Sydney!!!!

(Warning: This blog entry will be extremely long. You may want to get a coffee or a beverage of your choosing, or maybe even a snack before you start reading.)

We are home from one of our most memorable, amazing vacations! If you skim over the part where we weren't exactly there as a family, that is. But even still...

It all began Tuesday, July 22, for me and the boys. We left the day before to stay overnight in Wellington, as our flight was at 6:40am, Wednesday. We visited the Te Papa museum. The boys loved it as there are lots of interactive kids' centers. We met a woman and her little boy (same age as Silas) there. I bought some cloth diapers from her on an auction site called Trademe, and we got chatting via e-mail and it turns out she's from the lower mainland in BC. We decided it would be fun to meet up. It was such a nice visit. Too bad we don't live closer.

At the hotel we were staying at, I asked if I could store my carseats inside. I was leaving my car there for the week, which was fine, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving such pricey baby items inside. They said that was fine and then the clerk said, "But you know you won't have a carseat in the shuttle to the airport then, right?" And I hesitated because I'm a big-time carseat safety FREAK and this didn't sit well. Since we were taking all public transportation in Sydney, it didn't occur to me until that moment about airport/hotel shuttles! Suddenly, for the first time, I was seriously stressed out.

I went up to my room and called Colin at home because now I was freaking about the HOUR long drive from the Sydney airport to our hotel. The 5 minute drive in the middle of the night in Wellington, I could almost stomach. But not the Sydney drive. So, he spent the next hour trying to find me a shuttle in Sydney that would accomodate our carseat (I decided I would take Silas' at least, and hopefully find a shuttle that had a booster seat for Ethan, even though he's still small enough to be in a full 5-point harness). Finally, it was all worked out. I didn't want to lug the carseat with me, but it was worth it for my peace of mind.

Wednesday morning, we got ourselves to the airport and caught our flight with no difficulties. Silas was on my lap, but we had an extra seat in our row, and he fell asleep, so I was able to lay him down. He slept for the first 2/3 of the journey! Yay! He was restless and all over the place for the final bit, but overall, it was a good trip.

Then we experienced the Sydney airport. *Deep breath* Customs was all fine, easy. Then, I could NOT find the carousel where our luggage was. After wandering for awhile, I found it and got my suitcase. I waited and waited and waited for my carseat and stroller and finally realized they weren't coming and went to search. I asked someone where the "oversize" carousel was and it took another wandering search to find it. There they were. Then I walked the length of all the carousels AGAIN to go through the biohazard section. Then I thought I was "homefree". Not exactly.

I was supposed to call my shuttle service and confirm our credit card number. It was 9:30 and my shuttle was booked to pick me up at 11:00am. I had Australian cash, but no change. I also didn't know if I was calling long distance, so I didn't even know how much change I would need. So, after weaving through the throngs of people in the arrivals terminal (almost literally shoulder to shoulder) with my trolley overflowing, trying to keep a hand/eye on Ethan and make sure he stays beside me, and also pushing/pulling Silas in the buggy (it only has two wheels, so it can be pushed or pulled), I realized I could not find a phone anywhere! I obviously looked lost and someone asked me if I needed directions. I asked for a phone and was pointed in the opposite direction, halfway through the terminal (again, not a small place!). So I found them and first of all, tried to use our credit card to make the call, with my lack of coins. I could barely hear the operator, who told me he couldn't connect a credit card call within Sydney, that it had to be long distance! What the heck!?!

Meanwhile, I'm straining to hear him and Ethan disappears! He only went behind the phone stalls, but I grabbed him (rather hard) and tore into him about going out of my sight in such a busy place. I warned him that if I lost him, I wouldn't be able to find him again. Yes, a scare tactic, but I was pretty stressed out at this point. So, he was crying, and I still hadn't made my call and I had to trek through half the terminal again to the convenience store to get some change. I asked the clerk how much it would cost to dial the number I had and he told me a dollar. I handed him a 5 dollar bill and he said he would only give me change if I made a purchase. I tersely asked him where I could get change and he motioned next door to the money exchange counter. I went there and asked them. No, they only exchange foreign currency! I asked THEM where I could get change and they motion to the FAR END of the terminal, where there was a bank. Give me a break already!!!

