Now that they're gone... Vol 1

Now that Jay and Karen have arrived safely back in the good ole' U. S. of A. - I'll try and post some of our adventures. I have to break this up because for 2 solid weeks we were running around all over the place.

After the Grand Final Sunday night (Manly won by the way) we checked the weather and moved our trip to Katoomba to Tuesday to take advantage of better weather that day. Monday we headed down to Bondi Beach and did the walk all the way over to Bronte Beach. It started out kind of gloomy, got beautiful and then it rained on us. Bummer.

The Manly Supporters all decked out!

Tuesday we got up early and drove up to the Blue Mountains. We parked near Echo Point Lookout in Katoomba and did the same hike Clarice and I did on our anniversary trip back in May. Trooper that she is, Karen made it down the giant staircase without complaints, but at the end said her legs felt like jelly. We hiked over to Scenic World, did their boardwalk around the area near the old coal mine, then took the cable car up out of the gorge. From there we hiked back over to the car and headed home. Exhausting, but very fun day.

For most the rest of week one we trekked all over Sydney showing Jay and Karen all of our favorite haunts and giving them a gist of what life in Australia has been like. Jay took thousands of photos, we did the Sydney Opera House tour, the Botanical Gardens, the QVB, Hyde Park, Darling Harbour, the Northern Beaches... No sleeping in our place!

Next volume will start OUR vacation and the trip up to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef!

Jon

Jay and Karen Arrive!!

Jay and Karen got her Friday night and we have been running them ragged ever since they got here. Saturday we went downtown and, not discouraged by the clouds and intermittent rain, we toured the Opera House, did some shopping and ate lunch on The Rocks, took photos from the Harbour Bridge and generally had a great time.

Sunday we went to church where everyone was really excited to finally meet these strange Amercians they had heard so much about. Just like when we first visited, people went out of their way to get to know them a little even if they only see them the one time.

Sunday afternoon/evening we went to the NRL Grand Final. Totally awesome experience! The two top teams made it all the way to this championship game which is the NRL equivelent of the Super Bowl. We were all decked out in Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles garb and we sitting with Neil and Majella - good friends of ours from church. The game should have been very competitive, but Manly creamed Melbourne by a new record margin of victory - 40-0! There were some great plays, the atmosphere was awesome and even the newbies could follow the action. Jay and Karen agreed that David Williams of Manly looks astonishingly like Blake - hence he is our favorite player. Good time. Thanks to an ingenious plan developed by Paul when we went to the AU/NZ Rugby Test last month, we got out with no problems/traffic.

David Williams - Manly Sea Eagles

When we got home, Jay made some great burgers while I transferred his pics DVDs. Then we watched "Israel Dic 2 Photos". Let's just say Jay has taken a couple of photos. Disc 2 was a little over 1000. He has 4 disks now and 2 weeks here with us. Thanks goodness for digital technology!

Today, the rain should clear and we are going to wander the beaches. I'll get some pics up when I get a chance.

Jon

"Jon and Clarice's Day of Fun"!!!

I know, it's been a couple of weeks. The more you harp, the more guilty I feel for not posting anything. Still doesn't get me to post any faster, does it? :-)

A couple of weeks ago, Clarice felt bad about all of the time she was spending at work so she planned what has come to be know as "Jon and Clarice's Day of Fun" - samelessly stolen from "Joey and Janice's Day of Fun" on Friends.

She got me up early and told me what to wear and what to bring. I didn't get to know anything ahead of time. The first stop was an 8:00 AM breakfast at Jonah's, a wonderful little hotel/restaurant up the hill overlooking Whale Beach. Get it? Jonah's...Whale Beach. I am not making this up. It was a nice, fancy, tasy breakfast and we enjoyed the fabulous views.

After the nice, leisurely breakfast we went down to Whale Beach and relaxed for a couple of hours. We had our books, Clarice had bought a frisbee, and it was genuinely a nice spring day. Lot's of people we out, but Whale beach is kind of secluded so it was a very enjoyable morning.

For lunch she took me up the coast to Palm Beach which has a couple of little shops we like. We ate a picnic lunch, played more frisbee, bought a couple of things and generally kept relaxing together. It was nice.

We arrived to the first afternoon stop a little early, but I guessed what we were doing when I saw the sign - a seaplane ride! Yay! We took a 45 minute seaplane ride down the coast all the way to Bondi Beach, then back to Sydney Harbour for a couple of circuits, along the Hawksbury River then back to the Pittwater where we started. We didn't spend a lot in the morning because this was a little pricy, but definately worth it. A "do again" as Karen would say. Here are some pics, but I hope to get a bunch more up into a slide show soon. Can you tell it was a gorgeous day?

Being early to the seaplane ride, we ran late to the next exciting event - kayaking! There is a nice place to rent kayaks on Narrabeen Lagoon just down the street from our place. We had been planning on doing it once the weather was nice, but I didn't think it would be then. We had a blast paddling around all the places we have only seen from the shore. It tried to "spit" rain at us, but thankfully didn't.

Next was some rest. We needed it.

Last was a wonderful dinner at a little "hole-in-the-wall" Italian joint just up the road from our place. Since it was a nice evening we decided to walk. Joe's Italian had been recommended by a lot of people, but from the outside looked a little run down. Don't judge a book by its cover! We'll definately be back to Joe's several times before we leave Sydney.

So that was our day. A lot of fun and finally some time together. Thanks, hon!

Jon