Heading home

On of our last days in Sydney, we visited the Australia museum -- a kind of natural history museum and the oldest museum in the country. Since the first people to arrive in Australia were the Aborigines (as they are now called) there were lots of exhibits around their way of life, relics, and survival techniques. Like the first people to arrive in North America, the Aborigines were treated terribly by the Europeans who traveled the world killing the native people, destroying their cultures then claiming the land. People my age in Australia were not taught that history (as I wasn't) but Australian children are now taught what actually happened (lessons my children are also learning).

There is one really big difference between the way our governments have dealt with this history.

9 years ago, the Australian government apologized for the horrible treatment of these people.  Today, every public ceremony is started by giving thanks to their native people. I am sure there is a German word to describe laughing from despair .. laughing because of the impossibility of a thing due to a lack of a virtue. Humility is not part of the American character. My culture has many great traits but I would never describe our culture as humble. We don't do humble. I cannot even imagine the American government apologizing for pain it has caused other peoples.

So I left Australia not really understanding them. Beautiful place though.

We left for Honolulu in the evening. Because I somehow ended up buying premium economy seats on Air New Zealand ( I bought the cheapest ticket possible.. I thought), our seats had foot rests that you could raise to be level with the seat. Sonia and I could lay down because no one sat next to us in the row. However, Sonia took up all the space.

notice the "cuddle belt" -- that's the Air New Zealand name for the seatbelt two people must wear while lying down.

After leaving Australia late afternoon Christmas day, we arrived in Honolulu at 6am Christmas morning.

The kids only slept a few hours and we slept none. So we were all tired. We went to a grocery store for food (Thank you Safeway for being open on Christmas day as everything else here was closed). We drove to the North Shore and hung out at Shark's cove waiting for night to come so we could go to bed.

I was too tired to take pictures so here is one from the web. Shark's cove. You can't drown here.

Ryan did not make it until night to fall asleep.


We vowed to stay awake until 8pm so no one would wake up at 3. Turned out this was not a problem as Ryan and I woke up at 830 the next morning (12 hours of sleep) and the kids woke up at 10 (14 hours). I did not know I was capable of sleeping for that much time.

The next day was cloudy so we headed to the Dole plantation nearby. You learn a bit about the history of Dole in Hawaii. They grow pineapples, coffee, chocolate, bananas, and sugar. Mostly this plantation exists to sell tourists shit they do not need. Still, we had fun on their little train.

The weather cleared up and we went to Matsumoto's famous shaved ice place.

They've been in business since 1951 so we are willing to wait in a really long line for shaved ice.

Today, Ryan surfed waves that were too dangerous for anyone else to go into. The beaches around the north shore are pretty dangerous for kids because the waves are so big. We went to a lagoon and rented a stand-up paddle board. We wandered around .. saw some turtles .. watched the sun set.

We'll go home tomorrow. I am so grateful for this trip. It's really been great fun for all of us.

saying goodbye to our pals

Today we celebrated Christmas since we are all traveling tomorrow. We had a very late night last night as the kids watched A LOT of TV and the adults played Settlers of Catan. We thought the kids would sleep in but that was silly. Everyone was up at 6.

We opened presents and have had a mellow day.. swimming, reading, playing some rummicubes, and hanging out. What a fun time we've had with our friends. We last saw them as a family in 2012 but we've vowed to not let more than 2 years go by.. maybe South America next? Who knows? I'd definitely come back here.

We had their son make the same face. 

Restaurant, parks and beach tour

Our friends have a lovely city view from the balcony of their home. We hang out in the morning and have coffee. On Wednesday, we had a welcomed cloudy day. It even got a bit cool later in the day... an unfamiliar feeling.

Lorikeets visit every day.

On Thursday we visited Sydney's Botanical gardens. The construction of the garden started in the mid-1800's. It's built around the governor's mansion and is very close to the Sydney opera house. Apparently, the wife of the first governor loved gardens.

flower pictures are so boring but I have never seen a flower like this one

There are so many unusual plants here. They have a wollemi pine which is a very rare tree that has existed since the Jurassic era. We had a picnic and wandered around.  Then we visited the public pool that is on one side of the park near a naval base.

aircraft carrier in the background. We know it's Australian because they painted a red kangaroo on it.


