Finally home

Well, we are all back in Chicago. We have been up for about 30 hours, but it doesn't really feel like it. We are sad to not be in Sydney anymore, but really happy to be home.

The trip back was really good. It took a really long time to get through ticketing in the Sydney airport, but after that it was pretty much a breeze. While we were in line, we started talking to a woman in line who was traveling to New York City. I mentioned living in upstate NY and she asked where because she grew up in Ithaca! Now she lives outside Sydney with her husband. On the flight from Sydney, Dad sat next to a man who lives about 20 minutes outside Ithaca. He didn't mention where, but small world!!

The people in front of Dad on the Sydney flight were a little ridiculous. It was a couple and their two young boys. The boys were all over the place, climbing on the seats, hitting things, being obnoxious. Once they finally went to sleep, it was good.

We had a lay over in San Francisco and it was really simple going through customs and getting checked back in. The flight from CA to Chicago felt super short compared to the flight back to the states.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. Once get back to the states, we kept looking to the wrong side of escalators and the road because we need to adjust to the states again. Traci is going to pull together all the pictures and delete all the repeats. Laurel's camera is amazing so we made her take most of the photos. Now we just have to get them all in one place. Keep an eye out for photos coming your way!!!

Cheers!

Our last day put us on cloud 9!

4;15am. That is when our day started. We got up, threw on some clothes and were picked up at 4:45. We drove almost an hour to a little town called Camden. We had some coffee and signed a waiver. We were getting ready to go hot air ballooning! 

We had to wait around for a bit before we got into the vans to drive to the launch site because there was very heavy fog in the morning. We finally  started driving around to find out launch location at about 6:30. The four of us were driving with 3 of the staff members from the company and a local couple, Andrew and Amanda. It was pretty nice to have some time to have a real conversation with some locals. Most of our interactions with non-Ziemanns have either been really brief or with other tourists. 

We finally found our launch location and helped get the balloon set-up. Personally,  I was slightly uncomfortable going in the air in anything any of had a part in getting ready, but the staff seemed comfortable. Dad had the job of holding open the mouth of the balloon while they blew cool air in to get it to expand. Then they started heating the air and get it all upright. Then, at about 8am, we hopped in and were afloat!!

It was amazing. We were able to see Sydney in the distance and it looked like it was sitting on clouds. We got up to over 1400 feet and were going at least 25 miles per hour at some points. It was just loads of beautiful views. We flew over a lot of fog which made me uncomfortable, but everyone else was all right with it. At one point, right before we landed, we were quite low and dragged a bit in the trees. We ended up having a very soft landing back at the airport. 

We all then helped pack the balloon back up. My job was to stand at one end of the balloon and help hold it tight while the other got to push all the air out. It was pretty warm. Suddenly, we were swarmed by little bugs. We think they were attracted to the warmth inside the balloon and then all got pushed out. It was gross. 

After packing the balloon, we went back to the launch office and everyone on the trip had a really nice breakfast, complete with mimosas. 

Once we returned home, we discovered it was not even noon. Gross. We headed out to Paddy's Market, which is kind of a flea market of souvenirs. There was some interesting and reasonably priced stuff, but it was crazy crowded and really warm in there. 

Now it is not even 4pm and we are back at the hotel. Our last evening in Sydney is probably going to be a quiet one. We have part of the day tomorrow before we begin the long flights back to Chicago. We are all really sad to leave Sydney, but I think we are all ready to get home and see the rest of our family and friends. It has been an amazing trip. Don't fret, there will be one or two more posts as we wrap up the trip and post some pictures. 

Blue Mountain tour

Today we had a very early start. We got up at 6am so we could get picked up at 7:05am for our tour. I think we were all a little sad to note that we were the first pick up and not the last. We could have had an extra 45 minutes. 

We started by driving through the Sydney Olympic Park. It is pretty amazing. They did a really nice job planning and designing the Park so it still get a lot of use today and even generates enough revenue that it will pay for its own upkeep. We then began our tours of the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are the portion of the Great Australian Dividing Range that runs through this part of the continent. They are called the Blue Mountains because the eucalypt trees in that grow in the valley give off a vapor that creates a blue haze through the valley.  

