all ready to rest after a busy week.  Carter and I hung out at Warringah Mall on Saturday while Aubrey and Sean went to a car show.  I know that seems a little reversed from the norm, but Carter was dying to get to the mall as his allowance was burning a hole in his pocket and Aubrey was in need of some Dad time.  It worked out pretty well.

Sunday we went up to our favorite farmer's market in Frenchs Forest, even though the weather was not the best.  On the way home, we decided to try an American restaurant called American Heroes that we had seen in Mosman, the suburb we live in.  The restaurant was such a disappointment.  Sean and I both agreed that it was the worst meal we have had since coming to Australia.  We certainly hope that is not what Australians think American food tastes like!  Our first clue should have been that the people running the restaurant were not American.  That is rarely a good sign for any restaurant advertising themselves as representing a certain nationality of food.

Sean and I have both been dealing with a little homesickness lately.  Some of it stems from a few issues we are having with the apartment we are renting.  We thought we had a nice, beautiful, modern apartment.  The building is only about 4-5 years old.  However, the building was designed very poorly and we do not have good landlords.  There is a water problem from the roof and there is water leakage around the windows.  Recently, we have realized there is mold growing in the corner of our bedroom.  That may explain why I am waking up every morning feeling so stuffy.  Additionally, our central heat has not been working.  The central heat/air con was a big reason why we chose this apartment; they are not that common in Sydney.  Even though it does not get THAT cold here, it does get pretty chilly in the apartment at times.  We first contacted the landlord about this problem a month ago.  FINALLY, they sent someone to fix it today.  The bad news is, there is a leak in the system somewhere between our apartment and the roof and there is no way to fix it without doing a major construction project.  I guess the good news is, this is not our problem in the long term since we don't actually own this apartment.  The bad news is, we are only 3 months into a year long lease and we are already tired of the problems with this place.  After owning our own home for almost 10 years, it is so hard to go back to renting.  

Okay, I will quit complaining now.  There are other good, fun things we are planning for.  We are hopefully booking plane tickets later this week for our first visit back home.  We are planning to get to Kansas City around the end of September.  We are timing it around Carter's next school holidays.  We will be home for about 3 1/2 weeks.  We are VERY excited about this.  

Also, I am training for my first race.  I have enjoyed running for a few years now, but I have never entered a single competition.  I was planning on doing my first 5K this past spring in the US, before we decided to move away.  I have now signed up for my first race and I think it is a pretty cool one.  The Sydney Harbour Bridge Run is a 9K race on September 16th.  I hope it is a good experience.  I also hope I can get my endurance up enough to really enjoy it.

We often think of our loved ones at home.  As I am writing this, there is a news story about the Colorado shooting on television.  It just makes me so sad.  My prayers go out to the victims of that horrible tragedy.  Life really is so precious.  Sometimes it is just a struggle to wade through the rough patches and make the conscious effort to focus on the joy in life.

School Holidays

Carter's two week winter school holiday is now over.  It has been a great two weeks.  He is a little sad to see it come to an end, but I think he is also excited to get back to school tomorrow.  Two weeks is actually a really good length of time to be off.  It provides a nice little break without being so long that the kids get bored.  Since we spent the first week on vacation, we were ready to relax for the second week.  Well, except for Sean, who had to go back to work.  Although, I don't think he was too upset about that after spending a week traveling with the kids.

We spent quite a bit of time the second week at the local indoor pool.  Carter had swimming lessons every morning and Aubrey got to play in the shallow water while Carter had his lesson.  Both kids loved this.  Carter improved his swimming quite a bit and Aubrey began to swim on her own.  No more floaties needed!  

Carter during his swim lesson

Aubrey playing in the shallow water.

The kids also worked on improving their chopstick skills and acquiring a taste for sushi.

We had play dates, spent three days playing by the beach, and went to the zoo two times.  

We were just hanging out with the koalas.

We got lucky and got to watch the giraffes at feeding time.

They seemed pretty close! 

And they were doing face painting at the zoo.  I brought children and took tigers home.

 We ended it all by going biking this afternoon at a local park.  Living directly across the harbor from Sydney CBD (central business district), you pop over a hill and you have a breathtaking view just laid out in front of you.  That happened this afternoon at the park.  It still takes us by surprise.  I've worried that we would get accustomed to this and it would no longer astound us.  But, I have now decided; it will never get old.

