March 2008 - Australia

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March 19, Wednesday - Honolulu to Sydney

The Qantus Boeing 767 prior to our 10 hour, all-daylight flight to Sydney.  During the flight, a FedEx DC-10 passed us at close range.

March 20, Thursday - Sydney to Perth

Ainsley fell asleep before takeoff from Sydney.  She missed the bolts of lightning in Sydney as we waited 20 minutes before planes were allowed to take off again.  It was a full 747 for the 4 hour flight to Perth.  The kids took a sneak peek upstairs in business class after everyone exited the plane in Perth. We crossed the international dateline and basically lost a day.  Instead of arriving Wednesday night, we arrived Thursday night.

March 21, Friday - Good Friday (Perth, Australia)

Jeff was up at 3:45am because of jet lag, but luckily, the kids stayed asleep until 6:00am.  Around 9:30am, Mom was "so cool" to let Ryan and Ainsley jump into the pool with their pajamas still on.  A live frog was washed out of the waterfall when the water was turned on, but had difficulty after two minutes in the salt water.  We fished him out with a net and let him hop back into the garden by the pool.

Ainsley (left) and Cody (right) dress up in Power Ranger costumes.  Ryan and Cody build Lego Star Wars.

Andy and Tracey rented a margarita machine for the day and was ready to go by lunchtime.  We're sure it's medically proven somewhere that cocktails help jet lag.  :-)

Declan and Georgia joined the kids in the pool after lunch and Ryan finds his favorite pool toy.

Dinner by the pool with Andy, Tracey, Rob and Rochelle.  We didn't have to leave the house all day, which was perfect.

March 22, Saturday - Hillarys

The kids have fun with their reflections in the car window.

We spent a few hours browsing in the shops, eating lunch, and swimming on the beach at Hillarys.

The kids drool over the choice of chocolates in one store while Betsi finds humor in this hat in another store.

Jeff ordered Italian sausage for lunch.

It's tickle time after lunch.  Ainsley enjoys her slushy.

Ryan hides among the wetsuits at one of the stores. Betsi and Ryan, then later, Jeff and Ryan take a long walk off of a short pier.

The kids take a dip after dinner.  The water is warm, but the steady breeze is cool.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, feel no evil.  Notice the empty wine glasses.

March 23, Easter Sunday - Heathcote (Park), Rob and Rochelle's House

Jeff awakes to the sound of happy kids finding Easter candy next to their beds.  They also hunted for chocolate eggs in the back yard.

Cody during breakfast.

Grumblebunny during breakfast.

We had a picnic lunch at Heathcote.  Tracey and her grandmother (Nan) on the left.  Tracey's Mom, Carol (right), is taking care of Nan.

Andy grills a few different types of sausages and onions while the kids get ready to race around the playground.

Rob and Rochelle join us with their kids Georgia and Declan.  Andy creates a new version of rabbit ears with Betsi.

Nan made a cake called a Lamington.  It's a great tasting Aussie cake that really doesn't translate across the pond.  Its closest relative is a pound cake rolled in wet chocolate, covered in unsweetened coconut and topped with cream.  It's sinful.

After fun in the sun at Heathcote, we drove to Rob and Rochelle's house, which is about 10 minutes from Andy and Tracey's house.  Rob pours wine in their larger than average sized wine glasses.  The appetizers were great and disappeared quickly.  We love their new house and talked about the double brick construction of houses that are only present in WA (Western Australia).  The houses have brick on the outside and inside.  The interior walls are covered in a plaster/cement and make hanging pictures difficult.  Other territories have wood framed walls like America.

Rob and Rochelle moved into their new house six weeks ago and don't have enough furniture for all of the rooms yet. Their recent purchase is a new flat screen TV with ambient lighting on the sides.  The dominate color on the TV screen glows on the wall behind the TV.  It's pretty neat.  Their dog, Trixie, enjoys a bone Andy gave her.  The shot was difficult to get because as soon as Jeff crouched down low, Trixie got up and wanted to play.

Betsi is puzzled why Jeff is taking a picture of a common activity; slicing an apple for the kids.

Jeff gets creative with a tray of chocolates on the patio table.

The kids wind down while watching Walt Disney's Robots.

