Sydney has lots of .....

....Beaches!

We now get to find out what life will be like living 15 min. from the beach. Marissa is not sure she is up for this challenge BUT she is willing to take this challenge on! 

Now that it is a week after our arrival and we have both had a 'bit' too much sun, we are taking a break from the beach for a few sad days. We wanted to spend almost everyday down here exploring as much as we could. Though some days were just finding that happy place by taking a short nap with some music on while listening to the waves hit the shore.

Dale found this wonderful 'Beach Bath'. We all went for a 'dip' (a bit more Aussiness jumping out) one afternoon. Dale checked out the snorkeling in this area of Coogee Beach while Marissa and I slowly reveled in the extremely cold water before finally just taking the plunge. Because the tide was coming in rather quickly it kept pushing us farther and farther so we finally hopped out once we were able to finally stop laughing.... we just got the giggles and couldn't stop.

The laughing just intensified when we returned to our apartment and found that the key for our place had fallen out of Dale's pocket on the beach - somewhere. It was now dark and Dale had to climb to get to our 2nd story window. Marissa and I were holding our breath as he climbed so we forgot to get a photo. You will just have to use your imagination (Yep, it was as 'Spidermanish' as you can get, without the suit).

Beautiful Coogee Beach.

The view of the Women's Beach Baths which is insanely gorgeous and serene, we just needed to be strategic on which direction we aimed our camera since many women like to enjoy the freedom of not having males there...almost anything goes.

We finally took Marissa to see the infamous 'Sydney'. We wandered through all the historical streets close to  the wharf, amongst all the architectural beauties that bless this gleaming city. We found a little seaside outdoor market at the "The Rocks". 

Dale has always felt unstoppable, so why not try the hottest chili  "Carolina Reeper Pepper" sauce? 100 times hotter then a jalapeño, supposedly the hottest pepper, even more then the Ghost Pepper. After Marissa and I stopped laughing we could finally be of assistance: running for a drink, grabbing some bread to help ease the heat, and of course, taking a video:)! Which he has banned us from posting. Heartbroken.

Marissa receives credit for this pano of one of the world's most famous icons and cities. She is taking orders!

Travel Saving Tips:

1- All of our beach experiences so far have been Free including all the beach baths EXCEPT the Women's Beach Baths... it is an outrageous 20 cents - what a deal!

2- We didn't have to pay for anything on our fun filled day in Sydney except our bus fare to get there (and lunch-see #3). It is much easier to do this then fight traffic, find a parking place and pay the exorbitant amount of $ it costs to park downtown.

3- For lunch we did decide to eat in Sydney. As you walk through town notice which restaurants offer daily specials. Last time we were here we happened upon this classically old European style building by the wharf which offers a few $10 meals, so we ordered two and shared. They were big enough that two was plenty for the three of us.

From Farewell to Welcome.

Our 'Farewell Committee' came to help us clean and pack. Brendan and the missionaries allowed us one last photo. Moving shouldn't be that much work when you are only moving a little bit but surprisingly our car was so full we wondered if we would need to leave Marissa.

During our 3 day seaside drive to Sydney we discovered the 'Garden of Eden'..... it truly does exist. There is an Eden but it is in Australia. Here is the view from 'Eden's' shore. Would you say this is beautiful?

If you have a phobia of bats you may not want to watch... we were just about to end our long day of driving when we heard a loud noise, we looked up and were so shocked at the hundreds of thousands of bats flying overhead. So of course, we had to stop at the side of the road for a video, thankfully none of them stopped by for a visit.

Sometimes the beauty in this world is so incredible.... it literally takes your breath away!

What an alluring morning for a seaside breakfast!

The 3 day road trip was coming to an end with only 1 hour to Sydney and everyone was ready to be OUT of the car when Dale discovered  a wild life zoo. Big question: "Did we want to go?" We had to think pretty deeply but decided to see what Symbio Zoo had to offer.