We trekked again through the terminal, I got my change and headed back to the phones. I put a dollar in, dialed the number, we were barely two sentences in and the phone started beeping at me to add more money. I was still trying to reign in Ethan, and Silas started fussing at this point, and I was fumbling through my wallet to find the Australian change which was blending in a little too well with my New Zealand change (mental note to make sure all NZ coins stay at home next time), and suddenly our call is cut off. I wanted to cry. I shoved $2 into the slot and tried again. We finished our call and confirmed the booking and she said her husband would be there at 11am. Okay. Good. I could relax for about an hour.

There was a McDonalds in the terminal and I asked Ethan if he wanted some, which he answered predictably in the positive. We went and Ethan said he wanted chicken nuggets and french fries (shocking!) and the kid at the till said, "We don't have french fries." What?!?! No french fries! He says they're still serving breakfast. Oh, for pete's sake! It was still only 10am. I could NOT catch a break! We ended up with donuts instead, and then we waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Our driver finally showed up at almost 11:30am. And then?!?! He rushes ME! He tells me we're in a pretty big hurry. Well, maybe if you'd been here to pick me up on time, buddy, you wouldn't need to rush ME along. He refused to use my carseat. I wanted to install it rearfacing (which is how Silas sits still, at his weight),and he said Australian law requires rearfacing seats to be installed only by professionals. What?? Then, he refuses to install it at all. He grabs a seat from his front seat and puts it in the back and anchors it. It's a 5-point harness, but it's extremely old, the straps were incredibly twisted (not good in a crash), but I put my baby in it. Ethan sat on a grotty old booster seat, with the shoulder belt digging into his neck because the slot it was supposed to be looped through was torn. I'm positive these seats were well over the age limit and wouldn't have passed a safety crash test. Ironic, that I could have installed my seat rearfacing and my son would have been the most safe, but "Australian law" caused my children to sit in seats that were WAY less than safe for them. I prayed really hard all the way to the hotel. And was MORE than annoyed that I lugged my carseat over and then didn't use it at all. Just for show, apparently.

At the hotel, I relaxed finally. The boys and I wandered around the hotel, bought some bread and cheese and milk from the convenience store across the road, and had something to eat.

Colin finally joined us after 11pm. The teachers and students had left the school at 8:00 that morning, had an uneventful flight, lost one bag (which came eventually on Saturday, via Paris!), dropped the kids off at the high school where they met their billeting families, and the teachers made it over to the hotel. I knew I wouldn't be seeing Colin much over the next few days, but I was SO happy we were there together. SO happy. We were in Sydney!!

The next day was a tourist-y day for the school. They did a harbour cruise, saw the house Mel Gibson used to own (and sold last year for roughly $23 million), and in the afternoon, rehearsed for their show that would take place Friday in the Opera House. (For the record, this whole entry will center more around me and the boys, simply because I'm the one writing it, and I wasn't with Colin, so I can only write what he relayed to me).

This is the boys at the beginning of the day. I took this picture for my mom, as she sent these awesome Vancouver 2010 shirts for the boys. Aren't they adorable and cheesy in their matching garb? ;)

The boys and I spent the day in a rather un-tourist-like manner. We caught the bus from our hotel, went downtown, caught a train, and went to IKEA. Yes, you read that correctly. I went all the way to my dream country destination, dream city even, and went to IKEA. I couldn't resist. I love IKEA. I could spend all day there (and I did!). Ethan loves IKEA. I figured if I love it, and he loves it, and Silas loves anywhere he can run around and play (which kids can do in IKEA!), why not!? It wasn't like it was the ONLY thing I was doing in Sydney. Hehe. We had fun. It was likely the cheapest lunch we had all week (Yay!), I bought a couple small toys for the boys and we headed back downtown on the train.

