Palau

As most of you know having a child inhibits your ability to do certain activities together that you could once do freely and without second thought. Diving has been one of those things for us. We really miss it. It usually takes up most of the day and its pretty hard to find someone to buck up and give you an entire day off together. Vic had not been in over a year and I have seldom made it out myself. So when my parents decided to pay us a visit this year we took them up on their offer to join us in Palau- where they could watch Kyra for us and see the beautiful scenery while we could once again enjoy the underwater world. Win win.

The excitement and wonderment of our last trip to Palau could never again be attained, so we didn't even try. We really missed our friends Steve and Katrina this time around. So many memories and good times, we thought of them often.

It was a good trip overall. Vic and I had an opportunity to take two days to ourselves just to dive. The reefs and animal life in Palau is as alive as ever. I think our favorite was The German Channel where we got to see tons of Manta Rays and Sharks swim up really close, and I really liked The Big Drop Off where I spotted my first Nudibranch, a lot of Humphead Wrasses, the ever elusive Clown Triggerfish and several more sharks. Another highlight was our last dive at Chandler Cave. Its a pretty shallow dive with 4 chambers where you can actually surface to have a look around. It was pretty amazing to see such well preserved and beautiful architecture in a cave.

On the days when my parents went snorkeling we pretty much just did what we do on Guam. The pool at our hotel was quite nice and relaxing. Kyra is getting to be a pretty good water baby. She seems sad when we take her out. We also had an opportunity to drive around the island a bit, something we totally neglected last visit. Way up north is an area where the lost societies left huge stone monoliths. Nobody really knows much about them except that the stones are there and they must have taken a lot of effort to put in place. We also got us some education in the form of a really cool museum in town as well as stumbling upon the last remaining Palauan Bai, which is a traditional meeting house.

Kyra was a big hit among the locals. We got the feeling that not too many white babies make it down to those parts. Everywhere we went the ladies and kids wanted to play with her and hold her. I never really expected that having a kid would require you to be so much more outgoing and personable. I was thinking about parents who have introverted personalities and how hard it must be for them to walk down the street or go to the store when all these strangers are trying to have conversations with you. I'm surprised in myself that I do actually like it, I guess it has a lot to do with Kyra seeming to always light up at new faces. Interacting with almost everyone we come across is something I was totally not prepared for but it has been a good thing so far.

All in all a good trip. Palau never disappoints. Below are some pictures.

Colorful meeting place/Modern Palauan home

Ancient Stone Path leading up to the Bai.


Traditional Palauan Bai

Vicki and Kyra at the Stone Monoliths

Kyra tries Beetlenut, but not really

Surface Time in the pool

Sydney

G'day Mates!! Crikey and How ya Goin'. We had a good stretch of days off at the end of August and since Kyra seemed to be a good traveler we thought we'd see just how far she could go. The plan was to head back down to Cairns for a few days, get adjusted a bit and if Kyra was doing ok, then we would continue on to Sydney. The first day was a bit rough, but once she got back on her routine Kyra did surprisingly well. The trick for us was to keep her on her schedule by not really planing to do too much and just soak up the good weather and scenery. Traveling with a baby that needs to be breast fed every 3 hours has its challenges, but its completely doable and can be totally enjoyable. The picture below is pretty much all we did in Cairns. That and drink coffee. I think Vicki is going to turn in to a cappuccino, she at the very least has it running through her veins after this trip.


We were lucky to be in Cairns during one of their art festivals. It was ok. Lots of street performers, musicians and art stands. We really like Cairns, the people the atmosphere, its all just really nice. Kyra was so observant and seemed to really like looking at all the new faces and places. It was a tough decision to continue on, but after 3 days Kyra seemed well adjusted to being in Australia and we decided to press on to Sydney. Sometimes flying with a baby can really pay off. Since the only seats left on our Quantas flight to Sydney were in the exit row, and since babies aren't allowed in exit rows, they were forced to upgrade us to First Class. It was a nice treat for us since we thought it would be years before we sat in First again because Continental doesn't allow it. Going to Sydney was already turning out to be a good decision.

