Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone! We had a nice Easter on the Gold Coast yesterday (yes we are on day ahead of you in American) We went to the beach got into the Pacific Ocean a little bit. Today is ANZAC Day. It is like Memorial day in the US. The  all the Australians Honor this day, most business are closed. When we were in Turkey we toured to ANZAC Cove. It is an memorial to the World War 1 Australian and New Zealand troops that died there.

The Gold Coast

We arrived at the gold coast early afternoon on Good Friday. We were meet at the airport by Arnold and Ros. They will be on the Dawn Princess World Cruise also. They took us to our condo in Broadbeach to get checked in and then they took us to their home for dinner. They live in a lovely area, which is a gated community on a golf course, which is also a kangaroo sanctuary. They took us on a golf cart ride and we saw our first Kangaroo's. There are approx. 300 wild kangaroos roaming around. It was amazing to see the kangaroo's close up. We also saw Black Swans which are rare. We want to thanks Arnold and Ros for their gracious hospitality, taking us to their home and showing us around. On Saturday we went to Broadbeach, the Ocean is beautiful and the sand was soft. There are a lot of people here because it is Easter Holiday. Beside Christmas, Easter is the biggest holiday in Australia.

Manly Beach and the Fast Ferry!

Today we took the Ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay to get the Fast Ferry to Manly. On the ride over we saw the harbour from a different angle. The Opera House was even more impressive from the water, as was the cityscape.  On the closeup picture of Sydney Harbour Bridge,  look at the people that are on the top. It is called"The Climb" you get to do this for about $200.00 per person.  On the bridge they have two train lines, foot and bike traffic and 8 lanes for cars and trucks. It was built in the 20's and 30's and took 9 years to build. They call the Bridge the clothes hanger because of the way it looks. Spent the afternoon at the beach on Manly. The weather was warm and sunny.

IT EAT MY BAG!

I forgot to mention that the baggage carousel at the Sydney Airport eat my Black Bag. Joanne gave me great advice to go to Paddy's Market to replace it. I did with the larger brown bag. Oh my I get to fill it up with goodies.

Bondi Beach

We started our day at Paddy's Market (big flea market), then we finished the hop on hop off bus today. Went to Bondi Beach. Walked Down to the beach and watched the surfer's for a while and then walked the water front.  Took the bus back  to The Rocks and spent the afternoon walking the area. Finished the day in Hyde Park. A great day in Sydney.

Exploring Sydney!

Today we got a little taste of Sydney. There is so much to see, Sydney is so diverse.  We walked around the downtown area this morning. We got on the Hop on Hop off bus this afernoon.  So we got a look around Quary, Wynard Train Station,Queen Victoria Building, Town Hall, Kings Cross,Sydney Opera House, Parliment House, Hyde Park (actually our hotel room looks down on the Park),King Street Wharf and the Rocks(I need to go back and look around more). The Rocks are where the convicts landed and were housed when they were exiled from England. Tommorrow we will finish the second half of our Hop on Hop off Bus with the Bondi Loop

Touring Around Sydney!

A day at the Blue Mountains with Garry and Joanne

First Day In Sydney!

Garry and Joanne picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the Blue Mountains just out side of Sydney. We visited Katoomba Falls and the Three Sisters (three rock formations). To us it looked like a  lush rain forest and and here it is called the bush. It was beautiful and we could not have asked for a better day the weather was perfect. Joanne and Garry treated us to a picnic lunch and then  we went on the Skyway Tram over the Forest and waterfalls.Then off to their home for our fist official Aussie Barbie.We were joined by fellow world cruises Judy and Colin. So now we have meet two couple that will be joining us on the world cruise. All warm and wonderful people. They gave us a great and warm welcome to Australia and in to the world cruise family.

Were Here in Beautiful Sydney AU!

Well after a 32 hour travel day we have arrived in Sydney. We lost on day as we traveled over the international dateline. Randy is shaking his head because we travel around the USA almost as long as the flight to Australia. We left Oroville at 8am and from Sacramento we flew to Denver then back to San Francisco. From SFO to Sydney was a 14 hour Flight. That's how it goes when you use Air Miles so we really are happy that we are here. We will start exploring tomorrow with Joanne and Gary who live in Sydney. We meet then through Cruise Critic and they are also going on the World Cruise with us.
They are taking us to the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney and to there house for dinner. Thanks Joanne and Gary! Will post pictures of the Mountains  and Sydney soon.

Final Packing!

Well  Randy and I were packing and I got the to my final piece of luggage and I don't know how much it weighted. This is were having a strong husband comes in handy. I asked him to please weight it for me and he did. Oh I have 3 more pounds that I can put in. Yeah! So while I was unhooking the scale from my luggage. My husband says let  me weight your other bag. Before I can respond he lifts my other luggage and proceeds to dump the whole thing out on the floor.  All my neatly rolled cloths are all over the floor. I asked him so,so politely to not touch my luggage until we leave for the Airport. Not !lol

You Can Teach Old Dogs New Tricks!

Well with the help of my daughter I have managed to post the pictures.  So I will practice, practice and get ready for the trip.

Turkey 2010

Here I go! Old School Trying to learn to download photos! LOL

Packing 1, 2, 3 almost ready to go!

13 days to go and almost ready, The quiet before the Storm. Busy getting the bills in order. Two bags packed and one to go! Have a week before the of last minute rush. Very excited and more then ready to go, after all the planing. -Carol