May 31, 2014

May 31, 2014

Today we headed to the Hunter Valley region, which is wine country. This area is known for its semillion and shiraz. Our first stop was the city of Newcastle. We enjoyed the beautiful beach area and hiked to the fort atop a beachfront hill. The fort was one of the few Austrailian installments that fired shots during WWII. A Japanese submarine appeared in the middle of the night and starting firing on the city. The fort returned fire and chased them off. Connor liked hearing about this story. 

 

Then we were off to an afternoon of wine tasting. We went to four wineries: Brokenwood, Scarborough, Hungerford Hill, and Oakvale. Our favorite by a mile was Scarborough. The wines were great, and the kids met a dog named Rosie that they loved. Carolina didn’t want to leave her when it was time to go. Then she kept asking when we could get a dog like Rosie. The kids are definitely ready for a furry family pet! We also stopped at a chocolate shop for a little treat. 

 

 

 

 

At the last winery, we were in for quite a surprise. We saw kangaroos in the wild!! They were eating grass in the vineyards. It was amazing to watch an animal that we had been hoping so much to see in their natural habitat. Seeing the roos hop throughout the vineyards was fascinating. We loved seeing their jumps that looked like springs. It was also interesting to see how much they use their tail for balance and movement. We were very excited! All the Australians at the winery kind of gave us an amused smirk since seeing a kangaroo doesn’t illicit quite the same reaction from a local. I got to drive the car all around the wine country and all the way back to Sydney, and I must say that I did pretty well! Our 4 year old little trooper fell asleep on the drive back again. 

 

 

May 30, 2014

May 30, 2014

Today we drove to the Sydney Fish Market. It is the second largest fish market in the world (Tokyo has the largest one). It was interesting to look at all the fish displayed in the shops. Carolina was very concerned about the fish laying in the ice. She wasn’t sure if they were alive or not. She was very happy when we got to the holding tanks where there were live lobsters and crab. She started clapping and cheering that they were alive.  We chose to have some baked goods as a snack instead of our seafaring friends. We tried a Lamington, which is like a poundcake coated in chocolate and dusted with coconut. It was pretty good!

 

After the fish market, we headed to the Rotary Convention area to sign Matt in for the convention. Matt thought the convention was at the Sydeny Convention Center, which is very close to downtown, but it is at the Sydney Olympic Park, which is about 30 minutes away (only 11 miles though).  At least we figured that out on a day when he didn't have to be there at a certain time. 

After the Olympic Park, we ate lunch at a Korean restaurant downtown. It was delicious! Then we headed to the mall just to experience shopping life in Sydney. The kids, of course, found the Build-A-Bear store and proceeded to fall in love with the bears. We left the store without getting anything, but then made a deal that the bear could be one of their birthday presents if they so chose. They did choose—Lucy for Carolina and Darth Vader for Connor. They were very happy with their new purchases! By the end of the afternoon, we were so tired of Sydney traffic that we came home and made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and relaxed. 

May 29, 2014

May 29, 2014

We started off the day with a quick stop at a coffee shop, which turned into a very funny incident. We are still hoping that the cause was Matt's accent and not the rudeness of the barista, but basically Matt ordered a chai tea latte and ended up with porridge. The barista got angry with Matt and said that was what he ordered. Matt was bewildered by the exchange, but of course thought it funny.

Today we went to Bondi Beach. The kids were very excited to get to go to a beach. We did the scenic walk from Bondi Beach towards Coogee. It was very pretty. Then we sat on the beach and watched the kids play in the waves and sand. The sand was so fine and golden. The water was extremely clear and had such a beautiful gradient of blues in it. It was certainly picturesque! The water was cold, but not frigid. Connor and Carolina had a blast running and jumping in the waves. Then they built things in the sand. Connor was very proud of his moat, and Carolina reduced a ladybug that she found on the sand. It was a great morning! 

 

 

We walked about the Bondi Beach neighborhood and found an amazing lunch place, the Sun Cafe. It was probably the best meal we have had on an entire trip so far. Then after lunch we had to sample the best gelato in the neighborhood. 

 

Once our bellies were full, we came back to nap the kids before our late night tour of the Opera House and the Vivid show. We headed to the Opera House around 5pm. The harbor area was jumping when we got there! We took our tour of the Opera House at 6pm and it was incredible. We got to walk through the whole opera house while our guide explained a little of the history and architecture. One of the interesting tidbits the guide told us was that the Opera House was forecasted to take three years to build and $7 million. It took 16 years to build and coast $102 million. We got to go into every venue except one. The best one was the main concert hall. It was beautiful. It was very interesting to learn that every chair in the concert hall has been designed to mimic how sound bounces off a human body so that whether it is a dress rehearsal with few people in the audience or a packed house, the sounds will sound the same to the artists on the stage. We got really lucky because one of the singers for the night was doing a sound check so we got to sit in theatre and listen to a song. It was an unexpected treat to be able to hear the acoustics. 

 

 

 

By the time we finished the tour, Vivid had started. Vivid is a two week light show that happens each night at the Sydney Harbor. Intricate patterns of light are projected onto the sails of The Opera House. It was very cool to stand and watch the light show on this iconic building.  There are also light installments all around the harbor so we walked along looking at the installments and letting the kids participate in most of the interactive ones. It was a beautiful evening!