We drove up to Blue Mountain National Park for morning tea. It is was fun to have coffee outside with the birds and nature and all that. Then we drove up to see the several of the little towns surrounding the mountains and see the amazing outlooks. It was breath taking. The first one we went to was of Jamison Valley. There was no railing at the edge of the outlook so we were all paranoid about falling off the cliff so we kept clear. There was a group of teenagers who were really close to edge and making us all nervous. The seemed not to believe it when our tour guide told them that people have fallen off the edge with regularity. Nothing happened, but we were convinced that of of them would take a tumble. 

We then went to an outlook that gave us a great view of the Three Sisters rock formation.  Dad took a picture of Traci, Laurel and I in front of the rocks. It was awkward because we were trying to get a good shot but too many people were obstructing the view. Then the one of the guides said something and everyone moved and watched us get our picture taken. Uncomfortable! 

After that, we had a lovely lunch, saw some more outlooks (one of them included walking down and up over 200 steps to see a waterfall) and went to a Wildlife park. It was basically a petting zoo of Australian animals. It was really nice,  but we were kind of on animal overload. 

After we got back to the hotel, we decided to have one more go at animal viewing. Laurel really wanted to see a platypus, but the ones at the zoo wouldn't come out. We decided to go to the Aquarium which is about a 5 minute walk from our hotel. What was the first thing we saw? Platypus! It was super cute and we had a good time watching it play and swim. We saw some ridiculously large fish, sharks, rays, crayfish, and crabs. Basically every time we would go to a new tank, one of us would gasp and point and freak out. They have several set-ups were you walk underneath the water and the fish swim around you. It was quite spectacular. We also discovered the Dugong, which is a relative to the manitee. It was amazing to watch. 

After that, dinner and chilling in the hotel. 

Tomorrow has the potential to be amazing, but it is weather dependent so I I shall keep you in suspense until then. 

***A note on pictures. I know we said we were going to try to post a lot of photos, but it takes a long time for them to load. I will definitely post some when we get home, but I will try to get  few up before then.****

Overcoming our fears of speeding cars and high places

Today was an...interesting day. We went to the Illawara Fly Tree Top walk about two hours outside of Sydney. Adventures abounded. After breakfast we walked over to another hotel to pick up our rental car. This is where the adventure started. Our reservation had been made for the week before so Dad had to spend some time getting it sorted out. Once we got it all settled, we were on the road, the terrifying road. 

Let me start with saying Dad did a really great job driving. He didn't hit anything (other than the steering wheel) and no one honked at him all day. Dad didn't have any time to practice before hitting the streets of downtown Sydney. Everything is on the opposite side of the car. Even the blinker was on the right side of the steering wheel. 

We made it out of Sydney okay. There were a few moments that were a little intense as we got used to the roads and whatnot. The real craziness started when we were about 25 minutes away from the Tree Top place. We had to go up this narrow, twisty mountain road that was out of control. At one point, each of us learned how we react in the face of abject terror. Dad puts a death grip on the steering wheel. Traci tears up a little bit. Laurel hangs on to the Oh S**t handle with both hands and I laugh uncontrollably. We learned this when we came out of a crazy curve and saw a delivery truck hurtling towards us on our side road. I am pretty sure at least two us (and I am not saying who) peed a little. 

Once we finally made it, we discovered it was well worth the trip. Even though it was rainy and cloudy, it was so beautiful. We got to walk 25 meters (I have no idea what the conversion is) in the tree tops. At one point, we climbed a giant spiral staircase up to a platform 75 feet in the air. I wanted to vomit several times, but Traci, Dad and Laurel were loving it. 