After the pool, everyone was hungry so we ate gelato. It keeps the kids happy so we can continue our walking tour. We then visited a building called the Customs house. It's also near the harbor and from the mid-1800's - early 1900's, all customs inspections happened here. It's a historical building that has restaurants and a museum. Right now, they displayed a miniature version of the central business district in Sydney.

photo from the internet (small Sydney)

my photo from the top. the floor is glass and the city is underneath

on the way home we stopped at a park to play

We traveled by ferry from home to downtown and back. Lots of fun.

Thursday evening we sat on the patio and watched enormous bats fly by. They all fly in the same direction apparently. My friends say they are fruit bats but they are very big.

Friday we journeyed to Bondi beach. We rode a bus to Coogee beach which is connected to Bondi by a coastal walking trail. Along the trail there are small beaches that have swimming areas created long ago. They are basically concrete walls that are filled with the water that splashes in from the ocean. Some of the beaches have separate tiled pools not connected to the ocean.

walking the trail

view from the trail

approaching our second beach area


Have I mentioned it is hot here? The UV index is always "extreme" so while yesterday was only in the 80's, it felt a lot hotter.  We spent a couple of hours at the first beach then walked about a mile to the second beach. The kids were very unhappy about the walk. There were tears and complaining. We were happy to make it to the next beach but after about an hour decided it might be time to head home. We did not make it to Bondi beach but here's a photo from a tourism website:

next time Bondi

Our next stop was a vegan burger place called Soul Burger. You have never tasted veggie burgers like these. I don't like veggie burgers. These were amazing. I could not believe it.  I had an "Aussie" burger with beetroot relish, lettuce, tomato, spanish onions and aioli.

We woke up this morning and ran around the lake nearby. Then we all went to a Turkish restaurant for breakfast. Jack reports he loved the juice called the "omer special". Jack is sitting here as I type.

I need to visit Turkey 

Insider's visit to Sydney

Sydney is a beautiful city. Some neighborhoods remind me of London. There are row houses everywhere then a high street with cool restaurants and shops, little grocery stores, and lots of people.

My friends had arranged for a sitter the night we returned from Airlie Beach. We went to a vegan wood-fired pizza place. It was really good food. Then we had gelato at a hip gelato place that looked a like a night club. Interesting vibe but it worked. 

lots of cool murals here -- this was near the pizza place

Today we visited the science museum. They had an exhibit called Future Park. There were many different large digital scenes all over the walls. They provided drawings of people, animals, buildings or whatever each scene called for. You colored your person and then scanned it into the people scene. Then your person came to life. 

my person for the village

dancing with her new friends

balls that changed color when they collided

transportation village

 I also colored an alligator with pink and yellow stripes. I scanned it then watched it slither across the sea life scene. Entertaining.

Since we are staying with friends, this part of our visit is quite different from the New Zealand part of the trip.  Our kids spend most of their time with our friends’ kids who are 7, 9, & 11. We don’t need to plan much as we are staying in a home. The grocery store is nearby and our friends know where to go. Our kids no longer complain. They don’t fight much either because they have other people to interact with now. This is the reason I did this trip. Anytime I have the opportunity to travel with friends, I’ll do it. Our family dynamic is much more mellow when we are with other families especially when our kids get along so well with theirs. 

Sydney has pretty amazing indoor pools for when the weather is crummy. Crummy weather is the too-hot summer weather apparently.  Jack was intrigued by the stories of the big slides and cool features, so we visited the Ryde Aquatic center. 

It was nice to get out of the sun for a bit. The kids ran around while I listened to a podcast called Lovett or Leave it. Everybody wins.

When we got home from the pool, the kids jumped into the pool at our friends' apartment. Lots of pool time.

This is a random tangent but I learned the Australian economy has not had a recession in 26 years. They’ve had 2-3% growth every year. After the 2008 crash, the government apparently infused the economy with enough cash that it didn’t dive. 

Back to our activities: Today, it was projected to be 97 degrees today so we headed to Manly beach. This is a large, very popular beach especially when it is hot hot hot. The beach has a very strong undertow so swimming is only allowed in very narrow stretches of the beach where life guards can see everyone. Apparently the other famous Sydney beach, Bondi, has a similarly rough current. There is a reality TV show about all the people the Bondi life guards save from drowning. 

