Byron Bay

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Last nite Dad headed back to Vancouver while both Sandra & Andrew went home to Sydney. We've spent some really good family time together, enjoying each others company, catching up over some great food and drinks, seeing many new sites and sounds, and most importantly sharing lots of quality time together as family :)

The 7 seater Nimbus, now 400 lbs less was ready for a trip down south towards Byron Bay.

Our 1st stop was Tropical Fruit World & research center. A very kool place to see all kinds of fruits with about ½ of them falling in that ‘exotic’ category, but really, just stuff that you and I never get to see at No-Frills, or better yet Real Canadian Superstore. For $32 a pop, you even get to enter the park, hop on a tractor pulled trolley full of empty seats, get a glimpse of ‘fruits’, and whatever else they want to justify their robbery on. Resistant to the splurge, we elected just to sample from the stands.

Byron Bay, one of the most popular spots on the East Coast is a spot where you'll find all sorts of people; surfers..surfers..surfers, backpackers and even honeymooners.

A very kool drive up the hill to Cape Byron escapes to the most 'Easternly Point of the Australian Mainland'. The lighthouse, built in 1901 apparently is one of the most powerful in the southern hemisphere! And to my surprise, we acutually saw packs of dolphins roaming the waters the way they always appear in all those ads. and posters.

At fish-heads public pool, we all enjoyed the swimming, despite; aC losing both her contact lens' on her 1st front crawl in 10 years and uncle Harv forgetting his swim trunks but improvising without his 'dye-foos' on!!!

For more pics, check out our photoshite at: http://acswaustralasia.photosite.com/

Surfers Pardise

February 25, 2007

Surprisingly, all 7 of us got up, checked emails, ate and were all ready to head out by 9:30am. First stop was the Billabong outlet mall just outside Surfers Paradise in Biggera Waters, Queensland. Pretty successful trip as we all picked up either thongs, bikinis, or board shorts!!! Our second stop was Surfers Pardise, the famed spot midway along the Gold Coast, full of tall condos, shopping, dance clubs, 'hotels', theme parks, and tonnes of other tourist traps. A very popular desination for the young, the hip, the shaggy and highschooler = none of us...and according to the Lonely Planet, some guy in the 60s had the idea of employing 'meter-maids' in skimpy gold lame bikinis to feed the parking meters on the main strip. Advertising at its best as we were able to catch a conversation and a snap shot, for a quick $5.

We concluded our day with swim out to a sandbar in Kurumbin, just south of Burleigh Heads. Another day to swim means another chance at using the breastroke. After attacking the currents at right angles (thank you to our Divemaster Drew), we were all quite wiped.

Check out our photosite for more pics: http://acswaustralasia.photosite.com/

Burleigh Heads

In the morning Andrew & I picked up a rental vehicle so we could start exploring parts of this beautiful town. We settled with this 7 seater Mitsubishi Nimbus for $55. Not bad considering those faulkers at AVIS wanted 100.00/day for a thing they call their Toyata Mini van.

So off we were to have some lunch on the beach and enjoy some relaxation time. Our 1st stop was at Mermaid Beach, followed by a 2 hour pit-stop at a outlet mall where we all picked up more flip flops/shorts/shirts from Billabong and Quicksilver. On our way home, we made a stop at Burleigh Heads National Park where we did some more breastrokes, treaded water and enjoyed more drinks on the beach (no brown bags necessary)

Indian food for dinner was a great choice! Once again 'BYO'!

Coolangata & the Gold Coast

Today the 7 of us all headed for another flight on Virgin Blue to Coolangata, which is on the southern tip of the Gold Coast, in Queensland. As i was buckling up, i soon realized that we were all riding alongside the DONALD!?!?!. How astonishing!

Uncle Harvey and Auntie Susan with their timeshare privileges hooked us all up in a 12th floor apartment at the Beach House Sea Side Resort, a beach front apartment complex with awesome ocean views!