It had been grey and drizzly, but when we stepped off the train, the sun was shining and I decided we'd take the ferry halfway back to our hotel, then catch a connecting bus. It would probably be our only time on the water, and I needed to see a LITTLE bit of the Sydney harbour, even if it wasn't an official "harbour cruise".

And finally, finally, a view of the Opera House. Up close. Ahhhhh... I am actually a little choked up writing about it. It is so awe-inspiring, it is such a part of my theatrical "dream" (even though I wasn't even one of the ones performing). Just seeing it made me want to tear up. I couldn't believe I was there. I couldn't believe I was really seeing it. I couldn't believe I was going to go INSIDE it the next day. Oh man. So here it is.

And sailing past it.

And again. ;)

A sweet lady on the ferry (she was from New Zealand!) offered to take a picture of me and the boys. The boys don't look thrilled, but hey, it's my dream. ;)

The next day, Friday, was my birthday!! My birthday in Sydney!! Opera House Day!!! Colin's students were performing there at 11:30am. The performance was mainly a choir thing, but with some added "drama", as the songs told a story. Colin said he sat in the Opera House green room, which is HUGE, as it is just one room for all the stages. It even had its own cafe. And he said he wanted to phone everyone he went to theatre school with and tell them he was IN THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE GREEN ROOM!! He was also proud to say he had been yelled at by an Opera House techie when he stepped onto the stage, as he wasn't really supposed to be there. Hehe. Such an amazing experience for us theatre lovers.

For the boys and me, it was an interesting day. It was pouring rain, for one thing, so many of the things on my list of things to do that day didn't work out (outdoor playground, wandering around outside Darling Harbour). Ethan was fantastic walking so much in the rain. We headed downtown and to Darling Harbour, where there is a mall, but nothing special about it. It was like every other mall in the world. After a quick snack, I realized we didn't have time for anything except to get over to the Opera House for the performance. We needed to take a bus there (too far to walk in the rain), and then our bus was half an hour late!! We arrived at the Opera House, soaked, frazzled, with literally ONE minute to spare.

The first performance was by a high school from Perth. A private school, who, while on the harbour cruise with Colin's school (the tour manager put the groups together for some things), made it very clear that they were FAR too "above" our kids and hardly talked to them, literally turning their backs on some who tried to make conversation. I wasn't all that impressed with their performance, either. It was okay. They had some talent. But nothing special. Perhaps I'm biased.

Then, the Wanganui kids got up. From the first note they sang, I had chills. They were incredible. They were flawless (at least from an audience perspective). Kicked butt on the private school kids. No contest! Their choir director (and the drama and dance teachers, Colin included) should be proud. It was one of the best choir performances I've ever seen. And in the Sydney Opera House!!

The final group to perform was a Korean children's choir, which I knew Ethan would enjoy, but Silas lost the plot at that point and we had to leave. So disappointing. I wish the group from Perth had gone last. We spent the last number in the lobby, with Silas climbing up and down the hundreds of stairs.

It stopped raining long enough to get some pictures outside. I love this one of Ethan up on the steps. You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

The choir met outside also and had their picture taken. Then, as I was walking down the steps to meet them, they broke into song, singing Happy Birthday to me, on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. It was awesome. My husband rocks.
Here is our little family.

From there, the school went one way and the boys and I headed back to Darling Harbour because we really wanted to do the Monorail. We also wanted to visit the Maritime Museum, but time was really not on our side, and by the time we got there, did lunch, rode the monorail, it was nearing 4:30. I knew I wanted to get on a bus back to the hotel pretty soon.

Oh, I don't want to forget this amazing bird we saw, too. We were eating lunch in the mall's food court and in walks this rather large bird, with this long beak and long legs and I sat there, admiring it. I had never seen a bird like this in my life. And it was just casually wandering around the food court, in and out of chairs and tables. I looked around to see if anybody else had noticed it, and no one seemed to be affected at all! I asked a lady a few tables over if she knew what kind of bird it was and she said, yes, it was an ibis. I just sat and stared at it, and still, no one gave it more than a passing glance. I have now come to learn that the ibis is pretty much as common as a seagull in Australia. So, I feel a little silly, but I still thought it was really neat. This is a picture of one, if you have never seen one. I didn't get a picture of the one we actually saw.

