Now this trip wasn't planned. That probably doesn't come as a shock to anyone who knows us well (or other Kearney people). Ryan called me on Wednesday night, said he has a meeting in Sydney on Monday morning, and I was already online buying airline tickets before we hung up. I was just waiting for an excuse to go to Australia! I didn't think it would happen in 2012, so that was just a little more frosting on the cake.
Madison & I took the red-eye Thursday, spent Friday exploring by ourselves, and Ryan took the red-eye Friday to meet us. We spent 4 full days there.. it was a nice introduction. I'm already planning a return in the summer : ) Speaking of the weather - it was soooo cold! I checked the weather before leaving and it said low 60's during the day, so that's what I prepared for, but what I WASN'T prepared for was the WIND! Holy moly it just rips right through you! Winter coats, hats, even gloves, would have been appropriate. The first day was the worst, then it warmed up over the weekend.. thank God!
During "Mommy & Madison Date" day (as we call it in our house) on Friday we landed at 9:00am, got to the hotel and checked in, got some breakfast and headed out for our adventure day. We started out walking up to the harbor where the Opera House is. This is also where all the ferry's depart so there are so many boats, and food kiosks, entertainers, and people just milling around. Madison loved the excitement of it all... and of course the BIRDS! She loved chasing the seagulls and other little white birds that would just hop around and tease her. We got some hot tea and hot chocolate and bundled up for our walk across town to Darling Harbour. Destination: aquarium!
Timed it perfectly! Just as we were running into the aquarium it started to downpour... and it was freezing. I had prepped Madison that this is where Nemo lives, so she was very excited about that. However, I was shocked to realize.. there was NO NEMO anywhere in the aquarium. Come on?!? Sydney = Nemo. They even had a huge picture of him on the wall as we were buying our tickets, which she pointed out and starting jumping around and pulling on me to hurry up so we could go find him. At least there was plenty of other things to distract her from realizing Nemo was nowhere to be found. I have to admit the aquarium was very underwhelming. I've been to better aquariums in the States.. even the KL aquarium is better. I'm hoping it's because they were renovating it, and it's not peek tourist season, etc.. because it was a disappointment. We spent a few hours at the aquarium, then as our jetlag started to kick in we headed back for the hotel. A hot bath, dinner, and early bed, was the perfect ending to our day.
8:30am Saturday morning - Ryan arrives! After breakfast in the lounge, and a bit of shopping on the way to sightsee (we can't help it), we arrived at Bondi Beach. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL public beach I've ever seen. It's really cold out but there are still guys running the beach in speedos, and kids surfing, and really beautiful women running along the coast. I feel like we've been dropped into some pleasentville-type movie... it was unreal. Even though it was cold I couldn't resist letting Madison take off her shoes and run in the sand... after the BIRDS of course. Good grief, we need to get that child a dog. She made some friends and they all decided to bury the boy in the sand, which was really cute. We walked the coast for a while (past this awesome athletic club w/swimming pool hanging over the ocean - see pics), but Mads started to get tired so we decided to taxi to Coogee Beach for lunch.
Sydney reminded me of San Francisco at times. The taxi rides were fast, up & down hills, through winding neighborhoods. All beautifully manicured and painted pretty colors. I wanted to stop on almost every block and explore that neighborhood. I could have spent weeks in Sydney just exploring all the neighborhoods and returning to ones I liked the most. Then making an offer on a house.. hang on I'm dreaming...
Saturday night we walked to Darling Harbour and dined at Meat & Wine Co, which was recommended by a friend back in Dallas who's sister lives in Sydney. Actually, she sent us a huge list of things to do, and we did almost ALL of them! She had great suggestions, and they were all very "us" - places we'd eat and go, and things we'd like to see. She totally nailed it - I totally owe her! The restaurant was really nice with mahogany walls / tables - an upscale steakhouse feel. The entire front wall was glass and peered out into the harbour. As we walked to our table right in front of the glass wall, fireworks started shooting off from a barge in the harbor. They went off for a while and we had a front row seat! Madison was thrilled. All I could focus on was the fillet and mashed potatoes I ordered. I haven't had steak & potatoes since leaving Dallas, and I was anticipating every bite... and I ate every bite. I wanted to go back for lunch the next day - it was THAT good.
