What an adventure! We’ve been back for a week now and we’re finally caught up on sleep, readjusted to local time, and getting back into our old routine. Our trip was fantastic. (Obviously, I’m blocking out the more painful parts.) It proved to be a challenge in planning, endurance traveling, and parenting. However, Sean did a great job mapping out 2 weeks of activities, making sure that we experienced some of the best of Australia and definitely the best of Sydney. As for the actual travel, I’ve blocked most of the worst parts out. But overall, we kept our wits and came out of the experience still loving each other! Here are the unforgettable highlights of our trip to Australia.
Day 1--Saturday, May 1
Our travels began when we arrived at the Boston airport just after 3 pm and would end 34 hours later when we set our bags down in our Hamilton Island condo. Our first leg of the journey was a 6 hour flight to LAX, between 5 and 11pm Boston time. Despite growing tired as we neared and then passed Thora's bedtime, she continued to take cues from the daylight from the windows. Since we were landing at 8pm west coast time, the sun never set on that first flight. So Thora was incredibly tired upon arriving in LA. This set us up for a difficult layover, for Thora who appeared to be almost painfully tired, for us (obvious reasons), and for the dozens of people who were around us (or moving away) at any given time. Thora's screams were audible throughout the waiting area for our Qantas flight, one time even clear from inside the men's room where Sean had taken her. Having just dealt with one of Thora's tantrums myself in the women's restroom, I remember cringing at that ever-familiar sound and finding a brief moment of humor as I watched a man exit the bathroom laughing and skaking his head in sympathy. Mercifully, time elapsed, and Thora gained some composure. And within seconds of being sat down in her seat and buckled in, she was asleep.
Day 2--Sunday, May 2
The second of 3 flights, the 14 hour leg from LAX to Sydney, was surprisingly the most comfortable. The flight was only about 80-90% full and so we were able to have a row of 4 to ourselves, including two bassinets attached to the bulkhead where we could put Auric when he was asleep.
Both kids slept maybe 6-8 hours or so in several chunks, which wasn't nearly as much as we'd hoped. However, when they were awake, they were both cooperative and pleasant. The plane was big and modern (almost futuristic), with a nice galley area in the back where we could stand around or play quietly with the kids if we needed to.
Day 3--Monday, May 3
While the kids were mostly calm and cooperative during the flight, I can't say the same for our 6 hour layover in Sydney where we waited for our flight to Hamilton Island. Thora had hung on admirably, through passport control, then during the wait for our bags and the longer wait for our stroller, then the line at customs, and then finally the commute from the international terminal to the domestic one via a shuttle bus. Just prior to checking in for our final flight to Hamilton Island, we made the mistake of messing with a good thing and decided to reward her with a cookie for behaving so well. The sugar combined with her incredible fatigue proved diabolical. Without going into too many details, I'll just say that the tantrum directly in the middle of the security line was one to behold, particularly when she ran screaming through the metal detector, past the security guards. The 6 hour layover, while never as bad as that moment in security, was never relaxing or restful. We boarded our JetStar flight around noon, Sydney time, and arrived in Hamilton Island around 2:30 pm. We were picked up by a representative from the management company for our rented condo and were whisked away on a golf cart, the only vehicular mode of travel allowed on the island.
Upon arriving on balmy, lush, tropical Hamilton island and seeing the stunning views of Cat's Eye Bay, we were all rejuvenated. Within minutes we were in our swim suits and down in the water. The relief we felt that our travels were over was palpable, each wave pulling our frustrations and moodiness out to sea.
Days 4-6--Tuesday-Thursday, May 4-6
These days were all pretty much the same. Just a few hundred yards from our door was probably the best pool I've ever swam in.
It was large, shaped like a natural body of water, surrounded by large rocks, lush vegetation and palm trees, and featuring a waterfall. And it was separated from the beach by just a small path, a line of palm trees and scattered beach chairs.
