Day 12: Byron Bay

Day 12:
While mum, Auntie Sue, Auntie Debbie, and Nana Great went to Uncle Gary's school, where he is the principal then out to lunch, Brandy, Brooke, the gals, and me took the mini van down to Byron Bay. It is the Australian equivalent to Berkeley with loads of hippies.


Mama and Meg on the other side of the Pacific. Every time I tried to lower Meg down to put her feet in the water she would lift them up. So this is as close as I could get to getting her feet wet - she's no dummy, the water was chilly.


Brandy and her gals at Byron Bay.


Brandy, Molly, Maggie, and Brooke playing in the chilly water.


Piece of a shipwreck sticking out of the water. Supposedly it is a nice place to SCUBA dive.


Mum, Nana Great, and Auntie Deb for a little wine and cheese hour after our respective days out and about.

Days: ten - 15

Days: ten - 15 (Wednesday through Monday)
We spent this part of our vacation on what I call our "vacation from our vacation" south of the Gold Coast, up near the Queensland border.
We stayed at a resort there that was beautiful! Since it was the off-season, the place was not too crowded. But the weather was still pleasant (not too hold or too cold).


Suited up and ready to go...


View of the beach.

Day nine: last full day at Nana Great's

Day nine:
We spent the day gathering our belongings and packing our bags...
Uncle Jim and Auntie Rae came over for dinner. We ordered Chinese take-out (or take away, as they say down here) and it was delicious!


Photo of me and Humphrey the Bear. Although my last trip to Australia was decades ago, I do have a handful of memories. I used to have a stuffed animal called Humphrey the Bear but I lost him on the plane, I was devastated. But here we are reunited at the mall in Bankstown!

Day eight: Jane's neck of the woods

Day eight:
Jane took her girls to Auntie Rae's house (her mum) and drove all the way to Condell Park to pick up Brandy, the girls, and me. What a sweetie!
We stopped by Auntie Rae's to see her home, then we caravaned to Jane's home. There we had lunch, went to the park, walked to town (very cute), then had a very nice fall meal at her house. After all that, she drove the tired lot of us home! It was strange to ride in a car after so many days of taking public transportation or walking. I don't know how long I would have to be here to get used to the whole "wrong" side of the road thing.


View from the park. Camden and the surrounding area were part of a major land grant for sheep farming (surprise!) to John Macarthur.


Abby at her local playground.


Forestry-related photo for Andy.

Day seven: the Bash

Day seven:
It was Mothers' Day and Nana Great's 80th birthday so we had a party (and she says she has never had a birthday party before, no time like your 80th to start).
All of Nana Great's children were there (Mum's the only one that flew the coop far enough to leave the continent): Uncle Jim, Auntie Sue, Mum, and Auntie Debbie. Their kids: Jane, Paul, Kate, Mitchell, Brooke, Brandy, me, Nick, Sam, and Claire (all were there except my brother Matt). And all of the great-grands (except for Matt's four): Zoe, Abby, one-in-the-oven, Mary Grace, Molly, and Meg! Yeah. It was the first time in my adult life where I was related to almost everyone at a fairly sizable bash! It was great and I think Nan had a nice time and wasn't too overwhelmed by all of the fuss.


Nana Great and her grands.


The matriarch and her brood.


Happy 80th birthday! (Notice the lil' girls up front and center.)


Sisters- Mum and Auntie Sue.


Sam, Nana Great, & her boyfriend(!) Bill.


Sisters - Brooke and Kate.


Cousins - Brandy and Paul.


Meg and Mama.


Abby and her mama Jane.

Day six: Darling Harbour lunchdate

Day six:
Brandy and the girls and I headed into Sydney yet again. We were going to meet up with our cousins Kate and Brooke (sisters); they are working stiffs so we made plans to meet up with them on Saturday.
We were early for our rendezvous so Brandy, gals, and I went to Starbucks (once again, where else would you go in a foreign country?). The girls got "babycinos" (steamed milk, foam, with a cocoa sprinkle - free with purchase of a drink). Everyone kept telling us that they thought they had originated in the US because, I suppose, they do sound like American consumerism at its finest. But neither Brandy nor I had ever heard of such a thing (especially, being free w/ drink purchase). Anyway, the girls loved them and they felt included in our lil' coffee dates. Wonder if they will catch on like cane toads?
When we met up with our cousins we all walked and/or strolled to Darling Harbour - through the Theatre District and Chinatown. There was some sort of Chinese festival which was fun to people watch at. The girls played at the park and then we all went to lunch in a place that overlooked the harbor.


