Adventures in NSW AUSTRALIA 2017

Amazing Australia! 

This adventure of a lifetime was like no other!  Lots of beautiful beaches, mountains, nature, exotic animals, delicious foods, and awesome company of our friends- The King Family!

We go way back with our friends Jane and Griffin,  transplants from Corona del Mar, CA, who currently live in New South Wales, Australia, and we just had to see this incredible life they live!  Last time our families spent time together was in Leogang, Austria, when we attended our friends Mike & Julia's wedding.  Their twins, Saga and Lincoln, were just toddlers back then.  

Australia is such a unique country-continent, so much interesting history, landscape, and species of animals.  It was such a cool experience seeing everything, hearing the Aussie accent, driving on the other side of the road.. we had a gold rental car so we really stood out!  The North Beaches of Sydney were a cross between Southern California, Hawaii, and Bali with a British twist!  The beaches were one of the most gorgeous coastlines we've seen in a long time!  The boys learned how to boogie board for the first time on the Tasman Sea, held and touched kangaroos, koalas, frolicked on the beaches and beach "pools", enjoyed Saga and Lincoln's amazing house and pool (lots of water fun and sleep-overs), many yummy breakfasts, an adventure to the Blue Mountains where we hiked the dramatic cliffs, saw waterfalls, and learned about the Aboriginal culture (the first people of Australia), and relished in Sydney city time at the very end of our 2 week trip.  Sydney was beautiful- the highlight there was dining under the stars with a beautiful view of the famous Opera house, bridge, and skyline.  These one-of-kind family nights in cities all over the world is one of my favorite memories from all the trips we've taken.  Just before our Sydney city time, the Australian Easter Bunny managed to make a visit and hid eggs for the kids to find and we had a memorable Easter celebration down under!

Most of all, we and the boys walked away becoming masterful travelers with a 20+ hour travel time under our belts... this was by far the furthest and longest flights we've flown to-date.  The boys did amazing and out motto is, whether you are on a long-haul for 9 or 10 hours, another 5 hours makes no difference and feels no different.  Long-haul flight feels long regardless of the hours... you just try to sleep as long as you can, and catch up on many, many movies.  We would go back in a heartbeat!

Vancouver, Brisish Columbia layover.  We flew one leg from Toronto-Vancouver, and then a 15 hour flight from Vancouver to Sydney.

The make-shift tent I made the boys using blankets, my carry-on suitcase suitcase lodged between the their seat and the seat in front, and placed down pillow over to make a bed for Jax.  This is how they slept for maybe 4 hours!

Our driver that our friends sent to pick us up from the airport

King family beautiful beach home in Dee Why Beach

The first thing we did upon arrival to combat the jet lag (which honestly wasn't bad at all, because since we flew out in the late evening from Vancouver, and arrived in the morning in Sydney... basically skipping a whole day- it felt like any morning time really).  The Nespresso cappuccinos were a must, so were the healthy energy drinks Griffin made us for an energy boost, and of course a dip in the pool was refreshing and we felt like we had re-booted.  Jax was the only one that was down for several hours during the day catching up on ZZZZ's. 

coconut welcome drinks