Cooberrie Animal Sanctuary

By popular demand, we bring you a day at the Cooberrie Animal Sanctuary. Highly recommended by locals and receiving a brief mention with a "but it's nothing fancy" attachment by the tourist information people, we knew it was the place for us.
All of the animals here had been rescued, some get rehabilitated and re-released into the wild or if necessary are able to permanently reside in the sanctuary. Each animal had a name and a story posted by their homes making the whole day welcoming and personal. When F called from across the clearing, "It's hot and fuzzy inside Gloria's (the kangaroo) pouch!", we knew just what was going on and with which animal friend.
We must also mention the important (but slightly weird) fact that there was a swimming pool- right smack dab in the middle of kangaroo land. (At this point in the trip we were keenly aware that wet kids are happy kids, making their parents lives much much easier after a daily dip.)

We've seen skinks in books (and a few days later on a hike), but to see and hold one was really cool. They are fat- like a snake, but with four tiny legs- like a lizard and skinks have a blue tongue. Look closely and you can see Bill's blue tongue in the picture.

We could never get enough of the koalas. I personally wanted to climb into each koala habitat cuddle up, have a nap too. Getting to spend a few minutes cheek-to-cheek with Teddy was the best!
Koala facts we learned:
They sleep 18-22 hours a day, eat only eucalyptus leaves (which make them sleepy) and are solitary animals (no BFF needed near my tree- thank you. P.S. touch my tree and I might beat you up...). Koalas are designed for hot weather. The day we were there was about 85 degrees and overcast, quite cold to a koala. So, Teddy preferred to be in someone's arms and not the tree.
Another fun fact we learned- there are over 700 different types of eucalyptus trees. It's like not having to eat just M&M's your whole life but 700 different kinds of candy... not so bad eh?
By the way koalas are not 'bears', like they were first called when the white people set foot on the Australian continent. They are marsupials, like the kangaroo, wombat, tasmanian devil and most of the mammals in Australia. So wipe that word 'bear' right off your lips...

Pete the Python was constantly on the move, wrapping himself around your warm body when ever he got the chance.

Two little cuties, I just want to cuddle, pet, tickle and pinch cheeks all around.
Click on any picture to make it bigger.
For more photos of the day look here.

One really, really, long day

It was raining when we left Sydney, making it a tiny bit easier (super teeny tiny) to pile into the taxi to the airport.

With a 12 hour flight from Sydney to LA (it was 15 hrs. on the way over) the kids made use of the personal TV and extensive movie menu by each watching about 5 movies. But, every now and again, you just gotta crash- glasses and all...


F anticipating the cold...

Almost home. Here is the Wasatch Mountain range coming into view and the massive inversion over the Salt Lake Valley. We later found out that January 14th (the day we returned home) recorded Salt Lake City as having the the worst air quality in the United States- in the hazardous-to-breathe range. Happy to be home? hmm...I'll have to think about that.

On the ground before we left- crossing the international date line has given us January 14- twice. Bring on the jet lag.

Sydney, we love you...

We spent our last day wandering around Sydney, picking up souvenirs, taking plenty of pictures, people watching. When we came to this monument in Hyde Park we felt moved to take some parting shots.

Everyone held up their treats and smiled...

then made sad faces... when a little note taped to the stone caught our eye.

Ladies, I feel the same way.
When I am here I want to throw my arms out like Mary Tyler Moore and spin around. We'll miss you Sydney, heck, we'll miss this whole darn country.

Nambucca Heads Public Art

Driving through the town of Nambucca Heads we were stopped in our tracks by the mosiac street art/ bus stop in the center of this sleepy coastal town. We all piled out of the RV in amazement and started exploring.

The best part was that the mosaic wasn't haphazardly constructed- it tells a story all the way through. We learned later that the mosaic is called "Fish & Chips" and was constructed by local artist Guy Crosley and a team of volunteers, school children and art students, started in 1996 and completed in 2000.

Every piece of "Fish & Chips" was constructed from ceramics and objects donated or specifically made by artists locally and from around the world.

Here is the story: Starting from the serpentine deep sea: sharks, whales, rays and schools of fish begin their journey to the shore, through exotic waves of tile and rock into the Smokey Cape Bay, passing the headlands, through the river mouth onto the break-wall and along the river passing the ugly brick suburbs and pastureland to Macksville, over the hills and forests to the fertile earth beyond. All types of earthly and airborne characters adorn these landscapes. Beneath the colourful and glossy facade there is a dark undercurrent that surfaces including a large drunken octopus with three pigs in the clutch of his tentacles, monsters that dwell within the waves that wait offshore and a rainbow serpent wrapped around a gold topped mushroom where people await a magic bus to arrive.

C's favorite part- the windy roads of the suburbs- perfectly sized for his cars.

One Mile Beach

One of our last beach days was spent at One Mile Beach in Anna Bay, Port Stephens. The surf was flat everywhere else, but on this beach the waves were perfect, tiny kid-style waves. We've seen some stormy, choppy surf on this trip, so- we all fell in love- surfing and boogie boarding until the sun went down.
The boards we had were 5'5" soft boards (borrowed from the RV rental company) and not easy to surf. The kids were all used to at least a 9' board (what they learned on in California). I was very impressed when they were all able to surf the shorter boards.

