Day 11: It's Beautiful in Katoomba

Wow. Okay so this will probably be the longest blog I will ever do in my life, and probably the most disorganized. You don't have to read to the end if you don't want to. True story: all these pictures were taken in one day, and they're only about a third of them. Anywho...we went a wandering the Blue Mountains this misty and rather chilly Saturday, and all I can say is: phenomenal. It's truly like a different world up there. The gum trees are unbelievable cool, and they are everywhere, and then you have parts that look like a little rainforest, and other parts look kinda similar to what you might see in Utah, only with flat tops, and no snow as it was, after all, winter.

Hey guess what? I love this lady. 

But before we began our journey into the mountains, we naturally had to stop at a few shops. This picture was taken at an antique shop in Leura. It was HUGE. Now, I like to shop, don't get me wrong. But Sam and Judith REALLY like to shop. Janne and Rob were the first to tire of the antiques, and as Tanya and I began to fade, we found things to amuse ourselves, including, but not limited to: picking out future wedding presents for each other, mocking the horrid Di and Charles wedding china, and talking to cute little children who seemed amazed by the shop. I also found this rather amusing conductor's hat, and tried it on for fun. Hot right? I know. It just comes naturally.

After the antique shop, it was time to sight see. I was the only "kid" going sight seeing. Everyone else had gone four-wheeling with Tony (bless his heart). Unfortunately, our sight seeing attempts we a little less than successful to begin with. It was SO misty that morning. Any attempt to see anything past the first row of trees was useless. Just to give you an idea of how incredibly difficult it was to see anything...look below. 

After a few hours of pleasant, yet unfruitful driving, we made our way down to Megalong Valley. This picture here, while seemingly random, is one of my favorites-for off in the distance, as was pointed out by Janne after the fact, is a Kangaroo Crossing sign. Not a joke. It's legit. You can barely see it if you look closely, but it's there.

This picture took me back to my childhood. Did any of you ever watch Rescuers Down Under? Remember in the beginning where it goes across the outback and then all of the sudden a random house pops up next to what seems to be Ares Rock? I like to think that there is a curious little boy living in this little hut who will one day rescue a giant bird with the help of his mice friends.

CODY!!

Here is the cute little "tearoom" as it was called that we ate lunch at in Megalong Valley. I'm pretty sure snow white lives here, but it can't be proven. We had some soup, I had something and leek soup. Although I can't recall it's name, I remember it being really good especially since the weather was so crummy outside.

I also enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate, and as you can see, hot chocolate does not always come in mugs in Australia.

An then, just some more beautiful scenery that we enjoyed. The shot on the left makes me think of Emperor's New Grove with the monkey on the branch. Like I said, a new world.

On the right is a waterfall called, funnily enough, Bridal Vale Falls. We saw this at a lookout point around Katoomba that had a really steep drop and a rather flimsy chain link fence between us and death, but the view was pretty.

This picture is of the three sisters, or at least it was supposed to be. It's kind of the big tourist attraction of the blue mountains. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a great shot of it, but what can you do?

And now...for your viewing pleasure...I present: The BLUE MOUNTAINS

And here I am in front of the Three Sisters...can't you tell? I mean honestly. Look harder. 

We found this guy in a shopping center in Katoomba where I actually bought the opals I brought home for my mom and me. Since Koala's are my favorite, I simply had to take a picutre with him :)

There's nothing better than a weekend with people you love in such a beautiful setting. 

After sight seeing all day, we went back to the house and headed pretty soon after for dinner at this great Chinese Restaurant in Wentworth Falls. Judy was kind enough to treat us all to some of the greatest Chinese food I have ever had, and I learned to rock a pair of chopsticks which would funnily enough come in handy later on in the week when Tanya and I became Thai experts. (Well...she was the Thai expert. I was just experiencing.)

This trip, while filled with regular family vacation tension, was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was laid back, but full of amazing experiences and sights that one could only possibly see in Australia, and specifically the Blue Mountains, making me once again grateful for the connections I have to this great country, as Judy actually grew up in the Mountain and Tanya, Sam and Janne lived there for most of their lives. They knew exactly where to take me. Back at the house, Tanya and I used the time we had left to book ourselves into the most Sydney-packed week there ever was. Details to come...

