And here's the finale!!! It was SO COOL!!! Great job, Josh, for catching it on camera to share with everyone!!
The huge splash as the whale fell back down into the ocean!
It looks cold, but it was actually a very beautiful day. It was a little overcast, but warm. It got a little cooler as we headed out to sea, but hardly any wind at all either. Perfect!
headed back to shore!
watching for whales
We were able to get closer to this pair of whales.
There was another boat out with us.
The pair
blowing water out through its blowholes
The white spot in front of the white waves is the whale starting to go back down. We couldn't get very close to this one, as it was too close to the rocks already and they have regulations on how close you can get so the whales don't get hurt.
Looking for whales - check out Lance's lifejacket - "thrillseeker" Ha!
A light house we passed as we were heading out
Bye-bye Sydney!
A different view of the Opera House
Had to wear the life jackets! :)
On the boat, starting to head out to sea!!
We were being "touristy" as we waited for our boat. Down at Circular Quay there are always street performers and aboriginals playing the didjeridoo, etc. We thought it would be fun to get a picture - ha! Lance didn't think it was so much fun, hence the reason I'm in it with him!!
Last Sat. we decided to go on a whale watching tour in Sydney. We took a boat about 4 miles out to sea and saw a total of 3 whales that day! Most of the day the whales were doing their normal little shallow dives up where they blow the water out of their blowholes and we'd see the occasional tail flip up. It was really neat to see the whales in the wild. At the very end, the guide said, "ok, we're going to stay for one more appearance, (the whale has to come back up at some point to get some air) and then we have to head back to shore." So we watched and waited for it to come back up, and after about 5 min the whale flew STRAIGHT up, whole body out of the water, and came down with a HUGE splash!!!! It was amazing!!! It's like what you see on T.V. - I've never seen anything like it before! It was so neat, that you think "Did I really just see that??" The kids thought it was awesome and after it had gone back down I turned and asked Josh if he "got it on camera" and he DID! YEAH!!! So we get to post if for all of you to see! Of course, it's not the same as in real life, but you can at least see what I mean. It's like the whale knew it was the finale! All in all it was a fun day on the water, and the kids enjoyed the boat ride and the whales.
Trying out the "unicycle"
There was a fun park outside as part of the museum
spinning!
A neat view from the museum. To the right you can see the tower (we refer to it as the cupcake tower) where we viewed the city. Towards the middle left is the ferris wheel we rode a few weeks ago. We're having a lot of fun exploring the city and our new home!
A couple weekends ago we took the train to visit the Powerhouse museum in Sydney! The kids enjoyed learning about robots, electricity, trains, space shuttles, among other things. They REALLY liked having a"picnic" on the train for the ride in! We decided grabbing some sandwiches and eating on the train would be faster. It was a great day!
Showing off her turkey sandwich
learning how the windmills work
trying to get the lights to go off on the firetruck by pedaling a bike!
It was kind of hard, so daddy "had a go" (a little "Australian" for you)! Lance was excited when daddy made the lights go off!
We actually got my car a couple weeks ago - I love it! It's a Toyota Kluger and is a 7 seater. It's actually quite "roomy" on the inside and we're really happy with it. The kids are especially excited about the DVD player inside for longer car trips! Ha! Things are slowly falling into place and September will be a a busy month with us traveling back to America for Andy's (Josh's brother's) wedding in Albuquerque, NM, and then moving into our real house once we get back! Our sea shipment should be arriving mid-September, too, so a busy time all around! Praise God for how he has blessed this move to have gone as smoothly as possible.....so far! :)
love!
My camera died, so we used my iphone to take this picture - Josh got really close, but it was worth it!
Seriously....how precious!! Coolest thing EVER!
One of the koalas jumped from his branch onto a pole, so the worker had to carry him somewhere else!
Getting to pet the koalas
first touches and wide awake!
The most amazing part of the day were the koalas - of course! They were SOOO sweet and soft. They just slept or looked at you when you touched them. They were all out in the open and there were TONS of them. They would switch some around different times and put them on the "petting poles", so you could pet them and take pictures. They were completely free to climb and roam around, though. This was BY FAR our favorite and one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. I could've stayed in that section the whole day! I LOVED it! We actually returned to that section of the zoo 3 different times and the last time, we were the only ones there and had them all to ourselves!! It was so cool!! I will totally go back if anyone wants to visit!! ;)
Tasmanian Devil - this thing is DISGUSTING and they are very vicious - stay clear!
We got to watch feeding time and learn about them - he's getting fed a pig skin in this picture. It was gross! They are actually endangered right now.
Lance called these "angry birds", from the game - they were actually quite pleasant, though! ha! :)
Three "angry birds" sitting on a tree. They might be a breed of a kookaburra, but I'm not sure.
