Cowabunga Dudes!

Well, it's our last full day down under, and we took the ferry out to Manly Beach for a group surfing class.  The weather was cooperating, it was sunny and about 80 with a light wind, however, we were a little worried because we didn't see too many waves before our lesson.  In the end it didn't really matter, after a quick 10 minute intro (or re-intro in our case from our last surfing lesson in NC) we were out on the water with our boards!

After awhile, the waves picked up, and we both managed to catch some waves.  I really had to wait for the bigger waves since I need the extra power to get me up to speed.  Caitlin however, was flying all over the place and caught a bunch of waves.  All told, it was a pretty sweet $55 and had the makings of a good day.  We sat in the sun a little after surfing and grabbed some lunch and went back to the beach.  The water was definitely too cold though.  I mean you know it's cold if I won't go in there. . .

Tonight we just took it easy, and picked up some take away food and soon it'll be time to bed and we'll be on our way home tomorrow after lunch.  See everyone soon!  We'll be setting up the slideshow presentation sometime next week. . .

Scott

Time for the Beach!

Hey Everyone,

So the weather finally started to cooperate with us and we've had a couple nice days in Sydney to finish off our trip.  Tuesday we took the ferry to Manly Beach to do some shopping and sunbathing (I know, I know, no 'beached manatee' jokes. . . ).  We got a great day for most of the day and just layed out in the sun and relaxed and walked around and did some shopping.  Then we picked up some lunch (did you know that apparently Burger King in Australia is called Hungry Jack?) and looked at some surf shops and boardwalk shops and then headed home.

Today, we took the bus out to Bondi and layed out on the beach some more and then walked from Bondi to Coogee Beach along the coastal walkway.  It took about 2 hours, but there were some absolutely gorgeous views along the way, but we sure are tired now. . .

Tomorrow, we take the ferry back to Manly Beach for a 2 hour surfing group class, and then it's time to come home on Friday :-(.  Keep your fingers crossed that we don't get eaten by a shark!

Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb!

Happy 30th birthday to me!  Tonight we went on the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb (go honeyfund!), and it was totally awesome!

We showed up at the bridge at 5pm for check-in, and man, do they have a whole setup operation in place.  We were scheduled in the 5:15 group, and they gave us jump suits to wear, and wind pants to help with the wind (they looked/felt like MC Hammer pants!).  We got these big climbing belts and a bag with a wind-proof fleece and a rain jacket (since there was a chance for rain) clipped to the belt.  We got these cable clips attached to our belts that we clipped to the cable attached to all the bridge walkways we used to get to the top. So, in short, we felt like we were auditioning for Ocean's 14 and that we were going to have to rope into someone's mansion and steal some valuable artwork or something.

We started our tour by clipping on to the bridge railing and walking the cat walk from the bridge base to the main bridge arch.  It's funny because the scariest part was that catwalk that was 50 feet above the ground, because we're walking along a catwalk that is basically thin metal hand rails and 2 planks of 8" x 1" wood.  Very rickety feeling, and it didn't bode well for the rest of the bridge climb.

However, once we wound through the bridge base on the catwalk and made it to the main arch, everything was fine.  The main arch has steps on it, and is solid steel that's as wide as a city bus, so you don't have to look down past your feet to the ground far far below.  We climbed up ladders from the bridge base through the roadway (there were cars going by at high speed only a few feet away on either side) and walked up the arch to the top.

Once we got on the main arch, the wind was incredible, probably a constant 20mph with gusts up to 40mph (thank god for the wind proof clothes)!  However, the views were spectacular!  I wish we could've taken our own camera up there, I would've taken 1000 pictures in the time we were up there.  The whole experience was awesome, the top of the bridge is 134 meters (that's like 450 feet!) above the harbor and at night, you can see Sydney lit up like a Christmas tree.