Day 10: Murder, Mountains and Milo

BLUE MOUNTAINS WEEKEND!!

So my wonderful family in Australia rented out a cute little house up in the Blue Mountains for family bonding time. It was in a cute little city called Wentworth Falls (which, of course, reminded me of Prison Break). The picture to the left is one of the views we had from the house. It was a blast! Getting up there, however, was...well...let's say an adventure. Tanya and I had a bit of a late start Friday morning before we made our way up the mountain. This, of course, caused us to be stuck in the most ridiculous traffic of all time. Sam and her family were amazingly luck, and just missed it all. At one point, Tanya just put the car in park, turned off the ignition, and we sat on the road for a good twenty minutes before anything started moving.

What could cause such a delay you ask? Well we were asking ourselves the same question when we came to a group of police cars guiding traffic away from the road and through a residential area that was swarming with more cops. They were going door to door asking neighbors about what I could only assume was a serial killer on the loose. It turned out only to be a gas leak...but I'm still not totally convinced that the leak wasn't just a cover for a brilliantly minded criminal whose weapon of choice is asphyxiation and/or exploding buildings.

Whatever the cause of the delay, we were now sufficiently lost and off the established trail, and thus began Sydney's tenure as Tanya's map reader. For the record: I am a fantastic map reader. Tanya, on the other hand, is a horrible listener. She never believed the map reader. No. She knew best. So after several dead ends and a lot of laughter, we finally found our way to the house. We were the first there, as everyone else who missed the traffic was in Leura eating lunch. We decided to meet them up there after picking our rooms and ate at a cute little cafe, which was aptly named: Luera Cafe. I had a delicious, decidedly HUGE and difficult to eat turkey sandwich, and then Tanya bought us the greatest brownies ever to grace the face of the earth. I'm not even kidding. I took like 15 minutes to eat this little brownie because it made me sad to think that it would be gone soon.

Then it was off to the supermarket to buy supplies for the next morning's breakfast. Which brings me to my next picture. Ever since I was little, my dad has had a can of this stuff in the cupboards. I never really knew what it was until a few years ago when my dad explained "Milo" as being Australia's hot chocolate. Now, that's not exactly what it is, but it's kinda the easiest way to explain it. It is also like the greatest drink on the planet, and Australian's drink it a lot, at least Tanya's family did, which I had no problem with whatsoever. My dad didn't introduce us kids to it until a few years ago, and I know it's because he didn't want to share his stash. They don't really sell it here. You have to hunt for it, and when you've found it, it's just not quite the same.

Turns out, in Australia, they don't just drink it. They eat it. In cereal form, in ice cream form, and in candy bar form. Naturally, I found this to be the most hilarious thing ever, as I grew up around the stuff, and had come to love it, but when I told my dad this, he did not believe it for a second. So I took a picture of an entire rack of the stuff in the Woolie's in Leura. Hence, the picture. Definitely one of my favorite "only in Australia" things. In fact, as I write this I'm drinking a mug of Milo in the style of Mrs. Samantha Bertoni herself for I meticulously watched how she made it. It's probably not as good, but I like to call it real life Australian Milo :)

So after our exciting day in the car, and exploring the shops in Leura, we went back to the house and just kinda hung out as you do with any great family vacation. The boys starting watching "football" (rugby) out in the living room, and the girls retreated to one of the back rooms to listen to music and play board games. We had a splendid time. Janne started playing songs on her laptop and had Tanya and I guess the artist. I'm pretty good at that game except when it comes to Australian artists. (Thank you Mom). Then we went to bed. The girls (Natalie, Eliza, Amelia, Lauren and I) all slept in the same room, and we of course talked for a while before any of us even thought about going to bed, so that was fun. Also, my bed had an electric mattress that was super warm. Then...we were woken up by Kookaburras in the morning...but now I'm getting ahead of myself. On to day 2 in the Blue Mountains.

Day 9: A Girls Day

Today was relaxing, and full of all sorts of fun Australian experiences. I woke up kind of late...and I'll blame that on the fact that we'd been so busy all week, although it was mostly because I'm lazy. We bummed around for a few hours (well, I did. Sam was cleaning and ironing and such) and then we headed out to do some shopping and get Sam and the girls' hair cut.