At dinner, many of the restaurants (not all) participate in the 'BYO' program, which means bring-your-own booze and get pissed as you like as you have your meal! Yipee, this was a great opportunity for us to make a dent into the 10 bottles we collected from Hunter Valley.

Later in the evening, Sandra volunteered to removed these 2 stubborn splinters in my foot, which i have no idea how i got them. After 20 minutes of agony, pinching, prying with the leatherman, we were still left with 1 tiny thorn! I decided to abort surgery and re-try tomorrow!

Ice Bergs @ Bondi Beach

A cloudy morning didn't deter us from heading to yet another day at the beach. After Andrew's pep-talk and convincing arguement that it never rains at this time of the year, the 5 of us had to make one last visit to Sydneys' most famous beach.

While waiting for the 333 bus on Elizabeth St. the 'pre-pay only' signs put us into 'search for the bus ticket kiosk mode' as walked 3 blocks searching for any store that sold tickets to the 333. Little did we know that many of the other buses would've taken us to Bondi, and worst of all, we were already holding a pre-payed 'travel 10' card!

At Bondi Beach, we landed a very rare patch of shade and pigged-out like gluttons on fish & chips.

After lunch we spend some time at Ice Bergs at Bondi swimming pool, then enjoyed some brew with spactacular views of Bondi!

Sydney Aquarium & Darling Harbour

February 22, 2007

Continuing the trend of sucking ourselves into the toursist traps, on Thursday morning we headed for the Sydney Aquarium, located in the heart of Sydney's famous Darling Harbour.

Overall the attraction was kind of a disappointment, but the Shark 'oceanarium' was quite impressive with under-the-tank tunnels and views of several types of reef sharks ranging from 5 to 20 feet, 2 sting rays the size of your queen size bed, and many other impressive critters.

Afterwards, we strolled along the Darling Harbour, aimlessly looking for a place to enjoy a nice cold drink! Darling Harbour is beautiful, full of yachts, tour boats, catamarans, cafes, 'hotels', shops and tourists, surrounded by hotels, the monorail and downtown skyline in the backdrop. Again i like to make comparisons, and I'd say this was a combination of a grander Granville Island with all the shops and cafes of Fisherman's Wharf and the bustle of St. Lawrence Market!

After lunch, we spent some time at Paddy's Market where Uncle Harvey & I made a very short-lived and poor attempt at negotiating for a few items. Damn, these guys here just wouldn't budge. I thought i had her, given her looks of being a 'weak-link' with limited command of our native language. Due to time, i failed to perservere and succumbed to another day getting ripped off by a flea market merchant!....I ended up shedding $10 for a pair of shorts while Uncle Harvey landed his hat at $15.

Hunter Valley - Awesome wine & cheeze

February 21, 2007

Hurray, Andrew 'worked from home again' and took us out to wine country aka Hunter Valley. A 2+ hour journey north of Sydney, but well worth the visit! We managed to make visits at Brokenwood, Tyrrells, Lindemans, Rosemount & Mount Pleasant Estates. Although neither of us well experienced in wine 'culture' nor well versed in Wine 101 etiquette, we still managed to exceed our hourly limit of 10 20ml samples! With the help and experience from Andew and Auntie Susan, both being 'wine snobs', we quickly realized how unique and sometimes opposite our wine taste preferences are. In the end, if you enjoy your wine with your pepparoni pizza and get a good buzz, that's just fine right?!?..

A visit to Hunter Valley wouldn't be complete without a stop at the Cheese Factory! Hard to imagine, but i think we both really like cheeze. Today we sampled brie, blue brie, marinated goat in sundried tomatoes, aged cheddar and also stinky blue cheese just to name a few. WOW, the stinkier, the better!