After the bridge climb, we went to dinner at Phillip's Foot in the Rocks, which is a cool restaurant that has you grill your own food on the barbeque.  The deck out back is awesome, it's kind of secluded in a courtyard and has some candle light and heaters to keep everyone warm.  After that, it was on to Copenhagen Creamery for some ice cream (Butterscotch and Honeycomb ice cream is the best ice cream ever!) for dessert.  Overall it was a good night, with some adventure and steak.  I couldn't ask for a better 30th birthday. . .

Scott

Sydney, Howard Style. . .

We had planned on following some of Caitlin's sister Megan's recommendations for things to do in Sydney on Sunday: doing the Sydney Harbor Kayaking tour, eating breakfast at Bather's Pavilion in Balmoral Beach, and dinner at sunset at Watson's Bay.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate for us to do all of those things.  The temperature was maybe 70-ish, but the winds were sustained 25mph with gusts up to 50mph.  Right as we were about to leave our hotel on Sunday morning, we got a call from the Kayak Tours people saying they had to cancel the tour that day because of the wind (which sucked, because they only do it on the weekends outside of the summer, and so we couldn't reschedule, I guess we should've booked Saturday. . .).
 
So, no worries.  We changed clothes and put on some warmer clothes and hopped on the ferry for Turanga Zoo.  Once we got off the Zoo, we were supposed to get on the 238 bus to Balmoral Beach.  When we walked to the end of the Ferry Wharf, we saw the 238 bus, but it only said it was going to the zoo.  There was a lady there from the zoo, so we asked her if the bus continued on after the zoo entrance, and she said "No, the bus only goes to the zoo."  So the bus drove off and we set off walking, and basically ended up walking 1/2 a mile up a big hill to the upper zoo entrance, to then get on the exact same bus.  Thanks a lot lady!

After that, the bus dropped us off a couple hundred yards away from breakfast, and at this point we were starving, since we got up at 7am for our kayaking, and then didn't get to eat until 10:30 because we had to wait for the Ferry until 8:45.  I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Megan for recommending breakfast there, because the view from our table was awesome (you can see it here on the left).  Oh yeah, and the food was pretty good too.

We walked around along the boardwalk for awhile, and went out and sat on the rocks (the picture at the top, good thing I figured out how the timer works on our fancy camera!) out of the wind, and then made our way home.

After a short mid-afternoon nap, we took the ferry out to Watson's Bay and walked up to the Gap (the two rocks that make up the mouth of Sydney Harbor from the Pacific ocean.  Unfortunately, shortly after that the camera battery finally crapped out (which is pretty good since I've taken about 600 pictures since we've been in Australia. . . ) so there weren't any more pictures from our evening.

However, we did make it down to Doyle's on the beach, and we had a delicious dinner.  The wind was just crazy though!  It kept blowing the door open, but it did do a really good job of keeping the crowd away.  Our sunset was unfortunately blotted out by some clouds (but not the red sandy kind! We were in the Outback for those), but the dinner and Bluetongue was delicious.  After a bus ride back to our hotel, our day of panoramic views and gastronomic adventures was over.

Scott

Kuranda Pictures Uploaded

I uploaded pictures from our trip up to Kuranda on the scenic railway and the skyrail trip home.  There's some pretty good pics of the rainforest and mountains outside Cairns, check them out by clicking on the Picasa widget on the top right!

Scott

Australian Fiesta!

On Saturday night, Caitlin was suffering from some serious Chips 'n Salsa withdrawal (Mexican restaurants are about as common here as Rugby games are in the states, they exist, but no one but a chosen few knows about them. . .), so we decided to go looking for a good Mexican restaurant.  We found a place online that said their head chef/founder guy spent 20 years in California cooking Mexican food, and wanted to bring that home to Sydney, and they had cheap Corona, so it sounded like the place to go.

