Australia!

The last week we spent in the land down under. It was incredible. My sister-in-law and her family are living in Sydney right now, so we have been planning on going to Sydney while they are there sometime. The kid's had their third term break and we thought what better way to spend it. 

Australia has been on my list since I was a kid. Watching Zoo Life with Jack Hannah totally inspired me to go there one day. The animals, the beaches, the opera house. I remember watching the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was totally obsessed with the swimming, which made it an even higher priority place on my travel list. This trip completed so many bucket list items it was so fulfilling. 

We spent the first few days touring around Sydney, and then went with our family up to the Blue Mountains over the weekend. We packed in a lot and I wish we had more time to explore this country. I really want to go back. I am already doing research into the next place to visit there. 

The craziest thing was that it felt exactly like we were back in the States. If you want to go to a foregin country, but not feel totally out of your comfort zone Australia is a good place. It was the craziest thing. I did have expectations that it would feel like a different country, but nope. It felt just like being back in the USA. 

The kids were really excited to go visit their cousins. These are their only cousins on both sides and they happen to be close in age to a couple of them. Henry and William are only like 7 weeks apart. And those two...they gave Brooke and I a run for our money. Climbing in the bushes, playing with sticks, they were two peas in a pod. Cosette was really excited to play with Gregory and George. She and George have been pen pals while we have been in Australia. She was so so so excited to see them. She kept asking me when we were going and how long it would take. It was a really good family trip. 

We took the red eye from Singapore to Sydney. We got there at noon Sydney time. From there we went right to Brooke's place. We were super lucky and found an airbnb in their building. It was the perfect set up. We all had our own space, but were literally just two floors apart. Right after we got the keys to our flat we immediately left and made our way from Darling Harbor to Manly Beach. Perfect first day. And I did not realize how many pictures we took. Sydney is so beautiful it was impossible to put the camera away. Perfect first day in the land down under.





The Sydney Opera House. I was most excited to see this place. It was amazing. One thing that surprised us was that it has a very faint design on it. It looks pristine white in all the photos I have seen of it, but it is not. Still stunning and I am absolutely in love with this building. 
We were brave or crazy, but we swam at Manly Beach that night. Gregory should join the Polar Bear Club because he went all the way out in the water. I was impressed. It was too cold for me. Lyndon and the kids all played in it. Manly Beach was beautiful. I wish we could have spent more time there. I guess we have to go back. 








Freezing our buns off at Manly Beach. It is the start of spring down there so still a bit chilly. 



Cosette went with Aunt Brook to pick up the boys from school while Lyndon and I watched the other kids at a play ground. Brooke took this picture. They were so excited to see each other. We don't get to see them very often. It has been a year since they have been together. I hope that they all remember this trip and all the fun we had. 


So stinking excited to be in Australia! 
Group selfie. 
On the ferry with Darling Harbor in the back ground. 



Luna Park. 
Brooke was the best, and bought a cake to celebrate Henry's birthday which is coming up this week. I thought it was really sweet of her to think of him. It is not often we get to celebrate birthdays with family, so this was a treat. Brooke said the boys spent a long time picking out the cake. Henry was so excited. These photos are all from our first day. We documented this trip really well. We had to. Who knows when we will ever get to go to Australia again?

Comments

  1. Brooke Anne Plothow Nelson14 September 2016 at 10:47

    Yay! Love this so much ❤️

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christine Plothow14 September 2016 at 14:08

      Thanks for being such an amazing tour guide. You were the main reason the trip was so good. Miss you guys.

      Delete
  2. Sheri Watkins14 September 2016 at 15:25

    How wonderful for you and your kids to have these amazing international experiences!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christine Plothow17 September 2016 at 01:55

      We are really lucky, Sheri. We have tried to take advantage of all the opportunities we have. Traveling with kids is exhausting though. Fun, but exhausting.

      Delete

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