Sydney Sightseeing

Today was our last full day in Sydney, in fact, our last full day in Australia, as tomorrow we are off to New Zealand. The weather turned out gorgeous, and we went out exploring. We finally made it over to Sydney Harbor to see the most iconic of Sydney's structures: The Opera House. We also took the ferry out to Manly, where we enjoyed watching the surfers, soaking up the beautiful day, and eating some surprisingly delicious and authentic Mexican food. Once we were back in Sydney proper, we headed over to the Royal Botanic Gardens for a nice little walk around before dark. It was a perfect day!

The Sydney Opera House

Proof that we were here

We caught a glimpse of Luna Park on the ferry ride

Manly Beach, indeed

Surfers at Manly Beach

Too Cool

Soaking up some Vitamin D on Manly Beach

The Royal Botanic Garden

We got to see some of the deconstruction of an elaborate opera set

Ft. Denison

A beautiful tree at Mrs. Macquaries Point

Sydney Harbor

ANZAC Day

Today is ANZAC Day in Australia, which is similar to the Veteran's Day in the U.S. The parades began at 3:30 am, right outside our hotel, and continued all day long. We did not make it down for the any of the early morning parades, but when we were finally ready to leave the hotel, we came out to street level just as a bagpipe band was making it's way up the street. We spent most of the rest of this gorgeous day at a wonderful playground in Darling Quarter, near Darling Harbor, playing with all the children in the area who were enjoying one last day of school holidays. When we were ready to leave, we stopped by a hilarious art exhibition, depicting real signage from around the world, along with some side-splitting commentary.  We ended up having dinner at a place on Darling Harbor, where we enjoyed sitting outside, taking in the loveliness of the harbor after dark, and eating some truly delicious food, including kangaroo steak. After diner, we slipped over to the Lindt Cafe for a divine salted caramel milkshake.

ANZAC Day Parade

Up and up and up

A tangled web

If you ever want to know where this one is, just look up!

We spent at least half an hour chuckling out loud while reading these
(and many other) signs and the accompanying commentary,
which I realize is probably too small for you to enjoy.
But, trust me, it's comedy gold!

Beautiful Darling Harbor

Maritime Museum

We spent the day at the the Australian National Maritime Museum, and we had a great time learning about pirates and exploring a variety of seagoing vessels in Darling Harbor.  For dinner, we finally made it to a conveyor belt sushi place, where we had a ball selecting random dishes to try. It was a such a fun day!

Darling Harbor

Seafarers

A replica of Captain Cook's Endeavour

Captain Max and his first mate

It's a pirate's life for me!

ARRR!

Captain Sweetcheeks

The sonar crew on the submarine

Pirate attack!

Fighting back

Conveyor belt sushi

Down Under

Internet has been rather elusive for us in OZ, but good times have been easy to come by. Since leaving Hamilton Island almost a week ago, we have been making our way down the east coast, staying in very large houses, in very small towns, in some incredibly scenic locations. We have spent some time sightseeing and some time just lounging around wherever we happen to be calling home. We even got to spend a lovely day with one of my friends from high school and her family as we made our way to Sydney today. We really love Australia and can't believe our time here is almost at an end. 

Our lovely and enormous house and yard in Charlotte Bay

The kids would have been happy with just a yard,
but the trampoline was definitely the icing on the cake!

The Cartwheel King

We took a wonderful little hike up to the Sugarloaf Lighthouse

Redneck Port

This little guy was showing off for us at the Blackbutt Reserve in Newcastle

So excited to pet the bearded dragon

New friends and new foods

This goanna lizard is not a permanent resident at the wildlife reserve
but just moseyed in looking for a snack and caused quite a stir. 

The ANZAC walk on ANZAC weekend
(ANZAC Day is similar to our Veteran's Day and will be celebrated in OZ on Monday)

Enjoying the beautiful day and trying not to blow away

Such a fun reunion with a friend I've known since
9th grade and haven't seen in ten years

We were thrilled to see a pod of dolphins as we walked along the coast

The Merewether Ocean Baths

So much fun exploring the rock pools

Hamilton Island and The Great Barrier Reef

A couple of days ago, we left Melbourne and flew up to Hamilton Island, which is situated near the south end of the 1400 mile long Great Barrier Reef. It is a tropical paradise, and we love it! Yesterday, we had an opportunity to spend the day at the reef, and it was absolutely amazing! From Hamilton Island, it was a two-hour boat ride out to Reef World, which is a platform of fun located on the edge of the Hardy Reef. Our tour package included the boat ride, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, entrance into the underwater observatory, as many cruises as we cared to enjoy along the reef on the glass-sided semi-sub, and a full range of snorkeling equipment. I just kept pinching myself, because I couldn't believe we were actually at the Great Barrier Reef. It was truly an unforgettable experience!

The view from our Hamilton Island apartment

The cockatoos are frequent visitors

There are no private cars on the island, so we all cruise around in our buggies.

The boat that took us to the reef

Ready for adventure!

A school of Yellowtail Fusilier fish

We were fascinated by the huge Maori Wrasse.

Getting the side-eye from a lovely Parrotfish 

A nice view from the underwater observatory

Swimming against the grain

Can you spot the little yellow fish hiding among the branch coral?

Beautiful coral from the semi-sub

The snorkel team

Blessed with this gorgeous sight on our way back to the island