October 29 - Let's see Sydney

We started the day with a trip to the gym. It sounded good, didn't it? I really did just go for a quick jog on the treadmill, I wanted to try out the new running shoes I had delivered from the states.

We decided to hit the Maritime Museum and the Aquarium. At the museum we checked out the replica of Captain Cook's ship. We also did a bit of walking around Darling Harbour. I'll just post a bunch of these pictures and then if I remember, I'll have Seth put in the link so you can see them all.

October 28 - Let's go to Sydney

We put our flight in the afternoon so we wouldn't be rushed. I ran to the shopping center and got a hair cut and the rest of the family packed and finished the family puzzle we were working on.

Our plan was to take Alan and Pennie to the airport because our their luggage had to go with them (they were leaving out of Sydney). Seth would come back for Lilly and I and our luggage. I told everyone we needed to leave earlier than the 'schedule'. No one thought we needed to. We missed our flight. But, it always works out for Seth. There are flights to Sydney every half hour so we jumped on the next flight.

Once we got there we found our shuttle that would take us to the casino. We got a nice two bedroom apartment. Our room had two twin beds. Lilly pointed to the one on the right and said "Papa's bed", pointed to the one on the left and said "Mama's bed" and laid down her blanket and lamb on the floor in between and said "my bed".

October 27 - Healsville

This is one of the three animal sanctuaries/zoos that are included in our zoo pass. We also took my mom here. It is smaller than the Melbourne Zoo but it is also more up close and personal. It also has a clinic that you can go in and watch surgeries on the animals (probably my favorite part). We did not make it to the clinic this time.

We check out the Tasmanian Devils (large breeding program here).




The last picture shows what I think I should get next for my brother and sister-in-law.

October 26 - A View of the City

Here comes the problem with waiting two months to blog - I really don't remember what all we did!

So I'm looking through pictures to figure out what we did but I only have our pictures now. And on this Monday, the only pictures we have are of the view from a tall building.

Anyway, Eureka Skydeck is 92 stories high but the skydeck is on the 88th floor (I can't even imagine what is up higher than that). The elevators travel at 9 meters/second (the fastest in the southern hemisphere) and they were pretty smooth. There is an area called The Edge where you go into this glass box and the glass box moves out of the building so you like of look like you are standing on air. We did not do this.

There is an outside observation area that is very windy. That's where Seth and I are standing together.



I think we also did the Melbourne Museum on this day.

We took everyone to Lygon Street to check out a great Italian place we found (there are lots of them on this street but we found one that has good food and is reasonably priced). I walked up the street and thought it should be right here but there was nothing there. Turns out there was a big fire there a few months ago. So we went to the place next door and that will be our new go to Italian place.

October 25 - AWA Trunk or Treat

I was again on the committee for the Trunk or Treat. Last year I just helped out with the Scavenger Hunt but this year I did a tab more. Since we opted out of the Scavenger Hunt, I helped get things ready for the guessing of the candy jars.

I also was in charge of getting things from Costco. Water was our priority (Seth got roped into this and I am very grateful he was able to help). We planned on two waters for each person and last year we had 375 people show up. Well, we were back at Costco because sometime between when I left for Tasmania and when I got back, we were at 500 people registered! The committee added more games and had a few other tweaks to make the day run smoothly.

The day was a huge success. The weather was much colder than anticipated so most of the water was left untouched (bummer) but it didn't rain. When I got out to the car park, it looked like a college football game with a bunch of tailgaters. Everyone was eating and drinking, it was very festive.
The in-laws helped out with the registration table (Alan also helped by bringing the goodie bags all the way from Copley, Ohio). Lilly ran around with some friends. Seth tried to stick by me but we kept getting separated. I don't think we actually got a full picture of Lilly but she was Tinkerbell. I was a Kangaroo player (Australian Rules Football) and Seth was a referee for the sport.


Without it meaning to be a big fundraiser, I believe we were able to donate about $3,000 to the Royal Children's Hospital.

October 24 - Back to Melbourne

Our flight was really early in the morning. Which meant leaving our hotel really early. We did ok getting out and were surprised that we really were very close to the airport.

Anyway, the flight was uneventful and we got a nice little snack (I'm lovin' Qantas).

The day was not too busy. The real reason we went back was for me to play in a little soccer tournament. The tournament was held outside on tennis courts (futsal rules). We lucked out with weather, sunny, not too hot. We didn't win but we got runner up. Our team won a case of beer. How's that for a victory?

Apparently there was a playground that I couldn't see. The kid was happy to play around while I tried to get my energy level back up to movable. Pennie got a shot at the swings as well.

October 23 - Bruny Island

This trip required an early morning. We had to drive to some location and get on a mini-bus and they drove to another location and got on a ferry. The ferry took us to Bruny Island and then the mini-bus took us across the island to where our boat was waiting for us.

Since I wasn't standing with the rest of the family when this trip was booked, I really didn't have any expectations of the trip. I just knew we were going to be on a boat. Lilly, Pennie and I sat under the cover (I would have enjoyed sitting out but I wasn't sure how Lilly would do and the sun would have left us both bright red). We were all given large red ponchos to keep us warm. However, I assumed based on the material that we were all sitting in the splash zone.

The guys that run the tours are quite funny. They give a little history of the island and show off some spots here and there as well as cool rock formations. The main attraction would probably have been the animals. We saw lots of birds and I couldn't really tell you what they all were. The penguin looking birds are not penguins.

We also saw seals. Rumor had it that there was a whale close by and we looked around for it for a while but never actually saw it. I guess one of the other groups that went out did get to see it. But we got to see the dolphins. There were a lot of them and they were playing all around the boat we were on as well as another boat that was heading toward the island. That was the coolest part. So cool in fact, that I left Lilly seatbelted in her seat and went to check them out. One of the tour guides got her and held her up so she could see the dolphins.

On the way back across the island we stopped at a pull off and took a picture or two. I was definitely going for wind blown hair that day. The stretch of land in the background is about the middle of the island.

Once back on the mainland, we headed into Hobart in search of dinner. We ended up eating at a nice restaurant but I don't remember the name of it. We had an early night as our flight in the morning was before the crack of dawn!