We played in the beach for several hours. This consisted of being knocked down by the waves and counting to 5 about 200 times ( 5 kids in our group ). I really didn't mind because it was nice to be cool. The water was probably 75 degrees but it felt cold compared to the air.

After the beach, we had another amazing vegan treat at a gluten-free bakery.  Kate and I shared a snickers donut and a "couch potato" donut ( a chocolate chip donut with chocolate glaze with potato chips covered in chocolate and sea salt on the top). The donuts were so extraordinarily good that I wrote a google review.

Last night, we had a sitter again so we went out! We went to another vegetarian restaurant. They served asian-style tapas and beer from their own small-brewed batches. I am surprised Seattle doesn't have more extraordinary vegetarian places. It's very impressive what Australians can do with vegetables. We sat next to a loud group of gay men who were drinking a lot and thus were very loud. One of our friends told us the loudest dude reminded them of this guy:

I can't tell how much this attitude dominates Australian culture. It is something they seem to share with the US though. I've been surprised at how many anti-government types I've interacted with here. They all fit a similar profile -- middle aged - older worker class white men. They seem to make their feelings known very quickly because I obviously don't know these people. 

I have not seen anyone asking for money here. I didn't see it in NZ either. I have seen a few homeless people but no obviously mentally ill people either. That doesn't mean they don't exist of course. It is just that you'd only have to go to one Seattle tourist attraction to see that part of our society in full. It must be really shocking to tourists. I quickly get used to not seeing that level of suffering. It's a nice break.

Vacation with friends

Our friends joined us in Airlie Beach. It’s fun to travel with another family as the kids seem so happy to be with other kids, and it’s fun for us to have adults to talk to and trade off childcare. 

Our first day together, my friend and I went running at 6am. We ran together in Seattle before they moved. When we visited them in London, we did a 10K. It’s always more fun to have a running buddy. That said, it is hot in Queensland. Like Africa hot.. didn’t Matthew Broderick say that in some movie? Now I know what he means. 

Since I still can’t figure out celsius, I can’t tell you the temperature. It was at least 90% humidity and the sun just feels closer here. When I finished the run it looked like all my red blood cells were trying to escape through my face. I was tomato red… a little disconcerting actually. I was so hot that when we returned, I jumped into the pool with my running clothes on. 

The rest of the day was very relaxed as the kids played happily in the pool together. There were three different pools and no one else was in them for most of the day. 

On Saturday, we did a tour of the Whitsunday Islands. There is a famous beach here called Whitehaven beach. It’s a protected area for many reasons but one is the sand is pure silica. When you walk on the sand, it is the texture of snow but it’s not cold .. it’s not hot either because somehow the silica does not absorb the sun’s heat. 

We are landing on Hill Inlet for a hike to see the view of Whitehaven beach.

Whitehaven beach before tide goes out

After tide goes out

We toured on a small boat designed for water rescue. The boat travelled very quickly over the water and our guides maneuvered in all manner of crazy ways so we felt like we were on a roller coaster. Great fun. We stopped at two different sites to snorkel. 

our boat

Sonia and our little buddy

Airlie Beach was hit by a category 5 hurricane last March. It destroyed many homes and hotels. Part of our hotel was still under construction from the damage. One of our snorkeling sites had been a great place to see coral but after the storm, the coral in this protected bay was completely destroyed. Coral reproduces one day a year some time in November or December. The day has something to do with the full moon. Our guides told us the coral would reproduce but it would take 1000’s of years before it looked the same.

Our next site was not affected by the hurricane and the coral was amazing .. so many different colors and shapes. The kids really like snorkeling. We saw lots of fish (big and small), a sea turtle, and some small jellyfish.. no box jellies though. 

These are all photos of Whitehaven that our friend took -- he is a much better photographer than I am.

wearing stinger suits and hats

GBR

We arrived in Airlie Beach and took a shuttle 20 miles to our hotel. On the way, we saw kangaroos. I felt like Crocodile Dundee. Just kidding. There is nothing outback-ish about this town.

