Wildlife World

The good thing about Christmas falling over a weekend is that today and tomorrow are public holidays. We decided to take advantage of Row's day off as he hasn't taken any leave over this festive period to go to the Wildlife World in Darling Harbour. After our mishap last time, we took our receipt with to see if they would let us in with that as each ticket comes with a bar code and is scanned for admittance. The weather was miserable and overcast but most of the activities at this park are indoors except for the koalas. The queues to get into the park and aquarium were ridiculously long and we were very tempted to just go home and not deal with this; seeing how long the queue was made us question how busy it would be inside. I queued up with Justin while Row went to find out if we would be allowed admittance on our receipt but because it was so busy, there was no one to assist us in our query and there was nobody manning the pre-bought tickets stile so we decided to scan the tickets ourselves and Voila! We gained admittance. It was quite busy inside but not chaotically so, however, there were a lot of prams and a lot of children milling around so keeping a tight rein and a keen eye on Justin proved to be hard work. The first part of the park is quite dark but Justin was so interested in the spiders and ants that he didn't seem too perturbed by the darkness. We saw lots of insects, some frogs and snakes, a huge crocodile, some crocodile hatchlings, a few baby crocodiles, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, bilbies amongst other things. Among the animals were different life-size Lego sculptures which is a new exhibit in both the Wildlife World and the aquarium (which hadn't yet started when we went last time) so that was another draw card, more for Row and I than for Justin. Towards the end of park, Justin started losing interest and growing wary of the noises and darkness which didn't affect him earlier so we put it down to hunger and tiredness. We finished off and went in search for food.....calamari and chips...which we ate next to the harbour. That's what I love about Sydney, there is always fresh fish and calamari somewhere around.

Looking for the small crocodiles

Row and Justin with Lego exhibit

Looking at ants

Another Lego exhibit

Justin says, "Snakes go sssssss"

Look at the dragons!

No Just, not a monkey, a koala!

Calamari and chips for lunch

Our first Christmas in Sydney

Just like the year has flown by, so has our first Christmas in Sydney. We started off the festivities with a dinner at my brother, BG, on Christmas Eve. It was a pot luck dinner with the host making a delicious, mouth-watering, succulent leg of lamb, our contribution being potato bake and roast veggies, Candice and Barry making sure we ended off the delicious meal with very tantalising brandy snap baskets filled with ice cream and hot chocolate sauce and cherries and mini pavlovas and Lisa and Frits quenching our thirsts with wine, beer and soda pop! At each place setting, we got a goodie bag with our names on it and a cracker which Justin loved and pulled most of them with us. It wasn't too late an evening as BG, Lisa and Frits had an early start the next day, Barry and Candice were going to Midnight Mass and we of course had to put Justin to bed.

Our goodie bags and crackers

Getting ready for Christmas Eve dinner

Dessert!!!!!

Spoiled by Kaufoo and aunt Louise

Thankfully Justin did not wake up too early on Christmas morning so we were able to "sleep in" till 7:30am. While waiting for Candice and Barry to come over to open presents with us, we gave Justin a few presents to open. He was so very spoiled getting a lot of Sesame Street things, a tractor and clothes from his Kaufoo (BG) and aunty Louise, a Steve Irwin DVD from Lisa and Frits and a book from Popo (grandmother) and Kung-Kung (grandfather) to name  a few. We all opened our presents together and then it was time for Justin to have a nap and for us to prepare Christmas lunch. On the menu: roast chicken, roast pork, roast veggies and ice cream and hot chocolate sauce and strawberries. To end off the day, we went to the beach to enjoy the hot weather and sun. Justin found a little spot where there was some water and no waves and made himself very comfortable and had lots of fun.

Justin's Sesame Street gifts

Opening presents

Christmas lunch

We hope that all our family and friends around the world had a blessed and joyous Christmas, spending time with loved ones and sharing delicious meals.

