Sydney Harbour Bridge... Move over Oprah!

Yesterday was a lazy day around the Wilson's.  Caught up on laundry and did normal around the house type of things.  We counted the days left in Australia and were sad that there was only a week left.  Tyson said today, when we were waiting to go to Australia the time wouldn't come fast enough and now that we are here... the days are done in a flash.  We said "Welcome to Vacationing!"

Today, we went into Sydney.  The boys did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, while Pearl and I went to the Contemporary Art Museum to see a photography exhibit.  I'll let Dan or Tyson blog about their climb, but it looked pretty impressive.  Not sure if Tyson can say he is afraid of heights anymore, given he climbed the bridge no problem.  And, when I asked him how it was... He casually said "Umm, it wasn't that high".  Considering, up until a couple months ago he was talking about how scary the CN Tower glass floor was, I was surprised that an open air climb up 134 metres on a steel bridge above water was "no big deal".  As a teenager would say "Whatev!"

We met up with Kristi and Stu for dinner in the north end of the city and went for dinner at a delicious Thai restaurant.  I had Laska and it was soooo good.  Mmmm!!  We all shared our dishes and enjoyed every bite.

Now, we are back at home... chillin out.  We definately look like a 21st century family.  I'm on the laptop and Tyson and Dan are on their iphones, and ipods.  Pearl's sleeping.  Gotta run, Dan just texted me to get off the computer.  And, Tyson's tweeting that he needs the computer!  (Just joking... we'll use real words with one another before the night's out).

Bingo Junkies and such...

We are back in Davidson at the Wilson's house... nice to be in a familiar place and have a landing spot at the end of each day.

We arrived back from our adventures on Fraser Island Tuesday night and they deserve a whole blog of their own, but we will wait til we get home to publish it!  From Fraser Island we drove back down to Noosa, where Tyson spent more of his birthday money at Billabong.  We could tell he really wanted to shop there because at least once a day he would ask if we were going back to Noosa.  Then when we got back to Noosa, you could tell he was getting concerned about what time the shops closed and encouraged us to hurry along our business in the most polite of ways.

From Noosa we took off to Marrocchydore to stay the night, and catch our flight the next day.  We stayed at the Hot Spot Motel, and Stu had to clarify with us whether or not be paid by the hour or by the night, with a name like that.  It was by the night, for those interested!

The room was different then what we had just stayed in, up on Fraser Island.  It was a painted white concrete room with a double bed, and a single bed in the kitchenette.  It was dodgy, but clean and I guess that's what counted.  We all slept well... considering the last time we were all in a hotel room together (Florida), I was ready to put Tyson in a tub- close the door and turn on a very loud fan!!  (For those who don't know- he is a loud, restless sleeper!)

We did well, until about 5:30 a.m.  Normally, the birds are up around that time and they wake us up.  But at this motel, the garbage truck was what woke us up at that time.  It was as if it was just outside our window.  I think I prefer the birds.

We went to the RSL Club for dinner and it was pretty good.  Cheap at least, we joined in on their trivia contest, but didn't fair too well.  Either way it was fun to join in with the locals.  An RSL Club is similar to our Legion's I guess, but they are much more impressive.

Our day waiting for our flight, was spent heading to the beach and a mall with a river that ran through it. It was pretty impressive.  It was an outdoor mall and it was huge- but really pretty to walk around.

Pearl and I didn't venture down to the beach as it was super windy day.  So, instead we signed ourselves into the Surf Club and hung out with the people there.  They were all playing Bingo, and I thought it would be fun to join in, as well as it would pass the time.  I bought about five dollars worth of cards and Pearl and I tried to find a seat to sit.  It felt like I was in a high school movie, where the geeky girl tries to find a seat, but everyone keeps their eyes down hoping she won't try to sit with them (or making it clear that she wasn't welcome to sit with them).  That was Pearl and I, these people were such Bingo junkies that they couldn't see how cute Pearl was and didn't want to have anything to do with such a distraction.

So, the one guy sat us up in a corner on our own.  I attempted to figure out how to play the game, and it was nothing like it was in grade school with the letters B I N G O along the top of the page.  This was serious stuff!  Pearl wasn't even crying, just making happy sounds and the people around were giving us dirty looks.  Eventually, the manager suggested I leave that area and go somewhere where I could keep her quiet.  So, we moved to the other side of the room, alone and eventually we said "Stuff it"... and left. I so wanted to win, just to rub it in to the Bingo Junkies noses... but no such luck!

