Emily, Ian, Brian and I all went on a tour of the Hunter Valley wine country. Australia is actually very famous for their wine. The most popular wine that comes out of Hunter Valley is Shiraz and Semillion. We hit up 5 wineries and got to try all kinds of wine. It was really interesting to actually learn about wine and how they should taste different, etc. For lunch we had a famous Australian meat pie and a tried 6 different beers at a brewery (they were in shot glasses). We also got to try out a bunch of different cheeses at the smelly cheese factory. Wine and cheese actually does go together well!!!! We had a blast!

Bloaks

The last few days we have hit the beach. Ian and Emily rented a car for the weekend and we went to check Royal National Park about 20 mins south of Sydney. The park was very huge! We found a beach that had a bunch of cliffs surrounding it. The weather was okay, it was windy which made it cold, but no rain. It was mostly overcast so sun was not our friend that day. I did manage to get in the water and attempt to do some body surfing, but I think I ended up getting drug on the ground more :)

We also just got back from going to Palm Beach which was about 40 minutes north of Sydney. According to Ian, this is not as popular as Manly and Bondi beach because you have to have a car to get to it (most tourist rely on public transportation, plus they do drive on the left side of the street) and it is a little off the beaten path. The beach was absolutely beautiful. The sand was made up of a lot of broken shells, but there were areas of soft sand too. The beach is patrolled by volunteer life guards who have to wear these silly yellow and red swim cap looking hats. There were a lot of people surfing which was fun to watch. The waves were a decent size. The water was gorgeous, especially since we had a cloudless day with sun beaming off the water. The water was cool, but it is true, once you get in, it does feel nice. We did see quite a few blue bottle jellyfish that were washed on shore during low tide. Blue bottle jelly fish's sting is like a bee sting and they just pour vinegar on the wound. None of us got stung so we were all safe! Brian and I did some shell hunting which was also fun.

Tonight we are going to have "take away" dinner from Stir Crazy again (it was so good) and have a picnic on the park which overlooks the bridge and opera house. We will get to see the sunset and city lights. Unfortunately, we have to catch a flight tomorrow. Ian is dropping us off at the airport at 8:30am. We will actually be getting into LA on the same day (we leave the 7th, which is the 6th in the US). We are really going to miss Australia and our friends. We will also miss the nice weather (I hear snow is back home), but we are ready to see our family (animals included) and get ready for Christmas.

Maca's (aka McD's) - AUS Day 5

Today was the first Hot day we have had here in Australia. Ian and Emily tried to direct us to the use of public transportation again, but this time a bus and train!!! Brian and I took a train, then a bus to the famous Bondi Beach in Sydney. Bondi beach was a very beautiful beach - I can see why it is so popular. The sand is so soft and fine. The water is a beautiful color of greens, blues, and aqua. There were several people surfing. The lifeguards here actually use surfboards for there rescue vehicle. The sun was shinning and there was not a cloud in the sky. The high today was about 27 Celsius which is in the 80's to us. The Australian sun is really warm and strong - you really do need sunscreen here. Brian and I laid out at the beach in the beach for awhile and then we started on this coastal walk that Emily and Ian recommended. The coastal walk starts at Bondi beach and ends at Coogee beach. The walk itself is about 7 miles and took us appx 2.5 hours. It was a beautiful walk. It is really hard to describe, but we took several pictures. There are several cliffs and the waves washing up on them are so neat! I forgot to put sunscreen on my arms....big mistake!!!! They are absolutely fried!!! The inside of my belly button actually got burned - does that even happen???? For dinner we grilled with Emily and Ian (the other couple are in carins for a couple of days) - we had steak on the barbie if you will :)

Sunnies - AUS Day 4

Today was a really fun experience. Brian and I booked a trip to the Blue Mountains in Australia. The Blue Mountains are about 1.5 hours west of Australia and are absolutely beautiful! The bus picked us up at 7:40am. For all of you out there, the latest I have slept in has been 9am....unbelievable! The bus was small (like what a metro mobility bus looks like) and had only 10 people. The bus driver gave us commentary to the first stop which was Featherdale Wildlife Park. The driver told us all about the history of Australia which was actually very interesting.