Check out our photosite for more pics: https://acswaustralasia.photosite.com

Manly Beach

February 20, 2007

The 5 of us took a 30 minute ferry from circular quays over to Manly Beach. On the walk over to Pier 3, we HAD to join the hundreds of other tourists and locals over at Macquarie's Chair to get a visual of the Queen Mary 2 (QM2). Apparently, not only a rarity to catch a view of this exclusive cruise liner at your local port, but much more rare for both the QM2 and QE2 to be at the same place at the same time...if you can get us CLIA deals, let us know!!!!

check out the facts for yourself: www.cunard.com

Manly Beach was quite scenic; lots of surf++, sandy shores, topless bathers and of course a few of those damn stingers. Stepping beyond the 'safety zone markers' while in the water guarantees you not only a public verbal spank but a 3 minute lecture over the mic. on 'how your brainless acts could get you into serious danger and prove to be fatal'. Understandably, all the beaches here in Aussie are well monitored for JAWS and Co., jellyfish aka 'stingers', dangerous currents and any other imaginable water hazard. A beautiful spot not only for surfers and beach on-lookers but a cozy residential area for those that love the beach!

After a quick ice cream break at Copenhagen's, we concluded the afternoon at Steynes 'Hotel' with a schooner, and for some a 'medi'.

Check out our photosite for more pics: https://acswaustralasia.photosite.com

Happy Birthday aC!

Yipee, its aC's birthday, and that means she gets into the Taronga Zoo for 90 cents! Not a straightfoward layout, but a very nice day looking at koalas, wallabys, platypus & wombats...and some turtles humping (see pics)!!!

We celebrated in the evening at a malaysian restaurant commencing with 'yee sang', a traditional malay platter consisting of salmon sashimi, lettuce, carots julienne, peanuts, sesame seads, crispy bits topped with a tangy fish sauce. Text-books state to begin the festivities, one stands with a pair of chopstix then collectively as a group toss everything you see and find on the plate. Definitely in my 'best bets' for good asian food!

Check out our photosite for more pics: https://acswaustralasia.photosite.com

Botany Bay and Chinese New Year

After a delayed flight in Vancouver, and a few hours in Hong Kong, aCs aunt & uncle finally made it to Sydney!

February 18, 2007

Today we headed for Botany Bay & La Perouse. On our way up we caught the very popular snake show.

It is not only the ‘Year of the Pig’ but every 600 years, the pig is golden so this time round it is the ‘Year of the Golden Pig’.

So, what does this mean? Or better how does this impact you and me, well this is what I found on the Internet, so it has to be true...

The pig brings extremely good fortune to households and its presence signifies prosperity, wealth, abundance, fertility and reasonable success in all affairs. This item is targeted for those who intend to gain smoothness in acquisition of wealth and abundance. It would also bring you the good possibility of a big fat salary for those seeking for a new career. For those seeking for children, place a pair of pigs by your bedside to increase fertility. In 2007, it is best for everyone to invite at least one pig into the home and the location of display should be in the NW.

Check out our photosite for more pics: https://acswaustralasia.photosite.com

Vietnam Planning Day :)

February 16, 2007

We spent Friday resting our sun drenched skin indoors, organizing parts of our Vietnam trip. We quickly took the subway/train to the Vietnamese Consulate near Kings Cross and later had dinner in China town. More food courts, more pan-seared stir-frys, more great deals much to Dad's delight! A very new experience for Sandra & Andrew as this was the 1st time in their many years in Sydney to spend their Friday night in a place called Chinatown?!?!

Check out our photosite for more pics: https://acswaustralasia.photosite.com

The Whitsunday Islands

February 11 - 15, 2007

Sunday morning we took the train from Cairns to Whitsundays. Sitting in business class seats for the 9 hour ride was looking good until a lady brought her 4 little toddlers in to our car. Within 5 minutes we knew this was going to be a disaster as all the screaming, screeching, yelling and moaning was never going to stop. We immediately headed forward 2 cars where ample seats awaited us.

For lunch we had our instant noodles, do you believe that they charged us $2.80 for hot water?!? NOTHING is FREE in Australia !?!

