Sydney!

Probably saving some of the best for last...after a few days on the road, we arrived in Sydney! It is a very beautiful city. Again, really clean and very family friendly. We did a lot of walking. Thankfully, the weather had cleared up so it made getting around easier. During our first day, we walked the botanical gardens to the opera house. The park is really pretty and offers some great views.

Darling Harbour was really fun. There are so many restaurants and cafes. Plus there is a great park for the kids with a super cool fountain area.

We also did a few wild animal parks and aquariums while we were there. Quin is at a great age for this and was loving it!! It was so much fun to see her reaction- even though she gets so excited she usually screams as if she is throwing a fit or something. ;)

We decided to take a ferry over to Manly for a day. We LOVED it there! It was a super cute little beach town just a quick ride from the city. We spent the day at the beach, where Ryan got to surf, playing at the park, and visiting their aquarium. Definitely a highlight of the trip.

Over all, we had a great vacation and loved seeing Australia. Not sure if we'll get the chance, but we would do it again, for sure.

the gold coast!

so, after a few days in Cairns- we took the short flight to Brisbane. From here, we rented a car to start the drive down to Sydney.

Our first (and only) morning in Brisbane, we walked to see some of the city, but the weather was pretty crappy, so we decided just to get on the road and get going. Oh- and in Australia they drive on the left side of the road. I'm glad Ryan was the one that handled that!

Unfortunately, the clouds and drizzle stuck with us a good portion of the drive. But we still found some really awesome places. The first few towns we came to, Surfers Paradise, Coolangatta, and Byron Bay were amazing! They were very southern CA to us- think Manhattan Beach, Laguna, La Jolla. Made us a little home sick. :(

Quin had a blast stopping along the way at all the little parks in the beach cities. Every place is so clean and well maintained there! (I'm pretty sure I already mentioned that) We played on the beach a few times, and Ryan spent a while arranging debris for photos. (For those of you that don't know, my husband seems to think he was a photographer in another life?!) We also made a quick stop at one of the wineries, and Q posed for more photos, of course. ;)

Oh- and the road signs were great! I am sure people that come to the states from other parts of the world feel the same way when they see our wildlife warnings- but I still think it was crazy to see koala and kangaroo signs everyplace. Kangaroo really are like deer there- just hanging by the side of the road. Pretty neat.

And while on vacation, Quin started doing this super cute face every time she would see an animal (usually dirty old pigeons that just wanted to eat her fries), but her reaction to them was too cute just the same.