Steve & Sara Down Under: Vacation's End...

     Well, the time has come... Steve and I head home to Bellingham the day after tomorrow. It's been close to three months since we left the USA for adventures in New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand was a definite "bucket list" must for me, and I'm so glad we saw so much of both islands, even if it was at a rather whirlwind speed. Thank you to Kirra Tours and our fearless guide and bus driver, Dave!
     Our goal for the Australia part of our voyage was to have plenty of time to leisurely bond with our five-year-old grand-twins, Olivia and Owen. Plus, lots of family time in Newtown along with some interesting side adventures outside of Sydney. Mission accomplished! Thank you Andrea, Adam, Owen, and Olivia!
     Steve and I are now ready to head home and settle back into our former lives. We're especially excited to see family and friends and our 7-month-old grandson Solomon!

Look who grew while we were gone!

It's been a good 17+ months since we've slept in our own bed on Undine Street. Not living out of suitcases, duffle backs, and packs sounds extremely appealing right now. And even cold, winter weather sounds tempting after recent hot, sometimes sweltering days Down Under. No more sunhats and sunscreen for a while! As I write this, Steve is packing us up and trying to sort through and triage some of the stuff we've accumulated along the way.
This past weekend we enjoyed the grand finale of our family time together. We rented two lovely cabins in Glenworth Valley -- beautiful, secluded, and quiet countryside near the Hawkesbury River. We were only 1.5 hours outside of Sydney, but felt fully immersed in nature. Extremely relaxing. Check out these hammocks and adjacent refreshing waterfall!

And the view from our cabins...

And kids being kids...

Last week, while Adam was at work and the twins were at "vacation care," Andrea, Steve, and I took the train to Circular Quay where we dined on authentic French galettes at the crêperie named "Four Frogs." The restaurant was opened by four French guys who fell in love with Australia and decided to stay, but sorely missed their Breton crêpes and galettes. Délicieuses!

After lunch we walked passed the Opera House and through the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

There's not much more to report. We've had an amazing time with so many highlights. In New Zealand there was Christchurch, Doubtful Sound, Queenstown, Nelson, Wellington, Hobbiton, Rotorua, Auckland and so much more. We visited glowworms, pancake rocks, mud pools, geysers, glaciers, and Hobbit Holes! And saw oodles upon oodles of sheep!
In Windang, Australia we loved our little beach apartment Airbnb and getting to know the locals. Our hosts were terrific, loaning us their bicycles, and inviting us to parties at their home. We became social members of the Windang Bowling Club, where we ate many an Aussie dinner and learned all about ham and meat raffles. We also loved living just five minutes from both the Pacific Ocean and Lake Illawarra. Plus, we were just a simple bus ride away from Wollongong -- the site of Steve's famous skydiving debut and my French conversation group.

Tasmania was also fabulous and there is so much more there we still want to explore. And our return trips to the Blue Mountains and the charming town of Kiama did not disappoint.