March 24, Monday - Fremantle

Monday morning in Australia is Easter Sunday dinner in Virginia as we talked to Betsi's Mom, Shannon and Braden (pictured) on the webcam.  We talked to other family members as well.

Betsi and Ainsley on the 90 minute Swan River boat cruise from Perth to Fremantle.  Andy and Tracey drove their car and we drove our car to the boat dock.  Tracey took our car and they met us in Fremantle for lunch. Ryan adjusted Jeff's hat and his own to look silly (right).  Jeff and Betsi enjoy a Victoria Bitter (beer) as the boat departs at 11:00am.

Downtown Perth with the sun shining in the lens (left) and a United Arab Emirates livestock freighter.  Islam requires cattle and other livestock be slaughtered a certain way.

Photography 101 - a child with a dripping ice cream cone.  It's hard to take a bad photo of Cody enjoying his ice cream.

Betsi and Ryan buy new hats at the Fremantle market.

We took the standard Fremantle Prison tour and the Great Escapes tour.  The kids had to be 10 for the tunnel tour and the night tour is too scary for them.  Basically, the 100 year old prison's living conditions were cruel and unusual.  Prisoners spent their afternoons in the yard were temperatures reached 110-120 degree Fahrenheit (45-50 Celsius) without any shade. Inside the prison wasn't much cooler.

Ryan stands by the flogging post (left) and hangman's noose (right). The lash had knotted ends.  Welts developed at 3 lashes, permanent scarring at 10 lashes, and a doctor stopped most around 18 lashes.  Salt was rubbed into the prisoner's bleeding back and the prisoner recovered in the hospital.  After recovery, they received the remaining lashes to total 25 lashes.  "Slow learners" required 3 visits to the flogging post to receive their full 25 lashes.

Dinner at Fremantle wasn't that great.

March 25, Tuesday - Relaxing Day at Home

Cody, Ryan and Tyler play Lego Star Wars on the Xbox 360.

Betsi's eyes are closed as she plays Marco Polo with the kids in the pool.  Ryan ducked underwater every time he heard "Marco" so that he wouldn't have to give away his position and say "Polo."

Jeff and Andy visited a barber to get their haircut on Saturday.  Ryan wanted a crew cut so that he wouldn't have to comb his bed head each morning.  Aunt Tracey worked her magic and saved us $20.

March 26, Wednesday - Rottnest Island

The ocean was a bit rough on our 45 minute ride on the high speed ferry from Hillarys to Rottnest Island. A wave sprays along side of the bow on the photo on the right. The ride was fairly smooth despite what the photo looks like.

Some things in Australia can't be found in America.

The British built this Canon on Oliver Hill in anticipation of World War II.  It can fire a shell 25 miles and protects the deep water port of Fremantle, which was the world's second busiest submarine base during WW II.

The rock formations on one of the beaches were different than other beaches we've seen.  The one on the right is less than a yard wide (1m) and reminds Jeff of a fortress or mountain in some medieval movie.

Ryan and Ainsley were hiding from each other around a large rock when Ainsley sneaks up and surprises Ryan.  Here's one of the lighthouses with the Perth skyline in the background.

This is smoke from a bush fire near Perth.  The wind changed direction mid-day and the smoke headed our way.  It made a bright orange reflection on the water.

Betsi pets on of the Quokkas on the island.  The Dutch thought they were rats and called the island Rottnest.

March 27, Thursday - Rottnest Island

These were taken on the beach just outside our room.  The photo on the left is 7.5 minutes before the sun peeked over the horizon shown on the right.  Places on Rottnest that offer overnight accommodations provide luggage delivery to and from the ferry and your room.  Unfortunately, we needed to leave our bag outside the front yard gate by 8:00am and check out was by 9:00am.  We felt a bit rushed, but it sure beat dragging a duffle bag around all day.  We suspect our cinder block cottage was built around 1950.  It definitely wasn't luxurious.

After an Aussie breakfast of egg, cheese, sausage and tomato on a flat, crunchy croissant, we explored more of the island on the bikes we rented for 24 hours.

Ainsley poses at Little Salmon Bay, a popular spot because of its beach, protected bay, and underwater snorkel trail. When we arrived, a class of junior high students and a class of high school students entered the water.