We were very lucky in that we were able to spend the entire day with the lovely and beautiful Judith Smith :) Our first stop was at Studio 10 (I believe it was called). I all of the sudden forgot the name, but anyway, it was a cute little shop on one of the back roads of Sydney. The closest thing I could liken it to here is like a cross between Ross, Plato's Closet and the Gap. It had marked down clothes, but a lot of it was almost one of a kind and really trendy. It was also a lot easier to find things here than in Ross.

I happened upon this really cute leather jacket while we were in this store, and sat and debated over whether I really wanted to get it and add to the bulk of my suitcase to take home, but I had been looking for a leather jacket, and this one was only $30, so I broke down and bought it along with a pair of warm socks for Tanya's apartment. The lady read the total to me, and when she said "$18.50 please" I felt like that was a personal justification from the shopping gods that this leather jacket was meant for me.

We left Studio 10 and made our way to the nearest shopping center. Now a shopping center in Australia is something rather amazing. When it was first explained to me, I understood it to be rather like a mall. It is far more grandiose than a mere mall. First of all, I think the smallest one I ever entered had like four stories and that was because it was a really long building and had been built in the Victorian Era. The one we were at on this particular day, I believe, had 6 levels.

Essentially every store you could possibly imagine, or anything you may ever want can be found in one of this shopping centers, and I do mean anything. A person could go in there, get all of their grocery shopping done, get their hair and nails done, buy things to redecorate their home, finish their Christmas shopping, buy some candy, and send it all in a package at the post office on the next floor up. It was unbelievable.

Now my first thought was that this was the most ingenious thing ever to happen to shopping, but as the weeks went on, I realized that it can be a bit of a burden. I mean, sure, while you're in the shopping center it's great. Everything is close (aside from the fact that you may have to go up and down the escalators a billion times if you don't plan your trip out first), but my biggest complaint would be that if you just had to run to the store because you forgot milk, it would be a hassle to have to go to these shopping centers for it. You have to park in this HUGE "car park" and walk through the shopping center to get to the grocery store and carry said groceries all the way back to the car. Yes. I am a lazy American thank you very much, and that would drive me crazy. It's kinda nice to have Reams just down the street from my house with quick access to groceries.

ANYWAY...I'm sure none of you needed that description of Australian shopping, but you have it just the same. Judith and I had a lovely time just wandering the shops and getting drinks while Sam and the girls' finished their hair, and then we rushed home for dinner so Sam and Judith could make it to Hairspray on time. (Sam had received free tickets from a work mate). So Tanya and I watched the girls, and I am now realizing that this picture does not go with this day, because we actually painted nails on Tuesday (Day 7), not Thursday, but it still kinda applies since we were babysitting and bonding and such. We actually played Harry Potter Uno before the girls went to bed, and then Tanya and I watched part of My Best Friend's Wedding while we waited for Sam and Judith. Then I tried to make sure Tanya didn't fall asleep as we drove back to her place.

I had so much fun staying at Sam's house, and I hope she knows how grateful I am to all the work she put in to keeping me busy and entertained, and for keeping me VERY well fed :). It basically solidified the fact that I now have a second family in Australia. Great Week.

Day 8: Walks along the shore

This 13th day of July in the beautiful city of Sydney was rather chilly (like maybe 40 degrees) which was kind of a bummer because it was my first experience with the beaches Sydney has to offer, and it was also Matthew's birthday, but it was still beautiful!! If anything, the blustery feel just added to the scenery of Cronulla Beach.

We got to the beach and walked around a while before deciding to eat at Hogsbreath Cafe, which is apparently an American chain, though I've never heard of it. After lunch, we walked along the coastline, and Janne and I took our shoes off and walked in the sand where I proceeded to write my name in it, and feel rather special.

I had only been to the beach once before in my life, so the contemplative look I have in the first is because the ocean is kind of massive and awe inspiring. Then I got brave and decided to go close to the water and got my jeans soaked. Brilliant. Turns out I really like the ocean though. I remember thinking the whole time how beautiful the place was and how much fun it was walking in the sand like I hadn't a care in the world.