We shouldn't be continually surprised to find little gems like Symbio. So far we have visited four similar wildlife/sanctuary parks and they have all been good, but nothing like Symbio! We had the great honor to meet with the owner of the zoo who told us that the word, Symbio is derived from the symbiotic relationship between man and animals. You will have a hard time to try and find a better word to describe the feeling at Symbio. John also told us that they do not build cages or even refer to them as habitats, they are homes developed specifically for each animal. He and his family purchased this zoo 15 years ago when it was in need of some TLC.

This is probably one of the best kept zoos we have ever visited. It also has to be one of the best kept secrets just outside of Sydney. If we had a choice between the Wildlife Parks and Sanctuaries close to Sydney or Symbio, we would drive twice the distance and pay twice the amount to visit Symbio, it is so worth a visit. Just think, we almost drove past this little gem, but now we are going to return for a full day as we were only able to spend an hour this last time. We promise, you won't be disappointed!!

  Marissa wasn't even sad to wake up from her nap! Marissa had the Kangaroos eating out of her hands. What could be better then that? 

Welcome to Sydney! Here is our new pad for our sojourn in our next beautiful Australian adventure.

Happy 18th Birthday Marissa!

There is magic in the number 18. 

Especially when it is your Birthday and you are officially an adult. Marissa has been waiting for this day for an extended amount of time. Most of us who have passed this threshold probably remember what we did (or possibly didn't do) on that day. Marissa likes the idea of being older so she can finally 'look' older, we try to remind her that one day she will be thrilled to look younger then her peers but that doesn't seem to matter today.

Because she was away from her family and friends back home we wanted to make it special. Although she adores her parents (we took liberty with that, although we are sure it is totally accurate:), it is nice having her friends to celebrate with also.

She had made friends with a local Aussie, Brendan, who decided to organize a party for her. We were thrilled that she would have a few others to celebrate with for this big day!

Her first birthday melody came from Elvis!

We told her that we would be taking her to lunch (because dinner and afterwards was a surprise) she was to decide what restaurant she wanted to enjoy from all the ethnic and culinary food wizards in So. Yarra.  Would you be shocked that she picked an American Icon, 50's diner, 'Soda Rock Diner'. And all because of the barbecue sauce. We do not know where this girl really came from as she could eat BBQ sauce on almost everything, possibly even ice cream. She must have been missing it!

Your food is delivered by a skating waitress who is then proceeds to do a whirl or two leaving your table. Impressive!

Following her total barbecue indulgence (you can even see the extra bowl next to her plate), we headed off to the 'Australian Grand Prix'. We couldn't miss this opportunity since we were already this close, right? 

Brendan met us there and the three of us 'competed' for the win. But of course, it was Marissa's birthday, so we let her think she was the campion. What else could we do?

Dale was super hyped to see a 'Formula 1' car but while he was looking around, I decided to just ask a few questions (I know, I am super shy that way:). Would they allow Marissa to sit in the 'Formula 4' for just a few photos because it WAS her birthday, after all? The guy in charge said that they don't ever let anyone sit in the cars BUT he would make an exception. This is her lucky day!

The young single adults in the area surprised her with flowers to start off the night, what more does a girl need? Along with a full Aussie Barbecue with a little bit of an american twist, a artfully decadent cake from a celebrated bakery, "Le Bon", and games. She seemed elated by the friendship that was shown to someone not only new to the area but leaving the next morning.

Here is a special tribute by her dad:

Today in Australia, tomorrow in the US, is this beautiful girls birthday. What an incredible 18 years it has been, from the time we brought you home from the hospital at just under 5 LBS to now, a beautiful healthy young woman. Thanks for letting us drag you all over the world! I'm not sure there are many 18 year olds that can say they have had their birthday on four continents! I hope today is as special as you are and that there are even more adventures to come. Love you Marissa!

The next morning a few Melbourne friends came to say 'Bon Voyage'. We will miss our newfound home.

Farewell Melbourne!

Melbourne Graffiti meets Marissa.

What more is there to say?

*Pictures taken by Dale Bartlett

Free Tour.... our favorite word ....FREE.

