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! 

Day Two

Sights of Sydney!!!

Today we took a guided tour of Sydney. This required us to get up at about 6am so we could get ready, get breakfast and catch our bus. We LOVE getting up at 6am on vacation! (We will have one earlier start, but that is a story for another day.) 

Our tour was on a coach bus, driven by James (who also narrated the tour). Turns out James is Dad's long lost Australian brother. They cracked similar jokes and made each other laugh. Traci, Laurel and I were pretty amused. 

We saw some amazing sites. It is so beautiful down here. We drove through a lot residential areas and it is ridiculous the view some of these people have. Additionally, it is ridiculous how much people will pay for these views. 

Between us, we have taken probably close to 300 pictures and we have only been down here two days. We haven't been to the Opera house yet, but we saw it from many different vantage points. If we figure out how to upload pictures, we will get on that. 

Tomorrow we have adventures with animals and they we are, hopefully, going to the Opera house and do some shopping/site seeing on that side of the harbour. 

Until tomorrow, g'mates! (Seriously, though, we have only heard that like twice since we got down here.) 

Toilets

So, when we were on the flight down, we were discussing whether or not the toilets in Australia flushed counter clockwise. We were on a mission to find out. Two interesting facts were discovered. 1.) The water doesn't circle. It just goes start down. 2.) You do not depress a handle to flush a toilet. You press a button. Or two buttons. It depends. On the top of the toilet back, there is a a button or two and you press them to flush. We haven't quite figured out why there are two, but we are working on it. 

 

Day One

After we got settled in the hotel, we decided to walk around Darling Harbour near our hotel. The adventure started when we tried to go downstairs. Our hotel is on the 12th and there are four very small elevators. We got in with at least 6 others and began our journey down. The elevator (despite staying that it could fit 17) was jammed packed but that did not stop an older couple from jumping in. Well, moving very slowly in We got stopped on the next floor and picked up someone else. However, people were too close to the door so it would not close. The older woman decided that our newest friend was the cause so she shoved him out. He continued to press the call button repeatedly so the moment our door would close, it would open right back up again. Dad and I called it quits and decided to take the stairs down from the 9th floor. Big mistake. Traci and Laurel continued down on the elevator and people kept jamming in. Dad and I walked and walked and walked down the stairs. When we got to the bottom, we discovered that the stairs only led outside. Awesome. 

The rest of the day was just spent walking around, which was pretty great. Sydney is beautiful. We, however, were pretty exhausted. I think we only lasted an hour or two before we come back to the hotel where we watched an awesomely bad movie. Turns out Laurel likes shopping for movies in the dollar bin at Wal-Mart. Her most recent discovery was 5 Girls. It was almost painful to watch, yet none of us would turn it off. I think we might watch it again. 

Bedtime came around 10 and it was glorious.

We are here!!

We made it to Sydney at long last. It was a very long flight. It is currently 10:15am on Monday here and we are pretty sure it is about 6:15pm on Sunday in Chicago. Though we slept on the plane, we have basically been up for forever, I think. We flew to LA and had to change planes. They shut the door almost the moment we got on. There was a bit of panic while they were announcing the final boarding call while we were still at the Australian paperwork check. 

The flight from LA to Sydney was about 14 hours long. The people in front of us were fairly rude with their seat backs, which was great. The food was decent, which was surprising. Getting through Customs was really quick, except I almost got Traci in trouble with the Customs agent when I implied she was a danger to her college (she wasn't). Apparently, my humor isn't great when it involves international travels. 

We were met at the airport by a Make-A-Wish volunteer and were able to see a bit of Sydney on the way to the hotel. It is very hard to adjust to the fact that people drive on the other side of the road AND that the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Dad gets to drive later this week. I expect hilarity to ensue. 

There have been a few bumps with getting settled at the hotel, but we are getting them worked out. 

Okay, we are off to see Sydney! We have the entire day to ourselves to explore. We have a really early start tomorrow so we will probably post again tomorrow night. 

Sweet Home Chicago

As Traci mentioned, my travels for this trip did not start well. My flight got delayed out of Ithaca for no reason that was obvious to me so I missed my flight in Newark. The fun part is that Bri (one of my students) was on the flight with me we had some quality chatting time. Once I got to Newark, I developed an immediate hatred for the airport because in the Continental terminal, they refuse to mention any other airline. It took me 20 minutes just to figure out which terminal I had to go to find my new flight (I got switched from Continental to United). Once I found the right terminal (and found the shuttle that would take me to said terminal), I learned I had to leave security to go to the ticket counter. After that, there wasn't much drama. There were only about 30 people on our giant plane, so that was pretty lovely. 16 hours after leaving O'Hare, I will be back there to fly out again. Ahhh!

I haven't seen my sisters since I got here, but I hear they are excited (and have packed). My dad, proving that we are related, has yet to pack. I am assuming he will get it done sometime before we leave, but I have my doubts.

That's all for now! The next post will probably be from Sydney!

We leave tomorrow!!

I can't believe it is finally here. It still doesn't quite feel real to me. I have finished packing and Tiff has made it to Chicago finally. Her flight got delayed two hours. I hope that isn't a foreshadow for tomorrow. There is suppose to be rain. I don't want to be in the plane longer than we need to. I am a little concerned about being in a plane forever already.

We are really going tomorrow. I know that I didn't pack the right things...the nice thing is the apartment we are staying in has a washer and dryer. This trip is going to be so amazing.

I hope everyone enjoys following our adventures down under.

Holy Crap--Tiff

I can't speak for Dad, Traci, and Laurel, but I am freaking out. I have many things to accomplish and the thought of packing is making me want to vomit. Traci and I have never been overseas, so we are really concerned about packing properly and making sure we can travel without making ourselves suffer too much.

I am beyond excited. It still does not feel real. We have been talking about this for over a year now and the fact that it is 3 days away is incomprehensible. I need to start making lists. It is potentially the only way I will stay sane in the next few days.

I'm not so thrilled that we have 19 hours of travel time. Woo-hoo! I fly to Chicago on Friday night. On Saturday evening, we head out. We will leave Chicago on March 7th and get to Sydney on March 9th. We lose a day and a half. So bizarre. Even weirder: we leave Sydney at about 3pm on March 16th and get back to Chicago at about 8pm on the 16th. Oh, International Date Line, you are an enigma!