The rest of these pictures are mostly just for your aesthetic pleasure.

Somewhere back in the recesses of Cronulla Beach, we found a cute little playground that Natalie and Eliza just adored. It had a little pail that you could put sand in and use a rope to lift up to a platform on the jungle gym. It also had a nice little view to look at while we watched them play, so it was a nice place to rest. 

There's Natalie all bundled up...at the beach. It was a little cold, but not that cold :)

After our adventure at the beach we went back to Janne's house and climbed all 497 stairs it takes to actually get inside, and there we celebrated Matthew's 19th birthday with birthday cake. We relaxed there for a little while before going back to Sam's and eating dinner, which we weren't really hungry for until we could smell her amazing cooking, and then ate to our hearts' content. Another magical day in Australia.

Day 7: A Day in the Olympic Park

Okay, so this one has a lot of pictures, but bear with me. So when I was just a little tyke of nearly seven years old in the year 2000, Sydney, Australia got the Olympics. I remember McDonalds was selling this blue backpack that said "Sydney 2000" on it, and my mom bought it for me. I carried it around my entire 2nd grade year. I felt super special that the Olympics were in "MY" city.

The quality of this picture is terrible,
but it looked a little something like this. 

Anyway, when I went down to Sydney, I knew that the Olympic Park was one of the places I wanted to see. Turns out, they've turned the whole area into a place where families can come and mingle, or have picnics and such while their kids play. We had a great vantage point from where we were of the Olympic Stadium (left picture). A few days earlier, I took a picture of the front of the stadium while Tanya and I were driving (middle picture).

The picture on the right is the MASSIVE park where we had our picnic and proceeded to play for the rest of the day. Below the flags on top are slides, and there is a big orange net that kids can climb on, swings to the right that you can't really see, and a spinning satellite dish of death that will be described in detail later on, as it was a major part of the day. It was a fantastic park, and we were literally there until the officials forced us out. We simply were having too much fun to stop.

Eliza, Amelia, Bonnie and I all sat down when we first got to the park and began searching for four leafed clovers. Me, being the pragmatically minded, or otherwise unimaginative, person that I am thought...there's no such thing as four leafed clovers you silly girls!! But I played along anyway. Turns out...they aren't as rare as you'd think. At least not for those who know how to find them, and who have the patience for it. Amelia found two within the first five minutes, and Eliza wasn't far behind. Finally it came down to me and Bonnie who had yet to find one. She beat me by a good five or ten minutes, and I sat there in the clover patch like an idiot, refusing to leave or go back to the table empty handed. FINALLY the gods smiled down on me, and I found myself a four leafed clover. I put it in my wallet, let it press and took it home with me as a souvenir. Best. Day. Ever. :)

Actually, yes, that is a real-life 4-leafed clover. Thanks.

So here we have the aforementioned orange net that we climbed on, myself quite unsuccessfully, as you can gather from my awkward position. At one point, we got so sick of crawling across the stiff ropes that we decided just to fall through the spaces between them. While not a far drop below, it was still a BAD idea. Amazingly enough, I fit through them, but only just barely. I remember at one point my head and arm being squished against each other, the other arm scraping against the rope as I hesitatingly dropped to what I thought was my death. I had rope burn for a few days...

After being worn out by the younger, more able children, I decided to sit down and look at the view of the Paramatta River we had from where our blanket was, and then Sam and I took a walk down to it, and beheld this vision of the sunlight on the water.

It was a lovely stroll, and we even saw a few people getting tickets because they apparently thought they could park wherever they pleased. Luckily, Sam is patient with my tourist picture taking, but I should also thank Janne for her incessant photography for without it, some of these pictures would not exist.

So here's the spinning satellite dish of death I mentioned earlier. Basically you pile as many people on as possible, and it spins in a diagonal-like fashion--tossing it's occupants to and fro, and every which way. We convinced Sam to get on it with us, and I'm not sure she will ever forgive us, but I know she had fun. As you can see, at several points I had strangers on top of me, as you have ZERO control over where you land when this thing spins. Some poor child kept getting smashed every time we went around by either Sam or myself, and we were helpless to stop it.