The first day we took a stroll around the Opera House and the Royal Botanical Gardens. We were given unseasonably warm weather and the people of Sydney were all out enjoying it as much as we were. It seems to be a very young town with lots of coffee drinkers and socialites. Starbucks has made its mark, and rightly so since Sydney resembles Seattle in many ways. But its a lot like San Fransisco too with all the water and bays and bridges. Initially we thought the Opera House was going to be ultra touristy, but we really liked it and couldn't seem to stop looking at it. Here is Kyra acting totally not interested in anything other than my shoulder.


Kyra woke up at the end of our stroll along the bay. Here is one of the rare awake shots we have of her and the Opera House.


The Royal Botanical Gardens above were a really nice place to relax with a not too shabby view. There were tons of birds and animals running around. And lots of Bats, which we weren't expecting, especially during the daytime. They were flying all over the place, nocturnal schmocturnal. Somehow we managed to escape without getting guanoed on.

Another shot of Kyra chillin by the bay.

The most touristy thing we have done in quite a while turned out to be pretty fun. Sydney has something called Sydney Tower, its basically just like the Space Needle in Seattle. It was getting kinda cold and we had about an hour to kill before Kyra went to bed so we thought we'd give it a shot. We were really glad we did. It provided us with really good views of the bay and many peninsulas around Sydney and also a glimpse of the nearby beaches. Surprisingly, an aerial view of the Opera House is not possible due to it being obstructed by buildings, but we were pleasantly surprised at the enjoyment we got out of seeing Sydney from such a vantage point. To the top left of this picture is Manley Beach and to the top right is the famous Bondi Beach. We went to Manley for the day and had a swell time. The waves were small and the water cold so we didn't venture in, but it was a great place to relax, have a few drinks and down some fish and chips.

Sydney's Fish Market is second in size only to the one in Tokyo. And they seem to be a bit more aware and conscientious about the kinds of fish they sell so as to protect the endangered species. While they do have tuna of all kinds you won't find shark fin for sale here. Above we find Kyra wanting nothing to do with the lovely spread of octopus they have on display.

We were told by almost every person we ran into that we needed to go to Darling Harbor. So we did. It was ok. Its basically a harbor with lots of restaurants surrounding the bay. It does have a really cool park nearby as well as a Chinatown. And there is this place called Paddy's Market which is basically an over sized and upscale flea market with just about anything you could want. We spent most of our time just sipping on some coffee and enjoying the bay and park.

After Darling Harbor we went on the "Bridge Walk" across Sydney bridge where you can get really good views of Sydney Bay and the Opera house. It was really windy but Kyra seemed to enjoy it. We are really lucky that she is so observant and likes to look at everything with an inquisitive eye. Being in new places doesn't seem to bother her and we hope that she is taking it all in and storing up memories and making those brain connections that are so important at this stage of her life.
A not so common view of the Opera House. My attempt at being artistic. Its cool that you can get up close and walk all around it and even touch it if you want. Much like the Arch in that way. Their philosophy and the way they run the Opera House is really interactive and community oriented. They don't have any dress code in many of the theaters and its open to all types of performance artists. While we were there they had several different acts going on simultaneously. They had a play in one theater, the musician Ben Folds in another, an orchestra and a rap style smack down geared towards keeping kids off drugs. It was a very diverse lineup and they were living up to their commitment to using the Opera House as a community performing arts center available to people of all ages and interests.

On our last evening in Sydney the temperature dropped quite a bit but we were still able to manage an outside meal for dinner with a pretty good view of the city. The heated lamps were a nice bonus. It was a great way to say farewell to the city.

On our way home Kyra broke down until we got to our hotel. Then she discovered my beard. And we had an interaction that was by far our most special to date. She just laughed and laughed and played with my face for 5 minutes or so. It was so funny. The above picture is not the best but it captures the moment.

The day of travel home was relatively uneventful. We were only gone 10 days but it felt like a month. We were missing the comforts of home and it was good to be back. Your comments please.