Toboggan Hill/Camel Rides

Saturday, June 8, 2013

We are ready to ride the toboggan.

Off we go!

Kristin

Sydney

Dagan

Adam & Dana

Up the hill we go!

We left early this morning to head to Port Stephens.  We had a 3+ hour drive.  We found some lunch as we got into town, and then headed to Toboggan Hill.  Sydney, Dagan, Adam, Dana, & I went on the toboggan run.  We rode the toboggan to the top of the hill and zoomed down.  It is lots of fun.  We went four times.  Adam decided to go as fast as he could down the hill.  He ended up crashing twice. You would think that after the first time he went too fast on the curve he wouldn't do the exact same thing on the next run, but of course he had to try it super fast again.  He cut the back of his leg, ripped his sock, and got a huge skid mark on his shorts.  At least, he had fun.  The rest of us had fun, too.

The six of us at the start of the ride.

Adam getting on his noisy camel.

Sydney

Kristin

Dagan

JoAnn

Dana

We checked into our hotel and relaxed for a little bit.  Then we went to the sand dunes for our sunset camel ride.  We each got to ride our own camels.  They were sitting on the ground.  We were assigned a camel to ride.  You got on the camel like you would a horse.  Then we were told to lean back when it stood up.  It is a strange sensation.  You feel like you are going to fall off.   We walked through the dunes and up one of the hills.  Stockton dunes are the largest moving dunes in the Southern Hemisphere.  The dune are 20 miles long and about 1 1/2 miles wide at some points.  Our guides said they move constantly.  The camels were one hump camels.  These are dromedaries and live where it is warm.  These camels were wild camels living in Australia at one point.  The camels have really interesting feet.  They have leather pads and toenails that grow like a dogs.  The sand wears them off naturally.  My Camel's name was Ginger; Sydney's was Chester; Dagan's was Wiggy; JoAnn's was Mishna; Dana's was Candy, and Adam's was Colonel something or other.  Adam had the biggest camel.  It was also very noisy when he was trying to get on it.  It made the kids laugh.  Both Sydney and Dagan thought the camels were very soft.  Dagan especially liked the ears.  As the sun set, we walked in and along the ocean.  It was really beautiful.  Adam was last in line.  He said it was funny to watch all the camels move at the same time sideways to avoid the bigger waves.  We were all wondering how it would feel when the camels returned to their sitting positions, so we could dismount.  We were told to lean back as the camel bent its knees.  Again, this is a strange sensation.  JoAnn had a little more trouble.  She almost tumbled head over heels over her camel's head.  Our guide helped her out, so thankfully it went better than it could have.  Overall, it was an enjoyable experience.

We got some Thai food to go and went back to our hotel.  The kids swam after dinner in the nice warm pool.  We all headed to bed early for our big day tomorrow.

Imagine Cruise

Monday, June 10, 2013

One view of the turtle

The turtle starting its dive.

Two of the whales we saw

Sydney & Adam

Adam and I

JoAnn & Dana

My Boys

One of the tails we saw.

We went an another whale watching cruise this morning.  It ended up being a beautiful day.  It was supposed to rain and be cloudy, but was sunny.  We rode out of the bay to the open ocean.  We saw a couple of dolphins on the ride out.  After we got to the open water, Sydney and I saw something in the water.  We couldn't figure out what it was until the boat reached it.  It ended up being a turtle.  We were right next to it.  We saw it dive deep into the water.  Adam and Dagan missed it because they had moved to the back of the boat because Dagan was feeling a little queasy.  After looking at the turtle, Sydney moved to the back, too.  The waves aren't her favorite.  JoAnn and Dana stayed at the front of the boat.  At this point, we started seeing the whales.  We saw heaps of them just like the lady at the information center said we would.  A couple came pretty close to the boat.  None of the whales breached, but we did see a couple of tails.  They are truly amazing creatures.  Dagan still doesn't like these cruises.  Adam and I both asked the men working on the boat if a whale had ever touched the boat just so we could tell Dagan the actual answer.  Both said it has never happened.  A few had swum under the boat, but didn't touch it.   Plus, the boats have to stay 100 meters away from the whales per regulations.  We lucked out and the whales came close to the boat on their own.  JoAnn and Dana got some great views for their first whale watching cruise.

This was the whale that came the closet to the boat.

We went out for lunch after our cruise.  Then we went to find the koalas.  Unfortunately, we didn't have very good luck with this, so we headed for home.  It ended up taking us 5 hours to go 125 miles.
When the drive takes this long, we miss the highways we have at home.  Even with traffic, we would have gotten home 2 hours earlier.  We had great long weekend!

Quad Bikes/Shark & Ray Centre/Sandboarding

 Sunday, June 9, 2013

The six of us by the shipwreck

Dagan, Sydney, & JoAnn getting ready to go.