In the parking lot, Dad let Traci and I drive around to see what it was like. We didn't like it. Then began the three hour drive home. We got directions to a supposedly less twisty road. LIES! It was a little wider, but still gut-wrenching. Then we had some trouble with the GPS and once we got in Sydney, we got amazingly lost...in rush hour. It was sad how close we were to the hotel but couldn't get to it. In the process, we also blew a toll and have to figure out how to pay it. I am afraid it we don't, Dad won't be able to leave the country. We were supposed to have the car back by 6pm and we got it back at 5:56. We an impressive people. I have never seen four people escape a car so quickly. 

After dinner (Traci and I had kangaroo!), we came home and crashed for the evening. Despite being the day we walked the least, we were all pretty exhausted. Overall, a good day, full of adventure. 

Tomorrow is more nature, but we are getting picked up at 7am. Yea for another early start!!

Happy weekend!

The Amenities and local terms.

I figured I should probably talk a little bit about the hotel since we spend so much time here. It is in a great location. We are really close to Darling Harbour, a mall and our favorite pancake place. We thought we were close to a supermarket, but what they have labeled supermarket is nothing more than a convenience store. (They have Woolworths down here, but those are grocery stores.) And, don't fret, there is a 7-11 on the corner. 

I think the first thing we all said about the hotel was that it looked nicer in the pictures. It is an okay place, but we aren't wowed by it. It is set up as apartments, so we have 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, a dining area and a kitchen. We even have a washer and dryer. However, it seems a bit run down and there aren't a lot of extras. We have to pay for internet and there is supposed to be wireless in the lobby, but the desk clerk said they had it but couldn't find the password to open it. Also, we get about 5 channels on the tv in the living room. 

We have breakfast at another hotel down the block and it is pretty good. They have an instant pancake maker. You just press a button and about a minute later, two hot little pancakes fall on to your plate. If we can get it to make bigger pancakes in greater quantities, I think Laurel would enjoy having one. An interesting note about the food here. When eating out, we haven't discovered a place that just serves straight coffee. They all seem to be espresso brews of some sort. It is driving Dad nuts, but Traci and I are getting hooked on the Flat White, which is coffee and milk. He finally discovered that the instant coffee in our hotel is a.) regular coffee and b.) kind of good. He is happy. 

We've touched 2 koalas...and a kangaroo!

Today was another very good day. After breakfast, we headed for the Taronga Zoo. This required us to take public transit, which means we almost missed it. We had to take a taxi to the wharf to catch a ferry to the Zoo. We were running a bit late and got to the wharf with barely a minute to spare and we still had to purchase tickets. Fortunately, however, we made the ferry and got to the zoo on time. 

The zoo is huge. From the dock, we walked part way up the hill to get check in with admissions and then caught an air tram to the top of the zoo. The view was ridiculously good. Not only did we get a great arial view of the zoo, we had some great views of the Sydney skyline. 

Once we got to the top of the zoo, we found our tour guide and were taken to the education center. One of the zoo's education specialist, Greg, gave us a private showing of several of the zoos animals. Several of them we saw yesterday at the Wildlife World, but today we got to get up close and personal with them. We saw a couple of lizards, snakes and gliders. Then we went out to the yard. 

In the yard, we met Cobar, the kangaroo. She was super laid back and we all got to pet her a few times. She just munched on her carrots and hung out while we pet her and took pictures. Then we met, 2, a tortoise. He just kind of sat there. At that time, we noticed we were being watched very intently by Janie, a wallaby. She is the education wallaby so she is out for people a lot, but she wasn't in the mood to come out and be social. Once she realized that we weren't going to come near her, she relaxed and took a nap. At that time Greg brought out our new best friend, Poppy. Poppy is a quokka (I recommend google images to see what she looks like) and was beyond friendly. Greg got her out and let us pet her. Once he put her down, she still wanted to hang out with us and was licking our hands and ankles. She even spent some time chewing shoelaces. We probably could have spent all day playing with her but she decided to hop away. While we were playing with Poppy, Gerg was getting Corey, our koala friend! We were able to pet him quite a bit, too. We got to pet him a lot more than Charlie, but Charlie will also hold a place in our hearts since he was the first koala we touched.  Our last animal was Pugsley, a echidna. She looks like a porcupine, but is actually related to the platypus. We got to pet her as well and watch her root around for insects to eat. 

