Kangaroos!

Yesterday we took a driving tour of Hunter Valley, a major wine area.  On the way we drove through a golf subdivision and spotted some wild kangaroos! 

Here are a couple of pictures.

Today we head to Brisbane.  But first we;re having a John Denver lunch.  Apparently word has spread that Mary is here visiting so some other fans are taking the train from Sydney and we are having lunch together at the Customs House.

It has been so nice visiting here with Pat and Robert.  It's been a great way to see a side of Australia that most tourists don't get to experience.  It's been a great transition.

Now we start our tourist phase.  

A Day in Sydney

Yesterday the Evan's drove us to the Darling Harbor area of Sydney.  Mary and Pat went to a craft show in the Sydney Exhibition Hall while Robert and I went to the Powerhouse Museum.  

The museum had some nice exhibits on transportation, space, engineering, and various other technologies.  The space exhibit included a Russian lunar rover from the 70's and a lot more on Russian space technology than you would see in any US museum.  Robert and I were intrigued by the 3rd steam engine built by James Watt that could drive a rotating wheel.  Before this invention, steam engines could only provide up and down motion and were mainly used for pumps.  Being able to drive a rotating wheel is what brought on the Industrial revolution.  It also had some cool other engineering exhibits, with an emphasis on Australian accomplishments that I found quite intriguing.

We met up with the girls for lunch, walked through the Chinese Garden, then headed out on a long trek to Macquarie Point to catch a view of the Opera House and Bridge.  We got some great sunset pictures and enjoyed the walk back through the Botanical Gardens.

We then headed to Chinatown where we had a very nice Chinese Dinner with Karen Evans and her boyfriend, Andrew.  While Mary and I recognized some of the menu items, there were a lot of new ones.  We ordered several main dishes so we got to sample each.  That made for a delicious and excellent meal.

Note:  More pictures have been added to the slideshow on the main page of my blog. Look for new ones each day. You can also go to my picassa page to see them as a slideshow.

First Animals

Yesterday we toured the area, seeing Lake Macquarie, then going to the Blackbutt Reserve.  This is a city maintained park with a large Koala exhibit and a large fenced area that contains Emus, Wallaby's, Grey Kangaroos and the larger Red Kangaroos. We really enjoyed our first sightings of these native animals.

We spent quite a bit of time watching the Koalas.  They did not move around, but would curl up in a ball and take a nap, occasionally waking up to look around. I got several good pictures of them as you can see in the rotating picture displayed on my main page.  

Last evening was an Evans' Family BBQ.  It was nice to meet all the people we've been hearing about.  Among other things, I had some good conversations comparing American and Australia sports.

Today we are up early and headed for Sydney.  Pat and Robert want to show us some of the sights around Darling Harbor then the girls have a couple of shopping districts to visit while Robert and I will visit some interesting museums.  Should make for a fun day!

Mary and Pat

When we first got to the airport after our long flight, Pat and Robert were there to meet us - and Pat even had a 'roo for Mary as a welcome gift!

Here's a mostly in focus picture:

Newcastle, Australia

Mary and I are apparently over and time change symptoms, except I got tired a bit early last night and went to sleep at 10:00 while Mary stayed up with Pat to look over Pat's John Denver artifacts. We slept in until 8:00 so I got an unheard of (for me) 10 hours of sleep.

We saw the sights of Newcastle yesterday.  This is a major coal town that used to have a huge steel mill.  It's got beautiful beaches (see pictures) and very scenic coastline.  

We had lunch at a famous diner called "Harry's" - there's one here and one in Sydney.  It was a meat pie in a pastry shell covered with mashed peas and potatoes, plus some gravy. - YUM!   They had pictures of many famous people enjoying their Pea Pie from Harry's.  

Tonight Pat and Robert are holding a family BBQ in our honor.  We've already met both daughters and it will be nice to meet the rest of their extended family.  

First Morning in Australia

Mary and I hung on until after supper, but by 7:30 we were pretty tired.  We headed to the "Granny Flat" - a room with a small kitchenette and full bathroom in a detached building. We both took about 5 seconds to fall asleep, woke up a couple of times, but did not get up until 6:30!  11 hours of sleep will do wonders for tired travelers.

It was very interesting just laying there are hearing the different bird calls.  Most are not like anything I am used to hearing.

Since Pat and Robert were not up yet we took a 1/2 hour walk around their subdivision.  It is very pretty and was a bit strenuous due to all the hills, especially the 75' climb back up their steep driveway to their house. 

So we are now showered and ready to head over to "breakie".

Mary Feeds a Kookaberra

We met Pat and Robert at the airport after clearing customs.  We ended up arriving at Sydney at 8:20 and cleared customs by 9:20.  

We took a small driving tour on our way to their house and saw the towen where they both were raised.

They have a beautiful house.  Pat feeds three Kookaberra's each day - and she was late today so we had to feed them once we got home.  One eats out of her hand - and Mary even gave it a try as you can see above.

We both are rather tired, but are hanging in there until this evening when we will get some shut-eye.

I did check out their internet connection and it is a 1 slot router so we'll need to unplug their computer and plug ours in.  Not the most convenient, but very workable.

That's it for now! Time to head over for supper.