We hopped on a bus, since the restaurant was a couple miles away from the waterfront, and let me tell you, it was freezing outside, probably 60 degrees with constant 20mph+ winds.  We arrived at the restaurant, already kind of cold (Caitlin didn't bring any shoes other than her hiking shoes!), and wouldn't you know it, the only table they had available were outside in the beer garden. . .oh well, bring on the chips 'n salsa!

So, as a review of their food, the chips 'n salsa was the best part of the meal.  If this chef spent 20 years cooking Mexican food in CA for 20 years, then either he can't get the right spices in Australia, or else he forgot what Mexican tastes like.  Oh well, at least the chips 'n chipotle salsa delicious!

We can't wait to get some Chipotle when we get home!  It's the little things you miss when you're away. . .

Scott

Uluru Pics

I've uploaded our pics from Uluru/Ayer's Rock to our public Picasa Web Album.  If you want to see all of them, click on the widget to the right with the thumbnail images to see the web album directly.  Here's a couple of the highlights:

Here's a picture of the sun peeking around one of the knobs of the Kata-Tjata rock formation.  It's pretty much the same as Uluru, except it's built up of a bunch of peaks instead of one smooth solid rock. . .

Here's a picture of Uluru at Sunset, very pretty isn't it?!







Well guys, it's time for dinner, more to come!
Scott

Welcome to the Rock!

After we left Cairns, we flew to Yulara, which is the resort town/airport built just outside the Uluru & Kata-Tjata National Parks.  We took an overnight camping tour and took a zillion pictures of the most identifiable physical feature of Australia!  Here's a quick look, then it's off to bed and we'll post the rest soon:

Here we are in front of 'The Rock', for our camping trip's sunset Uluru (pronounced Ooooo-loo-ru) champagne toast (yeah, I know, we 'roughed' it. . .)

More on the Outback later!

Scott

Hansen Family Portrait

So while we were in Cairns, we took the scenic railway up through the rainforest and mountains to Kuranda Village.  We took so many photos (which will be uploaded to our Picasa web album tomorrow), but here's a preview:

In Kuranda Village they have a real small zoo/animal sanctuary and one of the things they do is a Koala Cuddle.  As you can see we adopted a nice little koala.  Shortly after this picture was taken we tried to make a break for it, but were stopped by security before we could abscond with this cute little guy. . . . just kidding.  But he was really nice and soft and cute and would probably make a nice nap partner/pet for Caitlin!


Scott

Professional Wedding Photos

We got an email from Steve, our wedding photographer, who said that our pictures were ready and posted to the client section of his website.  If you want to take a look, go to his website and click on the clients link and put in our wedding date, 091209 and you can check out the official pictures!

Enjoy!
Scott

Snorkeling

So, as I already posted, we went Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef on a deserted island (and it was deserted Tim, no stranded WWII soldiers that I could find. . . ).  Now that we're back in an actual city with a decent high-speed internet connection, I'll post some pictures:

Here's a quick peek at our tropical desert island in the Coral Sea

The interior of the Island. . .

Caitlin's audition for survivor Frankland Islands!

You can't really see it too well, but we did see a sea turtle, it's that little blob in the water. . . I took a picture with our underwater disposable film camera, so we'll have to wait and see if that one comes out. . .











More to come!

Camera Found!

Okay, so note to self, when you put something in a little pocket in your bag so you won't forget it, it's probably a good idea to remember that you did that. . . Otherwise you end up buying a camera from a vending machine in the airport.  On the plus side, now we have 3 cameras to document our trip, so that can't be a bad thing right (and that dSLR is freakin' heavy)?

Caitlin is happy, she found her beloved little Sony camera, so now the only problem is that I didn't bring the USB cable to get the pictures off, so we'll have to post those pictures once we get home (or unless we can find an adapter for Memory Stick Pro Duo. . .), which really means that for the most part, you won't see too many pictures of me :-P

Scott

Cairns

Hi Everyone!