You see, another problem with this contraption is that is it IMPOSSIBLE to get off unless you happen to have abs of steel, and lightning fast reflexes to jump off as soon as your section hits the ground. I finally just gave up and watched Sam try to get off which caused laughter so hard that I could not move or breath. Amazingly enough, no one lost a limb or was significantly injured in the enjoyment of this ride.

As the day drew to a close, we had the most beautiful sunset bid us goodbye. It was a truly wonderful and exciting day full of laughter and, at times, relaxation and beautiful scenery. I think it was at this point that I realized how grateful I was for the good friends I have in this beautiful city for traveling is only as good as the people you share it with. Plus, they knew exactly the right places to take me to make my trip and enjoyable and memorable one.

Day 6: I pet a Koala

So Tanya had to work all this week because, you know, she is a grown up, and has responsibilities and stuff, but luckily Sam was able to take the week off so that I could play with her and the girls. She picked me up at Tanya's house around ten, and then she took Natalie, Eliza, Bonnie (Natalie's friend) and me to Featherdale Wildlife Park. We had SO much fun. Childhood dreams were made real, and we were able to bond and become great friends, the Bertoni's and I, and Bonnie was a delightful girl so I'm glad I was able to spend a few days with her.

So this is me petting a Koala. I don't know how many of you know this, but this has honestly been one of my dreams since I was in probably the second grade or so. Every time we had to do an animal report (which seemed to be every year) I would always pick the Koala. I don't know whether it was because of the books Tanya sent me about Blinky Bill, or just because I was born with a love of Australia, but Koala's have always been my favorite animal, so to be up close and personal with one was unreal, as you can see from the amusing look on my face.

My new best friend :)

Here is Natalie petting a baby dingo. They are so cute...but apparently a grown up one ate some lady's baby a few years back or something ;) It was fun watching the girls with the animals--Eliza especially. The girl had no fear. She wanted to pet everything and feed them as well. I, on the other hand was too chicken to participate in such activities, especially when it came to the guys in the next picture.

We went over to the pelicans when they started feeding them, and the lady let anyone watching who wanted to, feed them. Of course the girls all jumped up to help, but there were a few things holding me back. 1) I don't like touching slimy things. The idea of holding the fish in my hands to begin with freaked me out a little. 2) Those are BEASTIE BIRDS! Take a look at those beaks! (bills? I don't know. I apparently wasn't paying very good attention) I was sure they could eat me in one swoop. Turns out, I actually had good reason to be hesitant as one nearly took Bonnie's arm off in the process of her trying to feed them, and she was left with a scratch on her hand to prove it.

No, but seriously. These guys will take your hands if you let them. 

And here is another Koala. How they sleep on those twigs like that I will never understand, but they are super cute aren't they? I probably have like 57 Koala pictures on my camera. I guess that makes me a nerd. Oh well.

I feel like if I become very rich they'll let me keep one as a pet, yes?

And this is a picture of that time Eliza was feeding the Wallabies, and they decided that her mix of grass and twigs just wasn't good enough for them, and began eating her Featherdale Passport. It was the funniest thing. I seriously wish I had been conscious enough to film it. "Hey! Hey! Give it back!" Priceless. I hope she kept that so she could scrapbook it. Memories.

This. Picture. Is. Priceless.

Here is me feeding the wallaby!! I don't let many people know this, but I'm not exactly what you would call an animal person. In fact, a lot of animals make me uncomfortable, so I was hesitant at first to feed this little guy. I know. Don't mock. But we was so cute! I could feel his teeth on my hands, and I didn't even care haha. Must be Natalie and Eliza rubbing off on me.

I mean, just look at him. How could I not give in?

So then I got to pet the super soft baby Dingo :) and talk to the cute Dingo guy with the pretty accent :D.

I have never wanted a puppy more

Featherdale was a blast. I'm so glad Sam took me! not only were childhood dreams fulfilled, but I tried all sorts of new Australianisms. For instance, potato "wedges" with sour cream and sweet chili. And we had "hot chips", which wasn't new, but it sounded new. They were really just fries.