The view from the pool toward Cat's Eye Bay and the sailboats in the distance, dotting the Whitsunday Passage, was one that will probably outshine all future hotel pools. Thora loved this pool, since there were many sloped entrances and shallow parts for her to splash, walk, and play. But she also loves swimming with us and jumping to us from the edge. She can do this for hours! As for Auric, he liked his first time in the water.
We spent an equal amount of time along the shore. Thora had important tasks that involved collecting and cleaning rocks. But when we weren't doing that, we would walk through the shallow water, watching for hermit crabs, small fish, and even harmless (we think) jelly fish.
During these four days, we applied lots of sunscreen, soaked up the sun, swam, and slowly tried to adjust to the time change. We found a brutal run (what appeared to be the only real run on the small island) up to One Tree Hill, where one gets a spectacular almost-360 degree view of Cat's Eye Bay and the Whitsunday Passage. I was the first to run up there one evening before dinner and happened onto dozens of people taking in a remarkable sunset. The misty clouds on the horizon were a stunning red and orange, the water silvered, and two lone sailboats were anchored out amidst the archipelago of the Whitsunday Passage. Upon seeing this arresting view, I was immediately sad that Sean wasn't there to take it in with me, and that I'd left my phone and camera back at the condo and couldn't capture it to show him when I got back. So we made a point of getting up there the next night to catch the sunset, our last night on the island.
Day 7--Friday, May 7
After some swimming and packing in the morning, we caught an afternoon flight to Sydney, arriving around dinner time. We made our way via the city's train system, to our apartment in downtown. Walking into our place, we were greeted with an incredible view from the floor-ceiling windows of our high-rise apartment.
We could see Hyde Park just a couple blocks away, the Sydney Tower, and even, between a few buildings, the top of the Harbour Bridge, flying the Australian and New South Wales flags.
Thora and Sean went out to grab dinner and food for the next morning while I put Auric to bed. It was a different lifetime ago when we lived in the heart of the bright and bustling metropolis of NYC, having spent the last 3 years on our quiet city street in Cambridge, and most recently the four nights on isolated Hamilton Island. However, it was refreshing to again be where things were happening.
Day 8--Saturday, May 8
I started the day with a run, through Hyde Park which connects to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which leads you up to the Sydney Opera House.
It was exhilarating to see this famous marvel of architecture up close for the first time. Rather than taking a vacation from running while on vacation, as I used to do, I now love the opportunity to explore a new place on my runs. However, that often means experiencing these new sights alone. Later that morning, however, after walking the same path that I took on my run, we all took in the view of the Opera House from the Circular Quay area, the main wharf where ferries depart to all destinations from Sydney.
We wandered around the Rocks, a boutique area of Sydney, where they host a street fair each Saturday. After grabbing some lunch and watching Thora chase pigeons around a pavilion, we boarded a bus headed to Coogee Beach to watch the Randwick club play rugby. Historically, they're one of the most successful clubs in Australia, though we watched them lose on this particular day.
Day 9--Sunday, May 9
As luck would have it, there was the Mother's Day Classic 8K race being held in the Royal Botanical Gardens, just blocks from our apartment. There was no cap to the registration, so with Sean getting the kids fed and maneuvered out the door, I registered and ran the race, luckily finding Sean and the kids among a sea of people after the race.
After Mother's Day cupcakes, we caught a bus to Bondi Beach, the famed destination for surfers and Sydney's wealthy vacationers alike. The vibe of this area was unexpected and incongruous, as we would later see a string of well-to-do families park their luxury cars and come into our restaurant for dinner with all of their status symbols in plain view, while a still body-suited surfer jogged barefoot, shaggy-headed, and sandy, down the street, holding his surf board under his arm. We arrived first at Bronte Beach and walked the 3.5 km hike to Bondi.