Just as we were ready to head out to catch our bus (several large city blocks away), it started to pour rain again. And by this point, it was also starting to get dark. I did NOT want to be in downtown Sydney in the dark with two babies on a Friday evening, but it turns out, I had no choice.

I wasn't exactly sure where to catch my bus, as I had caught the ferry the day before, and that was in a different location. So I walked towards where I thought my map was showing me. I walked several blocks and finally asked a man who was standing in the doorway of a restaurant. He pointed me in the direction I was going, with some vague landmarks to watch for. We walked several more blocks and I wasn't seeing anything that looked right, or that there were any bus stops anywhere nearby. I was looking for a whole block of bus shelters, as I knew it was a main stop. And none to be seen. So, I stepped into a store and asked someone else. Again, given different directions. We walked a couple more blocks.

Finally, I saw a block of bus stops. I needed to find "Stand D", and all I was seeing was N, O, P... I stopped and stared at a bus map and a young girl came up to me and asked, "Are you lost?" And I had to really gather myself because she seemed genuinely concerned and I felt like crying at that point. "Yes," I told her, and told her which bus I needed to catch. She directed me one block back from where I had come (I don't know how I missed those stops). I then found it easily. The boys and I got on our bus at a little before 6:00pm. We were finally at our hotel, exhausted, with sore feet, and very hungry, at just after 7:00.

I have to stop here and say how amazing my kid is. Ethan walked SO much on Friday. In the pouring rain, this child walked at least 2 or 3 kilometers in total. And while he sometimes said he was tired, he never complained. He was awesome. I kept telling him he was doing so great, he was my awesome walker. I was lost in downtown Sydney with my two babies, and my boy just was perky and chipper and kept my spirits up so much. When I put him to bed and watched him sleep later, I almost cried, thinking how amazing he was, thinking how amazing my birthday was, and how, even when things don't seem to be going quite right, God gives me the strength to get through. I was proud of me and Ethan that night.

Colin had an incredible Friday night, much in contrast to my own. They got to see the stage version of Billy Elliot: The Musical. Colin said it was phenomenal. I love the movie, so I would have loved the musical, I know.

Saturday, I decided, would be a "play day" for me and the boys. And the day cooperated by being brilliantly sunny and warm! This is the small harbour just outside our hotel.

Ethan, Silas, and I hopped on a bus again and went about 20 minutes to Palm Beach. It's a gorgeous beach where an Australian soap opera films their beach scenes. It turned out that Colin's group was also briefly at the beach while we were there, but they were at the opposite end, and we missed each other. The boys and I had fun there.








Two pretty birds we saw at a cafe across the street while we waited for our bus.

In the afternoon, we hung out in the hotel hot tub (which really was more warm than hot), as the pool was actually colder than the ocean, so we didn't attempt it. And relaxed. After Friday, I needed some down time.

Colin and his group spent the afternoon shopping and at Luna Park, an amusement park near downtown Sydney. He was again "home" with us in the evening.

Sunday was our family day. The students were spending the day with their billet families and the teachers could do whatever they wanted. So, in Colin's words, we tore a page out of Sydney's tourist book and did the typical tourist-y things geared for kids.

We rode the bus downtown, rode up the Sydney Tower, the tallest structure in the city, with phenomenal views. We walked through the Queen Victoria Building, which is known as the "most beautiful shopping center in the world". It really was. And full of designer shops that were way over our budget. We didn't go there to shop though, just to see it. Us folks on a budget chose to shop at "Paddy's Market", a huge venue packed with hundreds of non-english-speaking vendors, shoving their wares in our faces. And if you try and walk past, they lower their prices, shouting after you. Typical of many foreign-type markets I've been to. At one table, I was trying to see the various fleece jackets and sweatshirts and the vendor wouldn't stop talking at me and putting clothes in front of me and going on and on and I couldn't even think. So I said, "Could you please just let me look?" quite firmly. And she still kept going on and on and I grew very agitated and put my hand up to her and said quite loudly, "Stop talking!" And she did. And I went and bought my fleece jacket from a different vendor. So there!