Okay, so we're in Cairns (pronounced Cannns by the Aussies) for a few days of beach, reef and rainforest. Our hotel isn't that great, but the area we're staying in is pretty sweet.  It's a little secluded beach community called Trinity Beach and it has it's own beach that's about a mile long with rocky outcroppings on either end to block off the beach from other nearby beaches.  There's a number of really nice restaurants within walking distance and the beach itself is pretty awesome (except that we're kind of worried about jellyfish, which are starting to get in season).

So far, we've gone and hung out on the beach, (there's Caitlin sitting on the rocks looking at our little beach town) and today we went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.  One thing I didn't know is that the reef is actually broken up into a zillion little reefs, I kind of always actually thought it was just one massive 200 mile long reef.

So we went to one of the Frankland islands, a deserted island group a few miles offshore from the mouth of the Mulgrove river.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  The weather was perfect and we had the island to ourselves (and 55 of our closest strangers) with our little piece of the reef in our secluded cove.

So we got to snorkel and take pictures with our underwater camera of all the fish in the reef, which were so close that you could literally reach out and touch them (I think we both accidentally kicked fish with our big flippers, oops!).  We got to explore the island, which felt very 'Lost'-ish, so that was fun.  And, during one of our sun breaks, we got to see a couple sea turtles up close and personal!  We didn't have a chance to grab our snorkeling gear, so we just got to see them from 4 feet away on shore, but hopefully our pictures of them turn out.

In the meantime, it was pretty much a perfect day on the Coral Sea.  We got a little sunburned, but hey, what can you do, we saw the Great Barrier Reef and it was definitely awesome!  Sorry for the lack of pictures, we took a bunch, but our internet connection here is slow enough that it makes posting pictures take forever.  Hopefully it'll be faster when we get back to Sydney and we can post all the pictures from the stuff we've been doing. . .

We'll keep posting on our exploits though, so see you all later,
Scott

Royal Botanical Gardens

Well, Thursday was so nice out that we decided to take a walk around the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was unseasonably warm at 85 degrees in Sydney (that's like 85 in late-March/early-April in DC!). Since we have 7 more days in town in another week, we decided to enjoy the outside. Here's a few pictures:

Caitlin doing her best Koala Bear impression:

Using the self timer to get a pick of both of us in front of the two Circular Quay landmarks:

Caitlin looking pretty in the shade by Mrs Macquarie's Chair:





Now we're off to our Hot Rock massages and then the airport to Cairns!  More to come. . .

Scott

New Camera!

So, I think we actually planned out our packing pretty well, however, we couldn't find our digital camera. We bought a really nice dSLR camera for the trip, but we don't want to lug that thing around everywhere (and my back seconds that!) so what were we to do?

We tried to borrow my parents camera, but somehow between their house and Caitlin's parent's house, the camera stopped working altogether. So, we left without a small camera (which would mean lugging that big thing around everywhere. . . ) we got on the plane.

Lo and behold, LAX airport to the rescue! When we got off the plane in LA for our layover, they had a Best Buy vending machine that had a pretty sweet camera in it for $100 that was better than the camera we would've borrowed, or our own if we could've found it! Catastrophe averted, honeymoon back on!

Scott

Huzzah Honeymoon!

6:07 AM Wednesday Sept 16th and we finally arrived in Australia! After 20 harrowing hours in the air and 3 1/2 hours on the ground at LAX (which smells like baby puke), we finally made it. . .

For those of you who aren't aware, it sucks being tall on any flight these days, but let me tell you, that was the worst flying experience of my life. I think I went for about 6 hours without being able to move because my knees were wedged into the back of the seat in front of me. Long story short, we're tired, we didn't get much sleep and somehow, we missed a Tuesday in transit (and we ate 3 different breakfasts!), but we're here and it's just the beginning:

2 days in Sydney
5 days in Cairns (Yayyy Barrier Reef!)
2 days in Yulara to see Ayers Rock/Uluru (the big Red Rock)
and finishing off with 7 days back in Sydney before we fly back home!

We'll be updating this account as often as we can and we have something to post.