Day 72 Sydney

I get the feeling that there will be little resting done whilst we are in Sydney.  An early wake up and breakfast won us tantrums and tears about socks and shoes, but we held our ground.  Our reward for good parenting was 40 minutes of chaotic traffic on the way to the ferry, a trip up a one way street the wrong way, and the ferry departing the terminal just as we pulled up.

We chose another ferry terminal, and had half an hour spare, so made our way to Rydalmere as it was just too hard to park at Blacktown.  The next thing we recognised, is that the price of public transport is encouraging for people who want to drive their cars.  It was going to cost us $90.00 to travel on public transport for today only, so we have opted for the weekly tickets at a mere $120.00.  Our consolation prize is that the trip into Circular Quay on the ferry is not only efficient and quick, but also quite picturesque.  If only we could get the crew to give tour information on the way.

We travelled at good pace up the Paramatta River, past Homebush and the Olympic site (2000), and into the inner harbour area of Sydney.  We got to pass underneath the harbour bridge, which had the kids squealing with excitement. 

Almost as much as when we turned into Circular Quay and got a full vista of the harbour bridge behind us, and the Sydney Opera House in front of us.

Straight up, I knew there was going to be a lot of photos today.  We were to start around Circular Quay, and Lisa immediately set off for the Opera House.  The tour has been one of her big ticket items since we planned the trip.  We found the sales booth, and booked on for the 11:30am tour.  We had a little bit of time to kill, so we took some photos around the Quay, and had a delectable brownie and coffee at the Studio Cafe.


The tour of the Opera House turned out to be a real highlight of our trip around.  Our guide (Alex...who reminded me of Peter Dinklage (Captain Gutt - Ice Age, Elf, Tyrion - Game of Thrones) was fantastic and theatrical which was disturbingly fitting for the tour.  We were walked all over the site with great commentary, and plenty of amazing information.  Ashley even answered the question correctly that there are 1,056,006 tiles on the roof, but I think he must have read that somewhere before the tour, because it was a bloody good guess.

We got to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearsing for a show for the evening, some of the smaller studio theatres, and the two large theatres.  The pipe organ in the main theatre is beyond amazing with over 10,000 pipes, 5 keyboards and 2 pedal boards.  I wish I had that many arms...drumming would be much easier.

We stopped back at one of the cafes on the waterfront for lunch, and the sun came out to tease us.  We could see Luna Park across the water from where we were sitting, but I think the kids will be disappointed if they think we are going to fit a visit there in to our schedule.  After lunch we walked back around Circular Quay to catch a ferry to Darling Harbour, but a shoe tantrum again had us step onto the jetty as the boat was leaving, so we opted for a train instead that took us to St James where we were able to walk to the Sydney Tower Eye.

We paid for our access, and watched the 4D movie which wasn't bad, before riding the elevator to the observation deck.  The views were breath taking, and we arrived just in time to tag onto the back of a tour that had started.  The tour guide was pointing out all of the prominent features that could be seen and a bit of the history about them.  Very cool.

St Mary's Cathedral is situated on the Northern end of Hyde Park, and the botanical gardens meandered on the water.  We hope to walk down to Mrs Macquaries Point to get some photos of the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge in the background.

But what is a day on our trip without an injury to report?  And our lucky victim, erm, I mean patient today was....(Drum roll Please)  Yes you guessed it - ROWAN!

Somehow during the tour, he managed to get hold of the fixed binoculars that are situated around the room.  Now I don't exactly know how he did it, but he came to me saying he bumped his head...As a huge purple egg was developing.  The staff were kind enough to give Rowan an ice pack to help his head, and they gave me an endless questionnaire and incident form.

As you can see, Mum is totally impressed.  We took care of Rowan and got him all sorted out, but the story does not end here...Oh No.  There is more, and no it's not steak knives.  Ashley threw his jacket on the floor with our bags while we were attending to Rowan's injury, so we guess that the second jacket that he has lost this week is still at the Sydney Tower Eye.  **SIGH**

I know a little boy that is going to be cold for the rest of the week.