I got thinking... though... and probably a Bingo Hall is not that best spot for a mom and baby.  Not because I was distracting the junkies, but because what is a mother of an infant in doing playing Bingo.  But, then I thought maybe the junkies... weren't fazed by it because that's normal.  It's a whole other culture in a Bingo Hall.

We then waited at the airport to fly back to Sydney.  Caught up on journalling and life in the airport.

Fraser Island Shots

  
                                                           Family shot at Lake Mackenzie

                                                          
                                                               Just playing in the sand.

Look familiar? Star Wars

You let us travel with two kids?

Pearl meets baby Mac!

Tyson gets friendly with the Roo's.

Crikey's!! That's a big one!!!

Pelican 4X4 Hire Sucks!! Tell your friends!!

March 5

To start our day, we went to the car and our trusty mechanic was right.  The car wouldn’t start, so it required a phone call to the front desk to find someone with booster cables to get it going.  This meant that at 9 a.m. we started the car and we couldn’t turn it off until we were done our day trip, which ended around 5 p.m.  This also made it difficult for all of us, get out of the vehicle when checking out the sights, as it would mean leaving it unattended, running. 

To start the day, we went to Lake McKenzie to check out the sights.  However, with car issue we had to find the closest parking spot, and this led to a wrong turn, which lead to never actually seeing Lake McKenzie.  We thought we would just loop around, and apparently on Fraser Island there is no such thing as just looping around.  Maybe we will try again tomorrow.

We then bumped around the island, until we got to Seventy Five Mile Beach, where we could drive faster along the beach.  We went up to Indian Head, checked out the Champagne pools, the Mahano Shipwreck and drove past Eli Creek- as the tide was on it’s way up and we didn’t want to get stuck.  We can do that again tomorrow.

The ride at times was even more bumpy, than the day before.  And, because of the rain the potholes were even deeper.  With the commotion of the truck and getting Pearl sorted before leaving, lunch turned out to be sparse.  I had packed all the stuff for sandwiches, but no bread.  And I didn’t pack utensils for the potato salad.  Therefore, lunch was hummus wrapped in lettuce and we had to use the cucumbers to scoop the potato salad out.  So, I guess we could say we left our manners back at the apartment as well.

We had a few good laughs along the way. The battery in the truck continued to die as the day went on, so by around 3 o’clock we were losing power to operate all the extras in the truck.   Power windows, air conditioning, radio etc.  So, we triaged what we could use, forgot about the radio, stopped using the air con, and put the windows up when it was raining and down when it was not.  The most hilarious part about it was, the only way to get the windows up in the vehicle was to drive faster, to get enough juice in the battery to operate them.

Then, we got to the rainforest part of the trip.  The windows were up because it was raining, which meant the windows were fogging up with all our hot air in the truck (we even kept conversation to a minimum!).  So, Dan had to drive faster through the rough terrain to get enough power to use the defrost to clear the windshield.  There was something ironic about the whole thing.  We will see what tomorrow will bring!

Noosa and Fraser Island

March 4^th

Currently, we are sitting in front of the tv, in our suite at The Kingfisher Resort on Fraser Island.  It’s quite nice, a large open area with a fully equipped kitchen.  We have two bedrooms and a bathroom, which includes a Jacuzzi tub.  We are living the life!  And guess what Dan is doing?!? Laundry… he’s right at home!

I’ll update you on yesterday’s events before I do today’s.  It was a pretty lazy day again, slow start to the morning with eggs benedict made by Stu.  Delicious! And, then it was time to decide what beach to go to considering the hundreds around us.  We ended up in Coolum, which was beautiful.  The water was aqua blue, the waves great for surfing and the sand was easy to walk on.

The boys hired a couple of surf boards and gave them a go.  I also tried my hand at it, and managed only to get up on my knees a few times.  It was a good time, and the best part was I managed to keep my top on the whole time!  (Last time I was surfing, I lost my bikini top a few times- embarrassing!!)

Transportation seems to be our biggest logistical challenge, while in Australia.  Needing the car seat all the time, makes it extra complicated to figure out how to transport the four of us, along with Kristi and Stu in a five person vehicle.  So, we rented two cars and travelled separately, except for yesterday.  We had to return one car, so that meant Dan and Tyson took the city bus back to Noosa from Coolum.  They found it fine, but the driver suggested they get off at an early stop than they anticipated.  So, that meant that they ended walking about a kilometer and a half on the beach in the heat.  By the time they arrived back to the condo, they were both puddles.

Tyson was so hot, he jumped in the pool, forgetting that his wallet was in his swim shorts.  He found out that Australian money is waterproof.  (My guess is a few Australians have done the same thing).

