Hiking at Lake Parramatta Reserve

We spent Tuesday afternoon exploring this the beautiful Lake Parramatta Reserve which is about 15 minutes from where we are staying. This is a 73 hectare (180 acres) of pristine parkland right in the  middle of a large suburb.

We decided to do the Lake Circuit hike which took us around the entire lake. It took us about 90 minutes to do the 4.2 km hike. You could hear numerous different species of birds. We spotted a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (think mean white bird in the movie Rio), Rainbow Lorikeet, Australian Wood Duck, Australasian Darter and heard so many more bids. We were surrounding by Eucalyptus and Banksias trees, ferns and low brush.

At one end of the reserve is a damn that was completed in 1856 and was the first damn build in Australia. The damn was used to provide water to the nearby residence and used until 1909.

If you are visiting Sydney I would highly recommend this hike to fill in a half a day. It is recommended that you do not do the Lake Circuit hike after heavy rain. This is because there are a few areas that would be impassable with higher water.

We Made it to Sydney

25 hours after leaving the Spokane International Airport we landed in Sydney Australia. I will do a separate blog post when we return to Spokane on Qantas airlines. However, they exceeded our expectations.  Seth and I are exhausted since we have slept a total of maybe 5 hours in the last 36+ hours, but we are counting down 2 more hours until bedtime. Simon slept over 7 hours on the plane so is doing great considering the lack of sleep! We are staying awake today we can hit the ground running tomorrow exploring Sydney.

When we arrived in Sydney it was raining but still warm. The only hiccup was when we were waiting for the rental car and had Simon standing on the sidewalk with all of our suitcases and a torrential downpour burst from the sky. In those 10 minutes both he and the luggage became soaked. He tried to hunker down with his backpack flap over his head kneeling next to a car! I gave him an A for effort.

Driving in Sydney is quite an experience so far. My husband is an amazing man for his driving today. Everything is opposite of what we are accustomed to. It is also weird for me sitting in what is usually the drivers seat back home.

After checking in to the house we are renting we headed to Costco and Woolworths, the grocery store. Costco was very similar to home except that it cost you $1 to use a cart (which you got back when you returned it) and they had beachwear and Christmas stuff out in the same aisle! The biggest difference though is they do not have the large frozen food section that we have. We were hoping for some quick and easy freezer meals!

Woolworth's is your typical grocery store in any town. The only struggle I encountered was trying to purchase cheese. They don't color any cheese so it is all white and they also do not label any of them cheddar. I stared quite a while trying to decide which one was closest to cheddar. I guess we will see tomorrow morning for breakfast how close I got.

We are waiting to see what the weather does for tomorrow before we make any plans, but I will post pictures tomorrow night (our time) of our first day adventures. 

T-6 Days to Australia

When the tickets were booked in May, November seemed so far away. Even when school started in September, it felt like November would never come! However, in just 6 days we head to Sydney Australia for the trip of a lifetime. I have been researching, making lists and searching Groupon for months. I feel prepared once we arrive, but it is the preparation to leave that makes me nervous. It has been 20 years since I have flown internationally and I was 22 and single! Now with 3 of us, including an 11-year-old, my stress level is a little higher.

After having a plan in my head the last month we discovered last week that the carry-on luggage rules are different than what we are used to. On domestic US flights, you can have a backpack plus a small suitcase. Internationally in the "economy" class, you can have 1 carry on and a "small laptop bag or a small amount of reading material." My families usual carry on routine is being revamped this weekend!

We are staying almost 3 weeks in Australia and we did not purchase new suitcases. So we only have our small travel carry-on size suitcases. However, we were fortunate to find a place to rent with a washer/dryer. That being said, I have packed only 5-6 outfits per person plus one "cool weather" outfit. This will allow us to get all of our belongings into 3 suitcases. We also have 1 extra suitcase with shoes, snorkeling gear and a life jacket for Simon. We also packed 2 extra duffle bags to bring back souvenirs!

Speaking of souvenirs, our 11-year-old has been saving his money and doing odd jobs in the neighborhood so he can buy Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, the first Harry Potter book to be published. He has also researched and there are a few other Harry Potter books that were only published in the U.K. and were not distributed to the US. We will see in the next few weeks what type of souvenirs he buys!