We wanted to catch the extortion train, also known as the monorail, which ended up costing us $20.00 for one station.  We could have walked if we were so inclined, but we paid our money and rode the monorail for a complete loop before getting off at the station down at Darling Harbour.  The purpose of our visit was partially to scout out some other activities, and we have tickets to some other attractions now, but the highlight of our culinary experiences...ADRIANO ZUMBO's PATISSERIE.

If you are unaware, Adriano Zumbo makes the insanely impossible desserts on Master Chef to torment the contestants.  We were to sample many of his fine treats today...No expense spared...We will be returning.

It was a short walk back around to Darling Harbour from Star Casino, and the sun was beginning to set giving the city a fantastic shimmer.  The moon was out early as well, to add to the ambiance.

We strolled along the promenade looking for some dinner, and settled on another stint at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Those pulled pork nachos are just too good to resist.  Needless to say, we are all extremely stuffed again, and finding it difficult to move.

It was dark when we left Hard Rock, and continued around the Eastbank Promenade as we headed back to the ferry terminus.  We were to be catching the last ferry back from Darling Harbour to Rydalmere, and didn't want to make it 3 from 3 misses today.

There is some great sculptures and fountains that decorate the walkway, and if not for the wailing about the missing jacket, it would have been very relaxing.

The kids were allowed to go up to the wheelhouse on the ferry (Dad had to supervise them...and some other bloke that thought I might need help) and we trundled back up the Paramatta River in the dark.  It would be after 8pm before we got back to the caravan, and the kids were all extremely tired.  It is now 1:40am, and I am the fool up writing a blog so I don't have to do it, erm...well, this morning now.  Tomorrow, no wait, today is going to be just as big a day.  We have planned to go to Manly in the morning on the ferry, and some other activities later in the day including the Maritime Museum. 

I think that we will have some grumpy, sleepy kids tomorrow night...and maybe a very tired dad as well. 

Day 71 Port Macquarie to Sydney

The best thing about today was also the worst.  We had only the simple task of driving the 380km from Port Macquarie to Sydney.  For the most part, this was all on the motorway, at good pace, but somehow we still didn't arrive this afternoon until after 4pm when we left at 0900. 

We didn't stop except for lunch and morning tea, and both stops were short, which means that the traffic was just crap.  Aside from one wrong turn, and a small detour through the outer suburbs to find our way back, the day was thoroughly uneventful.

The drive through the hills into Sydney is quite picturesque with tall Eucalyptus forest and endless waterways.  Other than that, there was little else of excitement today.  The park seems to be clean and will do us well for the week we are here.

At least we got to rest weary legs, and in the end we gave in to the kids and they watched 3 movies in the car, and for the most part left us alone.  The nagging started again with 20 minutes to our destination.  They seem to know when we need to concentrate the most, and when we are the most irritable as this is the time when they start playing up.

Lots of research tonight to figure out how the toll system works here, and what we plan to do in the short stay that we have.  The weather is also quite noticeably colder.

Day 70 Port Macquarie

Ahhhh...no theme parks today and guess what...The kids slept in until 0630.  No amount of wishing is going to keep that boy in bed.  We had him up until nearly 10pm last night.  Oh well, at least he got his journal up to date.  
We eased ourselves into a nice relaxing day at Port Macquarie with plans only to go to lunch with family.  Lisa decided she wanted to go for a walk around the waterfront in the morning, and the kids wanted to go as well, so they departed whilst I took care of the blog, and prepared the car to put up the back row of seats.

In the end, we all met up at Aunt Gabby's house to have a quiet morning.  We spent a little time catching up on the Olympic results overnight, and the kids did some beading necklaces which kept them occupied for almost an hour. 