Natalie and Bonnie petting the farm animals

Over that week I added to my list of Australian phrases. One of my favorites was when I first met Natalie and Eliza after they picked me up from the airport and Natalie says, "I love your fringe!" Well, I was wearing a scarf at the time, and I looked at her confused and said..."My scarf?" "No! Your fringe!" she says, pointing to my bangs. "Oh! My bangs!" Natalie, now the confused one herself asks, "Why would you call them bangs?" Made my day. 

The always frightening animal knows as the Emu

So after our lovely day at Featherdale, we went back to Sam's where Tanya met us for dinner, and I can't be sure, but I believe this night was Risotto, which I'd never actually experienced, and certainly not from a real life Italian household. Like I said, food was never lacking at Sam and Tony's. Luckily I was mostly over jet lag at this point, but I was still exhausted after our busy day, so we all went straight to sleep, excited for the next day of adventuring.

Day 5: The Sabbath in Sydney

So then comes the first Sunday and church experience in Sydney. Tanya had been telling me for a few weeks before I arrived that she had a cute Utah missionary serving in her ward. My response? "Tanya, I can find Utah boys here, thanks. I plan on taking home an Aussie boy instead." Also, I secretly thought that "cute" might mean "sweet spirit", so I basically forgot about it...until the elders walked in. Sheesh! She was not kidding. Both elders were very cute, but my eyes kept drawing to the blonde one, who was indeed Elder Bettridge from Highland, Utah. Let's just say I have a serious crush on this kid which is difficult as he is thousands of miles and an entire ocean away, but I did write to him, and he will be attending the Y in only 15 short months :).

Church in Australia is so different from church here. Like the principles and the spirit are the same, but the atmosphere and the people make it a completely separate experience. The chapel, for one, is about half or maybe even a third the size of most Utah chapels. The ward is small, and you can tell everyone is very close (although Tanya says this is just because her ward is the best). One thing that I loved about it, though, was the fact that you could feel in the spirit of these people that every single one of them had a genuine desire to be there learning the gospel and living His word. They are a very strong group of saints, and I am honored to have met them. Oh...and the picture is just Tanya's license plate. They are cute and rectangular, and they remind me of her car and the steering wheel that is incorrectly placed on the right side :/ haha. 

Anyway, after church we had a few hours to spare before I was whisked off to rehearsal for the Ten Virgins Fireside that Tanya was the narrator for. We arrived at 3:00 for rehearsal I believe and the performance started at 6:30 (it was supposed to start at 6...). It was really great. I wish we did more musical firesides like that here, heaven knows we have the talent and resources. I remember crying through a few of the songs. I tried to find a picture or video of Tanya's stake doing it, but all I could find was one from New Zealand so if you want, you can listen to one of my favorite songs here. We ventured home, and talked for a few hours until I once again collapsed of exhaustion. Jet lag is something else...

Overall it was a rather beautiful day, and a perfect way to spend that Sabbath, although I could have done without the crazy director of the fireside yelling at the stake presidency haha. Oh well. I still had fun. On to my week with Sam...

Day 4: Sit back and enjoy the Temple

So because Tanya is in such high demand down in Sydney, she was gone for most of the morning on Saturday for a fireside rehearsal, but she did teach me how to make wheat-bix before she left, and they were actually pretty good! So I allowed myself to sit on her couch and browse through her unbelievably massive video collection, and just relax the jet lag away before she came home.

When she got home, she realized that we needed a few things at the store for dinner, so we ventured out into the city for some essentials, but on the way, we stopped at the temple. It's not very big or grand, but it's so pretty, and it has my name on it, so I rather enjoyed going. My only regret is that I was never able to go inside, we simply ran out of time, but it was nice to at least be able to walk around it.

After the temple we went to the grocery store Aldie's, which funnily enough is located in what they call a "shopping center" which is essentially a giant mall. I will go more into detail about these magical places later on. Aldie's had "American cookies" for sale, the likes of which I had never seen before in my life, and other odds and ends which were amusing. They have what's called Long Life Milk over there which is milk in a square box that doesn't have to be refrigerated, but it's not evaporated or condensed. It's kinda crazy but cool at the same time, cause it just tastes like milk, but it won't spoil. Anyway, we had dinner and watched Lost in Austen, and went to bed because I was once again exhausted.

