Australia

After we left NZ we flew to Sydney, Australia for a whirlwind trip! We stayed at a condo a block away from the King Street Wharf and Darling Harbor which I loved. It was such a perfect location close the lots of cool stuff and a nice kept part of the city. The driving was HORRIBLE! They don't like to mark their street well, the locals, especially the taxis, don't signal, are heavy on the horn and swerve in and out of lanes like crazy.... so driving was NOT FUN. We opted for taxis and walking after the first night! One of the highlights for me was going running one morning, since we were still waking up at 530 or 6 every morning! I ran all the was down Darling Harbor to the Circular Quay where I ran under the Sydney Harbor Bridge and all around downtown Sydney. I got lost at least 4 times one I left the waterfront lol since their roads are crazy, curvy and have no signs, but by the time I finished running, I'd given myself a full tour of downtown Sydney. Its such a sleepy city. Even when I got back at 730 AM there were still no cars out on the roads on the weekend. They must stay up late partying and then sleep in.
We visited the Featherdale wildlife park- SO MUCH CUTNESS! and totally hands on, the animals could come out by the people to be pet and fed in a lot of places.
-The Scenic world trams - in Australia's blue mountains... it was pretty dry and the waterfall underwhelming, but we did get to ride the world's steepest railway which was super fun going backwards!
-Walked the path from Bondi beach to Bronte beach - get my wave fix! COLD WATER :)
- Rode the ferrry system back to the Quay - So many sailboats and beautiful harbors. The ferry ride was way more beautiful than I would have imagined.
-Walked the Sydney Harbor bridge at night - classic, cool!

Not bad for 2.5 days!
 Archer the Koala!

 WOMBAT!

 Wallaby

 Kangaroo

 Wallaroo and baby :)!

New Zealand

We went to New Zealand with Andy's parents, and Brian/Emily Kausler, Andy's business partner. They had a handful of clients to meet with throughout the trip, and we got to do tons of fun things. I'll list them in order then you can just enjoy the pictures!
1- Our first day we attended the Hamilton New Zealand temple! It was packed! I was so impressed with the faith of the LDS saints there who were mainly of Maori descent.
2 - Andy and I dove the Poor Knights' Marine Preserve. I didn't freeze as much as I remembered freezing in California so that was good and the fish and plant life were abundant. We got to see some seals and a shark.
3 - While the guys worked, we visited some geothermal vents and springs in Rotorua. They were smelly but cool. My favorite part was the places where new vents were forming and they just put a construction cone over them. It looked like a smoking witches hat and was a good place to warm our hands... we saw some cats laying by the cones who seems to like it too!
4 - We toured the Hobbiton movie set. Did you know I'd would've made the cut to be a Hobbit in the movie since I'm so short? The weather had been pretty rainy on and off up to this point, but we were spoiled with a beautiful clear day!
5 - We drove a crazy long windy road to the eastern coast to visit Kawhia's Hot Water Beach. I have a love for the ocean I can't explain so this was my highlight by far. This beach was practically deserted, had black sand, epic views, and to top it all off, my other favorite HOT WATER! Sitting in a hot bath right at the edge of the waves is bound to be one of the highlights of my life, lol.
6 - Redwoods night tree walk - there trees are only 100 year old but almost the size of the redwoods in California at 2000 years old... I guess the growing conditions for them in NZ are much more favorable and they grow a lot faster.
7 - Skyline Luges - Andy loved this more than everything else. He could've rode the ski lift up and luged down the mountain all day. I'm not much of a racer and didn't keep up very well, but he and Brian had some crazy races. Check them out on youtube... https://youtu.be/PP_-axxhT9o
https://youtu.be/sRe7MYO2_yY
8 - Rainbow Springs - seeing the Kiwi bird was cool as their weird and almost extinct, but I think we'd all agree that their crazy, half broken, boat elevator log ride made this place well worth the effort!
9 - Mitai Cultural Dinner - Although a bit long and drawn out, eating native food and seeing the native culture is always a classic. We got to see NZ's famous glowworms in the bush walk after dinner which was my favorite part. Andy and I lagged way behind the group so we could see all the glowworms without other people's lights getting in our way. There were hundreds.. it looked like the starts.
10 - Kerosene Creek -  I was sad to not see this hot river so since we were up at 5 AM everyday because our bodies never really adjusted, we drove over and took a dip in this creek. SO COOL and kinda creepy :)

ON TO AUSTRALIA, MATE!

 

 

 

Everyone has fun when Grandparents come!

Andy and I got the opportunity to go on a trip to New Zealand and Australia for his work. Grandma and Grandpa Pack were SO NICE to come from Texas and stay with our kids for week. After they had to leave, Aunt Kim and her family were so kind to watch the kids for the last few days. Our kids were so excited for our trip they were counting down the days to their visitors and seeing their cousins! Abby was even a little upset I didn't leave sooner so, "Grandma can come!"

Their week with Grandma and Grandpa was super fun. Sydney said she loved doing art project with Grandma, Abby loved getting a treat with Grandpa, and Wynn's favorite thing was his riding his first roller coaster at the Pendleton Round up carnival. They were having so much fun, they didn't miss us at all! Now that we're getting back into our routine they miss Grandma and Grandpa a lot, and we wanted to stay thanks one more time!