I did most of my growing up in Minnesota, the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" they like to call it. However, come winter time no one was certainly taking any boats out on the lakes (maybe cars, but that's a whole other story).
Welcome to Sydney. We've taken two boat rides since winter officially started here. Both were a spectacular example of just how amazingly beautiful this city is. The first was a dinner cruise Steve and I took (sans Emma & Morgan!) to see the Vivid light display.
Vivid is an annual three week outdoor light festival that takes place all over the city. While the majority of the lights are close to the heavily touristed area of Circular Quay and downtown Sydney, in recent years the lights have spread to suburbs of the city as well. The festival was started in 2009 and last year reportedly drew over 1.5 million visitors to the city and obviously significantly contributed to the economy.
The Opera House lights were constantly changing.
Unfortunately the weekend we had booked cruise tickets for was one that was hit by a substantial rain storm. Fortunately, the rain obliged us for a couple hours while we were on the boat. However, unbeknownst to us at the time, a lot of the lights were actually turned off or shut down as a result. So while our experience was not near as impressive as we expected, I still can't complain as we had a Saturday date on a boat in the Sydney harbour. You don't need much anything extra to add to the already incredible beauty of the city from the view of a boat.
Luna Park lit up beautifully.
While we would have liked to gone back down to the city with Emma and Morgan to walk around some of the light displays at another time, we simply couldn't find the time, and were a bit turned off by how busy we heard it was on the weekends. We'll make sure to plan accordingly next year and not let the kids miss out.
The perfect angle to capture these two icons of Sydney in the same photo.
We even squeezed in dessert at the Lindt cafe following the cruise.
Our second winter boat ride was this past weekend in celebration of American Father's Day (Australian Father's Day is actually in September). I had booked a surprise whale watching cruise for Steve, but for all of us to go on together. Steve and I went on a cruise several years ago in Hawaii with my parents, but the boat failed to spot any whales as it was quite early in the season. So this year I jumped at the opportunity and knew we could time it right to be much closer to peak season.
Three tired, semi-happy faces at the early morning start.
And to our delight we were much more successful this go around! We used Oz Whale Watching (and a groupon as I have come to learn it seems like every tourist attraction runs groupon deals in this city, you just have to watch and time it right) and were very happy with our experience. We spotted one very early just on the fringe of the harbour and while we stayed for a few minutes to look at it the boat was very careful to move on as they didn't want to scare it and risk that it swam deeper into the harbour and would be unable to make it's way out. But from there it didn't take long for the boat to locate 4 or 5 others once we got out into the ocean and we were able to stay with a male & female pair for quite awhile.
Pictures don't do these beautiful creatures justice...
View of the city skyline as we re-entered the harbour.
It was beautiful to watch how majestic and enormous these animals really are. And it was so much fun to watch Emma's delight in spotting them too. Not to mention we were happy to report there was no sea sickness experienced by our family, a couple others on our boat were not so lucky despite relatively calm waves.
I certainly feel spoiled living in a city that has so many things to offer. While I occasionally find it difficult to live in such a big, heavily touristed city, there are also many days I find many benefits and enjoyment from it as well.
The whales put on a great show in front of a beautiful landscape.
When you live in the Commonwealth you have to celebrate the Queen's Birthday. It's terrible, I know, a mandatory public holiday. As a result we had a long weekend and seeing how it is the beginning of winter (still adjusting to how strange that is in June), we decided to check out the Snowy Mountains and make our way to the village of Thredbo. The snowy mountains are roughly 5.5 hours southwest of Sydney by car. Unfortunately, since it was the beginning of the already short snow season, there was next to no snow. Luckily, since it was "opening weekend" there were still a lot of fun activities to make the most of our weekend away.
Happy passenger!
We opted for a late evening departure from Sydney last Friday night with the hopes that the girls would sleep most of the trip and they did! The drive down was uneventful and thankfully we didn't find out how our car would hold up against a kangaroo, although many other late night drivers had clearly not been so successful in recent days.
We found our way to Bernti's Inn and although most lights were out in the village, the owners had nicely left our key sitting on the front desk awaiting our late arrival. We didn't waste any time going to bed, but Saturday morning still came too quickly even though we all slept in a bit later than normal. I sent Steve down with both girls to ensure we found breakfast before it was closed and when I joined them a few minutes later I didn't find Steve and Emma, but quickly found Morgan being held by a lady that I had never met! No I didn't panic. Actually, this is one of the reasons that I love traveling with kids, when they are cute, everyone loves them. And lucky for us, Emma and Morgan were pretty darn cute the whole weekend and were well loved on by several of the staff and family of the inn's owners. I can't say we complained that they held Morgan for us all of breakfast (and that Morgan let them hold her)!
Emma woke up before the rest of us and I found her suitcase
unpacked and everything organized to her liking!
