Sydney to the Sunshine Coast

As we're 1 day out from our estimated due date, I’m feverishly tackling my “to do” list.  The only things left are:

1) Blog about a trip we took waaay back in March.  (I can’t even begin to justify my procrastination).

2) Buy a coffee maker (Apparently my sleeping patterns are about to change).

In March, we welcomed my mom, Sandy, and stepdad, Perry, to Australia.  As much as they were looking forward to arriving, it’s no secret that they weren’t overly thrilled with the idea of traveling half way around the world to get here.  Nonetheless, they navigated themselves through multiple airports and arrived in Sydney as scheduled.  Well done, folks!

We toured them through Sydney making certain they hit all the hotspots.  Well…almost all the hotspots, that is.  For some reason, we still haven’t been able to sell anyone on climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  We hear the experience is nothing short of spectacular.  We’re waiting for out-of-towners to accompany us.   Who will it be?!

After two days in Sydney, we headed home to Newcastle.  We spent nearly a week bumming around town, hanging out on beaches, and introducing our guests to the famous Aussie animals.  My mom, who could take or leave animals (perhaps preferring the latter), was a trooper when we drug her to the farm for the meet and greet. Our mistake was not knowing that the farm was free roaming.  Oops! Needless to say, the goats, ducks and wallabies flocked to her.  

During our week in Newcastle Jason worked…a little. We benefited from his misfortune.   He treated us by organizing a fly over at Nobby’s Lighthouse.  We were barely at our meeting point when the boys flew by.  Thankfully we captured the moment with our minds eye because we all failed in our photography.  Oh well, it was still cool knowing the “waving” was for us.  

  

We also took them to Port Stephens where they rode camels, traveled the sand dunes, hiked to the top Tomaree headland, and came across a rather venomous red belly black snake.  That last experience pretty much ended their hiking for the remainder of the trip.  

Leaving Newcastle and surrounds behind, we flew up to the Sunshine Coast for a peek around.  Perry, being a man of maps, navigated Jason to our first stop, Fraser Island.  This adventure required a 4 wheel drive vehicle.   Fraser Island is on the World Heritage listing and ranked right up there with Uluru, Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef.  It stretches over 76 miles in length and is the largest sand island in the world.  The “highway” is purely sand and travel times are dictated solely by the changing tides.  If nightlife is what you’re after, you’ve definitely come to the wrong place.  There is next to nothing happening, but the island sure was beautiful.  In fact, it’s long uninterrupted beaches are lined by colored sand cliffs, freshwater lakes, and rainforests. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share one particular story.  Planning for a day outing, the guys had the cooler packed to maximum capacity with food and beverages.  It sat nicely in the trunk portion of the SUV.  Mom and I were happy to take in the sights from the back seat.  Jason did most of the driving, but in the spirit of sharing he handed the keys over to Perry.   This is where the story begins…  Mind you, I’m 24 weeks pregnant at the time.  We’re cruising along the open “highway” chatting away when all of the sudden we hit a ditch that sends the car airborne.  We knew we were getting close to touching down because the only sound we heard was that of the seatbelts locking.  It felt like forever, but soon enough we slam down onto the sand.  Still driving, Perry immediately turns around –looks straight past mom and I and yells, “The cooooler! Is the cooler ok…Is it upright?!”  Simultaneously, the three of us bark back for him to turn around and look where he’s driving.  While I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, Jason and mom were making sure I’m wasn't going into labor.  In the end, we all laughed about it.  And...Jason drove from that point on. 

All good!

“A dingo ate my baby.”  You’ve all heard it.  I’m sure you’ve even said it.  Seriously though, what exactly is a dingo?  It’s a free-roaming wild dog unique to Australia (of course it is).  Dingoes are a national icon, and one that should be rightly respected.  In fact, just a few weeks ago in the Northern Territory, a 13 year old girl woke to find she was being dragged in her sleeping bag from underneath the awning of her caravan by a dingo.  Yikes!  Anyway, we knew what we were getting into.  We received plenty of cautious handouts from the information center.  My mom took the task to heart of memorizing the pamphlets…front to back…back to front…inside and out.  She didn’t take any risks.  She made a point of staying away from small children playing.  When outside, she carried herself tall, moved free of haste, and held tightly to a large stick.  Here’s the thing though...she grew up in the South.   If push came to shove, we all knew the dingos had the disadvantage.  

 

From Fraser Island we popped into Noosa for a few nights.  Noosa is a charming coastal town with gorgeous beaches, a cosmopolitan lifestyle and an inspiring dining scene.  It was such an ideal place to kick back and relax.  One day, Jason and I snuck away for an afternoon of hiking along the coast.  It was meant to be short walk, an hour at the most.  ….Yeah, 7 miles later we made it back to town.  Why was I not surprised?!  

Our time in Noosa fell over Good Friday.  A dear friend of ours from Newcastle was visiting her family who also lives in Noosa.  They graciously invited the four of us to their home to experience an Australian Good Friday seafood feast.  Mmm!!  It was such a beautiful afternoon.  

Easter Sunday we left Noosa for the Gold Coast.  Along the way, we stopped in to check out Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo.  -Very cool!  Celebrities in their own right, Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin were there for the day, too.  They put on an entertaining Crocodile show.   I was really impressed with the Irwin kids.  They were so well-spoken and captivating in their roles.  The zoo was clean, well maintained, housed a good variety of animals.  Each habitat was big enough to create a comfortable environment for its inhabitant.  There proved to be a lot of interaction between animals and zookeepers.  In addition to the croc entertainment, another favorite was a tiger show.  I guess I never thought about it before, but I was surprised by how taken back I was when I saw the tiger climb a tree! -Impressive.  On a personal note, feeding an elephant was the highlight for me! Walking around the zoo with my pregnant stomach hanging out was definitely my low.  Without my knowledge, my growing belly popped a button open on my dress.  Oh well…

 

Finally making it the Gold Coast, we were treated to a sweet upgrade at our hotel.  Jason was convinced it was based solely on his good looks.  Who am I to argue?!  The Gold Coast is a built up beach city full of smaller beach towns.  We stayed in Surfers Paradise which is considered the main tourist area.  Perry was at his happiest because he had people watching, food, drinks, and nightlife all at his fingertips.  I think it’s safe to say the Gold Coast was both mom and Perry’s favorite stop of all.  

Our last stop was Byron Bay.  There’s not much to say here as we didn’t spend much time.  Our hope was to stay a few nights but we quickly learned our trip coincided with a major Blues festival.  Our procrastination on booking accommodations in a timely manner turned Byron Bay into a day trip.  Nevertheless, the area was gorgeous and we can say we were there. 

If the map wasn't in his hands it was in hands reach

In a nutshell, that was our trip.  We were so thankful to have shared it with such special parents.  Mom and Perry, thank you for traveling to Australia to visit us! We loved every minute of it.  Best of all, it won’t be long before my mom is out here again….meeting her newest grandchild! Can’t wait!!

Ps- My "to do" is task free as I bought a coffee maker during the writing of this! Bring on the bubs!!