Marissa was so excited to watch, "Into the woods" at the 

Moonlight Cinema at the Royal Botanical Gardens, 

Melbourne. We soon realized our zeal to see an outdoor movie fizzled a little as we were ill prepared, arriving without enough blankets and no pillows to be comfortable. However, we still enjoyed the adventure of watching a movie under the stars... and big bats. It also helped that with our Telstra cell phone discount we only paid $11AUD instead of $20AUD.

Here is our colorful feathery friend who sat posed for us while we attended the, "I'm Free" Melbourne tour. The tour guides are fantastic as they navigated a huge crowed for almost 3 hours through the historic streets of Melbourne. They share the rich (and sometimes not so flattering) history of Melbourne.

"O Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?" 

Where is Juliet, we might ask?

Graffiti is both a huge problem and beautiful art in Melbourne. It is against the law to graffiti anywhere in Melbourne with the exception of a few areas where both business and the artists work together to preserve the beauty of street art. In some places it is typical tagging and is an eyesore, but as demonstrated here it can help create both a visual and cultural delight. 

Eat Vegemite... to live or die?

We have landed in the ever prodigious country of 'Vegemite'. They eat it on so many culinary delights, we are sure their desire for this, ummmmm, "spread" sprang up early in their lives... perhaps even as infants before they were allowed 'solid' foods. This somewhat bouillon/yeast smelling concoction is a national treasure, surely not to be missed plus it is suppose to have many health benefits - (well that's good right?). Where have you been all our lives 'Vegemite'? Or are we just glad it stayed in the land 'down under'?

Marissa had the opportunity to finally try this time tested gem. You can see how much she embraced this culinary treasure in the above video when Brendan and Dale talked her into taking 'just a little taste'. Or do you dare find out what you are missing?

Our kids jab me a bit on how much energy I have and that I plan far to much. I love having people over and would much rather have a huge group around to enjoy which translates to a dinner party or two a week. 'More the Merrier' as they say! And this goes for wherever we might be, Australia is not exempt.

Brendan and the Missionaries humored us by coming for dinner but to also test our gaming skills.... they had nothing to worry about, hours later (shockingly not uncommon to Monopoly) the missionaries walked away with almost everything on the board. Maybe they won't be invited again?

We had a great start to the week by volunteering at the sacred Heart Mission, in St. Kilda. We probably did over 30 loads of dishes, that sure makes our pile at home look great! The Sacred Heart Mission usually serves over 200 people breakfast and lunch daily. It was wonderful talking with those coming in and other fabulous people that we served with.

Monday afternoon brought us to the, "Australian Center for the Moving Image" in Melbourne with some friends. We had previously been told about this on our past trip and wanted to make it a goal to get here before we moved on to Sydney. Where did this month go? 

The video above changes with weird configurations around your limbs and body as you move, we would like to know in which movie this technique was used, it would probably be used in a goulash film that would not make it on our family friendly list.

Dale was very intrigued by this elaborate moving device which went from a merry-go-round to full animation when the lights went low and they turned on the strobe lights. The creative imagination that came up with this must have spent many nights planning and scheming on how to create this magic.

This handsome fella found Marissa in the crowd.

 The Moomba Festival was going on at the riverbank. They had a stream of Festival rides and foods that you could enjoy along with entertainment, we made it for the water skiing jump competition. Dale might be getting ideas on starting that up in Utah as he was ready to jump on some ski's, Marissa apparently thought the shopping cart relay was a better fit for her (unless, of course, Dale is driving!).

Nothing from these activities actually cost us any money except needing to try the infamous English and Australian'Chips and Gravy' after the Moomba Festival with Brendan's prodding. Everything else was Free and Fun.

The famous 12 Apostles on The Great Ocean Road and more....

Now that Dale was back from a quick trip to Perth, we were off for another weekend of touring and fun. After driving for a little over an hour to reach the beach house, we were thrilled as we opened the door and saw our lovely surroundings for the weekend in Torquay... maybe we should stay a little longer, such as a week or two? We can dream. 

We were excited to get a small dose of the surf culture in Torquay, because we have so much talent when it comes to surfing (ok, maybe just watching surfing but that is a talent in itself right?).

Torquay is the start of The Great Ocean Road, birthplace of iconic brands such as Rip Curl and Quicksilver, and home to Bells Beach, which is one of Australia's most famous surfing beaches.