There, we played a bit in the water (although not much since the waves were quite strong) and watched the waves and the surfers. We found our way to an upscale pizzeria where we dined al fresco on fancy pizza and afterward, gelato. While waiting for our bus back to downtown Sydney, with the help of a few descriptions that Sean had printed out while still back in Cambridge, Sean and I spotted The Southern Cross, a constellation only visible in the southern hemisphere. It was a very romantic moment, and a wonderful end to a unforgettable mother's day.
Day 10--Monday, May 10
We started out at the Powerhouse Museum, a science, technology and design museum. As one of many examples of Sean's stellar planning, he'd found special kids play sessions at a few of the various museums. So upon arriving at the Powerhouse Museum, Thora and I joined a small group of other youngsters for a short tour of part of the museum, before heading down to a kids area where Thora created a flower garden mask and enjoyed a couple stories.
This museum was great for adults and kids alike. Thora played for a long time in a construction-themed play space, pushing carts along a track and placing building blocks into the frame of a house to build its walls. After we wandered a bit more through the museum, we worked our way through Chinatown and then on to Darling Harbour where we explored the Sydney Aquarium. Among the many wonderful tanks and habitats, the highlight was walking through the glass tubes inside the ocean tanks. The glass surrounding us was surely thick. However, it felt like the sharks, manta rays, and other fish, large and small, beautiful and strange, were close enough to touch.
The underside of something strange!
The sensation of being down there, the quiet moody music, the shimmering and changing blue light, the silent gliding of the sharks, our surreal proximity to their rows and rows of teeth, it was an experience unlike any I've had before. I could've stayed down there for hours!
Day 11--Tuesday, May 11
We started at the National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, and again, Sean had arranged for Thora to participate in a kids session. The tour started with show and tell, the instructor passing around various preserved sea creatures to hold, like a star fish and the shell of a turtle.
Then the kids were taken to a play room for dress up (Thora dressed up as a mermaid), arts and crafts and stories.
After viewing, but sadly not touring, The Endeavor, a replica of Captain Cook's ship, we revised Sean's well-planned itinerary given the gorgeous day and hopped on a couple ferries to Manly Beach. This handsome beach town is another haven for surfers. The waves here were incredible. At one point, standing while Thora played in the waves with some other kids, the waves climbed so high as to completely obscure the distant horizon. It was really intimidating and awe-inspiring at once. As it neared the dinner hour, we walked to the far end of the beach, only to find that the restaurant that had come so highly recommended was closed (for the moment? for the winter? we didn't know). This proved to be the only spot in Sean's jam-packed itinerary that let us down. So in the end, we walked back to the center of town, grabbed some take out from an upscale fish and chips shop and scrambled to make the earlier ferry back to town. While that walk was fruitless and created a hectic end to a relaxed day, the walk provided us with a beautiful view, the mist from the crashing waves glittering up through the rays of the setting sun.
Day 12—Wednesday, May 12
We spent the whole day at the Taronga Zoo, just across the Sydney Harbour. The location of this zoo, built into a hill right on the water, provides great views of the Sydney skyline at almost every habitat. The baby elephants walking in tow with their mothers was a very cute sight. And the open wallaby and emu habitat was another highlight, being separated from the hopping wallabies by just a sign that told us to keep on the path.
But the bird show in the open-air amphitheater with the view of Sydney behind the stage was probably my favorite thing about the day. The show highlighted about a dozen impressive, large birds. They entered and exited the stage from holding areas hidden behind the audience and it was always surprising and dramatic as each bird swooped down over our heads on its way to the trainer. Sometimes the bird glided out into the open air towards the water, to give us a show of its powerful flight. With each bird, the trainer told us a little something about its behavior, and sometimes entertained us with a trick. We finished the day with a Sky Safari gondola ride from the top of the zoo down to the water, where we caught a ferry back to Sydney.