The Whitsundays lies midway along the Queensland coast – a group of 74 islands bordered by the Great Barrier Reef and cradled by the calm waters of the Coral Sea, sandy coves and holiday resorts.

The next morning, aC and I hung out at Airlie Lagoon, where I was given a 2 hour lesson on how to do the breaststroke, tread water and float (hmmm? How did I ever get to the green badge ala Canada Life Savings for all you people 25+!)

We spent the afternoon walking down Shute Harbour Road, the main strip in Airlie Beach looking for any great deals on excursions and sailing adventures. We ended up doing a 2day package with Cruise Whitsundays consisting of 2 full, all inclusive days. Day 1 was a trip to the ‘knuckle reef lagoon’ with a few hours at the pontoon to snorkel, dive, eat, relax and even have a 90 minute massage! (she aint no jK or Martha so nay for both of us...) Day 2 was a full day of sailing on the ‘Camira’, a 26 meter catamaran capable of moving at speeds up to 30 knots. The highlights of these 2 days include: saving about 100.00 each with our ‘student/hostel international ID’s’, (who cares that my U of T ID was issued in 1998 right??), the scones and vegemite served during morning tea, the 20+ prawns we gobbled up on both lunches and smooshing our feet in the pure silica sands at Whitehaven Beach. I’d have to say the water is nicer in Bora Bora, but nothing compares to this soft, fine and smooth silica!

After 4 days on the beaches, we’re heading back to Sydney to meet up with aC's dad, aunt, uncle, sis, and bro.

For more pictures, check out our photosite at:
http://acswaustralasia.photosite.com/

Cairns - Completed our Open Water Diver Certification!

February 6 – 11, 2007

After flying into Cairns, and please pronounce this ‘cann-zze’ NOT care-nzze, we were both headed for our 1st hostel experience ever. Being rookies to the trade, we opted for the deluxe double bed with our own bathroom (I know how sharing communal facilities for the ladies can be quite psychologically traumatizing). To our surprise the 200 square foot box was clean and appeared satisfactory until the unique ‘hostel odor’ hit aC hard. Picture this: leaving all your wet towels/swimsuits and sandals in one area & letting your dog play in it for a few days (hopefully none of you practice this behavior!) We had no choice but headed to Woolworths (aka ‘woolies’) to pick up a few scented fresheners and other ‘stuff’ to turn our place into something aC would consider ‘ready for entertaining friends’. Dinner was included at the famous Woolshed bar & grill and we were pleasantly surprised that for a $9 upgrade the two of us could eat spaghetti bolangnese, vegetables, salad and a full rack of aC style saucy ribs! Yummy! I think Dad would be very proud of us again!

Our 4 day PADI open water course started on Wednesday at 8:00am at Down Under Dive. The class consisted of 18 students, many in their early to mid 20’s, all on extended trips from Germany, UK, Luxemboug, Switzerland, Chili, and Quebec to name a few. Our instructor Heath, originally from Port Mcquarie was a long time sufer, and after some close shark encounters converted to diving. (apparently NO diver has ever succumbed as shark bait as opposed to the few surfers). Maki, our 2nd instructor was this petite thing originally from Japan but recently moved from The Maldives, completed most of her dive training in Thailand.

