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.

Australia!!

For those of you that didn't know...we just returned from our vacation to Australia. We have been talking about going since we moved here (really before that even- it just became a lot more realistic living on Guam) and figured we had better get it in while we could.
So- I know, I know... it is both pathetic and ridiculous that it has taken me over a week to get this series started. But let's face it, it takes time to get through 500+ photos and put something together worth sharing. And my free time at the computer is rather limited these days when the keyboard is constantly under the attack of a curious toddler. ;) For that reason, I have decided to break the trip up into 3 parts- in the hopes that I can get these posted quickly.

First stop...Cairns.

As friends had informed us, the weather in Cairns was really similar to that of Guam. It was pretty hot and humid. And, thanks to a colony (or whatever they are called) of bats they have occupying the trees in the middle of town, the entire city smelled like hot, sweaty mammal to me! ha! That said though, we had a lot of fun there! We spent the first day just walking and exploring. Lots of little cafes, bars, and shops. They have a great public pool they call a lagoon. It has a beach style, zero entry around one side with small fountains and shade for the kids. It gradually gets deeper- and people can hang out, sit and read, or swim. Quin had a blast and we were super impressed with how clean and well maintained it was for a free public space.

and the bats!

While we were there, we also did a boat trip and spent a day out on the great barrier reef. Because Ryan has taken up scuba diving since living on Guam, we figured there was no way you go all the way to Australia and don't dive the reef. Rather than take a day to go on his own to do it though, we decided to chance making it a family outing and picked a boat that had lots of fun options for everyone to enjoy. While Ryan was diving, Quin and I were able to take a ride on the glass bottom boat and submersible. They even had a small platform off the deck that they would lower into shallow water so the kids could safely swim and play. (eventually I will have more photos and video of the dive to share from Ryan's underwater camera)

Another day was spent traveling to visit the Kuranda, the rain forest just outside of Cairns. Here we took the sky rail and spent the day at a small little village (really just tourist shops) at the top of the mountain. You can stop along the way to take a few short walks to different view points. There were some pretty water falls, but I was a little distracted by spiders as big as my hand!? Yuck.

Over all, Cairns was a fun way to start the trip. Really, if you were not going to do the reef, I am not sure there is much to do there if you planned to stay long though?