Day 13—Thursday, May 13
We started this day at the Australia Museum, their natural history museum, arriving for our third and final kids play session of the week. Thora made a turtle in the craft area and painted a beautiful blue and purple picture at the easels. After walking through the exhibit of native animals of Australia, we made our way to an upscale restaurant that does take-out of its famous burger on the cheap. We took these with us and ate them on a bench in Darling Harbour. Here, we explored Sydney Wildlife World, another great museum that lets you get up close to animals of Australia. We first made our way through insect and reptile exhibits before seeing their massive crocodile. I’m not sure we saw it move a single muscle, though, as it napped on its warming mats. Then we worked our way to the Koala habitat.
And I challenge you to show me a cuter animal. I mean, I’d seen pictures and knew they would be cute. But come on! Their cuteness defies reason. We could get relatively close to the koalas, perched napping in their tree branches. But we decided that we must pay the $20 for the koala encounter, which got us inside their area, allowed us to pet a koala (the fur surprisingly woolly, rather than soft like a rabbit which is what I'd imagined), and allowed us to pose for a few photos with the koalas, of which we got one print.
And it was worth it! What fun to be in there with them, even if they merely sat sleepily on their perches. Then we were on to the wallaby habitat which was similar to the Taronga Zoo, in that we could walk through and get up close to them. However, it wasn’t until we saw the kangaroos, that things got exciting. Where as at the zoo, the kangaroos were mostly asleep or resting, these kangaroos were boxing!
One male in particular couldn’t keep himself from sparring with his peers, picking fights with two different kangaroos in the 10 minutes or so that we stood looking on. And it is impressive to watch their strength. They swat at each other with their short arms. Then they balance on their massive, muscular tail while “punching” each other with their powerful hind legs. It was quite a sight. Then we spent a few minutes in the butterfly garden, where twice, a butterfly landed on the sleeve of my bright red shirt—a color you should wear when visiting butterflies!
Day 14—Friday, May 14
This was our final day in Australia, and we spent the majority of it at Luna Park, Sydney’s Coney Island-style amusement park.
A friend from our NYC days has temporarily relocated to Sydney with her husband and she accompanied us to the park. It was fun to catch up after so many years, and remarkable to be doing it on the other side of the world.
We rode the ferris wheel, roller coasters, the bumper cars (Thora’s first time), and slid down a massive slide in a burlap sack. We all were amazed when right off the bat, Thora wanted to ride this big, twisting, twirling ride with Sean. I kept expecting the worst, readying myself for the sound of her frightened screams, begging to be let off. However, I couldn’t have been more surprised when I saw her beaming smile as she and Sean exited the ride. I regularly underestimate her fearlessness! Both kids fell asleep on the ferry across the harbour, and so Sean and I walked back to our apartment, enjoying our time to ourselves.
Day 15--Saturday, May 15
This is the day I'd like to forget. It started well, with a final run through the two parks and around the Opera House. However, it then turned south when we somehow managed to get on the wrong train to the airport. A 20 minute trip turned into over an hour. After finally arriving at the airport, we frantically ran for the check-in desk, and were lucky to make the flight. We got scolded by the Qantas representative, were rushed through security and to the gate, and then straight on to the plane. It never really got better. And this was the day that kept on giving. Factoring in the 13-hour flight and the 17-hour time change to LA, we actually landed in LA on Saturday at 9:30 am, 4 hours BEFORE we left Sydney. This flight was crowded, the plane was older and smaller, and the three people headed to Vegas in the row behind us weren't really compatible with our attempts to put Auric to bed. Or we weren't compatible with their partying. Regardless, the circumstances were less than ideal. But we endured and survived, getting the delayed flight to Boston, and arriving after 9 pm. Sean had the brilliant idea of ordering pizza from the airport, and so as our taxi pulled up to our place, the pizza guy was waiting (he called my cell phone and learned we were just about a minute behind him).
So that's it. I'm sure there's more to tell, and likely I'll tell these stories in time to come. But for now, there it is. And now that we know we can do it... New Zealand 2011 for the Rugby World Cup, HERE WE COME! Who's with us?
This one is near the gate into the backyard. Stunning!
