We'll Never Be Royals...

Not sure how big of a deal it is in the US, but Prince William, Kate, and baby George started their world tour last week and happened to be in Australia this week. They are doing things quick to see as much as possible currently...Their itinerary of Oz included:

Shrine for baby George

• Sydney Opera House
• Blue Mountains
• Sydney: Royal Easter Show
• Brisbane
• Easter Sunday church service in Sydney and Taronga Zoo
• Uluru
• Adelaide (a whopping three hour tour!)
• Canberra (the capital!) is 
• Anzac Day in Canberra
• Leave

Government House

They were staying in a house but also visited the Government House in the Botanic Gardens where they left George while they toured their last few destinations. Anyways, this is big news here but you're probably wondering why I am so enthusiastic about the itinerary! First of all, I did not run into them or anything. But, we did happen to do a number of the same things over the last week that they did on their fast-track trip here. 

We started last weekend by going to the government house in the botanic gardens. It is the house where the (female!) governor of NSW lives. The house is ridiculously old and is rich with history and art and culture. There was ornate ceilings with gold painted on them, massive dining tables, and a ballroom. The tour was limited to certain portions of the house but we learned that the entire second story was modern apartments. Overall, great for a free tour!

On Thursday evening in an attempt to beat the long weekend traffic we headed to Raymond Terrace to spend a few days with Andrew's family. We got the kids an Easter present (Just Dance for Kids!) and stocked up on beer and food because everything is closed on Good Friday...Then we settled in and played some cards, Euchre is the big game here, and went to bed relatively early. On Saturday Andrew and I toured around the area, went for a swim and hiked up so huge sand dunes nearby. The dunes were incredible and spread for miles and miles. We then met with Andrew's brother's Chris and Dave and some of their friends for a motorboat ride and ski/wakeboard. It was beautiful sunset and although I didn't get in the water, we all got wet when Andrew drove into a wave which drenched the entire boat. On Saturday we went to his brother Paul's house for dinner and a few drinks before waking up at 5 am to come back to Sydney to Skype my family. Great seeing them all together for Easter filled me with love and affection and gave me an appreciation for what a great family we have, and also a few friends showed up as well!

Three Sisters

From there we headed to the Blue Mountains. We got stuck in a little traffic and by the time we got there and stopped a park with grills to cook lunch (steaks, deviled eggs, and some salads) we went on a 2 hour hike around the mountains to the Three Sister rock formation and some waterfalls. The Three Sisters is an Aboriginal legend about three sisters from a tribe who fell in love with three men from another tribe which was illegal. There was a war waged between the tribes and an elder turned the three sisters into stones so they would be protected from the battle. However, the elder was killed and no one was able to turn them back. So, there are three tall random rock formations now. We went out for dinner and visited a fancy old hotel with a rich history dating back to the 1800s. 

View from the top

On Monday we hiked around the mountains a bit more including the Great Stairway, which is a 900 step ascent to the top of the mountains. After hiking through the temperate jungle for two hours, seeing many waterfalls, wild cockatoos, and foliage, we reached the stairs and began the steep climb to the top. It was quite the workout...The people walking down were even huffing! The view from the top (a place called Echo Point) was breathtaking and we could see the Three Sisters and most of the valley and mountains! We decided to stop and hike to one more waterfall on the way back and ended up getting back into Sydney for a late dinner. 

Teaching the kids to judge cattle

On Tuesday we went to the Royal Easter Show, held in Olympic Park where the 2010 Olympics were held...We met Jenny (sister), Jemima, Miranda, and Sam, Steve (brother) and Braxton, and Denise (mom) in the morning and began wandering around the massive carnival. There were thousands of animals and even an animal nursery where we fed the animals. The kids loved the rides and we went on a few too including a (surprisingly scary) haunted house...We ended the day watching a precision driving team and then a 45 minutes show called "Australia in all its glory" while eating some deep fried foods on a stick. The show highlighted some of Australia's special people, history, sports, and inventions. The best part? Tubes of Vegemite dancing to Kylie Minogue. The night ended with a 15 minute firework show in the arena (which included fire fountains) set to music. It was probably the best firework show I've ever seen! 

So that was our own little "royal" tour. Will, Kate, and George definitely had the right idea...And so did we! 

One more thing...tune into Modern Family's Australia episode. Not sure when it airs there but it features Sydney and looks pretty comical!