Day 1 consisted of an AM classroom session, followed by learning skills in the pool during the afternoon. If SCUBA required a swim test, I’d probably fail within 5 seconds because I don’t tread water nor do laps very well. (okay Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe are not my idols) Being the competitor that she always seems to be, aC looked over with a smurk as I cheated while using the pool edges for the much needed help….ahhh..dammit, who cares, I’m the oldest one of the bunch anyways. Day 2 was much the same as the previous schedule with the exception of the dreaded 50 Q. multiple choice final exam. Give me a break, who actually wants to study while travelling and having fun in Cairns? Apparently aC thought this was UBC Commerce again ala 1997?!?!? Anyways the exam was fine as we passed with identical marks of 92%….noting that our instructor Heath encouraged us to discuss any answers with each other if we were stuck.
Our fingers were crossed for Day 3 because a cyclone had just passed through Cairns the past 7 days and we were praying that our next 6 dives in the ocean were not going to be cancelled. Yippee, we awoke on Friday to a clear sunny and warm day and headed out to the Great Barrier Reef, a 2 hour ride on this 90 passenger high powered vessel. After re-doing all our pool skills out in the water, we were 1 day away from being ‘licensed to dive’ in open waters. Day 4 was yet another awesome day; clear skies and 29 degrees! However, my 1st episode of puking came shortly after my 1st ascent. Dammit, I took these ginger tablets instead of gravol, and later I find out from Heath that they only work in less the 10% of the population. I guess the ride was bumpier than normal, and it hit me hard. If you want to know how I felt imagine this: lying in water with a super tight garmet on, a 30+ lbs weight on your back, salt water going up your ass and mouth, feeling hung-over while you’re trying to elude the jelly fish that may be lurking on the surface! After feeding the fishies with my vomit x2, I got a 2nd wind and was ready to finish our last training dive. We both passed all the skills, but if buoyancy control was really tested, we’d both fail instantly! We concluded the night with a celebration at a bar called The Chapel, mingling with our instructors and the rest of the class!

Check out our photo website for more pics of Cairns:
http://acswaustralasia.photosite.com/

Sydney Harbour with Karina

February 5, 2007

We headed back towards downtown for lunch, and i couldn't resist one of Dad's Best Bets: bowl of rice with BBQ pork & duck at BBQ King in Australia Square. He'll be proud of me (i think).

After a delayed arrival, we eventually met up with Karina and Kate, both originally from Kingston Ontario and here in Aussie on a open-ended work/travel/have-fun VISA. They were in awe of my chauw-sui fauwn & sui-gnwaup, so the 4 of us headed back towards BBQ King. Great idea to head back as FHM was holding some promotional event in the outdoor food court area. Nothing but a mob of 'sticky beaks' around the 'sheilas', as they say in Aussie. Got some good shots of the covergirl!

We went for a quick stroll through The Rocks before heading back to Circular Quays (main transport hub for Sydney's ferry network). One of Kates friends (Drew) works aboard a Captain Cook Cruise tour ship and owed her 'big' for getting him a job in Banff back in 2005. His payback was letting us on the cruise boat, compliments of the captain and all the other people that payed in the line in front of us. Getting on this 90 minute 'cafe cruise' was the best thing! Free Coffee, tea, brownies, carrot cake and narrated tour of the Sydney harbour hightlights! Getting a glimpse of the opera house, harbour bridge and the rest of the city sky line from the other side was awesome. And to top it off, the girls were so giddy they decided to spill coffee on themselves. When i came back with tap water (lady wanted to charge me $4 for soda water), Drew said 'fuck that sheeat', and came running back with a 1L bottle of pellegrino!

After the cruise, we all looked down at our feet and noticed that they were so dirty!!! How can beautiful blue sky australia leave are feet black at the end of the day??? Oh well...check out the pics and see for yourself!


We now have to pack our sunscreen as we're heading for Cairns tomorrow!

Check out our photo website for more pics of this day:
http://acswaustralasia.photosite.com/

Bondi Beach & Watsons Bay

February 4, 2007

This morning we went to across the harbour to Coles for the weekend grocery run. I think Anita & I now feel privileged that we have/had T&T (Markham), Dominion (Toronto) and Safeway. After a quick view from the base of Balmain, we headed north towards Bondi Beach. While only about 25kms from Sydney, the busy traffic makes the ride seem much longer! Bondi is full of really tanned locals, backpacker hostels, sleeky surfers and topless women. After only 5 minutes of sitting in this heat, i can understand why 1 in 4 Aussies develops skin cancer. (even though apparently the Sun-Screen from down under far exceeds the protective abilitites of what we buy in North America?)

