I have a few minutes before supper so I'll try to write a little. We are having lots of fun adventures. Tuesday was a long, fun, amazing day. We left here by 9 a.m. with Jeff and Faye, taking their van and our little Yaris. We drove over to Coogee and met up with friends, Gwen and Brian. Then we all drove across to The Spit, where we parked the cars and started hiking/bushwalking. Gwen's daughter and 2 granddaughters and their friends also met up with us. Two of the girls were 5 and they were troopers, it wasn't an easy hike. It was pretty warm, maybe 85 degrees. Thankfully, we were often in the shade in the bush. Here's a slogan that describes Manly-"Seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care". The walk passed thru bushland and the waterfront suburbs surrounding Manly with great views of the Harbour and the city. It's surprising to me, considering that Sydney has about 5 million people, how much bush/wilderness there is close by. The kids loved all the water dragon lizards we saw, over 20. The longest was about 2 feet long. Erik and I even saw a skink. As we went along the trail, we somehow got separated into about 5 groups. We didn't know there were a few options along the way and for the last 2 hours we were walking in our own groups. It was a bummer because Erik and I were together and had all our water and both phones. The kids were together, but not with any Australians and they had all our food. We all knew to keep following the signs to Manly and all ended up there in the end. The views were amazing and it was such an adventure. After we got to Manly our family went thru the Oceanworld aquarium. All of them, except me, watched a reptile show and we got to see lots of sealife. Ryan and I got home with Gwen and Claudia and Sabine by taking the ferry. It was like a harbour tour for only a few dollars. We could see people on top of the Harbour Bridge as we got near, yikes it would have been hot up there.
After we got back to Gwen's we ate some yummy date cake and then headed to the beach. It's neat how they have concrete pools at the edge of the beach with ocean water. My gang didn't swim there, but it makes a calmer option for some. The waves were fun and huge and Erik and kids had a blast. It sure was a great way to cool off. We headed back to Brian and Gwen's and had take away Thai food. It was awesome! So fun to visit with them and meet some of their grandkids. Gwen met Marge when they were here a few years ago. She loved the idea of taking your grandkids on a trip when they turn 10 and they have started that with their 10 grandkids. I know Mamma would love to know how her idea has been passed on all the way to Australia! Brian's daughter Sophie and her husband Lars were there and we followed them home since they were heading the same way we were. As we were following them we saw a Creative Memories sticker on her car! I couldn't believe it! Bryn said, "they are us". They have 3 boys and a girl, the dad is Scandinavian and the mom does CM! I hope to get to talk to her.
I think I'm writing too much, but this is the only journal I'm doing, so you'll have to skim as you like.
We got up early yesterday and the kids took a surf lesson, they had their own teacher. They all got up, but it was definitely challenging. The waves aren't as calm as the ones they tried in Hawaii 8 years ago. And they end more abruptly. Erik talked the director into renting boards to them today, so they spent another 3 hours at it this morning. I freaked out a bit, well, a lot, at one point. They were so far out there, it seemed dangerous to me. And there weren't many around them if they had any trouble. So they were good to me and came in closer. After eating Aussie burgers, complete with egg, beetroot, pineapple, tomato, lettuce, ham and cheese, and some shopping, we found a great resale shop, the boys went to a little par 3 golf course and Kari and I took naps. Sorry about that sentence-too long!
We got an email today saying that Bryn and Ryan's visas still aren't right and we have to fix it or leave in 28 days. So I guess we'll be going to immigrations.
The students arrive on Saturday morning so the next step in our adventure begins. It's been so great being here with Jeff and Faye. They have fed us so well and let us use their van and their home is gorgeous with everything we could need. And the visiting has been great. I'm sure most of our next accomodations won't be nearly this wonderful. Last night we had dinner with Julia, her boyfriend Gary, and Faye's sister in law, Elaine. We got to have Christmas pudding with custard, ice cream and fruit, quite a great combination.
Love to all,
Carla
PS I'll try to add more photos tonight to http://picasaweb.google.com/carlanilsen
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