The Australia Zoo (aka The Steve Irwin Zoo)

A great day at the Australian Zoo. This is the zoo that was created by Steve Irwin. It is a great zoo and the kids were in awe of all of the animals we saw. The day began with a show involving Steve's kids Bindy and Bob and his wife Terri. There is a photo of them in this entry. Terri is the woman who is feeding the crocodile. This was one of Cameron's highlights of the day. The kids loved seeing and petting the koalas and listened to a talk about the koala. They learned a lot of interesting facts about the koala. They also loved petting the kangaroos and got a chance to see a joey that had just recently stuck its' head out of its' mother's pouch. They remain in the pouch for about five months before they pop out and this one had just recently done it so we were fortunate to see this. We also got to see a Tasmanian devil, dingoes, tigers, elephants, birds, and many other animals. Lauren and Cameron both got the opportunity to feed the elephants as well. We kept thinking of our friend Emma Craig, who is an animal lover and huge Steve Irwin fan. We wished you were here with us Emma! A great day at the Zoo!

Brisbane with the Hansen Family

What a great time we had in Brisbane! It is so nice when you meet such nice people when you are travelling. For the last 3 days we certainly have felt like we have been home away from home. After spending a night in Surfer's Paradise, Wayne drove down to the condo where we are staying (about an hour south of Brisbane), picked us up and drove us to their home in Brisbane. We were welcomed into their home and had an incredible visit. We almost seemed like we were back on the cruiseship as it seemed like we were always eating! Kathy put on a fabulous spread with three beautiful salads for lunch on the day we arrived. One of the highlights was of the visit was that Lauren and Cameron had their first taste of Vegemite. Kathy spread just a little bit of the Vegemite on some buttered bread and then we watched them do their best to eat it. As you can see in the photos, it was a bit of a challenge (especially for Cameron) and it may be their first and last taste of Vegemite. Vegemite is a Kiwi and Australian food staple and every kid over here grows up on it. Cameron and Lauren can't quite understand why anyone would want to eat it. Gord had tried it before and enjoys it in small quantities. Kathy and Wayne are still laughing at Cameron's face as he attempted to eat it. A great experience for them anyway! After that they took us on a nice walk along the Brisbane river to an outdoor pool by the waterfront where the kids enjoyed a nice swim. Kathy and Kathleen went off to the market and came back with chocolate stuffed bananas for the kids. Cameron was quite impressed that they grew chocolate bananas in Brisbane! We came back to their home and had a nice swim in the pool, made three more salads and then they took us up to the Summit overlooking the city of Brisbane where we enjoyed a picnic dinner overlooking Brisbane city. It was so beautiful as the weather was a perfect temperature after a very hot day, it was dark out and we were able to view the lights of the city of Brisbane and look at the stars above. Magical! The drive to the summit and back was great. We took turns driving in the BMW convertible and the kids enjoyed that. The plan was to also take their 1966 Mustang convertible as well but unfortunately the battery was dead, so we went up in their other BMW vehicle as well. Wayne and Kathy also loaned us this vehicle the next day to go to the Australia Zoo which is about an hour North of Brisbane which was so nice of them. The kids enjoyed the ride and Cameron thinks we should get a BMW when we return to Canada. We had a great day at the zoo (more about that in the next blog entry). Upon our return, Kathy was once again in the kitchen making gourmet pizzas and Wayne grilled them in their wood fired BBQ oven. Once again, an amazing meal! We have been so fortunate to have met the Hansen family and are greatly appreciative of their hospitality. Thank you Hansen family! We look forward to your visit to Canada which will hopefully take place next year!

Sydney

We had a great four days in Sydney. We arrived early in the morning on Tues. Jan. 5 and were able to get off the ship for the day. We had one last evening on the ship and disembarked on Wed. Jan. 6th. We had a great hotel in downtown Sydney (The Rydges World Square) for three nights and it was a great location to explore the city. We enjoyed some beach time at Manly Beach as well as a nice lunch at a restaurant with the Hansen family. When we got back to the Harbour we had a look around the Sydney Opera House and then Lauren and Gord went with the Hansens and explored the Rocks area of the Harbour before heading back to the ship for a swim and then one last evening of fun. We enjoyed window shopping in Sydney and found it a beautiful city to walk. We walked through Hyde Park and then through the Botanical Gardens and then went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. We celebrated our 100th day of our trip by walking across the beautiful Sydney Harbour Bridge and then went for a swim and a dinner out at Bondi beach. Body surfing and jumping the waves of Bondi beach was certainly a highlight of our Sydney visit.

17 Day New Zealand/Australia Cruise

We enjoyed a fabulous 17 day cruise exploring the islands of New Zealand and Australia. The ship was the Volendam and was a Holland America vessel. The cruise left Auckland on December 20th and we stopped at various ports along the North and South Islands of New Zealand before heading down to Stewart Island. It was certainly a different Christmas for us this year and although we did enjoy it, we did miss family, friends and the snow! Lauren informed me that this would be our last Christmas away. At the end of Christmas day she mentioned that she didn't get her butt off the loungechair all day so she did enjoy it! We then spent 3 days at sea as we crossed the Tasman Sea landing in Tasmania on Jan. 2nd. We had a stop in Melbourne on Jan. 3rd and arrived in Sydney on Jan. 5th, disembarking the following day on Wed. Jan. 6th. It seemed that the entire Holiday was spent eating, lounging, swimming, going to shows and getting ready for the next event. The kids enjoyed meeting new friends and they spent quite a bit of time at Club HAL. We met a great family through one of Cameron's mates (Christopher). We ended up spending quite a bit of time with the Hansen family (Wayne, Kathy, Christopher and Kate). We hired a car with them and another couple (Bronwyn and Pete) on the day we were in Tasmania and drove along the coast enjoying the scenery and a nice lunch along the way. We also spent a day with them on Manly Beach in Sydney which included some swimming/boogie boarding and again, a nice lunch. At the end of the trip they invited us up to their home in Brisbane and you will hear more about that later. All in all, it was a fabulous cruise and after a busy 2 months of travelling through New Zealand it was so nice to not have to drive anywhere, look for accomodations, decide what to cook, etc... The kids didn't want to get off the ship and are already hoping to go on another cruise!