The Gold Coast

We drove up to Southport, Queensland, on Monday, July 2nd from Port Macquarie, New South Wales.  We had a much better drive that day than we had on the Sydney to Port Macquarie route.  We only took one little expedition off of the main route that day and that was into Byron Bay.  Byron Bay was breathtakingly gorgeous, especially when viewed from the rolling hills overlooking the bay.  But, we could not take a very long expedition because we had to check into our apartment in Southport by 5:00, so we were on a mission.  We were cutting it pretty close considering we did not know the area at all or how the traffic would be once we hit the Gold Coast.  Luckily, we got to Southport at 4:45.  

Southport is about a 10 minute drive north of the "capital" of the Gold Coast, Surfer's Paradise.  Surfer's Paradise is a very active town with huge hotels, tons of tourist attractions,  a very lively nightlife, as well as a beautiful beach.  Southport is still touristy, but a little quieter.  That worked well for us as no nightlife is required when you have 2 young kids and no babysitter.  We got a nice 2 bedroom serviced apartment with waterfront views.  Not a beach view, as it was on an inter-coastal waterway, but it was still pleasant to look at.  

View from our balcony

Tuesday, we headed into one of the large theme parks on the Gold Coast, Warner Brothers Movie World.  The kids had never been to a theme park and all of their ride experience had been at carnivals.  So, this was extra exciting to them.  We all had a great day.  Carter said afterwards that it was "the best day of his life."  Both kids were willing to go on any ride, but they agreed that their favorite was the roller coaster.  A close second favorite of the day was watching a stunt car show.  

Posing with Wonder Woman and Hawk Girl

Carter and Aubrey with members of the Justice League

And here are the real superheroes!!!

Carter posing next to a vintage poster advertising Carter the Magician

Aubrey on the bumper cars

Carter is ready to rumble!

Aubrey after a hard day of playing, being a superhero, and eating chocolate ice cream.

After getting a taste of what it was like to see whales when we were on land at Port Macquarie, we decided to go ahead and book a whale watching cruise.  On Wednesday morning, we headed out to sea.  You know the saying, hindsight is 20/20.  I don't know what I was thinking; the kids and I all have problems with motion sickness.  That had somehow slipped my mind before we got on a 50 foot catamaran boat and headed out to open water to watch the whales migrating up the coast of Australia without taking any medicine .  The whales were amazingly active.  When we got back to shore, the "whale expert" said we saw over 25 whales.  When we first got out there, a couple of whales even breached.  Whales were popping up all over the place and getting fairly close to the boat.  It WOULD have been an amazing experience if I wasn't stuck in the cabin getting sick while also taking care of 2 kids were getting sick at the same time.  It even affected Sean at one point of the journey and he also lost his breakfast.  Our family used an impressive 10 throw up bags during the 2 1/2 hour trip.  I could have kissed the solid ground when we got back from that trip. 

Happier times on the boat (before we hit the big waves going out to sea).

View of the Gold Coast

A picture to show how close the whales were to the boat.

This is a picture Sean took towards the end of the trip when tons of whales were coming to the surface.  It is hard to see, but there are actually 5 different whales lined up in this picture.

The crew members also took pictures and e-mailed us the 3 best pictures of the day.  The two whales breaching and this whale tail are what they sent us.

We spent Wednesday afternoon recovering.  We first ate a large lunch once our stomachs had settled and then we took a nice, leisurely drive down the coast.  As usual, if we ever feel stressed out, we just need to head to a beach to let the cares roll off of us.  That night we went to our first Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant in Australia (in the US we call them Hibachi restaurants).  It was so good!  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  The day ended on a high note.

Thursday morning again hit another low point though.  Carter's ear infection from the previous week came back to haunt him in the opposite ear.  He woke up with his right ear hurting badly.  So, we spent the morning getting ahold of the doctor he saw the previous week to get a prescription faxed up to a pharmacy near us.  While Sean was out dealing with the pharmacy and picking up the medicine, the kids and I were stuck in the apartment.  Since Carter was really hurting, we had to do something to take his mind off the pain.  We began painting toenails and fingernails.  It started with Aubrey, but Carter got into it and ended up with red toenails.  I don't think Sean was very pleased when he got back.  But, Carter's pain went from 50% to 2% in his ear during the nail painting session.  I was going to show a picture on here of both kids' feet, but Carter got too embarrassed and asked me not to post it.