I cannot wait to begin to share our adventures with you next week. 5 more days of work and off we go!

The Steamer Virginia V-Seattle-Lake Union

A couple of weeks ago we decided to beat the heat in Spokane and head to Seattle and their high 70s! We rarely do the "touristy" things that cost money in Seattle. We went to Lake Union to walk the docks and check out the yachts, fishing boats and the Center for Wooden Boats. While there we saw this fabulous steam boat, the Virginia V. And you could tour it for FREE! We climbed aboard and not only learned about the history of the steam boats and ferry system in Washington we had a fabulous view of Downtown Seattle.

The Virginia V is right next to the Seaplane tours on Lake Union so we had the enjoyment of watching sea planes land in the middle of a mine field of boats. Those pilots managed to land in the middle of people canoeing, sailing, kayaking, motor boating, row boating and more. I was very impressed! 

Next time you are in Seattle and looking for something fun and free to do, head to Lake Union and check out all the boats and tour the Virginia V. 

Carnival Sunshine Cloud 9 Spa Room-11003

When we were getting ready to book our Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Sunshine we debated on which room to book. We always go with an interior room because you don't spend much time in your room! My husband ran across the Cloud 9 Spa rooms. They were only about $40 more for the entire cruise and it included access to the Spa, upgraded beach towels and toiletries. We couldn't find any true pictures of room 11003 so we gambled that it would work out.

We are so glad we upgraded to the Cloud 9 Spa room. Not only were the upgrades great the location was perfect. We were at the very end of a hall that had no traffic. It was SO QUITE!!!

The other end of the hall opened right out onto the adult Serenity deck  and one floor down was the pool and food. We could not have asked for a better room and better location.

Plenty of room on the top bunk for homework!

Maho Beach St. Martin

One of my favorite parts of our trip to St. Matrin's and a bucket list item checked off was to visit Moho Beach.  I have read about Moho Beach and how airplanes of all sizes land directly behind it. I had no idea what to expect but MAN OH MAN was it COOL to watch. The beach was extremely crowded and it is not a place I would hang out and sunbathe. However, for a quick dip cool off and play in the water while waiting for the planes to land the beach was perfect. 

We ended up at Moho Beach right at lunch time. The Sunset Beach Bar was packed but we only had to wait about 5 minutes for a table to open up. The Sunset Beach Bar had some of the best food and drinks we had on our entire trip. They also had a DJ playing music, a pool, gift shop and numerous food choices.  Sunset Beach also displays all the arrivals and departures on a board just like the airports use. You could see what times and sizes the plains were that were flying in. 

So close it was almost like you could reach up and touch it. 

The screen behind Simon is what shows the arrivals and departures for the airport. 

The DJ mixing it up!

A little swimming while watching the planes land. 

I was surprised how many people stood by this sign and waited to feel the jet blast! 

The only draw back to the entire experience was the parking. A sign when you enter says free parking if eating. It failed to mention you had to have your ticket marked at the bar and you couldn't just show your receipt. The parking attendant was extremely rude about the entire situation. While it only cost us a few bucks it it worth noting to get your parking ticket validated when you eat! 

The Butterfly Farm-St. Martin's

The Butterfly Farm on the French side of St. Martin's was a fun and amazing experience for our family. We rented a car in St. Martin's and were driving to the beach when saw the signs to the Butterfly Farm. I am so glad we did. We arrived just in time to take the 20 minute tour where all the different species of butterflies were explained along with the history and mission of the farm. The entry fee to the farm is good your entire vacation and since we were cruising we received a slight discount. I believe it was about $30 for the three of us. My husband thought it was a little expensive but it was an amazing opportunity and my son is still talking about it. Therefore it was money well spent!  

After the tour we were free to wander around as much as we wanted. They sold cups of sugar water for $2 in order to dip your finger and have the butterflies land on your fingers. However, they landed on us without the sugar water. It may have been the sunscreen we applied earlier that day! Both my son and husband enjoyed having the butterflies land on their fingers.