We stayed in a much different part of town. An area called Potts Point where the streets are tree lined and the cafe's plentiful. Still walking distance to the Opera House and Sydney's many parks and gardens, Potts Point provided us with a really good base to occupy the interests of both child and adult alike. Every other corner seemed to have a little park or playground for Kyra to expend her energy. It was a really nice aspect of the city.
One really great experience we got to enjoy that is not pictured below was the Chinese exhibit at the Sydney Museum. Some artifacts from the tomb of the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, were on loan and we took a rare opportunity to see them accompanied by more than 200 other rare and interesting artifacts including several statues of his Entombed Warriors, Chariots and Royal Guards. It was pretty cool and I doubt we will ever go to China to see it in person, so we were glad we went, but don't have any pictures as they were forbidden like many other things in China.
Below are some photos, we hope you enjoy!!
Here is Kyra on her favorite swing in the playground just around the corner from our hotel
Vicki apparently is really popular in Sydney. Here she casually leans against a pole on her very own street.
Of all people, Oprah was in town. She pretty much took over the place. She even interrupted the Jack concert with her nearby firework display. You just have to laugh I guess. But Australia expects to generate millions of tourist dollars from her recent trip which is good I guess, but it doesn't seem like Australia is really hurting for tourist dollars. Pretty much everybody I know would like to visit Australia already, so I dont really understand the big push, but whatever. So they rolled out the red carpet everywhere she went and treated her like royalty. Which I suppose she pretty much is. But we felt skywriting was a bit much.
One of the better activities we did on this trip was to visit some of the nearby beaches. We spent a day in Bondi and a day in Coogee. Above is Kyra and Vicki posing on the ever famous Bondi Beach.
Kyra playing in the Tasman Sea.
This statue of a lifeguard diving into the ocean fascinated Kyra to no end. She couldn't figure out what he was doing and what it was all about. She was at first intrigued, then scared a bit and then just interested in its very existence. It was a very funny couple of minutes where you could just see the wheels turning in her little head.
This is what an Australian field trip looks like. By law, the kids are required to wear hats.
This is what Kyra looks like when an Australian field trip takes over the slide she had been solitary enjoying moments earlier.
Coogee Beach from a nice coastal walk along the bluffs.
Angela, Jason, Kyra, Vicki and Matt at sunset on Coogee. After a not too shabby day at the beach we finished it off with a relaxing pizza dinner on the bluffs overlooking Coogee. It was a nice evening and a good sunset over what must be one of Sydney's most serene and relaxed suburbs.
Captain Kyra
One of the added highlights to this trip was that we got to end our time in Australia with a few days in Cairns before our flight back to Guam. Now that Kyra is a bit older she can really experience all the free play areas that Cairns has to offer. One is the pool that we spent most of the day at, but the other is the kids area along the Esplanade where Kyra decided was a good place to cool off. As Cairns this time of year is quite hot, it was just what the doctor ordered.
Big fish eating Kyra.
