Fraser's World: 1/11/09

Sorry about the slow blog updates...looks like we may be running into some blocking here which is making it very difficult to put these large blogs together. More should be on the way soon!

For additional pictures of Sydney, check out the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/krfraser5/Australia2008_Sydney

On our last day in Sydney we decided to head to Bondi Beach.

Once finding a 'proper' spot to lounge (nudity is common), we let the kids go catch some waves!

With it being the day after Christmas, the rental shops were closed so the kids couldn't rent surfboards but still had a great time in the waves. A bit into our stay at the beach, we heard a siren going off. The lifeguards were waving the swimmers in while boats, wave runners, canoes & a helicopter were all a buzz. Of course the not-so-smart Americans had no idea what the siren meant & Justin proceeded to be the last one out of the water. The siren meant a shark was spotted in the water!! Apparently, shark spotting's in this part of the Australia is common however, they have not had an attack since 1938 (nice to know). Once the helicopter spotted the shark & informed the boats in the water, they coaxed the shark out into open waters. Once out, people back in - kinda freaky going back into the water - and you can bet we told the kids to run out of the water if they heard the siren again.

Don't you feel well protected with him as your lifeguard - he probably saw the

last shark attack ALL those years ago....

Amanda's fun at the beach:

Our time in Sydney was fun! The food was good (Ron really enjoyed eating fish - think he ate it at every meal), the attractions were great & the fact that everyone spoke English made it even better!!!!

Off to Cairns.....stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!!!! Wow, it doesn’t feel like Christmas when you have to wake up your kids!!! The kids sent a note to Santa telling him to leave the presents in China since we didn’t have enough luggage space. No presents, warm weather, waking up your kids, heading to the zoo – not a typical Christmas for us but one I'm sure we will not soon forget! We discovered, prior to arrival, that not much was open on Christmas except for the zoo. They had a package that gave you a backstage tour of the zoo which we decided would be really neat. The Zoo is on an island. We took a ferry over to the zoo, then a cable car to the top of the zoo.

View from the ferry

They were given these masks at the gate - don't they look scary??

Waiting for our tour to begin....

Our tour started at 10am & the first stop – the koala enclosure!!! Once again, Amanda was so excited. We were not allowed to touch these koalas but we were able to get very close to them. They even woke up & moved around for our tour – which the guide said was rare as they usually are sleeping this time of day – Merry Christmas to us!!!

Wait for me mommy...

Phew, I made it!!!

Aren't I just the cutest thing??

Being this close to the koalas, for such a long period of time, will definitely be a

memory we won't forget....and to have them awake & moving around was

awesome!!!

We also fed the kangaroos, went into 2 enclosures of nighttime animals, saw the kitchen where they prepare the food for the animals (gross!), & learned so much information about the native animals of Australia.

Come on kangaroo, there are people that want to feed you...

The smell of food was too much for him to resist!

The kitchen.....what can I say....it was disgusting, neat to experience

but disgusting

The daily feeding schedule

They breed mice to feed to the animals - those are baby frozen

mice

Food that we took to feed the nighttime animals. We don't have any pictures from our encounters with the 2 different nighttime animals. You couldn't use a flash & the one's Ron took didn't turn out. It was a really neat experience!

We ended our tour at the outdoor snack cafeteria where we relaxed & had fabulous desserts. Since telling Amanda we were going to Australia she kept saying that she needed to see a Kookaburra. Apparently her music teacher told her that you can see Kookaburra's in Australia & that they might even laugh for you. Well, she was determined to see one & even more determined to hear it laugh. The whole day she kept asking to see a Kookaburra. The poor guide was trying her hardest to look in the trees but to no avail. However, when we got to the snack cafeteria a Kookaburra landed on the railing, which completely thrilled Amanda, & better yet, it LAUGHED!!!! That made her day, I think her trip! She never asked to see a Kookaburra again but did buy a few Kookaburra souvenirs to bring back.