Australia Day 7

Thursday was a day mixed with sun and clouds.  After breakfast we returned to Paddy's Market for some souvenir shopping. This place is crazy.  It is packed with merchandise, people, and great deals. The first time we visited I was completely overwhelmed and holding tightly to my children.  By the end of the week the girls were checking out the "stores" next to where we were shopping.  They found lots of neat treasures.

Because everyone needs a blow up boxing kangaroo...

We smiled every time we passed this fire hydrant that was near our hotel.. If you look closely you can see the face on it.

After dropping off our purchases back at the hotel we took the bus back to Sydney Harbour.  We enjoyed a quick Hungry Jack's (Burger King) overlooking the harbor and then we were off on our next adventure.

One can not take too many pictures of famous sites such as this, because you might just end up with an amazing picture.

In researching things to do in Sydney I found out it was whale migrating season.  I told Marc I would love to go whale watching again.  We were on the lookout for humpback whales.  I had taken the girls to see an IMAX about the humpbacks one morning when Marc was working.  It was so fascinating and we were all excited about the possibility of seeing one in person.

"And God said, 'let the water under the sky be gathered to one place...'" Genesis 1:9. I've been to the ocean many times.  I've looked out across the expanse, and every time I am reminded of what an amazing Creator we have.  No artist can compare to Him, and I am so thankful for the opportunities to explore a small part of His handiwork.

On our way to find some whales Brooke took an expensive nap. I guess the expanse of the ocean wasn't too exciting for her.  

After quite a while of searching for a humpback the crew announced that this was apparently not a good day to find whales. They had, however, been alerted to a whale about 7 miles north. Off we sped. We never got a fantastic view, no breaching or tail splashing.  Just a few small rises to the surface. But this also wasn't one of the more common humpback whales.  This was a southern right whale. They received their name because they were the "right" whale to kill when hunting whales was popular and legal.

Exhaling.  You can see a bit of the air cloud.

After about half an hour watching this guy it was time to head back to the harbor.

Someone wasn't feeling too well.  I'm not sure if she was really sea sick, but we grabbed a bag just in case. Thankfully it remained unused by both of us.

 Crazy wind.

This seal has made its home on the steps outside of the Opera House.  The ship's crew pointed it out, so we decided to take a walk and get a closer look.

Once again we enjoyed a later dinner.  By the end of the trip we were needing to find something other than chicken for the girls. We had passed by Stacks every time we went to the playground or Darling Harbour.  Their nightly pizza special of $9 lured us in.  Now pizza isn't exactly healthy food, but I knew the girls would eat well and it wasn't chicken nuggets. When I saw green beans on the menu we had to order them.  We didn't find many vegetables other than potatoes (mostly fries) on menus, so I was excited to get some vegetables in everyone.  Those were some of the most amazing green beans I've ever had, and the pizza was really good too. After dinner we walked back through the playground so the girls could check out the water feature that changed colors. One more day in Sydney before our long journey back home.

Australia Day 6

Wednesday morning turned out to be a more dreary day than we had seen so far, but a bright spot was that Marc didn't have to go into work until around lunch time. Since Sydney Olympic Park was out towards where he was working the girls and I grabbed the morning train with him and we headed east about 30 minutes to the suburbs. 

Olympic Stadium

In doing some research for the trip I ran across a few scavenger hunts for kids to do in the area.  The first one was a little easier (once we downloaded a compass to Marc's phone). The girls enjoyed this one even though the rose garden wasn't in bloom in the winter.

The Discobolus commemorates the discus event at the Olympics, and it is 7 meters wide. Our hunt ended here with a secret message to decode from the clues we answered along the way.

Olympic Cauldron 

The park where the cauldron is located has been named Cathy Freeman Park. She was a sprinter and this path here shows the length of her strides. Macy's left foot is on one spot and the next spot is that circle several feet ahead of her right foot.

Another fun playground with new pieces of equipment to figure out.

Some sort of modern art sculpture represented 8 female Olympic athletes.

Searching out the answer to another clue on the scavenger hunt.

The Olympic Torch

The girls and I found our way back to the hotel with no problems.  These girls really found out what it was like to rush to grab a bus or train before you were left behind. I think I mentioned it before, but they were so amazing about all of the walking around we did.  There was rarely a complaint and we walked MILES every day... usually at least 7 miles. I am so proud of these little ladies!

Australia Day 5

Marc headed off to work today and we headed to the Royal Botanic Gardens.  The gardens and surrounding green space cover about 158 acres of land. Very few things were blooming in the winter, but it was still amazingly beautiful.  I can't imagine what spring looks like around there.

After a picnic lunch (we swiped some extra bread from the breakfast buffet and used it to make some nutella and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in our room) we found an open area for the girls to play.  I grabbed a spot on a bench and the girls had so much fun running, tumbling, and throwing a frisbee.

This little one came to see what I was up to. When the girls came over they named it Banana. They have named most of the animals we have seen on this trip. Later we saw a larger bird of this species so we realized that this one was a young one.

In the last post I mentioned that we did a lot of walking today. My fitbit was still set on Georgia time so one day was really an afternoon/evening, sleep, and the morning of the next day. By the time we made it back to our hotel today we had managed to take over 25,000 steps which was almost 11 miles of walking. These three girls were amazing and rarely complained.  When they did complain about their feet hurting I wanted to complain right along with them. 

So we walked across the gardens to Mrs. Mcquarie's Chair.  Mrs. Mcquarie's husband was the governor of New South Whales in the early 1800's.  This bench was carved out of sandstone and she enjoyed sitting and watching the ships come in and out of the harbor from England.

It happened again.  A few ladies from a group wanted their picture taken with my girls. They tried to get their son to take a picture too, but he wanted nothing to do with it. So funny! The girls are good sports.

Fort Denison

"Little Legs," as we affectionately called her on this trip, was tired and big sister gave her a ride for a few minutes.