Syd

We had a very busy very fun day.  It started early with our quad bike tour on the sand dunes.  The company drove us out to the dunes and the quad bikes.  We got our helmets, listened to safety instructions, and were off.  We drove all around.  We went up some hills and around some water.  The machines were not super powerful, so we didn't have to worry about anyone getting into trouble.  All six of us had our own quads.  We drove out to the shipwreck of the Sygna.  It was a Norwegian freighter that was washed ashore.  They cut off part of the ship and removed it, but left the stern.  Our guide told us that lots of fish live in the wreck, but so do great white sharks, so people do not scuba around it.  We had a nice ride back to the starting point and got a ride back to our car.  

Next, we were going to go Sandboarding, but it was really crowded at the beach, so we decided to come back later.  We went to two different markets.  At one, JoAnn and Dana got to try the Lions club's steak sandwiches.  These are really good.  We went back to our hotel to get our swimsuits after the market, so we could go to the Shark and Ray Centre.

We are entering the tank with the largest ray.

Dagan feeding a shark.

Sydney getting ready to feed a ray.

This was Dagan's favorite tank.

This shark felt like sandpaper.

Sydney and I feeding the sharks.

Thankfully, there were not many people at the Shark and Ray Centre.  Sydney, Dagan, and I decided to go in with the sharks and stingrays.  We chose to wear the lovely waders.  They were pretty awful, but made it easy for us to get into the water without having to put on a wet suit.  There were large tanks with all sized sharks and rays.  They had a black stingray that was 9 feet long and 600 pounds.  It was huge and came right up to you.  Our last time in that pool, the black ray cuddled Sydney.  It moved almost all the way up to her neck.  Creepy!  The sharks in this tank would swarm us waiting to be fed.  They would even nibble on our waders.  This wasn't Dagan's favorite.   He liked the next big tank that held smaller rays and a few sharks, and the tank with water to our knees.  He had the most fun feeding the sharks and rays in these tanks.  The front tank had a 9 foot shark.  It was just hanging out in the water.  Some of the sharks and rays felt smooth and others felt like sandpaper.  It was really fun to get into the water with these amazing creatures.  

Climbing up the hill

We are ready to go sandboarding!

Sydney and Dagan at the top.

Adam

Dana

After our shark and ray adventure, we went back to go sandboarding.  We rode the 4wd vehicle out to the hill.  We grabbed our boards.  It was shaped like a snowboard without the boots.  We climbed to the top of the hill and rode down with our hands behind us in the sand.  This helped with balance and  could slow us down.  Dana, Adam, Sydney, Dagan, & I went down.  JoAnn was the photographer.  Adam & Dana decided once was enough.  I went quite a few times.  Sydney went a few more times than me, and Dagan went down the most.  He especially like to crash on purpose at the bottom.  We decided sandboarding is fun, but we all like sledding on snow better.

Dagan crashing

Sydney and Kristin

At this point, we were hungry and went out for dinner.  The kids swam again when we got back to the hotel.  We will be in bed early.  We had a little too much fun today.

Sydney's Concert at St. Mary's

Friday, June 7, 2013

Sydney tuning her cello.

The St. Mary's orchestra

Sydney

Sydney participated in the 140th Concert Celebration at St. Mary's.  There were two performances. We went to the one on Friday night.  It was a play/musical/dancing.  They told the history of St. Mary's through 14 decades.  Sydney played in the orchestra.  They sounded great.  She has really enjoyed being a part of this group.  She will miss her school and the fun groups she has found to join



.

Adam's Birthday spent in Sydney

Sunday, June 2, 2013

They look like they should be in Mary Poppins.

a lorikeet

We went into Sydney for Adam's birthday and to show JoAnn and Dana the city.  It ended up being a rainy day.  It was unfortunate to have to dodge the rain all day, but it kept the crowds away.  We came out of the carpark and looked at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.  Then we headed towards The Rocks.  On the way, there were two lorikeets sitting a stand.  We were able to get very close to them and feed them a piece of bread.  They are really beautiful and one of Sydney's favorites.

JoAnn and Dana

Enjoying our dinner

We went in and out of stores and the market for most of the afternoon.  We had fun shopping and avoiding the rain.  Thankfully, it did stop raining for a little while, and we were able to sit by the harbour and enjoy the view.  We had dinner at our favorite German restaurant. 

A view of the sails on the Opera House

King Kong on the side of a building

Sydney under glowing plants

The Opera House

The kids walking under the milky way

A sphere made out of traffic cones

Sydney Harbour Bridge with Luna Park beneath

After dinner, the Viv'd light music show was going to start.  There were different light effects set up in The Rocks and along the path to the Opera House. In addition, the sails of the Opera House were lit up, and some buildings had light shows projected on the side of them.  It ended up being really cool.  Unfortunately, it really starting raining again.  This made things a little difficult, but still fun.  The sails of the Opera House were by far the best part of the event.  The lights changed quickly, and there were a variety of patterns and designs.  If it had been nice, we would have sat and watched the show for a while.

Sydney and Dagan in front of a huge light bulb

Another design on the sails