Hello from Sydney, Australia!

 

We said goodbye to quiet Mt. Maunganui yesterday and flew into city life!

 

The rest of our time at the Mount was great. We floated in the hot pools, climbed to the top of the volcano and made friends with some local lambs—Molly and Charlie (or moley and chollie as it’s pronounced). We would shout their names as we climbed a little hill and they would barrel over hoping for treats in exchange for tolerating us petting them.

 

It was a stunning walk to the top. We met a few nice locals that had been to Seattle. We swapped stories about driving on the opposite side of the road and what a brain twister it is. Alex is getting used to it, but I still point and say “near side” or “far side” when we approach intersections or roundabouts. Better safe that facing oncoming traffic. My favorite traffic sign: Merge to Zip Up.

 

Now we are in an artsy apartment in Surry Hills, Sydney. The man who owns it is an interior designer and it shows. Alex is in heaven with the crazy art all over every wall. We are a couple blocks away from Hyde Park and a short walk from the iconic opera house.

 

Today we ventured to the Taronga zoo. After a short ferry ride, a gondola took us up to the entrance. Two or three schools joined us on the outing. When I planned this trip I knew it would be summer here and assumed kids would be out of school. But in NZ and AU kids go to school year round, with a few breaks throughout the year.

 

The best part of this zoo was the opportunities to walk amongst the animals, sans any barriers. We were able to walk in an area full of lemur monkeys. The zoo keeper let a small group in and calmly asked that we stay on the path and not to touch them because they don’t like it. While we were inside the lemur area, one of the lemurs ran across the path between our family. It was incredible to be so close to them and listen to them talk to each other. #wouldneverhappeninthestates

 

There was another area that had the same setup but with wallaby and female red kangaroos. I was able to stand not five feet from a kangaroo while it hopped around and dug a hole. All the animals (including the humans) at this zoo seemed much happier than I recall experiencing at a zoo. And there were so many babies! This zoo has had a lot of success breeding in captivity. We saw a baby chimp, baby gorilla, and my favorite a baby elephant!

 

You know how you tend to snack and over eat on a vacation and holidays? Yep, week one we snacked and snacked. Eliot ate 3 to 4 apples a day everyday in addition to meals and other things. We gave him money to spend at the farmer’s market on anything he wanted—strawberries. The kid is a fruitarian.

 

At home I plan meals for the week, make a list and stick to it. Saves my waistline and my budget. I try not to bring Alex to the store with me or it all flies out the window. Here the four of us go to the store together. We don’t have a plan and are still figuring out what items are a good deal, what is expensive, and whenever we see something weird or different we buy it just to try (usually candy). For example chicken is expensive here, but wagyu steak is a great price. Bell peppers, called capsicum, are twice as much while at home they are one of our staples.

 

We head out of the city to visit a friend in the burbs tomorrow. We didn’t rent a car in Sydney, because they have a great subway system. Mama loves a city with good mass transit!

 

So far the kids are keeping pace with their school work. Alex isn’t pacing around, so work must be going well. And I am hoping to find a few more quiet windows to write without interruption.

 

Thank you for your encouraging words. We are settling into the groove a bit more this week. Travel days are still difficult--they do customs leaving NZ as well as entering so we jumped through a lot of hoops getting to Australia. But overall it’s normalizing. And I’m back to enjoying the children which is nice.

 

I hope you are all faring well at the beginning of the holiday madness.

 

Love,

h