We finally picked up a boogie board in Noosa- over halfway through the trip, but then made good use of the fun little "sled".

M got good at the catching the wave herself, without any push whatsoever.

C started sporting the goggles to keep the salt water from burning his eyes, very effective, he could stay in the water for hours at a time with his eyes covered. He and F would "share" the boogie board...
Method- Steve O would push him into the wave, he would give a little cheer then look back at his feet and kick as hard as he could for the whole ride. He takes his fun very seriously.

Byron Bay

Everyone we've asked for advice has recommended Byron Bay, looking at this picture you can see why. The beaches are beautiful, the town is cute, Steve O calls it "Moab of the Sea" because it's trendy, hip, lots of funky surf shops and art galleries, dreadlocks and backpacks.

The kids are disturbed that "Australien" is spelled wrong, I keep telling them, I didn't make it- it's poached art, I just came across it while walking. I'm not quite sure what language spells it this way...

The water was so clear. Not as warm as Queensland but refreshingly delicious.

Steve O having a special 'breaking the law' moment.

The Aussies sure do like to leave their Christmas decor up just as long as possible.
Not nearly as many bikes as you might think in this country. The climate is perfect, so- what's up with that? There are two possible conclusions we've come up with after discussing it with folks.
1. It's mandatory to wear a helmet. No helmet= big ticket.
2. Motorist don't give a crap about cyclists, (or pedestrians for that matter) so you are taking your life in your hands riding around town. Some spots are trying to change attitudes and streets for cyclists (Sydney) hopefully this is a countrywide trend- wait, make that worldwide.

Lest We Forget

(Hope this is not disrespectful but...)
Sometimes is fun to pretend your baby brother is dead when you are at the beach at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Amen.

safety first

One of the things we love about this place is the openness with which they refer to the possible consequences of playing in a specific area, usually, but not always, having to do with water.

This giant sign is posted at the trailhead of Cedar Creek Falls in Mount Tamborine.

This guy must be illiterate, poor fella. Dude, BTW, there are eels in that water. We learned about the eel situation after we went for a swim. (Cedar Creek Falls, Mount Tamborine) Oh yes, of course we stayed to watch him jump (just to make sure he surfaced safely).

Just about every beach has some sort of warning, referring to all the ways you may be injured or die, don't say we never warned you...

Of course a picture always helps the illiterate or the youngsters get the 411. We love this one.

It's true, I was tempted to climb around on the cliff rocks, then I read the sign, AND remembered I'm a mother of four...

Let's see, what do I know about stone fish...?

Let's be frank, this could be a safety issue too.

Lychee, Passionfruit and Mangos

The fruit in OZ is snack-tacular. Here is looking up into a mango tree, the trees are everywhere and the best mangos I've ever eaten. C and F are big fans too, begging them as snacks.

It took a young gal working at a fruit stand offering me a lychee (one of these little red fruits) to get them figured out. I have seen them in the grocery stores but had no idea what they were or what to do with them- so I left them alone. Finally, fruit gal showed me how to peel it and eat it, and I fell in love.

They are about the size of eyeballs, perhaps a bit bigger, and super slimy- but in any case the kids just can't get around that fact and refuse to eat them.

Don't forget the pit- not edible. They taste kind of like grapes, only a bit sweeter. Delicious little lollies.

Passionfruit sample from the Eumundi Market. You can see here Steve O is a big fan- super sweet fruit, look like slimy fish eyes, still-I can't get enough.

Lady Musgrave Island, Great Barrier Reef

Here we all are on Lady Musgrave Island, 90 miles off the coast of Australia. The island is completely surrounded by reef and lagoon and is extraordinarily beautiful. The beach we landed on is big chunks of coral and sounded like glasses being clinked together when you walked across it. The other side of the island is where about 30 sea turtles lay their eggs every night.

The entire island is a marine sanctuary. You can't even pick up bird poop much less coral as a souvenir. This is perhaps to make up for many years of wackiness on this island even- in particular. It's tiny, (15 hectare) but in the 1930's a resort was built on the island until WWII when it was abandoned and pilaged during the following years. Goats were left behind (to feed shipwrecked sailors) that picked the island clean until they were eradicated in the 1970's. Very interesting history... today you can camp on the island with a permit, for 3 weeks in a stretch. Hello- why wouldn't ya?
Actually, we walked past a group that had been camping since Christmas and they looked a bit shipwrecked. Still, I think I would suck on coral and drink rain water to spend a week living here (let's just start with a week...)

Fabulous snorkeling for everyone...

I kid you not, the water inside the reef is really this blue. It was one of the most surreal, exquisitely beautiful sights I have ever seen.

C, hanging on the dive/snorkel platform. Later on the kids said one of their favorite things from the trip was this platform. Go figure.

Reef markers.

The Town of 1770

We are making our way south now. We are in a town called "The Town of 1770." This photo is from a beach day in Agnes Waters in Queensland yesterday. All is well and we are happy. (we are out of internet range so few posts for a while)