Australia Part 2

Boxing Day Monday 12/26

I am not quite sure why this is a National Holiday, but whatever.  It's a day for shopping.  All the stores have sales and it's when people go shopping for themselves and use the gift cards that they got for Christmas.  Natalie, Nicole, and I arrived at the mall at 8:00am (Sean stayed home with the kids and watched cricket) and it wasn't that crowded at all.  Natalie seemed to think the hail storm had an effect on the size of the crowds.  The stores do not have huge discounts like Black Friday in the States, but there are sales.  I would say the amount of the sales and the size of the crowd is in between Black Friday and the day after Christmas sales. 

That was pretty much Monday.  We got home around 4:00 and were pretty tired from shopping all day!

Tuesday 12/27

Road trip day! We got up early and packed snacks for our trip to Geelong, Bells Beach, and The 12 Apostles via The Great Ocean Road.  Nicole made Vegemite sandwhiches for everyone, including me, but she was nice enough to make a PBJ sandwhich just in case I didn't like the Vegemite.  Interesting fact about Vegemite: Australians love it and most Americans hate it but it is an American company.  Weird.  We hit the road about 9 and our first stop was Geelong; about 1 hour from their house.  Geelong is a nice beach area and they are most known for the little statue things that line the beach.  We took a train ride around the beach and walked for a bit and then back in the car to Bells Beach.


Bells Beach is an amazingly beautiful beach.  First of all, the beach is situated below the road so you have to walk down many stairs to get to the beach.  Although annoying, this allowed for spectacular views of the ocean from above.  There were about 5' swells, which Nicole referred to as "little waves" and a few surfers enjoying the waves.  There was also a seal swimming amongst the waves.  After watching the surfers and seal for a while, Caitlyn, Nicole and I decided to walk down to the beach.  Nicole pointed out straight into the horizon and told me that Tasmania was there and then Antartica; pretty neat to be that close to Antartica!  Caitlyn took off her shoes and chased some waves, only to discover that the water was freezing!  I soon found out as well.  The tide was coming in and I wanted to take a picture as it was filling a little hole so I got down and a big wave came and I got wet.  Since the water comes from Antartica it really is freezing!  I got my picture and then we headed back up the stairs to the car. 

It was at this point that I decided I should try my Vegemite sandwhich.  Well, I am among the 99% of Americans that do not like Vegemite.  It was very salty and gross.  One bite was enough.  I disposed of the rest of the sandwhich and gratefully ate my PBJ!  Back in the car headed towards The 12 Apostles and The Great Ocean Road.

The Great Ocean Road is exactly what the name implies.  It goes along the ocean with spectacular views.  It is a very long and windy road and amazingly none of us got car sick (All of us besides Caitlyn suffer from motion sickness!)  The rocky cliffs set off the crystal clear blue water and I just couldn't help but look out the window at the passing scenery despite the fact that I get car sick.

Before we got to the 12 Apostles we stopped at Lorne (I thought they were saying Lawn) for fish 'n chips on the beach.  The fish was so fresh it must have just been caught.  I picked up a few souveniors (sorry no kangaroo windchimes) and then we continued on to The 12 Apostles.

Fascinating, awesome, spectacular is all I can say about the 12 Apostles.  There are these huge rocks coming out of the ocean and more rocky cliffs along the edge of the ocean.  No one is quite sure why this place, the number one tourist attraction in Melbourne, is called the 12 Apostles because there aren't 12, and there have never been 12, rocks coming out of the ocean.  Despite the fact that the name doesn't make any sense it was a beautiful end to a long day and well worth the long drive on The Great Ocean Road!  To make the return trip shorter we took the highway home instead of The Great Ocean Road.

Wednesday 12/28

Melbourne Zoo.  The Melbourne Zoo is amazing.  Wide open spaces for the animals and lots of natural vegetation filling the zoo.  There were times when I didn't even think we were at the zoo.  Although I was reminded we were at the zoo by the crowds of people.  There were times when we couldn't even see the animals because of the crowds.  We decided that everyone in Melbourne and all the tourists were either at the cricket match or the zoo.  I did have a good time and it was fun to have Caitlyn act as my tour guide.

Thursday 12/29

Melbourne Aquarium.  Well, I should say that is where we wanted to go but not where we ended up.  The line (queue) was so long it went out the door and around the building.  It would have taken us at least 1 1/2 hours to make it to the entrance and we decided we didn't want to wait.  That got a few pouts from Caitlyn but Ashleigh suggested we go to Science Works and Caitlyn seemed to be ok with that along with the fact that Natalie promised to take them later.  So we headed to Science Works.  Science Works is like any other hands on science museum and the kids had a great time.  We also went to the planetarium and watched a movie about traditional Aborignal star gazing and the different constellations.  It was very interesting seeing the sky from the southern hemisphere and learning about the constellations that they see. 