Mama and Meg.


The Darling Harbour darlings (l to r): Kate, Brooke, Mama, Meg, Mary Grace, Brandy, and Molly.


The gals enjoying their babycinos.


Maggie swingin' and smilin'.


Brandy and Molly slidin'.


Molly always the style-icon. Over sized sunglasses are so in right now.


Meg and Brooke discussing the menu options.

Day five: recuperation day

Day five:
Recoup day - recoup in the sense that we only took a bus and not a bus and a train. Brandy and I (and our respective daughters) took the bus to Bankstown, an intermediate city, it is a couple suburbs closer to Sydney than Condell Park. While there we shopped at the local "Red Circle Boutique," Target; what else would you do in a foreign country?


Maggie holding Meg - Meg's having a blast...


... and then she's spent.

Day four: continued...

Day four: Sydney Opera House
I love this building. So here is a bit of a photomontage - just imagine some of that techno-didgeridoo music I mentioned previously as the soundtrack... (whaoooaaahhwoooo...)



View of the Opera House from Circular Quay.


Mama and Meg in front of the steps.

Day four: Parramatta River and Sydney

Day four:
We (Brandy, Maggie, Molly, Jane, Zoe, Abby, Auntie Sue, Mum, Meg, and me) went on a River Cat down the Parramatta River to Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour(sp!). The river used to be heavily industrial but has been really cleaned up in the past twenty years. I thought it was one of the cleanest urban rivers I had ever seen, no trash on that banks, zero! From the river you could see the arena used for the Sydney Olympics. It took about 45 minutes, or so, to get from dock to dock, but definitely a nice way to see some of what the area has to offer.


Meg obviously enjoying the whole River Cat experience.


View of the Sydney skyline, featuring the Center Point Tower a little right of the center.


Molly snappin' an artsy photo.


Meg and me listening to some techno-didgeridoo music (I am ashamed to admit that I had to google search that spelling - I hope they don't try to take back my citizenship!).


Zoe and Abby enjoying some gelato on a hot fall day.


View of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.


The Museum of Contemporary Art - a non-contemporary looking building.

Day three: line dry

Day three:
Brandy, her gals, my cousin Jane and her gals (Zoe (4) and Abby (2)) went to a petting zoo with koalas and kangaroos and other Aussie fauna, while Meg and I stayed home with Nana Great and Nannie. - Whew - that sentence contained a lot of ladies! As an aside, my grandmother only has one great-grandson, the lone Phin! and NINE great-grand gals and one TBD... I am no statistician both that is a crazy ratio.
While at Nan's house I participated in some good ol' fashioned chores. My Nan does not even own a dryer (they tell me that's pretty common in Australia) and instead employs the Hills hoist (see action shot below). I definitely worked up an appetite for some fig jam on toast and tea!


That's me taking part in a quintessential suburban Australia task.


Meg thinks this is funny.


Mum thinks it's funny too.

Day two: The Brandy of Distinction

Day two:
Brandy, the gals, and I took a bus then a train into Sydney. It was fun but a bit of a production as the station we went to did not have an elevator or ramp but instead flights upon flights of stairs.
We went to the Center Point Tower and did a bit of shopping. Most of the stores did not have any summer sales left, we just missed it, too bad. But we did gain a new appreciation for US prices (seriously). We saw Meg's Christmas dress at a department store for $127 ON SALE! Brandy found the same dress for under $20 in the US. Needless to say, we did not buy much but I did get Meg a good hat at the Cancer Council Store (the Aussies are serious about their sun protection).


The Brandy of Distinction. Too bad she had to travel half way around the world to get some respect...


Meg and me at St. James station, Sydney.

Day one: Down Under

Day one:
We left on Saturday night but arrived on Monday, May 5th, so as far as this photo-journal is concerned Monday is day one of our journey.
We flew out of LAX on a red-eye, which was great for all parties involved. We were able to get some sleep (not a ton) even though Brandy and I wanted to stay up and watch all the in-flight movies. Timing worked out great getting to the airport too because I was at least able to say hi to Bop curbside and he was able to give Meg a kiss.


Meg and Nana Great (as Brandy's girls so cutely called her). Meg is still in her PJs and a bit jet lagged. The weather was actually lovely. Those Aussie sand baggers! I brought a suitcase full of fall/winter clothes and it was warm every day!


Nannie in her homeland with Meg.