With our lift tickets and rental equipment cancelled for the weekend, we set off to explore the small mountain town and all the special activities for the weekend. First up on Emma's list was a kid's treasure hunt. Treasure hunts seem to be on her mind a lot lately, so it was perfect time and she had a blast rotating with mom and dad's help throughout the town. With a bag full of candy as her treasure she was a happy kid, but her day only got better when it included her first hot chocolate, face painting and kids' dancing, fireworks and a fire stunt show. So, in other words I think all of the activities of the day were planned for Emma, but Steve, Morgan and I didn't mind tagging along and watching her delight, especially when it actually snowed as well!
The day went quickly and we found ourselves surprised at how cold we were. We'll place equal blame on ourselves softening to the warmer weather as well as the fact that we're pretty sure the concept of insulation doesn't exist most anywhere in Australia. So we were happy to get to bed early after our late night the day before, only to be awoken an hour later by the smoke detector in the hotel. I don't think either Emma or Morgan awoke to the alarm (amazing what kids can sleep through!), but they did wake up when we wrapped them up in blankets to make our way outside. While we should have been thankful it was nothing, I think it is fair to say we were more annoyed when they turned off a minute after we got outside. When someone else informed us that all hotels in town seemed to have sensitive smoke detectors, I'm not sure if it made us feel better, worse, or more worried that they might repetitively go off all weekend.
Cute kids ready to go!
A live snowglobe.
Starting the treasure hunt...
Treasure hunt success!
Celebrating with face paint and hot chocolate (not pictured: mom and dad happy with a glass of wine)!
Leftover ice!
Dance party!
Once again, no celebration in Australia is complete without fireworks and they did not disappoint - just look at their faces!
We were happy when we woke up on Sunday with no repeat smoke detector incidents. Even better was when we opened the curtains and saw clear skies and snow being made at the bottom of the mountain. While it still wasn't cold enough to make snow on the whole mountain they were nice enough to appease the children and make snow for all that had been anxiously waiting to play in it. Emma too was excited and our first stop involved lots of time throwing snowballs and rolling around in the artificial white stuff. From there we took the chair lift nearly to the top of the tallest mountain in Australia (Mount Kosciuszko stands at just over 2200m). The chair lift is open every day of the year and leads to many summer hiking trails and a restaurant at the top. We also found a little of the real white stuff as well! We had hoped to walk part of the trail to the Mount Kosciuszko lookout, but between the wind and ice we realized that wasn't going to happen with Emma and Morgan in tow. Settling for a drink in the warm and cozy restaurant was a good substitute instead.
Gorgeous morning view outside our window.
Our little snow bunny ready to go!
The "long lunch" in town (we didn't get tickets, but sure looked like a lot of fun!)
Kids snow play area.
Throwing snowballs at dad was one of Emma's highlights of the weekend.
Nearly the top of Australia!
View over the valley from the top of the chairlift.
Her new favorite treat and one of my favorite activities, sitting in the sun at the top of the mountains!
On the 15 minute ride back down the chairlift Morgan fell asleep and Emma enjoyed the ride so much we decided to make one more roundtrip up and back down. From there we all needed a little down time before Steve and Emma made their way to enjoy the indoor community pool. A water slide made Emma's day complete and we found dinner at a local pub before calling it for the day.
While she was still awake...
We were sad to see Monday morning as it meant it was time to head home, but not before Emma found a new snow area to play in and she made an impressive snowman with her dad's help. It was so popular that as soon as they turned their back on it there were other people there taking selfies with it. Who knew Steve was so good at making snowmen?!
Olaf!
We left Thredbo by midday, but we made a stop about halfway home in Canberra to see one of Steve's friends. It meant we could also officially check off visiting the Australian Capital Territory from our list. Canberra appeared nice, and as the national capital is certainly an important part of the country, but by outward appearance it didn't seem like too much to write home about. Certainly, much more like the midwest U.S. cities we were raised in than the picturesque Australian coastal cities that typically make all the tourist brochures. Perhaps we'll make it back one day and spend a little longer looking around and learning about Australian government, but that was not the day.
Just like our trip to Thredbo, it was pretty late by the time we arrived back home in Sydney. But this time our hearts were a little happier with the time we spent together.
I had every intention of writing a blog about living in Oz after our first six months here, well that didn't happen, so here we are at eight months in. Has life changed from living in the U.S.? Absolutely. Has it changed drastically? No, I don't think so. Moving to Switzerland was culture shock. Moving to Australia has, well, basically been like moving to a part of California that broke off and drifted really far away from the continental states and everyone talks with just a little different accent, some funny slang and they drive their cars on the other side of the road (might I even say "wrong" side of the road).
Ok, well maybe it's a little more different than that... But really, many days the biggest changes I feel we have experienced are the same ones we would have experienced by just moving to another city in the states. We've had to navigate around a big new city, make new friends, find new places to shop, eat, doctors and the list could go on and on. And along the way of doing these, there are plenty of things we have learned about living in the land down under. Some of which are good, some not so good, a few things leave us frustrated and craving America, some make us thankful to be here and some just leave us puzzled.