After the market, we hopped on the monorail and went to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World. This was on the way there. Ethan really did not want to sit on that ledge, hence the slightly terrified look on his face.

We thought it was pretty classic that the crocodile chose to plant itself at that exact spot under the sign.

In the underwater tunnel. Silas was fascinated.

Look, fishies!!

"Cheeeeese!" This tank was at the very end of the Aquarium and it was absolutely gorgeous. Our picture doesn't do it justice. It seemed to go back forever and it was just really tranquil. I could have sat there for ages staring at it. If I wasn't trying to keep a certain 18 month old from escaping, that is.

Then we went to Wildlife World, primarily to see the koalas. Of course, when we got to the rooftop enclosure, it was the only time all day that it was pouring rain. Ack! We still got some pictures, although they mainly just look like little balls of fur curled up in the trees. They are really cute!! Our cutest picture is really blurry, so I'm not posting it.
Oh, and here's Silas with a statue of a wombat. It looks freakishly real in that picture, though.

See the koalas behind us? The little balls of grey in the trees? Yeah, well, they're there, really.

Monday was departure day. I rode on the tour bus with the school group to the airport, as there was plenty of room. And, of course, after 6 days of keeping track of everything, packing and re-packing for all 4 of us, making my way through a city of 4.5 million people with two children by myself and basically being more than competent, I made a colossal mistake.

I had put our passports in the hotel safe, as I didn't want to carry them with me, nor did I want them left alone in our room all day, every day. About 1/3 of the way, one of the teachers asked Colin if he had the students' passports (which he had also left in the hotel safe), and he said yes, and I exclaimed, "Passports!!" I had forgotten them! Colin did all the check-out stuff and put all our bags in the bus, and I had just gotten on without even glancing at the desk. I was mildly (or not so mildly, probably) freaking and one of the teachers told Colin to get off the bus, catch a taxi to the hotel and meet us at Bondi beach, which was where we were heading before taking off to the airport. Oh, what stupidity! Colin made it, just a half hour after we got there.

Bondi beach, by the way, is an iconic beach in Sydney, as it's the only one right in the middle of the city. I wasn't all that impressed, as all the surrounding walls and enclosures were covered in graffiti and it looked a little grotty to me. But it's "famous". And the properties around there? Insanely expensive! The tour guide said a small lot (without a house on it) about the size of a garage, sold last year for over 2 million dollars! Yikes.

And finally, the airport. The students got to know Ethan and Silas better and we now have roughly 40 offers for babysitting. Good to know. We flew to Brisbane first, had a lengthy layover there, and then home to Wellington. Silas slept that entire flight and Ethan did NOT, becoming more and more wired as he went. We landed at midnight, New Zealand time, breezed through customs and got all our baggage.

The customs guy was one of the friendliest I'd ever met, and as we left the desk, said, "Welcome home". It struck both Colin and I in a different way than any other time we've entered New Zealand. Both other times, we were moving here. It was GOING to be our home, but wasn't quite. This time, we were coming home. We were home. It's an odd, but really cool feeling.

Colin had the next day off, and we spent the night in Wellington, visiting Te Papa again the next day, as per Ethan's request. We got home to Wanganui late in the day and ate and got the kidlets to bed. Turns out some sort of "bug" was going around the plane, though, because Silas has been vomiting and has diahrea and Colin is all congested with sinus pain, and half the choir has all or both of those symptoms, too. Lovely. I'm sincerely hoping it passes over me and Ethan.

And that's all folks. Kudos to you if you read this far!!

Cheers!