The day ended with picking up the 4WD in Noosa, to get ready for our Fraser Island trip and then a night hanging out on the porch, enjoying a traditional Aussie feast, “Shrimp on the Barbie”.  They are actually prawns.  They were huge and so tasty!

This morning we got up early and left our place in Noosa with Kristi and Stu and headed to Tin Can Bay.  We were a little late getting there, but did get to see the dolphins that come to shore at 8 am to be fed by the locals.  It was pretty cool to see a dolphin so close.  Apparently, the one that we saw was attacked by a shark and for this reason had scratches all on his side.  The woman said, that the “alpha male” controls the pod, and therefore also defends the pod, and that’s why he was so scratched up.

The volunteer let us know that the dolphins really like pregnant women, because their super sonar hearing can detect the sound of the heart beat of the baby in the mom’s tummy.  Amazing isn’t it?!

Kristi and Stu left for Sydney today, and we headed to Fraser Island for our vacation within a vacation, within a vacation (as Tyson would say).  It’s our first day of rain, so we can’t complain.  We woke up with it down pouring and it’s been sporadic all day long.

We arrived on Fraser Island via the Iniskip ferry.   We then drove along the beach to turn off to go through the inland road to get to our lodging on the other side of the island.  To say road, is an over statement, basically it is a path free of trees, but not their tree roots.  The man on the ferry, said let the ruts carry you, kind of like a train track.  And so we did.  We laughed quite a bit, as we bumped around in the four wheel drive.  Pearl took it like a champ, and actually fell asleep for the majority of the trip.  To get a sense of how slow we were driving, it took us an hour and a half to travel 15 kilometres.

Upon arrival at the Kingfisher, we parked the truck and immediately it died, with the windows down.  This was at around one o’clock, it was sunny and very hot and humid.  Dan tried figuring out the problem, but then found a mechanic on the other side of the island that tried to tell him what to do over the phone.  It didn’t work so well, as all Dan had to work with was a pair of rusty pliers and flashlight with no batteries.  The mechanic said he wouldn’t be able to make it over to the other side of the island to help us, as he had dinner plans!  Needless to say, Dan let the mechanic know he would have to cancel them.  So, carless, Tyson and I moved our stuff up the steep hill to our accommodation.  Both of us, were sweating and Pearl was sweating watching us.  We got settled in the apartment, which is very nice and large.

Dan continued working on the car but couldn’t get it started, so he had to leave it at reception.  We all decided to go for a swim in the large pools by reception, which was very fun.  Pearl seems to be like Tyson, a fish!  They both love the water.

And then… the rain started.  The torrential rain started.  And the car still wasn’t fixed.  So, the rain made it’s way into the open windows of the vehicle and stayed there, soaking into the seats and the floor. 

The mechanic did show up around 8 o’clock at night in the torrential rain, with three friends and a six pack to fix the car.  They put a new battery in the truck, and rolled up the windows.  He said, we may have some issues in the morning, but if that was the case- just get someone to boost it for us- “should purr like a kitten”.  Thanks mate!

Wilderness Wednesday... not so much

Today was a lazy start to the day.  We had good intentions of making it, “Wilderness Wednesday” which was to include the markets, a hike on a trail and scouting out some waterfalls nearby.  However, we decided otherwise, while sitting poolside.  Kristi called it “Wiped out Wednesday”.  Yesterday’s hot day in the sun, wore us all out and chillin by the pool, seemed like a better idea.

We worked on Tyson’s science homework, while sitting poolside.  We thought it was appropriate, given we were talking about buoyancy, viscosity, mass and volume and their relationship to each other.   We had Tyson jump into the pool, (cannon ball vs. belly flop) to figure out the effect on buoyancy.  At first, Tyson thought he was hard done by, as he had to jump in the pool and get his hair wet.  We quickly reminded him of “hard done by”… when we said his schoolmates were probably sitting inside, reading textbooks about the same subject, and it was snowing outside.  He agreed and suffered through, the poolside lesson.

Pearl took her first dip in the ocean.  She wasn’t 100% sure about it.  We will try again I think the waves threw her off.  She did like playing in the sand and digging her feet in and out.  I gave up on trying to keep it out of her face.  It was next to impossible and she didn’t seem too fazed by it.  At one point, she stuck her hand in the sand and then her thumb in her mouth.  No reaction… we’ll see what the back end of her diaper looks like tomorrow, granular?

I think Dan is looking forward to getting back to straight roads when we return to Canada.  The roundabouts still are causing us trouble.  Can’t nail down what straight is, and once we do, the next roundabout doesn’t have as many spokes or it has more, which changes what straight is.  Needless, to say we need to keep our sense of humour when we are getting lost on a regular basis.