This place is happening, and we look forward to coming back here in a few weeks with the rest of the family!

15 minutes away is Watsons Bay, with awesome views of the city from the south. We couldn't help but enjoy a few schooners with some Chish n Fips. (FOOD notes: schooners does not mean 32oz.er ala Moxies, Ketchup = tomato sauce and costs extra with your orders).

Check out our photo website for more pics of Bondi Beach and Watsons Bay:
http://acswaustralasia.photosite.com/

Heading South to Kiama

February 3, 2007

The 5 of us headed south along the Princess Highway towards Kiama, famous for its naturally erupting 'blowhole'. On the way down, we stopped for some ice cream while enjoying the spectacular views from up above. We also took Kepa for a stroll along the newly constructed pedestrian path/HWY (which reminds us of the sea-to-sky HWY towards Whistler).

100 kms later...sitting in a car in 30 degree weather with no air con... we realized that there was no blow hole to be seen! I guess lower tides were to blame, although this didn't seem to bother all the people fishing. Even without the "famous" blow hole, we truly enjoyed the scenic tour down the coast and found a great spot for a picnic. Our picnic didn't come without some athletic 'pull' on Kepas' part. Apparently there's a proper way to hold a dogs leash when you are sitting. Anita learned this concept the hard way as Kepa unsuspectingly took off for a flying frisbee, propelling her body 2 meters down the hill like a rag doll. Yes, Anita was dragged down a hill by a 100lb golden. Luckily there were no bodily injuries! I think Anita has learned her first lesson on holding a dog's leash.

Check out more photos of this day and others: http://acswaustralasia.photosite.com/ (you may need to type this into your browser)

Downtown Sydney

Sandra & Andrew's house is in Balmain, which is a really nice area near the water. We both took the 15 minute bus ride towards Darling Harbour and ended up at the Queen Victoria Building, but not without some drama. We used these pre-paid transit cards that Sandra gave us. After putting the card in the reader x2, a 70 year old granny, screamed at us, accusing us of taking advantage of the transit system, and 'not paying for each individual'. She went on and on about our dishonesty and then lashed at the driver. I looked at her in disgust and thought maybe i should take her diaper and wrap it around her mouth before i tell her to shut up in Aussie style. We were quickly assured by the other riders that what we had done was perfectly fine and by no means 'illegal'.

Immediate thoughts of downtown Sydney are it is very clean, traffic is fairly busy and many of the men and women are well dressed.

We met Sandra for lunch and headed to this kick ass food fair. Really great gourmet fast food with upscale people eating it! Nice crowds!

After picking up some groceries at Coles we took the 433 bus towards Balmain but realized it was veering away from our desired direction. After a 15 minute walk in 25 degrees, we finally made it home!

Hello Sydney!

We're finally here! It's so great to be in sydney and to see Sandra and Andrew again (Anita's sis and bro-in-law). We also finally met the famous Kepa and saw all the tricks he can do! Very very well behaved golden!

I effortlessly awoke at 6:30am the first morning and was ready to see the city...but had to wait for anita as she slept in tel 9am! Andrew 'worked from home' but managed to find lots of time to cook brunch, take us for a 45 minute walk with Kepa and then a short tour to Coogee Beach.

After a short lesson on how to flick a frisbee, the 3 of us hucked the disc for about 1/2 hour before heading home.

As tonite marked Andrew's 34th birthday, Sandra, Andrew, Melissa, aC and I went for dinner at Teppanyaki at 'The Rocks'. Upgrading to wagyu beef was definitely a must! Never tried cow that has been massaged before. Tres tres tender!

In anticipation of more Jack Bauer, we downloaded episodes 5 & 6 of 24 while at dinner (hi-speed internet here seems much slower)

Okay, jet lag is starting to really kick in as I was ready pass out after 40 minutes of 24.