Featherdale Wildlife Park was such a neat experience. You walk into this little park and there are Kangaroos and Wallabies jumping all around you. They are not in cages, they are actually jumping/walking all around. We were able to pet and feed several kangaroos and wallabies. They are so cute!!! Both of them are very soft to the touch. When you feed them, they tend to grab at the food with there little front hands. They way they jump are so cute. We also got to see Koalas and there was one you could take a picture with and pet. Koalas are also very soft. They sleep all the time (my kind of animal!), but have very strong claws. You weren't able to hold one here, but it was really cool just to see one up close and touch it. The park also had wombats, birds, dingos, etc that were in cages. Brian and I absolutely loved petting the animals. We were only there for 1 hour (tour's choice), but we could have stayed there for hours. It was such a fun, cool experience and we loved it.

After the park we headed to the blue mountains. The blue mountains are still mined for coal. Coal is a huge industry in Australia. The mountains are named because in the distance they actually look blue. They look blue because Eucalyptus plants gives off gases that mix with the air and cause the blue hue. We stopped at several different viewing spots and saw a bunch of different, historic views of the mountains. The mountains are actually made out of sandstone and were created by two tectonic plates hitting and causing upward movement. The best way to describe the Blue Mountains are vast valleys and canyons - like the Grand Canyon, but green with trees. During lunch we went into the blue mountains and found this path that lead to the Katoomba falls. We walked into what looked like a rain forrest down and saw a beautiful waterfall. It kind of reminded me of the scenery in Twilight :) Afterwards we stopped in a little village and then took a ferry back to Circular Quay. From there, you guessed it, we walked home. That night we helped Emily and Ian put up there Christmas Tree. It is really hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it is so hot here!!!

G'Day Mate - AUS Day 3

On our third day here, Brian and I decided to go to the Tarongo Zoo. The zoo here was supposed to be good so we wanted to check it out. The day started out nice sunny, but cool. We were going to try and catch a bus to the zoo, but we quickly realized that was going to be too difficult as we did not know the routes correctly. We finally took a cab and $21.oo AUS Dollars later arrived at the zoo. The Zoo was huge, we need a map :) They broke the zoo off into sections. The first section we looked at was wild Australia. It was so much fun to see. We got to see kangaroos, Koala, Wombats, Emu's, Platypus, etc. After visiting wild Australia, we decided to get a bite to eat. 2 deli sandwiches, a small bag of chips, and a 20 oz pop set us back $25.oo. Holy Crap food is expensive here!!!! The next stop was Asia and there were plenty of Asian elephants to see :). It is really cool because when you are in the Asian animal section, they make the surroundings like you are really in Asia. There was bamboo, Asian buildings, Asian plants, etc. The only part that was not good, was at this point, it started to rain and rain and rain. They also had a African watering hole (that is what they called it), which was designed like a desert. We were able to see everything and stay somewhat dry. The way home was a little bit of a debacle. We were going to take the bus home. That didn't work - we had to run through the zoo and the rain to try and make the ferry. On the way, I almost fell several times. We made the ferry and then had to walk all the way home from Circular Quay. Although cold and wet, we did have a good time. That night we went out to dinner with the whole crew to a place called The Oaks. This place is really cool. You actually go pick your slab of meat and then grill it yourself. The boys did the grilling while the girls did the drinking!!! We had a lot of fun.

No Worries - AUS Day 2

Day two was Monday and our lovely friends and tour guides had to go to work.....boooo :( Justin, Marit, Brian and I decided to walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and check out Darling Harbour which is near Em and Ian's work. The boys thought they knew where to go and led us slightly astray. I am telling you, I have not walked so much in a long time!!! We took a cab from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour. The cab driver took us down the main drag of downtown Sydney. The historic buildings were really cool and everything was decorated for Christmas (The Aussies say "Happy Christmas"). At we walked around Darling Harbour and ate at a Malaysian restaurant called Chinta Rina, which means the Temple of Love. The place was so cute and food was excellent! From there we went to the Sydney Aquarium. The Aquarium was so cool. For those of us who can't get the great barrier reef, it was a good taste of what to see. It puts underwater world at MOA to shame!!! The weather got rainy and cold so we decided to walk down the Queen Victoria Building. That building reminded me of something you would find at South Beach, FL. The stores consisted of Coach, Versaci, etc. There was a Christmas tree that was 4 stories high. Most of their stores are underground so you go in to what you think is this small store and travel down to these really huge malls. By the time we got home Ian and Emily were home from work and we had left over Thanksgiving and wine....YUMMY!