All along the eastern coast of Australia, there is a mountain range called the Great Dividing Range.  Along the Gold Coast they called the mountainous area the "Hinterland."  The Hinterland has its own tourist activities that are very different from the beachy activities.  These include many wineries and hiking trails.  Since Carter was feeling better in the afternoon and had some antibiotics started in him, we headed up to Tamborine Mountain in the Hinterland.  Once again, we were awed by the diverse beauty of Australia.  Tamborine Mountain was only a 40 minute drive from where we were staying.  In that 40 minute drive we went from one type of paradise to another.  

Cedar Falls Waterfall near Tamborine Mountain

Posing by a shallow rock pool between two falls

Friday morning we had to begin the journey back towards Sydney.  We decided to travel down the Great Dividing Range for the return trip to Sydney.  The trip lasted 2 days of about 6 hours of driving each day.  We visited a few more wineries and drove through an area of Australia that has a more serious winter than Sydney does due to the higher elevation.  The town of Armidale, where we spent Friday night, had a low of -4 degrees Celsius that night and snow was in the forecast for the area for the upcoming weekend.  It was during these 2 days of driving that we finally saw our first kangaroos out in the wild.  We saw them quickly as we drove past, but it was exciting for us.  Well, exciting for Sean, Aubrey, and I.  Carter missed it both times and was a little upset about it.  

The highlight of the trip back to Sydney for me was driving through Hunter Valley.  It is only about a 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive from Sydney.  I have never been to Napa Valley in California, but Hunter Valley is what I envision Napa Valley to be like.  There are almost 100 wineries in this area.  Seriously.  They are located one after another along small country roads.  We only stopped at a couple of the wineries on our way through on Saturday.  It is definitely on our list of places we would like to go back to!

We were relieved to be back home Saturday night.  It is always exciting to start out on a vacation, but I am usually ready to come back at the end.  We had undeniably spent too much time together in a very small car.  We were all ready to regain a little bit of our personal space.  

Port Macquarie

We have now returned from our first week-long trip since arriving in Australia.  The week had its ups and downs, but overall, it was an awesome trip.  We packed in so many things, I don't think I can write about it all in one blog post.  So, I am going to split it up in different sections.

We began our trip on Saturday, June 30.  We were headed to Port Macquarie for a 2 night stay.  We chose Port Macquarie because it was about mid-way to the Gold Coast and it looked like a nice coastal town.  We stayed 2 nights because most hotels were offering better deals if you stayed more than one night and it would give us a little time to explore the area.

The car trip from Sydney was only supposed to be about 5 hours long, but we decided to take a more coastal route.  It was an interesting drive, but it seemed like forever in the car.  Also, Aubrey got carsick as we were entering Port Macquarie.  We all felt kind of beat up when we finally reached our townhouse at Shelly Beach Resort.  To top it all off, I tend to feel more homesick when I am not in our apartment surrounded by all the familiar objects from our US home.  To make a long story short, it was kind of a rough start to the vacation.

After a good night's sleep, we woke up a little more refreshed.  We just needed a day to unwind and ease into our vacation.  Luckily, we were staying right next to an spectacular trail through the rainforest along the Pacific Ocean coastline.  The day was a little cloudy, but it was still very comfortable outside with temps in the mid-60's (Fahrenheit).  It was just the day we needed.

A picture as we headed out on our walk.

Aubrey and I posing by the first beach we visited, Shelly Beach

Aubrey showing off the shell she picked up on the beach.  She was very proud of this shell and carried it with her at all times for a couple of days.

Carter watching the wave coming in that was going to ruin his wall of sand

Another picture of Aubrey and I on Shelly Beach

Carter on the trail

Shelly Beach after we went up a million steps on the trail.  To get an idea of how far up we were, those little figures are people walking on the beach.

Nice views along the way

Later in the day we visited this lighthouse.  It had a lookout on the side that was a good place to watch for whales.

This is what we saw from the lookout.

When you blow it up, you can clearly make up out a whale fin.  We saw many splashes out in the ocean from the whales migrating close to the shore.  We took other pictures, but mostly it just shows the water being displaced from the whales.

A final view from Port Macquarie

We did venture into the town itself for dinner and for a few errands.  It was a really nice town with about 6 beaches and a downtown with lots of restaurants.  There is a Koala Hospital that I wanted to visit, but we ran out of time.  The next day, Monday, it was time to continue our journey up the coast.  More on that later.....