31 October 2009

Motley Fu Takes Oz

We spent a few weeks in Australia, with the first week exploring beautiful Sydney. We met our good friends from Tokyo there, and together we hired (1 per family!) campervans and drove up the Gold Coast up to Brisbane. What an experience!

Our itinerary:
- Days 1-7: Exploring, shopping and wining/dining our way through Sydney
- Days 8-10: Sydney to Hunter Valley; 2 nights in the wine region of Hunter Valley
- Day 11: Hunter Valley to Port Stephens; 1 night
- Day 12-14: Port Macquarie; 2 nights
- Days 15-17: Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour... parked our vans for 3 nights and stayed at the Novotel resort. Bad weather forced us to miss the Big Banana!
- Days 18-20: Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay; 2 nights and the most gorgeous weather ever
- Day 21: Byron Bay to Brisbane - then we headed out! Flew out on Oct 31st, so the girls missed Halloween - but it was WELL worth it.

Trip highlights:
- The food and sights of Sydney - simply amazing dinners out with the Edwards (sans children)
- Sofie learning to play cricket
- Almost nightly campsite grill-outs of huge meals of fresh meat
- The Battle of the Vans: "Van Halen" vs "Motley Fu"
- "Zoe's House" kids' building site at the Powerhouse Museum
- The wildlife!! Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies!
- Hands down: Byron Bay, for the town, the beach, the weather, the vibe

Too many pictures to post, so if you really want the full scoop, click here. Or see below for highlights!

Day 1 in Sydney - headed to a Night Noodle Festival in Hyde Park

The Sydney Opera House


Giraffes at the Toranga Zoo

Playing at the Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour





The "Last Supper" before heading onto the campervan adventure: Tetsuya's and their signature, absolutely mouth-watering dish...


Typical evening at the campsite: kids down, the men grilled dinner, a bottle of red and a bottle of white...


Oh yes - we DID go wine tasting in Hunter Valley as Motley Fu



Sofie feeding a wallaby


Sasha fascinated by the feeding

Petting Clancy, the sleepy koala

Our own little koala


The rock pools of Port MacQuarie Beach


Driving in the campervan...



Porpoise Pool in Coffs Harbour



When you've only been walking for 6 weeks, a few (thousand) tumbles are bound to happen


Beautiful Byron Beach



Daniel reading & singing "The Spiffiest Giant in Town"


Playing cricket!


The Cape Byron Lighthouse


15 October 2009

Moon Festival and Tai Tam Coteaux Charity Run

October was another jam packed month
  • We all celebrated the Autumn Moon Festival and got a special visit from Yeye








  • Su-Ting and Stef ran the Tai Tam Coteaux Charity Run - 11km with 7 wine tasting stops touring the regions of France