Ryan and Ainsley spot a Quokka on our bike ride through the middle of the island.

We joined a glass bottom boat tour to see a pair of shipwrecks, schools of fish, and undersea life.

The kids cool off with a milkshake before continuing to play at the playground between two restaurants on the beach.  We already turned in our bikes, so we relaxed an for an hour before catching the last ferry of the day at 4:30pm.

March 28, Friday - Cottesloe Beach, Home

We ate a picnic lunch and swam at the beautiful Cottesloe Beach on the Indian Ocean north of Perth.  Tracey was amazed how calm it was as there is typically a little bit of a surf.  Tyler is used to going to so many great beaches that are close to home and asked why we couldn't swim at the pool at home. Good question.  In America, the closest beach for us is 3 hours away and we spend almost every summer at Nags Head, NC which is 6 hours away.

The kids look up from digging a hole and building a wall to keep out the waves.  On the right, Tyler and Ryan race the waves. The Indiana Tea House, built in 1910, is in the background.

A passing lifeguard takes a look at what the kids are building.  You can barely see Ryan's head in the hole in the right photo.

Betsi started to get a little bit sunburned.  With a hole in the ozone, the sun is incredibly intense. It reminds me of Florida in the summer.  Without sun cream, you can get a nasty sunburn in 15 minutes. Even riding in the car in the same direction can give you a burn.

Cody (left) is calm before martial arts class, Cody after class (center), and Tyler (right) after class.

Andy and Betsi are joking around while making dinner. We tried some meat that is basically a spicy, soft version of beef jerky.  Andy is the only one who likes it.

March 29, Saturday - Wildlife Park

Andy and Tracey's house at 7:09am which is about 35 minutes after sunrise.

If flies are bothering you, be a dork and wear this $5 hat. The corks at the end of the string swat the flies away for you.

Do you think Spot or Fido deserve the best? If so, buy a 3Kg (7 pound) sausage for your dog found in the refrigerated section at your local Woolworth's grocery store.  The store is nicknamed Woolies.

We visited the Caversham Wildlife Park in Whiteman Park area to pet a kangaroo.  There were more animals there than we thought. The kids pose with a wombat, which weighs about 60 pounds.

Ainsley likes the joey sleeping in the Red Kangaroo's pouch.  Ryan feeds one of the Red Kangaroos.  The larger Gray Kangaroos were also in the same enclosure, but the kids liked the smaller Red Kangaroos better.

We were also able to see and pet a koala.

Dingoes are wild dogs that have some characteristics of a wolf.  The dogs on the right were fed a hunk of meat and the dogs in the left were excited for their turn.  An electric fence around the top of the fence keeps the Dingo's in their enclosure.

A Kookaburra and Tasmanian Devil round out the native Australian animals for us today.

Carol and Nan watched the kids as the adults have a nice dinner.  The fish, prawns, and scallops were delicious.

March 30, Sunday - Pearce AFB, Swan River Valley

Rob invited us to the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) 79th Squadron Family Day at Pearce Air Force Base to "see what Dad does."  Part of the day included seeing the Hawk flight simulator.  Although the cockpit is stationary, the curved screen adds an amazing amount of realism.  A few of my photos are crocked because I'm leaning to match what was on the screen.

Georgia, Ryan, Cody, Ainsley, Declan and Cody get ready to watch Rob and three other pilots perform aerial maneuvers.  Rob provided the solo fly-bys and aerobatics.  Watch the video (1:20, 5.9MB).

After landing, Rob waves to us (left) and is modest about what he does (right).  Watch the video (3:44, 16.5MB).

Rob lets all of the kids try on his helmet.  Ainsley: Fighter Pilot.

What do you do after pulling 7 Gs and launch yourself to 12,000 feet in the matter of seconds?  You go to a winery of course.  We bought two bottles of wine and had hearty appetizers in the shade on a 90 degree day.  Betsi shows off her video of Rob flying.

March 31, Monday

Our first day of rain in Australia was memorable.  The kids thought it was fun to be in the pool, but the cool temps and stiff breeze limited their fun to about 10 minutes. Watch the video (0:46, 3.4MB).

We went to a shopping mall to see the movie, Dr. Suess's Horton Hears a Who.

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