Friday 12/30

Just a relaxing day at home.  After being out the whole week it was nice to spend a quiet day at home.  We took another walk to the park across from their house and I actually got close enough to some kangaroos to take a picture.  They really are quite big!

New Years Eve Saturday 12/31

Cruising the Yarra River

Eureka Sky Tower

Natalie and I headed into the city for a day of sightseeing and a night of fireworks.  We walked along the Yarra River which is also known as the "upside down river" because the top is muddy and the bottom is clear.  This is because it is fresh and salt water mixed together and all the sediment is in the fresh water which is on the top.  Interesting fact.  We crossed what I call the Immigration Bridge because it shows all the different immigrants and where they came from and the amount of the population that is made up of that particular group.  It was pretty interesting.  Most of Australia's immigrants come from China.  We took a nice little river boat cruise down the Yarra River and I got to see a nice view of the Melbourne skyline.  After the cruise we had lunch and then headed to the Art Museum.  There was lots of local art along with many different artists from around the world.  Following the tour of the art museum I did some more souvenior shopping (still no kangaroo windchimes) and then we headed to the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.  We took an elevator (lift) up to the 88th floor, which took about 30 seconds, and enjoyed spectacular views of Melbourne.  With the tour of the city completed we headed back to the hotel and went to the cinema to see Mission Impossible 4.  Part of MI 4 was filmed in Dubai and the Burj Khalifa plays a big part in the movie.  Supposedly Tom Cruise signed the top of the Burj Khalifa, but I doubt that will ever be confirmed!  After the movie we braved the crowds at the food court and had some dinner, then we went outside to wait for the fireworks.  While waiting for the fireworks we saw the towers along the Yarra River throw fire; I really don't know what else to call this.  There are 6 towers that line the river and every hour fire comes out of the top of them.  It was pretty neat.  Since we had to wait 2 hours for the fireworks we enjoyed this show 2 times.  We had a great view of the fireworks along the Yarra River.  All the tall buildings in Melbourne had fireworks coming off them.  It was cool to see fireworks coming from many different places.  Although not the Sydney fireworks it was still a cool show.

View from the 88th floor

fire show from the towers that line the Yarra River

New Years Day Sunday 1/1/2012

Nicole, Sean, and the kids picked us up around 11:30 and we headed to St. Kilda Beach.  We walked along the pier, walked along the beach, and shopped at the local market (still no kangaroo windchimes) where I got a bag with Australian icons including Vegemite!  We had a late lunch in this quaint little town and then headed home so Natalie could get ready for her trip to New Zealand.

Monday 1/2

Nicole took Natalie to the airport and then we went to the Melbourne Museum.  Along with science they had a nice section with local Melbourne history.  I learned about Phar Lap, a great racing horse that won 4 (?) Melbourne Cups and then was poisioned with arsenic, and the Melbourne Gold Rush. 

Tuesday 1/3

Nicole and Sean had to work so I stayed home with the girls.   We built with legos, played legos, and played Monopoly before I had to be at the airport.  My flight was at 7pm and I arrived at the airport at 5pm.  Unfortunately there were no seats in the exit row avaialable so I had to make due with the aisle seat that I had.  The 7 hour flight to Singapore was very long and I did not sleep at all.  I arrived in Singapore at 11:30pm and the flight to Dubai left at 1:20am so I had an hour to walk around the airport.  Really not much to do but stretch my legs and walk. 

Wednesday 1/4

The 7 hour flight from Singapore to Dubai was torture.  So long and uncomfortable.  I was so tired, but I didn't sleep much at all; maybe 2 hours.  I just can't get comfortable on planes.  I watched 2 movies - Puss in Boots and Assassination Games - read, and did some word searches but the time went so slow.  We arrived in Dubai at 4:30 am and I made it through customs very quickly.  My luggage was one of the first off the plane and I was out of the airport by 5:15 am!  I took a taxi to Uptown Mirdif Shopping Center and Craig picked me up from there. 

Wednesday in Dubai was torture as I tried to stay awake so I could get on schedule.  I did try to take a nap at 8:30 am, but I couldn't sleep.  It was nice to just lay down though.  Aisha and Hamdan came over so that helped to keep me awake, but I was asleep on the couch by 5 pm.  Cindy woke me up for dinner at 6:30 and then I went upstairs to bed.  I was asleep by 7:30 and slept until 6:30 am. 

I do not want to get on a plane again!  I am hoping that by the time July comes around someone will invent and perfect the ability to teleport!  A long shot I know, but come on it is 2012!!  I really think we should be able to do that by now!

I enjoyed my trip to Australia and if I go back I will visit the Jahne's in Melbourne and then travel to another part of that huge country/continent!