 Ashley brought his work of art over for our inspection, and held it up by one end of the string.  The beads all unceremoniously slid down the string and spread themselves lovingly across the floor.  Ashley was kept


busy for a while longer picking them up and replicating his master piece before tying off the ends and presenting it to us again for inspection.  He even offered to sell it to us for $7 million dollars, but we bartered him down to 20 cents before he gave up on selling it. I thought that was a pretty good savings to be honest.

From the look of the photos, the walk would have been quite pleasant.  Rowan didn't even fall off his scooter, although he did manage to break it.  (The scooter, that is) 

We were to meet up with Edith and Zsolt for a small luncheon at their house, but took some time out to have a look at the Port Macquarie sights during daylight hours on the way.  Everywhere you look around the coastline here is quite stunning and very picturesque.  I can see why Gabby has chosen to spend time here.

Our sightseeing trip took us around the coastline to the lighthouse at Tacking Point.

It was extremely blustery up on Tacking Point, but it was hard not to look out to the roiling seas and see a thousand oil paintings all at once.  There is a very serene beauty (Feel the serenity) to the beaches with the rocky cliffs and white sands stretching away.  The surf was way too big to be practical for swimming, but I imagine that is more a seasonal thing, and that the water could be much smoother without the 40 knot on shore gale blowing.

We left the beach for warmer surrounds, and landed at Edith and Zsolt's house for lunch.  As you can see, there was a small, yet delicious spread of food.  The pork fell apart whilst I was carving it, and Ashley was bragging that he had eaten 3 (Full breast) chicken schnitzels.

Not only was the food amazing, but it was lovely to catch up with family that I have not seen since 1982.  I think we have all changed a bit in that time, but we felt very welcome and had a lovely afternoon.

Gabby spoilt the kids and put on birthday cakes for the numerous recent uncelebrated birthdays, and we retired from the table way too full to move too much.



Edith and Zsolt spoilt our kids rotten with beautiful stuffed bears in police and cowboy / cowgirl uniforms, which they absolutely adored.   

Love this picture of the munchkins with Gabby and their Great Nan, Edith.  For all the grief they give me, some days you just can't help but feel proud of your kids and how they conduct themselves. 



All good things have to come to an end though and we were hopeful to show the kids the Koala Hospital whilst we were here, so we gathered ourselves, and waddled out to the car to keep going.

I hope I can claim to be a Great Uncle some day, but here are our three with their Great Uncle Zsolt.  We had a really fantastic time and thank you and Edith for your hospitality.



Our short drive to the Koala Hospital was a bit fruitless, as we arrived with only a few minutes to spare before closing.  We were able to walk around the pens outside though and were able to see a couple of the little guys snoozing in their trees. 

Gabby came back to our caravan later in the day, and we sat chatting and laughing over special coffees and Chocolate Liqueurs. 

Onwards to Sydney tomorrow, but it was lovely to see familiar faces.

Day 69 Surfer's Paradise to Port Macquarie

One of the biggest joys of leaving the Gold Coast is that I probably don't have too much to write today.  We were able to sleep in until 0730, and were on the road by 0830, so we had a very efficient breakfast and pack up.

The drivers in Queensland are completely mental, and I have renewed faith in West Australians after some of the near misses we have had here.  You peanuts out there, it's called a caravan.  If you cut me off and I plow through you...YOU DIE!

So...all venting aside, we headed down the Pacific Hwy towards the border which flashed past us with no warning, hence no photos.  There is no stopping bay to take a picture or anything.  I can only deduce from this that Queenslander's and New South Welshmen are ashamed of each other.

Today was to be a very long and frustrating drive.  480km was the distance which would equate to around 5.5hours, except that we didn't arrive until just after 4pm. that is 7.5 hours on my calculator.


The only thing to see along the way is the BIG Banana in Coffs Harbour.  We used this as a strategic stopping point along the way.  Most of the attractions here were closed on the day, but we had a look around the gift shop, and for some insane reason, we climbed a mountain of stairs to the lookout.  As if my body wasn't rebelling enough already.

**SIGH**

Anyhow, the view was pretty cool from the top and we lingered briefly before tumbling down the stairs again in an avalanche of lactic pain and children.