I covered some of my initial findings one month in to this adventure in this previous entry. Here's a look at some more of what it means to experience life as an American expat in Australia. Many of these are more humorous than serious and only a few leave me a little perturbed on a bad day. I think most fellow American expats can probably relate and get a good chuckle.
This is the land of FOODIES, just be prepared, what they call "bacon" is not the same. I am surprised my husband didn't turn right back around for America after this realization. Almost everything else is a home run - so many Asian options, seafood and the national brunch staple - avocado is rarely missing from a menu. Food is fresher and better usually, but you'll pay for it too. Oh and they have semi-good Mexican restaurants too, which speaks volumes in comparison to all of Europe.
Brunch is by far the best meal of the day here.
No donuts at the nearby cafe, no worry, cronuts to the rescue!
Everything is BACKWARDS in their cars and on the roads here! I can't tell you how many times I've started to open the front passenger door to get in and drive the car, or I've watched a car drive by and am horrified when I see what I think is the driver sitting with both feet on the dash staring at their phone. And I don't want to admit it, but I still have to focus extra hard to make sure I don't miss any important road signs! I am always looking the wrong direction for any stop signs!
To my knowledge there is no such thing as UNLIMITED calling, text or data here. Be ready for 2010 here, you may actually go over your monthly limit on your plan.
Coffee ADDICTS are made here, starting with a babycino. Just don't get caught in Starbucks - that's only where the tourists and Americans go as it's "terrible" coffee. But in their defense, it actually does taste different than the Starbucks in the states. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see them go out of business during my time here. And by the way, just be prepared, "regular coffee" doesn't really exist here either.
Don't worry - no real caffeine in this cup. Neither her nor I could handle that being the case...
TARGET is KMART and Kmart is Target. So just take your American stereotypes of each store and switch them before you go shopping.
Alcohol is really EXPENSIVE, mostly due to extremely high import taxes. And while there are many beautiful wine regions here, my apologies, but Australian wine has not impressed us thus far.
There is more DIVERSITY here than I could have ever imagined. It seems that everyone else in the rest of the world thinks living on the fringe of the earth is the place to be as well. And don't worry, there's plenty of room for all of them. Oh wait, not. This country is massive, but pretty much everyone has decided to live in the same six or seven cities.
For goodness sake, can everyone just wear SHOES!? You won't find many signs here that say anything about "No shirt, no shoes, no service." But seriously, I have a preschooler and I so badly just want her to keep her shoes on while we're out running errands, but it's really hard when she sees people walking around without shoes on.
For some reason when the shoes come off it means her whole body gets dirty. Not sure if she was playing at the park or cleaning the chimney... I figure if I can get her to keep her shoes on most other places then they have to come off at the park!
Rent and car payments are stated per WEEK. Yes, per week. I think every expat has that moment of wide eyed revelation when they start their house hunt and realize they're going to have to increase their budget... Funny thing is you get paid on a monthly basis. Two very important factors to get straight when you start your budgeting here.
I've been told PAY AT THE PUMP gas stations exist, I have yet to find one. Let's just say, its really not cool to have to get two kids out of the car to pay for gas.
And please don't get me started on the Australian Post and delivery system. The whole concept of internet shopping is lost on the DELIVERY (or lack there of) system here. At least our stroller gets double duty work done in transporting all the boxes back home from the post office after the delivery man simply drops the pick-up slip in our mailbox rather than doing the unthinkable thing of actually buzzing our unit to see if we are home!
Emma often insists on carrying the box!
Australians don't just say "NO WORRIES," they mean it. There's not much that will really bother them and often well, things just aren't taken all that seriously. What's that you say? You only have a 15 minute window to "inspect" a potential apartment along with 10 other people and the agent is 5 minutes late and needs to leave 5 minutes early. Well, that's just what happens. Oh and you said you made a dinner reservation yesterday? Hmmmmm... how many people was that for again?
Australia makes it easier for PARENTS to get back out into society. Parking for parents with prams? I'll take it. Usually closer to the door and above average in size (except for the spot reserved at our local grocery store which is actually one of the furthest away spots), it's the simple things when you're trying to get out with two young kids. Oh and the parent rooms at the mall and other places are simply amazing!
When it gets below 70, it's time to wear your UGGS and down jackets.
No, you will not be asked to show ID at any point in the airport here when flying domestically. I had to ask Steve repeatedly the first time he got back from taking a domestic flight for work here, but he was in fact telling me the truth. They seriously, don't want to see it.
Shrimp on the BARBIE doesn't really exist. They're called prawns and most of the time they come with their eyes still on. And Emma will talk to them at the store and make sure they're still not alive.
But do you know what one of my favorite differences is here? This sunrise... it's incredible.