Days 2 & 3: a long flight & a warm welcome

After spending my entire life on a plane filled with screaming children, freezing cold air, and indistinguishable food, I finally arrived in Sydney. Somehow I managed to loose an entire day on my way there, but I arrived tired, yet ready to face any adventure Tanya and the girls (Tanya's nieces) might have for me...except for of course being lost in the Sydney airport for an hour. That was I was unprepared for. Luckily, I found a payphone, and after a long struggle trying to figure out how to pay for it, I was able to inform Tanya that I was indeed at the airport and that she was apparently at the wrong gate. When we finally found each other, I saw that the girls had created the beautiful poster you see above which now resides on my wall at home :)

Tanya wasted no time in introducing me to Sydney, which was as I had hoped. We drove straight to the city, beginning in darling harbor which are the next few pictures, and making our way to Circular Quay where the Harbor Bridge and Opera House reside.

Yeah, I take a lot of pictures. Get over it. 

Here you will see a pirate ship that was the cause of much discussion over my stay in Australia as Tanya believes it to be something other than what it is, which is a pirate ship. We didn't spend a lot of time in Darling Harbor the first day, but we were able to see a lot more of it later on.

By the time we made it into the city, Natalie and Eliza were starving. I, however, had just eaten something a nice flight attendant had tried to convince me was french toast, so I wasn't very hungry. Nevertheless, we decided to stop in on this cute little chocolate shop called Max Brenner. We each got a chocolate dipping plate and proceeded to create the most delicious chocolate covered strawberries I have ever had. It was a nice place to stop and rest, but soon it was back to walking around the city. 

No food is too pretty to eat, but these came pretty close.

We made our way down the streets of Sydney when all the sudden Tanya grabbed my attention and told me to look ahead. Out in front of us, through the break in the buildings, was a quick peak at the Harbor Bridge. I was beside myself. I honestly remember feeling like I was in a dream, that I wasn't really in Australia, because for nearly 18 years I had only ever dreamed of this place, and now it was all too real to be true. I was also severely jet lagged, so my body was all sorts of confused which didn't help with the whole out of body thing that was going on.

Speechless. 

We walked down to the Harbor where I first beheld this amazing sight: the Sydney Opera House. Let me tell you kids, there are no words to describe the feeling you have when you are standing across the way from one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and one you have dreaming of seeing for as long as you can remember. I'm sure Tanya got sick of me saying "It's just so beautiful." I literally could not find the words to describe how utterly stunning it was to be there.

Waiting my whole life to see this. Right there.

Just around the corner from where the Opera House picture was taken, were some very friendly guys playing the didgeridoo. I guess it's just not really Australia without a little didgeridoo action. However, it was really weird to be in such a cosmopolitan setting, and hear the didgeridoo in the background. I ended up taking a picture with these guys on my last day, and I put some money in their basket for being so cool.

We spent another hour or so in the city, taking pictures in front of the bridge and the Opera House. The girls began to fade, and Tanya had to get home so we left, making a stop at Sam's (Tanya's sister's) place of work. (Her building is beautiful. Everything is high tech and super clean. Kind of like her house...). This is where I was first introduced to the fact that people in Australia do the kiss-hug thing where they kiss you on your cheek when you hug even if they've only just met you. I remember feeling kind of weird, and not knowing what to do, but smiling just the same when Sam did it. Now, of course, it's not weird, especially not with Sam, but it was definitely new.

View from Sam's Building

We went back to Tanya's so I could freshen up a bit before going back to Sam's for the big "meet the family" dinner. Just as a preface, Sam and her husband Tony always, and I do mean always, make incredible food. I was never worried that I wasn't going to like something and would just have to politely eat it, because it was always fantastic. We had a lovely dinner with Tanya's sister Janne and her family, and her mom Judith. We talked about this and that as I got to know her family, and then I finally crashed at about 9 or so, and we went back to Tanya's house where we had our first of many meaningful car-ride discussions, and went straight to bed.

Aren't these girls just the greatest?

It was truly a perfect first day, and the start of a perfect three week vacation in the land down under.