Here's the view from our hotel room (which is more of an apartment)

We walked around the center of Airlie beach which reminds me of every Mexican beach town you've ever visited. It seems to cater to current and former fraternity members. Raglan in New Zealand was this way too. I think it's inevitable for towns that rely primarily on tourism for their survival. Once we got away from the main drag, we found more normal shops and homes.  People visit the Queensland coast to go to the Great Barrier Reef.   The reef is 80km away -- our trip to the reef took 3 hours each way.

Wednesday we left early for our tour.  The trip out was beautiful and once we got out into open water, the water was rough. Again, thank God we are not a family that gets motion-sickness.

Once we got to the reef, we hired a guide to take us out to snorkel. She helped the kids with their snorkeling equipment. We were able to get away from the boat crowd and she introduced us to all the different types of coral and fish that we saw. There is a reason the Great Barrier Reef is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. Like the eclipse, seeing the reef was so amazing that is beyond description. We visited Hardy reef --  a 50 foot tall ( and  part of 2300 km long) mountain of coral covered by an ocean. We snorkeled 2 feet above the coral although we visited deeper spots as well.

Stinger suits, life vests, snorkeling gear. It's stinger (jellyfish) season. Queensland is home to the box jellyfish which will kill you if it stings you.

the lighter water is over the reef which is looks gray-ish in this picture which captures almost none of the grandeur of this place

helicopters are standing by if you'd like to fly over the reef.

While snorkeling, my mask kept filling up with water. It made me uncomfortable because I kept inhaling water. I eventually got used to emptying the mask. I didn't realize it wasn't on correctly. I noticed that when I saw our family photo.

Sydney

We decided to visit this part of the planet when dear friends of ours moved to Sydney last November. It was a great inspiration to travel to a place we'd otherwise not visit because of the distance.

Our friends live in the center of a happening neighborhood so we went to a great breakfast place. Since we are all up early, we could sit outside in the brilliant Sydney sunshine.

The weather in Sydney is like LA weather. If the population of LA had grown significantly in the early 1900’s and if the Pacific Ocean moved inward through the city of LA, these cities would feel quite similar. Sydney doesn’t have the pollution though. The people seem fit and health conscious. There are endless restaurants and endless sunshine, palm trees and summer breezes from the water. 

After breakfast, we walked to a nearby park and then to a ferry that took us past the Sydney Opera house and delivered us to the fancy Rocks District. We went under the famous Harbor Bridge -- we could see people walking over the top of the bridge which is apparently a popular thing to do.

parents and kids on the ferry

you probably haven't seen this before. 

Our friends recently moved to a place with a pool and the kids enjoyed playing with their kids. We took it easy and just enjoyed being in a home. It felt so spacious after the campervan.

Monday we moved slowly and finally got out to the incredible Taranga zoo. The zoo was founded in 1916! It's 69 acres and filled with animals we had never seen.. and many we'd never heard of. The zoo has an amazing city view. Sydney (like London -- not like LA) has lots of amazing waterfront parks and green spaces. The Brits seemed to understand that the public needs space to hang out around natural beauty.

the zoo has a gondola. jack was cranky here.

they have a ropes course for kids, another for older kids, and one for adults.

wombat

koala!

view from the Sumatra tiger area

view from bridge built in 1916 that leads to the waterfront by the zoo.

Tuesday morning, we got up early to fly to Airlie Beach, Queensland, our launch point to see the Great Barrier reef.  We took an Uber to the airport. The Uber driver chatted with Ryan (in the front seat). Ryan told him we were going up to the GBR and he mentioned that the reef is actually repairing itself. Mother nature is a lot more resilient than we give her credit for.  He talked a bit about the Australian economy which he said was not as flexible as the US economy. Somehow the topic of California was brought up and when Ryan mentioned the population of CA was 39 million, the driver replied 'aren't most of those illegals?'

Other nonsense was reported to us but the point is how small the world has become in some ways. Ryan reminded me that Rupert Murdoch was born in Australia. This is not a liberal country. It occurred to me that citizens of other countries might read Breitbart. The driver was spouting the same far-right talking points that I hear on Fox news. How did he hear that stuff? 

My friend and I went to a mall on Monday -- the mall had a Target. Walking around I thought I could be in the US. All of the people dressed the same as Americans. They are ethnically diverse like Americans.  I guess this is what Tom Friedman has been talking about for 20 years. Globalization has made the world smaller.