The rest of the drive to Port Macquarie was fairly uneventful, and we arrived at the caravan park which is in the centre of town to find Gabby waiting for us.  We also had a surprise that our accommodation was free...apparently.

The kids have been super excited to get here, and were thrilled to see their aunt poking her cheeky grin through the window of the car.



It was lovely to be able to set up the caravan with no interruptions.  The kids and Gabby went to the playground, and Lisa and I flashed through set up, and were able to sit down with a well earned bevvy.  I was even able to pull the guitar out for a quick strum whilst we were waiting. 

Before it got dark we went for a brisk walk along the rock wall, to have a look at the sunset and the ocean. 










In an attempt to stop graffiti, the city council allowed the community to come down and paint the rocks.  The result is quite fascinating and each rock has a different theme all the way down the walk.

Rowan found this one which was his favourite.  Not a bad imagination to create this out of a raw rock. 

The darkness was closing in on us, and we could hear the rumbling of tummies. 


A quick stop at Gabby's house saw the kids showered in gifts from Grandma, including a beautiful hand made bracelet for Emma.  Grandma is very talented.  We were then able to drink in the spectacular night time scenery of Port Macquarie on our half hour tour looking for a suitable restaurant to get some dinner at :)

We ended up at the Port Macquarie bowls club.  It is a bit like sizzler with poker machines.  The kids were in heaven with endless desserts.  I was in heaven with Jack Daniels and Chicken Soup...YAY!

Day 68 Surfer's Paradise (Wet and Wild)

Waking up was beyond difficult this morning.  I realise my age now, and that my body needs more time to recover from the rigours that I am inflicting on it.

In the past week I have experienced weightlessness to 6.8G forces, been tumbled, twisted tortured, turned, flung, dropped, catapulted, inverted, and slammed about.  I have walked marathons, climbed a mountain of stairs, carried food and drink like a pack mule, and walked tightropes and stepping stones at height above the ground.  My body is in total rebellion, and has begun to shut down with protest.

Don't get me wrong, I have loved the experience, but I am in desperate need of a spa, a masseuse and some time in my favourite chair with a book and my feet up.  Having my good mate Jack Daniels in arms reach wouldn't hurt either. 

But enough of my sooking.

Nobody had done journals or blogs today, so the first order of business was to catch up on our experiences.  The kids reacted like we had asked them for one of their livers and set about moaning and whinging.  After breakfast, Lisa went to top up the pantry and get some much need groceries whilst I continued with my epic entry from yesterday. 

Rowan finished his journal in short time, and Emma and Ashley procrastinated, fought, sooked, and did all in their power to not do theirs.  It wasn't until I explained my journal was going to take several hours that they decided they should just do what they needed to and go to the playground for their own benefit. 

Lisa and I had never had any intention of going out today before lunch, but we weren't going to let on.

After lunch we were to go to the final theme park for the week.  Ashley has been bugging us to go to Wet and Wild since we left Perth, so it was an epic day for him.  The last time Lisa and I came here, we hired wet suits for the day, but the sun came out to play and we had a nice warm 23 Deg C for the afternoon.  There wasn't even much wind about, so we were in for a pleasant afternoon.

First stop was Mammoth Falls, which is a  tube based water slide.  This ended up being pretty benign and with the kids going in front of us, Lisa and I enjoyed the ride.  They say the water is heated...but only just.

We agreed to go in search of all of the rides first, and then Ashley and Emma could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the time there.  Rowan still needed us with him for most of the rides.  He isn't very confident in the water yet.

The next stop on our way around was the Tornado.  You sit on a flat inflatable platform (Up to 4 people) and go down a near vertical drop being dumped into a huge funnel.  Momentum then carries you up the sides before you get channelled into the pool at the bottom.

This ride is quite a lot of fun, and is similar to one at Whitewater World, with the exception that you have to carry your own platform up the stairs here, where Whitewater World has a conveyor to get the platforms to the top.  They do get heavy by the time you've carried them up 8 flights of stairs.