Summer fun

Friends of ours organised a Christmas braai (BBQ) for all ex-Saffa's. The weather was good; blue skies, a slight breeze and lots of sun! They provided snacks, salads, bread rolls and dessert and we braaied whatever meat we wanted to bring. It was nice to see some old, familiar faces and meet some new ones. The braai was held at a school where one of the girls works. The grounds were huge so lots of space for the children to run around and there was a pool, perfect for the hot weather. It was a heated pool so we managed to get Justin (and me) into the pool for some splashing about. 

Brings back good memories of how we use to spend Christmas growing up in South Africa.

Justin was running up and down this slope

Our first family swim of the season

Aquarium - Take 2

The last time we went to the Oceanworld Manly , we bought an Explore 4 Pass which includes tickets to both aquariums, the wildlife world and the Sydney Tower and has a three month validity. As our tickets are going to expire in the new year, we decided to take Justin to the Wildlife World on Saturday. This park has koalas, butterflies, reptiles, invertebrates, nocturnal and rain forest animals and wallabies. We were a bit apprehensive about going considering how the first trip to the aquarium went but since our tickets are about to expire, we bit the bullet and decided to try anyways. But because we had quite a rushed morning, Row threw his shorts into the laundry...and these were the same shorts that had our tickets which soon became pocket fluff. Poor Justin had just spent the morning in the car and at the supermarket so we decided to use our tickets to the Sydney Aquarium to make his day a little more interesting. What a difference to our first trip! Justin had such a blast and wasn't at all scared. He was running around, looking at all the different sea life and pointing things out to us. He even said "shar" for shark and would get quite excited when he saw one. We were so glad that Justin enjoyed this outing and has so much fun. This aquarium is definitely better than the Manly one so any visitors planning on coming out should include this on the list if they have kids. 

I forgot how serene and calming it can be underwater (and I am not comfortable in the water) and it made me want to finish my PADI openwater course...or I could just keep going to the aquarium and enjoy feeling as if I am underwater yet not be in the water!

A night in Canberra

Over the weekend, we took a trip down to our nation's capital, Canberra, to visit our very good friends, Martine and Jurgen. We left on Saturday morning after breakfast and planned it so that Justin would have his nap in the car. It was a hot sunny day and poor Justin's seat was right in the sun and the window shade was not doing much for him. About an hour and a half into our journey, we stopped off at a petrol station so Justin could stretch his legs and for Row to move Justin's car seat into the middle. 

Stretching my legs

 Ahhh, at long last...a nap! I fell asleep before Justin so it was up to dad to entertain Justin until he (Justin) also passed out. We met Martine and Jurgen at a restaurant called Grazing which is about 30kms outside of Canberra. This didn't seem like a particularly child-friendly restaurant; to call it fine dining would be a stretch but it was no Spur. It was an old house converted into a restaurant and most of the patrons were a little more dressed up than shorts and slip slops. But they did have booster seats and children's menu so at least we knew they did cater for children. This was the first time we ordered food off the menu for Justin; he had fish and chips with a side salad, of which he only ate the chips :( Row and Martine had the rabbit, Jurgen had shepherd's pie and I had fish. The food was quite good, not the best, but it was still pretty good. Row and Justin discovered the vegetable patch behind the restaurant and this kept him busy for a good while. Then I took over and we discovered some ducks and their little pool. So at least Justin was able to run around and stretch his legs for a long time before resuming our trip and  he fell asleep until we reached Martine and Jurgen's home.

Eating fish and chips

Smelling the herbs in the vegetable patch

Justin was full of beans after his nap and was ready to go; he helped Jurgen clean their patio and this kept him entertained and busy while Martine made a delicious pasta and napoletana sauce for his dinner. Cleaning their patio was probably the highlight of Justin's entire trip! After dinner it was bath and bed time and then we (the adults) had the evening to ourselves. Unfortunately, being a foreign environment, Justin did not sleep well which meant Row and I did not sleep well either. We woke up to a very wet and miserable Sunday and got off to a slow start. After a delicious breakfast, we headed out to the Parliament Buildings. I would like to write more about these buildings but running after Justin doesn't allow for a slow leisurely tour to read about the country's past, its laws and its government. Plus we had to cut the tour very short as it totally coincided  with Justin's nap time and he was growing extremely agitated. The good thing is that he slept practically the whole way home. We will definitely have to make another trip down to Canberra.