This post comes to you live from Sydney, where we have been holidaying for the past few days.
Day 1 - Thursday 5th April
The trip began on Thursday morning with the kids' first time on an airplane. This was was
soooo terribly exciting for
BallFiend that he uttered nothing but "oh my god!" and "I just can't believe it!" for about the first half-hour (and that was just while we were in the car park and walking to the terminal).
The next half hour was filled with more fascinations as
BallFiend watched our suitcase disappear through a hole in the wall on a conveyor belt, then went through the security screen process three times (the first two times he set off the alarm because he kept insisting on brushing his hands against the sides).
Next stop was for a babycino at the cafe - partly to appease
Thumper who was getting annoyed with begin strapped into her toddler harness - but also to have a quick chat with a friend from work (who coincidentally was on her way to Sydney as well with her son and hubby, on the flight immedately before ours). After saying goodbye, we decided to kill time by showing the kids the sights of Tullamarine airport. However, we had barely walked 10 metres before we bumped into some more friends. After a short chat, we continued on our way, checking out the souvenier shop, the toilets and the chocolate shop before going to the Gate. The kids happily watched the goings-on at the airport out the windows and were particularly interested in watching the luggage being unloaded.
The plane ride was uneventful because the kids were (thankfully) well-behaved.
BallFiend loved the sensation of 'lightness' as the plane took off. But I was surprised how disinterested he was in watching the view out the window (he was too busy playing with the tray-table).
DeepSpice sat next to
Thumper in the row behind me. Apparently she was a lot more restless than
BallFiend especially later into the flight.
After landing, we collected our bags (more fascination for the kids - watching yet another conveyor belt), found our airport transfer car waiting right outside and were on our way. It was all so quick that we arrived at
our accommodation only 35 mins after the plane landed.
The apartment is in a great location - just a short walk from the
apartment where
Gran and
GrandPaul are staying and an even shorter (about 1 minute!) walk from the
Lord Wolseley Hotel (which has quickly become the default dinner venue). Our apartment does have a number of shortcomings though... more on that later.
After settling in, and getting
Thumper into bed for her afternoon nap (which required me to lie next to her until she fell asleep as it was her first time in a 'big bed' - as we had decided not to bother hiring a portacot for her), I wandered down to the local supermarket to meet
Gran and shop for some breakfast supplies. While I was out,
DeepSpice told me that he removed the carcasses of some seventy or more cockroaches from the kitchen! (Even so, there were still more to be found later: under the kids' beds and in pots in the kitchen cabinets).
All I could say was "ewww!" and feel glad that I hadn't had to see it.
After dinner, we got some very exhausted kids (and parents) off to bed. Unfortunately though, it was all too much for
Thumper and she had terrible trouble falling asleep. So
DeepSpice spent about an hour lying in bed with her to try and help her settle down.
I collapsed in front of the TV, with the balcony sliding door wide open (trying to catch some breeze to make the muggy climate more bareable) and was enjoying some peace and quiet when a massive, cockroach came flying in and started buzzing around the room. I freaked out and froze for a few moments, then called out to
DeepSpice. But not getting any response, I realised that he had probably fallen asleep next to
Thumper and that I was going to have to fend for myself. I grabbed an glass and managed to trap the revolting thing under it, right in the middle of the floor. Not wanting to have anything more to do with it, I tried to ignore it while waiting for
DeepSpice to re-appear. It kept scuttling and buzzing about inside the glass and creeping me out.
My Facebook 'friends' were of little help, offering no sympathy and generally unhelpful suggestions like "whack it with a shoe (but gently so it doesn't explode too much)" and "wrap it in paper towel then stomp on it" (there's not a piece of paper towel, newspaper or anything like it to be found in this sparsely-furnished apartment). Not one friend offered to immediately fly up to Sydney to deal with it for me. Some even used my cockroach trauma as an excuse to reminisce about when they lived in roach-infested Sydney flats. I note that all these people now live in Melbourne.
What I don't get is why in the
ongoing Melbourne vs Sydney debate, the cockroaches don't ever seem to be mentioned. As far as I am concerned this settles the debate once and for all. Sydney can score as many points as it wants on any scale it likes... whatever. Melbourne doesn't have cockroaches.
When I couldn't stand looking at or listening to the roach anymore, I dared to venture past it and went downstairs to rouse
DeepSpice. It turned out that both
Thumper and
DeepSpice were still awake, so I swapped spots with
DeepSpice, sending him up to dispose of the roach while I took a turn at trying to settle
Thumper. Either I had a magic touch, or she had just become worn out enough, because she fell asleep next to me in about 10 minutes.
Day 2 - Friday 6th April
Our second day started off with a play at a local playground whilst waiting to meet
Gran and
GrandPaul. Then we all walked over to Darling Harbour. The walk there was bloody awful, across a pedestrian bridge that runs directly under the
Western Distributor freeway - it's noisy, grimy, dark and dismal place. In complete contrast, Darling Harbour is great! Full of plants that green-up the whole area so you feel like you are in the tropics, and there's an amazing playground which
BallFiend and
Thumper absolutely loved!
After a while, we dragged the kids away so we could visit the
Chinese Garden of Friendship. But of course being 'Good Friday', it was closed. So we decided to take a ride on the
Monorail instead. But after two failed attempts to locate a station - first at the Convention Centre (the Sydney tourist signposting leaves a lot to be desired!) and then at Chinatown (the stop has been permanently closed but they let you walk all the way up two flights of escalators through a ghastly, glitzy shopping mall from the street entrance before they tell you this!) - we took a break at
Paddy's Markets.
GrandPaul needed to buy a hat, and
DeepSpice and I decided that it was about time the kids had some lunch. So we followed
Gran and
GrandPaul into the chinzy hell that is acres of cheap imported plastic crap and before we could blink,
BalFiend had found a ball that he wanted to buy. (And he has barely stopped nagging about it ever since.)
Then we finally made it onto the Monorail and did one full circuit, then another half circuit to get back to Darling Habour. Our plans to spend the afternoon at the Maritime Museum were abandoned as
Thumper was flagging (admittedly so was I) so we all went back to the apartment for a rest.
Dinner was at
Blue Fish and was very good! (And very welcoming of children too.) Then we took the kids home to bed; this time,
BallFiend was the trouble-maker but he was finally asleep by 9.15 pm.
Next instalment - Day 3 at the Chinese Friendship Garden and the Powerhouse Museum and Day 4 at Taronga Zoo.
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