Rowan was again 5mm too short for this ride, so whilst Lisa and the kids went on, I took him with me to the Black Hole.  Rowan really enjoyed this slide, which is in total darkness.

It didn't quite have the wow factor that I was looking for, but it wasn't too bad a ride.  Again it involved lugging a large inflatable two man tube to the top of an endless staircase.  Maybe it is to deter people from riding too many times in a row.  Not sure, but I would only ride this once today.

Our next station on our park tour was to be the Kamikaze.  Simple concept, but lots of fun.  You sit in a large inflatable boat, and they push you down the slope.  It's all up to gravity then, and you ride the half pipe until you stop at the bottom.

The height restrictions allowed Rowan to go on this, and he had a blast.  There were only two people allowed at a time, so Lisa and I walked up the steps with kids twice carrying a boat each...extremely heavy boat...to have Emma throw yet another precious tantrum and retreat to the bottom of the slide.  At least the boys got to ride twice.

Most of the really cool things in the park were shut for maintenance, or because there aren't sufficient patrons in the park.  They now have a zipline that runs the width of the park that looked very cool...SHUT.  They have a half pipe roller coaster called the Surfrider...SHUT.  the incline with water that you can static surf on called the Flowrider...SHUT.  The giant speed slide Mach V...SHUT. 

We had to go right across the other side of the park to find some more water slides to go on.  Whilst the kids went racing on the Super 8 Aqua Racer, Mum and Dad went to do the big ticket item "Aqualoop"

The Aqualoop is a bit like the Wedgie from Whitewater World with the exception that you go through a high side loop at around 45 degrees from horizontal.  This was a pretty cool experience, and I will have the bruising as a memento for the next couple of weeks. At least I can say I did it albeit once only. 

The kids had about a half dozen goes on the aqua racer by the time that we came back down to collect them.  I told Rowan we were going to go to another part of the park.  He asked me with very sad eyes if he would be able to do more rides...I told him that was the plan, and he bounced up and down for the next 2 minutes squealing with delight. 

There is so much joy to be had from a 5 year old who is getting unlimited fun time.


We went over to a series of water slides called the River Rapids.  We all had a go, but afterwards Lisa and I decided that we were cold, and Rowan wanted to come with us to the hot spas.  We left Emma and Ashley to do their own thing.

We were only in the spa a short while when we decided to shower and be down with Wet and Wild.  I was quite disappointed with this park.  Whitewater World is so much better than Wet and Wild.  Better set up, easier access to rides, and more fun.

The rides were all a bit lame to be hones...with the exception of Kamikaze and the Tornado.  Rowan came to have a shower too as he was a beautiful shade of violet from the cold.  Whilst we were showering Rowan, Ashley and Emma came to the spa looking for us.  When he couldn't find us, Ashley actually went to see if the car was still there because he thought that we had left him and Emma behind.  Maybe that will teach them for arguing all morning.

They were making plans to do some more rides when we offered to go next door to Warner Brothers Movie World for an hour so they could ride on the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster again.  I've never seen them shower so quickly.  Emma neglected to pack pants though so we were forced to buy her a sarong at the surf shop...We shall stick that one away for the 21st I think.

Movie world is right next door to Wet and Wild, so we were through the gates with about 45 minutes of ride time for the kids.  Lisa and I checked on the Superman Roller Coaster, but it had a lengthy wait, so we just meandered up main street to Scooby Doo where we found the kids going around for a second ride.  Ashley and I went to ride on the Wild West Flume again, on which we got sopping wet today...Go figure. 



Ashley tagged onto the Scooby Doo ride with Emma and Rowan again as they went around for their third go.  Emma says that they got 5 rides in total before the ride was shut.  It was nice to see them doing exactly what they wanted for their last hour on the Gold Coast theme parks.  I hope they are memories that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. 

Lisa and I are physically destroyed.  I am looking forward to a nice long boring drive tomorrow if only to sit down for a few hours.