Thursday we set out on the ferry to Bundeena and hiked through the Royal National Park. Zach and I had done that a couple weeks back, but this time we found some unchartered territory and saw so much more of the coastline, cliffs and terrain. The rain held off until the afternoon when we were heading back, so we couldn't have asked for a better day!
Friday (my ber-day) was such a great day - probably one of the best birthdays ever. If you know my family, we make quite a big deal out of birthdays. My mom is so awesome - she collected a bunch of birthday cards from family and friends back home and when I woke up, they were all displayed on the kitchen table. I started to cry! It was SO good to hear from people back home. Zach cooked an awesome strawberry pancake breakfast and then we were off to the city! We took the train to downtown and pretty much saw every major tourist site around. We were busy! It was nice because Zach and I were able to see a lot of new things, too. When we were heading back home on the train, something had happened to the usual train line, so they re-routed about 3 trains worth of people into 1. Needless to say, it was a very crowded, hot and stuffy ride home, but we survived it.
Here's a little taste of how Karen & John are finding Australia and Zach's take on things:
John -- "This whole country is backwards. Cars are on the wrong side of the road, drivers on the wrong side of the car, the sun is in the wrong part of the sky, the zippers are backwards, people walk backwards...I just have no sense of direction. Even the toilets flush backwards...it's all physics, but I don't get it."
Karen -- "Amber and Zach are incredible tour guides. They take care of everything - trains and which platform to get on, all the directions and how to not get lost. They cook and feed us and take care of our every need. We do help with Ollie and walk him in the mornings. Sydney was amazing. It was hard to take it all in. The waterways, ferry rides, skyscrapers, the Bridge and incredible scenery were all just amazing. Celebrating Ber's birthday was so fun. Throughout the day, we ate antipasta salad, gelato, sushi and topped it off with burgers and beer. The cool weather is really nice when we're used to a hot summer right now. Next, we are looking forward to seeing the 3 sisters in the Blue Mountains. Hopefully we'll see some kangaroos there."
Zach -- "I was looking forward to Karen and John coming so I didn't have to walk Ollie anymore...and it has been great to sleep in! I've enjoyed getting to know John through all the different Australian beers. He can really hang with me and the best of the Aussies. And I've never seen Karen so quiet when we were on the train ride home last night. She was beat after the really long day...or maybe jet lag had finally set in. I'm glad my wife got to enjoy her birthday with her mom and that we can celebrate it for 2 days since today is her American birthday."
Now...off to the Blue Mountains tomorrow!!
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