We woke up to a beautiful blue sky on Sunday, slightly warmer temp, and we were all excited to get out and explore. We decided to tour the botanical gardens, which is located along the water near the Opera House. When we walked into the gardens there was this vintage red choo-choo train offering tours of the gardens via train ride. Obviously there was no getting around that as soon as Madison saw it. It ended up being a great way to see the gardens b/c I had no idea how BIG they were. We wouldn't have been able to see half of what we saw on the train if we had walked. Plus the 'conductor' was really nice and funny, and would point out special things to us, like the tallest tree in the garden, the sideways tree with blood red sap (freaky), what trees the Macaw birds lived in, where the most weddings take place, the famous "Louvre-inspired" greenhouse (very cool), etc.. I highly recommend the cute little train.. with or without a 3 year old.
We were destined to have lunch at Opera Bar after the gardens - the day was perfect, the baby was getting tired (yesss, stroller nap!), and we were there just at the right time to nab a spot along the harbor wall where you can recline and enjoy a few drinks. The food was delicious, the sun was warm, Madison fell asleep, and Ryan and I enjoyed a few hours of catching up and people watching (our fave!).. oh and pretending we lived there, haha.
Sunday night we decided to go to Hillsong (city). We've missed our church in Dallas so much, and have heard so many great things about Hillsong that it would be a sin (pun intended) not to go experience it for ourselves. We weren't prepared for how AMAZING it was. The worship was out-of-this-world-good! You don't want it to ever end!!! The people are SO warm and welcoming.. it's almost a bit of shock, coming from somewhere like Malaysia where everyone keeps to themselves and watches out only for themselves.. to a place where everyone said hello, wanted to talk to us & know our name, encouraged us to come back. The message was perfect for us.. it was just what Ryan & I needed. SOOO glad we went, and we'll def go back as often as we can get to Australia. I'm actually looking into going to their 2013 conference in Sydney next year.. anyone wanna join?? :)
Ryan worked on Monday so Mads & I had another day of adventure. We went to the olympic parade, which was very cool! It was the parade the city held to welcome back the olympians. They walked right up to us and showed us their medals - amazing! Madison liked the glitter flying through the air. We continued on and caught a ferry to the zoo. She loved the boat! Couldn't sit still.. wanted me to take her picture then show it to her, then take another one, etc etc.. it was really funny. It only takes 15 min to cross over to the zoo, and it's probably the BEST photos of the Opera House, Gardens, bridge, all in one shot - just breathtaking. Once we docked we walked up a few stair to the "Sky Safari", which is basically a gondola, up the hill to the entrance. I would highly recommend this! It's a short trip but the view behind is amazing, and we crossed right over the elephant enclosures where there were about 8 of them performing for a crowd at that moment.. perfect timing. This zoo rivals Singapore. There are advantages to each, but the weather, cleanliness, lack of crowds... really brought it to the top of my list. I felt like we were the only people there! The best part of the day was taking Madison to the "little farmers" area (petting zoo), and she got to feed the ducks, sheep, goats, pigs, & chickens. I posted a video of this on FB.. really funny, especially when she started chasing the hens and about tackled one to catch it! I'm just waiting for the day when one turns on her. She started to chase an Emu too and the head "farmer" told her he might bite her so she backed off. Really? And EMU? Those things are the size of ostriches! I'm even afraid of them. Oh well.. I guess she has no fear.
Our last night we had dinner at Sydney Cafe, which overlooks the harbor where the Opera House and ferry's are. It was a very nice restaurant, and great food. Since it was a Monday night there were tables of very well-dressed business men all around us. It was a little strange at first that they would seat us in a prime location on the balcony by these business dinners, because most of our Aussie friends here tell us how unfriendly restaurants are to children there.. especially upscale places like this. I have to disagree as we didn't experience that once. They even brought Madison paper and colored pencils and her own drink when we sat down. Everyone was very friendly and hospitable to us. Madison is really well-behaved though, so who can blame them :)
It was bittersweet saying goodbye.. I could live there tomorrow. But it gives us something to look forward to. I'm excited for our next trip back to explore more neighborhoods, new beaches, indulge in more fantastic food, and show Madison all the cool things to do in Sydney. One thing Ryan and I swore we would do before leaving SEA is an outback safari - who's coming with us??!!
