From the warm and wonderful Cairns, we flew back to Sydney for a couple of days before our next international flight.
We explored “The Rocks” with a fun and free night tour that gave us insight into the way life was back when Australia was an early convict nation.
The girls also read a great book series called, “Our Australian Girls” which are fictional stories of what life was like in Australia for young girls in those early days.
The city was also hosting an amazing festival called “Vivid Sydney”, which lit up many of the tourist buildings with artistic animations. The city was alive with lights and colour and looked spectacular – especially the Opera House!
Of course, it was essential for us to visit the Olympic stadium and Sydney did not disappoint. We found some neat scavenger hunts on the Internet that took us through the different sections of the Olympic park. From the cauldron to torches and amazing athletic achievements – it was all there.
As many of you know, the beaches of Sydney are legendary and we took the famous walk from Bondi to Cogee Beach. Along the way we saw beautiful and rugged coastlines that were simply glorious and very majestic.
That evening, we rejoined our friends we met in Morocco, Graham, Christine and Michelle who live in Manly, right on the beach. Their place is gorgeous and we sincerely enjoyed sitting out on their balcony and enjoying the vistas. We also had a chance to go to the North Head to see some spectacular views!
We even had a chance to watch Michelle play Netball which is a very popular sport for girls in Australia, as well as across Europe. It’s similar to basketball, but the girls must pass and cannot dribble. Furthermore, they are assigned positions on the court and must stay within that particular zone. It certainly limits the fouls around the net! It was interesting and entertaining to see the girls play. The teams represent the different schools across the city. The girls practice one day a week after school and the games are played on Saturday mornings. This would be a fun sport to bring to our school system!
These relaxing and fun days in Sydney brings our time in Australia to a close. It was an incredible month of family, friends and fun. Although English speaking, we learned to speak a lot of “Aussie”:
- Avos – Avocado
- Barbie – BBQ
- Bathers – Bathing Suit
- Budgie Smugglers – Men’s speedo bathing suit
- Chewie – Gum
- Cuppa – Cup of tea or coffee
- Dead Horse – Tomato Sauce – Ketchup
- Fair Dinkum – True, Genuine
- Good on ya – Well done!
- Hoon -Crazy Driver
- How ya goin – How are you?
- Milk Bar – A place that sells takeaway food
- Pokies – Slot machines
- Relos – Relatives
- Servo – Gas Station
There was only one thing we didn’t like while in this amazing country (in addition to the incredibly high prices)….the new Cadbury chocolate bar…..a special edition of chocolate and vegemite! After all of us giving it a try, we think it should be retired as soon as possible!
Hooroo (Goodbye) Australia – it has been a blast!
Comments
10 responses to “Hooroo OZ – It’s been a blast!”
Katina – once again sounds like you had such great fun and great experiences rounding out your trip to Australia. You really have packed so much into this trip – I love reading your blogs and I learn so much and it is very inspiring. All the best.
Harriet
Hi Harriet,
So nice to hear from you! We had a great time in Oz and feel the more we meet with the locals – the better our experiences! It has been a trip of a lifetime!
More to come! I hope you and the family have a great summer and that we see you at Christmas!!
Cheers,
Kat:)
Not our brightest moment! Not even we want to try Vegemite chocolate and we were raised on the stuff! Nearly as horrible as the Pizza Hut pizza with mini meat pies set all around the outside of the crust. Disgusting insult to the Italians!!
HI Tiff,
I would have paid to see those pizzas and take the photos – what a hilarious idea!
Next time we come to Oz, Perth is on our list – it is on our “Must see” places!
Cheers,
Kat:)
Thanks for sharing this wonderful month with us. All who go there rave about it. Your family experiences made your time extra special.
I love what they did with the lights in Sydney! So creative!
Australia seems to be a place of many wonders, both of Mother Nature and man made.
How nice that you were able to meet up with fellow travellers.
You may be hosting travel friends in your home in Canada for the foreseeable future…. Something to look forward to!
HI Herta,
We hope that we have some travellers come our way….what we have found is that staying with locals is the best way to see a place and we would love to be those locals to those who visit our part of the world. We have made some amazing new friends!
Cheers,
Kat:)
Hi Kat,
Great Blog! Loved the Aussie Language! Love, Mom
G’Day MOm,
It’s an interesting to hear them talk…we loved it! BUt did have them explain certain things to us!
Cheers,
Kat:)
Hi, Katina, since I am already behind with my reading und trying hard to catch up, I took the time to read and look at some of the previous postings about your trip in Australia and re-visited the different places. As always it makes us want to look deeper into the history (we don’t know much about it other than the usual) and your posting about “The Rocks” is really interesting. It was great to get introduced to your family through all the photos and go with you on this part of your travels through this beautiful country. The photos are always outstanding and we enjoy everything very much, and sometimes wonder how you find the time to put it all together, so the text matches the photos. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Hugs and Love to all
PS, I forgot to write that one of my favourite photos at the Olympic Stadium is “The Garden of Ideas” and I can’t imagine the taste of the Vegemite Chocolate bar, and the pictures of all your faces and “thumbs down” signs make a convincing case for not even to try it.