Flora and Fauna

This past Friday I was lucky enough to have a beautiful day to explore the Royal Botanic Gardens right in the heart of downtown Sydney! I had previously read a bit about the huge gardens and was interested but never thought that I would enjoy wondering around the 74 acre glorified park as much as I did. I learned a lot about many different kinds of trees, plants, and animals that inhabit Australia. My camera was dead so I had limited pictures on my phone of the gardens which were littered with not only plants, but statues, a huge mansion called the Government House, museums, green houses, wildlife, and the largest public drinking fountain in NSW (New South Wales).

I began my walk in the morning and was pleased to find signs by most of the unique trees and plants. Some of the areas had more signs than others. On my initial stroll along I noticed a plethora of HUGE spider webs, reaching from the ground (or low plants) to the branches on some high trees. I tried to watch out for these since 1. I hate spiders, and 2. most spiders in Australia probably have the potential to kill you. However, later (on my free guided tour) I learned that these spiders are actually a very special, non-poisonous species that weave golden webs and are used in Asia for fine silk garments. Learning that these were actually useful and not deadly made them seem a little more cool and allowed me to study the golden webs closer to see the color, but I still would not want to touch them!

Dracarena Draco

There are also some very interesting plants/tree species that are native to Australia that are very very interesting. For example, the Dracarena Draco tree. When I first saw it, I had to double-take because It just looked like a lot of branches/roots. But as I got closer (and to a different angle) I noticed that its branches were simply on one side. I found a sign saying that the tree had actually fallen over in 2008 and it couldn't be moved because some damage to the trunk had made it very susceptible to breaking. However, these trees generally live to be around 600 years old in the wild! This one in particular is over 100 years old. I did encounter more of these trees and noticed that they oozed a red slimy substance...I learned that these trees are often called "Dragon's Blood Trees" for this very reason! The red resin the tree produces has many common purposes but it most frequently used for varnish on violins!

Wollemi Pine

Another very interesting tree is the Wollemi Pine. The tree was first founded in Australia in 1994, so its a relatively new discovery and they are still trying to figure how to grow it in captivity (you can't see the reddening/loss of needles on the other side!) One of the reasons that this tree is so special is because its in a genus that was found in fossils and thought to be extinct 65 and 200 million years ago! It was actually found in a canyon somewhere and the location is secret (and protected!) so that no viruses get in and destroy the only known breeding ground for these trees!

Breed of Eucalypt

Of course there are many different kinds of trees in Australia, but the most common trees (in the wild and in the garden) are Eucalypt trees. There are many different varieties of these trees but they have common features and some special attributes. For example, Eucalypt trees shed their bark instead of there leaves for "fall". Also the leaves are the only food that koalas will eat. The leaves don't have much nutrient value though so koalas spend most of the day sleeping in the trees (20 hours a day!), and eating intermittently. Eucalypt trees are also called "widow makers" as sometimes the huge branches fall unexpectedly. Our tour guide told us that last week a kid was killed walking out of school from a falling branch! He also said that his garden hosts a few eucalypt trees and they have gone through his roof twice, and his neighbor's roof once! Sounds like quite an insurance investment! Anyways, I could go on for ages about the thousands of plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees that I saw in the gardens but I figure I got all the good parts at least.

Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf

The trails around the gardens led to an amazing view of the opera house and bridge and also of the famous Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf. The wharf was mostly used in the early 1900s as a base for soldiers coming to and from war. After WWII the wharf was the landing place for the thousands on immigrants who came to Australia. I'm not exactly sure how famous the wharf is exactly, I didn't go in it, but the building was HUGE..and of the course the name is something that is fun to say and could possibly be famous :)

Magpies on the balcony

Finally, a bit more local wildlife that is right on our balcony off our room...Magpies! These crow-like birds are heard squawking all day long. They are black and have distinct white marking on them which differentiates them from crows, ravens, and each other! I have taken to feeding them bread crusts on our balcony so that they come in. I am working towards feeding them while I'm out there since I can't technically have pets! Some of the other wildlife in the area includes kookaburas, which have a very unique call that sounds similar to a group of laughing monkeys! ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0ZbykXlg6Q ) There is a whole colony of them in a tree nearby and they all start calling at random times throughout the day. They call when another bird comes near to their tree, which apparently happens a lot around dusk or early in the morning.

Speaking of wildlife, one more thing! We have bought tickets to go see the Broadway production of Lion King here in Sydney! In case you haven't seen the viral video of the cast singing on a plane from Brisbane to Sydney here is a clip of the cast performing a "flash mob" style rendition of one of the songs... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfcyGPHP0Ak Andrew and I will be going with Jenny (his sister) and her husband (Muzz) on May 4th!

Another view of the opera house/bridge