Australia: Sydney

I woke up on the morning of July 13th with a sharp pain in my right side.  Hyrum advised me to go into the ER because if it was an infection they could get me an antibiotic and I would still be able to catch our flight to Sydney at 3:00 that afternoon.  I went into the ER, they ran a bunch of tests and poked me with lots of needles...I will forever hate having an IV!!  After a MRI they determined my appendix was inflamed and should come out.  I asked the doctor if we could just get the surgery going quickly so I could still catch my 3:00 flight...she said I would NOT be catching that plane!  I was so sad.  Of all the days for my appendix to have problems why did it have to be the day I was supposed to fly to Australia?  They scheduled me for surgery that day and Hyrum and the boys stopped at the hospital to say goodbye before they left for the airport.  I was left alone and I have to admit I was depressed.  I had been looking forward to this trip for over a year and was sad that I would miss out.  Lucky for me the surgery went fine and I was only left with three small puncture wounds where they inserted the laparoscopic instruments.  I even left the hospital that same day because I was feeling fine.  I was able to book a flight to Sydney a few days after surgery and was so happy to be with my family.  Our first adventure: Sydney!!

Saying our goodbyes in the hospital room before my family flew to Australia!

Waiting to get on the airplane...yay for iPads that kept the boys entertained!

A view of the Sydney Opera House from one of the towers on the Harbor Bridge.

The twins with their friend Aiden at the Sydney Aquarium

Julian loves penguins!

Exploring China Town

Julian at a War Memorial in Sydney

I made it!!  We went for a nice hike at Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park

An aboriginal rock carving

It was a beautiful day for a hike

Oma and her trusty walking stick!

There were about 400 steps down to this beach...not so hard going down but kind of a bummer to come back up!

When we first got to this little cove of water there were about 4 dolphins swimming around just off shore!  We didn't have swim suits but that didn't stop Emerson, Julian and Aiden from going for a quick swim.

It was a nice place to just sit and relax

So many STAIRS back up to the top!

Family Photo at the West Head Lookout

Walking around Sydney, such a fun city to explore

I found MY happy place!!

Sitting in "Mrs. Macquaries Chair" in the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney

A fun "Living Wall" exhibit in the Botanic Garden

The twins got to go sailing on a little boat with their friend Aiden and his sister Ella.  Aiden has been taking sailing lessons and was super happy to take his friends out on a boat.

They had a great time!

Play hard...sleep hard!  The boys got to spend this whole week with a friend they knew from Oregon whose family moved to Australia last year.

Inside the Sydney Opera House.  We were able to attend a concert here and it was wonderful.  We got to hear Saint-Saens organ concert...it was fantastic!  I know my kids didn't really love it and poor Julian was crying to leave during intermission because he was so "bored" but we made them stay and I think it was good for them to experience this once in a lifetime cultural moment!

Outside the opera house after the concert.  It looks really cool all lit up at night:)

Our big hike in the Blue Mountains.  We took the green trail to Wentworth Falls, then the red "National Pass" trail to the Slack Stairs, then the Wentworth Pass trail to Empress Falls and then the Overcliff Track past Empress Lookout and up to the Conservation Hut.  This was a long, hard hike but was so beautiful and had so many interesting things to see along the way.

Family photo op...you can tell the scenery here was just amazing!

Lots and lots of stairs going down and down into the valley

Wentworth waterfall...at least a part of it

My boys friend Aiden and his mom Katie came with us on our adventure

Crazy steep ladders...thank goodness most of them had cages around them so you wouldn't fall

Remember, this was less than one week from my surgery...pretty crazy!

Silly Hyrum

Some more of the amazing views from our hike

We stopped at the base of Wentworth Falls for a picnic lunch.  We needed our energy for the hike through the canyon and back up and out the other side!

Some parts of the "trail" were quite steep and not super easy to follow

View from the valley floor

Oma conquered all the obstacles this hike threw at her...she is amazing!

Time to head back up the million stairs to reach the top of the canyon!

Julian being silly near Empress Falls

Beautiful Empress Falls

Up, up, up we go!

Once at the top of the canyon you are rewarded with gorgeous views!  This hike was crazy long and hard but I'm really happy we got to experience so much of what the Blue Mountains has to offer.  We saw so many beautiful things that you just can't see if you stay in your car and just pull over for some "overlooks"

The famous "Three Sisters" rock formation in the Blue Mountains

The fabulous Sydney market.  The boys got some fun souvenirs 

On the ferry to Manly Beach

It was a "bit" windy:)

Boogie boarding at Manly Beach

Even in "winter" it's great to be at the beach in Australia!

The opera house lit up at night on our ferry ride back to town

Hyrum, Oma and I enjoyed time spent at the art museum in Sydney.  The boys opted to stay at our apartment for this outing...uncultured children!

Oma sharing her lunch with a rainbow lorikeet:)

We took a nice walk from Bronte to Bondi Beach.  There is a great trail that follows right along the ocean the whole way.

On the trail to Bondi...I thought these rocks looked really cool

The twins took no time in climbing up this rock!  There were plenty of foot and hand holds to climb up

Beautiful Bondi Beach.  In the summer months this place is packed but since we were here in the winter there were hardly any people at all.

Saying goodbye to our friends on our last night in Sydney.  It was so neat to see friends from Oregon while we were in Australia.  I think the fact that Aiden was with us on most of our adventures made it so there was much less complaining from my twins:)  We miss you Duncan Family!

Saying goodbye to our wonderful house in Sydney.  This place was in the perfect location, we could walk right to the harbor in about 5 minutes.  The big white van parked in front was our rental car.  Hyrum did such a great job navigating the busy city streets in that giant van, all while driving on the LEFT side of the road!

Sydney is such a wonderful city.  I had been one time before back in 1994 with a friend from school.  What I remembered the most from that experience was how clean the city was and it hasn't changed in all this time.  The city is wonderfully clean and fun to walk around.  I'm so glad my surgery went well and I was able to join my family for at least part of our the time in this great city!