good day mate part two

day three

Started out early with a tour of the opera house

now if you know me...tours may not be my thing

but sue our hilarious tour guide [who self proclaimed to not being political correct!] and very interesting building made it the best tour yet ;-) 

View of the harbor from the inside

needed to take a selfie with the headphones on

it was beautiful inside!

we couldn't take pictures in any of the other 4 rooms because there were productions taking place later that day,,,but this was by far the best one to document

and now the outside

then we headed back on a Ferry to the zoo

riding in the cable car...which let us see a great view of the city

and finally I saw a kangaroo

elephants

giraffes oh my

 back to the city 

 then it was off to dinner in Darling Harbor 

pizza oh man the best food we had in Australia 

then a night walk by the opera house 

Day four

J was done with meetings [because it was Saturday]

So we all headed out together on a train about 45 mins out of town to Featherdale Wildlife Park

in search of Koalas 

which we found and were able to pet and take pictures with :) 

and then there was even a 'petting zoo' area for the kangaroos

you could walk up to them and pet them and feed them

big step for this scared of animals lady to be this close :) 

this was a mama

can you see the little tail popping out of her pouch!?!?

after the wildlife park

a Mcflurry for lunch

had to try the local flavor...cadbury crunch with caramel. YES PLEASE

america jump on board 

then it was a taxi ride to another lunch

and a taxi ride to this BEAUTIFUL beach

i loved it here

swimming pool filled by the ocean

then we took a walk around the coast

one more view before we headed back

Then J and I took a ferry ride back to Manly Beach for dinner

 the sun was setting

on the ferry on the way back the bridge and the opera house were both in red for the start of the Chinese New Years

Day five/morning

before we left I was up at 5 am...so we capitalized knowing we would be on the plane again 

We walked to and around the Botanical Gardens

which were 200 years old

saw this HUGE neat tree

Then walked around an area called The Rocks

were they set up a market on the weekend

I bought a poster from a local artist for Aries room

Then it was back to our room to finish packing 

off to the airport

thank goodness for no delays

and the ride home was 2.5 hours shorter! that was a big deal!

we left at 3:00 pm Sydney time

and arrived in Dallas at 3:00 pm

it is like it never happened :) 

and then back to GR to this beautiful sun set

and was totally SURPRISED to see this little man in the airport hallway

thanks to my in laws 

best surprise ever

He may have been more excited to see the luggage carousal then me and the luggage carts

but once we got home his feelings changed

he has been a cuddle bug all week

which has been great

we had such a wonderful time away

loved the area and all the sites

but sure felt good to be home to our little love

Many thanks to both of our parents for taking wonderful care of Arie!

and that is a wrap...Good day mate!

good day mate part one

headed to the home of the Australian open

wrong city and three days late

but I am still counting this as a half check on my bucket list...seeing I at least made it to the country :)

since I took so many pictures...surprise surprise this post will be day one and two :)

Day one...aka the longest day..since we left Monday night and finally went to bed Wednesday night

all aboard
we got to sit on the second floor of the plane...was able to sleep about 5 hours. watched 4 movies and 3 tv episodes. read. and took lots of potty aka walk around breaks
  and that is how you sit in one place for 17 hours

Here we go!

a picture after we landed.
hello Australia

We arrived so early in the morning
we were able to walk around together before J had to go to meetings

Then after breakfast it was off on a ferry to Manly beach ..yes its true name

welcome to Manly

beach ...my AHH moment

took a little walk around
loved the views and the weather

then a bus to a national park
and my oh my these stairs were a killer but allowed for a nice view

then out to dinner with Jason

where we tried Kangaroo
which seems cruel
but the norm there
and it was gross :)

finally think we stayed up long enough and time to sleep in a real bed again

now day two
view out of our hotel window
checking out the day
was always up and at it early...thank you time change
a little rain on the second day


headed out to check out the opera house

a seal chilling on the steps

because of the rain we decided to do a little shopping
paddy market ended up being cheap souvenirs land..and smelly
so we bought nothing

then it was a grocery store for local candy
and this mall
neat building but the shops were to expensive
needed a happy medium :)

then off to dinner
to the Sydney Tower 360 restaurant


the floor moved in a cicle so you could see all views of the city

looks pretty but again gross haha
i am a burger girl vs fancy food

the whole group
aka 4 people :)

after dinner we decided to walk the Sydney Bridge
1.5 miles long

wearing Make things better tshirt!

and on the other side of the bridge was gelato
well perfect ending!

and perfect way to end day number two

three cheers

cheer one for home sweet home from Australia

cheer two home sweet home for my dad grom Greece

and cheer THREE!  a VERY big cheer for my moms Birthday

happy happy birthday to this very kind and sweet grandma and mama 

and very good friend

so thankful for her and another year of health and fun! 

we celebrated with family. food. and CAKE [granted not my best performance...can I say jet lag brain...ekk]

celebrate good times come on!