On our way to see the 12 Apostles we decided to take a detour to a beautiful lighthouse. Anyone in the market for a new house? This lively piece of art and home sits on the top of the hill next door to a beautiful lighthouse and overlooks the ocean. The view must be incredible from the back deck.... we will just have to wonder on that one.

Marissa and Dale were both taking a photography moment so I loved capturing them as they were lining up for the perfect shot. The love of photography has certainly been passed down through the family. Only Dale likes taking pictures of things more then people and I constantly love giving him a hard time for that.... but if I didn't who would?

The 12 Apostles (another FREE activity) should probably be renamed to 10 Apostles as two have crumbled to the sea below. These majestic sandstone rocks, rising from the truly stormy sea surrounding them are so alluring it is hard to stop taking photos. 

They will only allow you to look at these from a walkway far above the ocean floor but we really wanted to see them from the beach... unfortunately not an option unless you want to scale down the cliff wall (Dale thought about it -we know this shocks everyone:).

The difference in lighting really changed how they look. Take a look at how rich and beautiful the first photo looks, that is more true to what we witnessed.

We are surrounded by baby Emu's!

 By Torquay they had an Aboriginal Center (also Free) you can browse through their gift shop where most of the items were made by Aboriginals and the proceeds go back to them. They truly like dots. Dale had his eye on a Didgeridoo, a wind instrument developed by the Indigenous Aboriginal Australians, to be precise and there were a few that looked interesting. If you buy one, then you have to learn to play the Didgeridoo which is much more difficult than it looks. Apparently it is like blowing bubbles in your drink with a straw (blowing out with your mouth) and breathing in at the exact same time.... hummmmm.

At the Aboriginal Center you could walk out back and see many named plants that could help almost any ailment, if you know how to use them, this was very interesting to me. In addition to the variety of native vegetation, we got up and personal with these cute Emu's which quickly made friends with us.

Apparently this handsome fella (Dale or the Emu:) wasn't afraid of getting his photo taken or maybe he just wanted a kiss?

This guy wanted to bite of Dale's shinny ring, he tried and tried.

Marissa wasn't so sure she wanted to get that close to the cages and then the Emu figured out how to get a little closer to her... he just stuck his head out of the fence. Smart guy.

We decided that we were heading to the beach as Dale wanted to try his hand at surfing, even though he had never attempted it before. To keep the water out, the collar was quite tight around his neck and he HATES the feeling of anything that tight around it. He kept moving the neck piece away from his throat as it felt like someone was trying to strangle him. Marissa and I were on the floor in hysterics because it was so entertaining. Can you feel the love?!

Knowing that Bells Beach was internationally known for it's surfing I decided (single handedly that we should go there for Dale's very first surf). This would be like never skiing before and taking the lift to the top of the mountain to the hardest Black Diamond, because skiing is skiing, right? 

Dale protested a few times stating that he might want to try something a little more tame for his first time and I kept pushing on about going to this amazing beach.  We found out differently (1/2 way down the stepped walkway that descends hundreds of feet) when a few of the surfers coming up said that it was, "quit dangerous" or "you should have some experience", and that there was no beach for us to have a lunch at so we turned around and made made our way to another beautiful beach in the area.

Dale was grateful to try on a calmer surf. You can see him heading for the wave in the distance.

Dale was really sad he missed trying out! 

Travel Saving Tips:

1- Wherever you travel look for Free places to visit. For this trip The 12 Apostles, the Aboriginal Center, and going to the beach (the beach house where we were staying had the wet suit and surf board) were all Free.

2- Buying food at the local farmers market or grocery store can save you from eating out.

3- Look for houses, apartments, etc... to rent instead of getting a hotel room. Not only do you get a greater feel of the place you are visiting but you will have a kitchen to cook your own food and generally have lots more room to move around in. It is usually less then the cost of a hotel. Check with: airbnb and VRBO  or in our case, we talked to some locals who had a place and let us stay at an incredible rate. Don't be afraid to put it out there, you will be amazed at the opportunities that come your way.