After we finished in the education yard, we spent about 20 more minutes with Georgie, our tour guide, and then watched a bird show. It was pretty short, but we saw some pretty impressive birds. After that, we strolled around the zoo on our own for a few ours. We walked past the elephant enclosure about 16 times, which was...thrilling. We spent a significant amount of time watching the meerkats be all adorable. There were a few babies in their habitat and they were pretty funny. They would try to do all the things the adults would, but then fall over. Then we found the red pandas (they look similar to racoons, but are really red and they look like stuffed animals). One was sleeping in the tree the entire time. The other, however, was running all over the place. It was great to watch, but hard to get a picture.  After that, we saw the wombats, who were all sleeping in their little cave holes. We tried to see a platypus, but they have been displaced from their normal habitat while it is being repaired and we couldn't spot them in their current one. 

After that, we headed back to the ferry and came back over to our harbour. We stopped for dinner at where is quickly becoming our favorite dining spot, Pancake on the Rocks. Their pancakes can leave you speechless. Seriously. They are good. 

Tonight, we are all beat. We are thinking it is going to be a quiet night in because we still have some big things in store. 

Interesting fact that we learned today: The emu and the kangaroo are on Australia's crest because they can't walk backwards. On the crest, this symbolizes never backing down. 

'Til tomorrow...cheers! 

We've touched a koala...have you?

Today was AMAZING! Flat out our best day so far in Sydney. 

We got to sleep in a bit today (we all got up between 8 and 9 which feels like a treat compared to the last couple of days). After breakfast, we walked across the harbour to Sydney Wildlife World. At first it seemed pretty run of the mill. It started with bugs and little guys. We all kind of thought that it was going to a pretty quick trip through. Then, however, things got awesome. We got saw the lizards of Australia. There were some crazy ones. Dad got into a staring match with a frilled-neck lizard (think the hissy, spitty one from Jurassic Park). It would just watch Dad and, every once in a while, stretch out his neck. It was pretty funny.

After the lizards, we saw the nocturnal creatures. Some of them are freaking adorable. I would like to take them home. Then were the birds. I fell in love with the painted finch. It looked like had a rainbow. Birds are awesome as long as they are not flying at you. 

Then, the magic happened. We went to the rooftop and there were koalas. They were sleeping in the trees. Turns out koalas get to sleep 16-20 hours of sleep. We are kind of jealous. After cooing over them for a little while, we actually got to touch one!  We were all able to touch Charlie (he was today's touching koala). He was sleeping the entire time. His fur felt very similar to wool. After petting Charlie, we got to have our pictures taken with Frasier, who was also sleeping. They were just adorable.

After the koalas, we found the kangaroos. They were also excellent. They didn't hop around too much; mostly they walked on all fours. They were eating, but there were a few moments of hopping and fighting. We watched them for about 20 minutes. We are easy to amuse. After the kangaroos, more koala time!! We went to the second habitat and saw Precious and her joey, Elle. Elle was out of the pouch but still clung to her mom. Excellent. We also saw a wombat. Well, we actually saw its belly. He was sprawled out on his back, sleeping. 

The last thing we saw at the wildlife world was butterflies. They had about 30 different types of butterflies and they were all fluttering around us. One even landed on Dad. Laurel, who is creeped out by butterflies, stayed outside and watched a snake demonstration being shown to a herd of school children. 

After awesomeness of Wildlife World, we stopped back in the hotel and then went over to Circular Quay (pronounced Key) to so some shopping. We found some great little shops and saw the Harbour Bridge from a couple new angles. We then stopped for dinner at this great little burger place. Traci achieved her goal of eating kangaroo. It was pretty darn good. Then we walked back down to the harbour and went to the Sydney Opera House. It was beautiful. We took another bazillion pictures, including a few more of the bridge. After that, we got some gelatto and walked back the hotel. Now we are all a bit tired, but pretty thrilled with our day. 

Tomorrow, we go to the zoo! Yea for more animals!