Category Archives: Australia

Australia, Christmas 2011, Lake Powell, Sydney

Time for a Christmas Pilgrammage

If you’ve been following along, you know that we like to create annual family traditions – all kinds but a number of them that involve experiences, especially travel experiences.  (If you are just tuning in, check out the wide variety of past posts over the to right…not all of them are highly entertaining but some like Max’s fight with the man o’ war in Maui and Mike’s escapades with the guys at Lake Powell are a great place to start!)

OK…so what in the world do we have up our sleeve for Christmas 2011?

More like where in the world…

AUSTRALIA, BABY!!!

Mike has been to Sydney before and had to return for business for a couple of weeks.  Never being ones to rest on our laurels, the kids and I decided to join him.  Australia is on our family bucket list, and this was perfect timing.  Not just because Mike was going to be there but because it’s SUMMER in Australia in December…and you know how we love the sun and water!

The good thing about flying there is that you nearly lose a whole day…that means less jet lag!  Even though we are staying nearly 3 weeks, who wants to have a bunch of downtime trying to get that body clock straightened out?  Not us!  So we hit the ground running right from the plane (ok, right from customs)…

What did we do first?  Check it out here!

Australia, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Sydney Harbor Bridge, Sydney Opera House

Australia Here We Come…

Never ones to sit on our laurels, we decide to take our collective Peek family show on the road.  We’re also into very advanced planning so we’ve booked our plane tickets now for a trip to be taken over Christmas 2011.  Why Australia?  It’s SUMMER there when it’s winter here for starters…

We should be able to cover this in 3 weeks!

Mike says that his part is done…which is the plane tickets.  Now it’s my turn…

I’m not sure that’s really fair since he’s already been to Sydney (which took not one but two posts to cover – why not use that experience?  But, I’m starting our list anyway…

Bondi Beach…summer…’nuf said

And that’s just a start…I’m sure we’ll be packing all the adventure in we possibly can (including getting that driving thing down…)!

Jen

Australia, Sydney, Sydney Harbor Bridge, Sydney Opera House

Flashback: September 2010…Straight to Sydney (Part II)

I’m baaaacccckkkkk with Part II of the Australian adventure!  Let’s just jump right in…

Sydney Opera House – who hasn’t seen pictures of one of the most famous pieces of architecture in the world? And who thinks that the new Kauffman Center in Kansas City looks quite a bit like it? This pic is one of Mike’s favorites…it’s of more than just the Opera House, but who needs more of just that? This one definitely scores more points!

The Opera House (and Sydney) at night


Sydney Harbor Bridge is the world’s largest (but not the longest) steel arch bridge with the top of the bridge standing 134 metres above the harbour. Construction started in 1924 and took 1,400 men eight years to build at a cost of £4.2 million. Six million hand driven rivets and 53,000 tonnes of steel were used in its construction. (I’m seeing a theme with how long it takes projects to get done in Australia…) But the BEST part about the is…Bridge Climbs! I seriously want to go! (You can get me a gift certificate here…)

Sydney Harbor Bridge…and a bird

Sorry to say that we didn’t a family pick in our souvenir T-shirts (yes, we all got one and no, they do NOT match) to round out this flashback…maybe next time!

~Jenn

P.S. – While I find it hard to believe this would happen, if you missed Part I, you can find it right before this one.  But I’m sure you already knew that!

Australia, Hyde Park, Manly Beach, St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

Flashback: September 2010…Straight to Sydney (Part 1)

Probably because I’ve always wanted to go to Australia (and really I don’t know why but Mara feels the same way), this particular post about Mike’s trips to the various contentinents is actually going to be TWO different ones.  I know you are thrilled – so we might as well dive right in…

As if going to Lake Powell for a week isn’t enough fun, Mike heads directly from there (by way of Denver) to Sydney, Australia. Makes for interesting packing – oh and a visit to the MD to get some Ambien first. That jet lag can be a killer on productivity, especially on a 24-hour flight. Wimp. (See, it pays to be the one writing!)

Back to the update at hand…the trip was for work or the remainder of the Peek clan would have mutinied. Not that we’re the jealous types or anything. But, seriously, doesn’t everyone want to go to Australia?

Self-explanatory, right?

The one day Mike got to really tour the city – and to get some surfing in – didn’t have the best weather. Or at least not the best weather for surfing. Still, he did quite a bit of walking and we all got souvenirs! We almost never get souvenirs (unless you count foreign currency)! Maybe it was leftover effects of the Ambien…

Here are some the sights and highlights…

Hyde Park is Sydney’s central open green space and it was named after the Hyde Park in London, however, its origins are somewhat different. Originally the Park was a racecourse and sporting ground playing host to all manners of competition.

Aboriginal statue in Hyde Park which is just filled with this kind of stuff

St. Mary’s Cathedral sits on the east side of Hyde Park. It is one of Sydney’s oldest buildings. The first cathedral was ruined by fire in 1865 and reconstruction is completely finished 63 years later – 100 years after the architect’s death. Wow…that’s even longer than some of the highway projects around KC.

It looks small – it’s not.  No wonder it took so long to build!

Australia is known for its beaches: Bondi, Manley and Coogee being the ones closest to Sydney. So, no surfing for Mike really…but hey, he got to see some man o’ wars which brought back memories of Max in Hawaii (hee hee…that never gets old!).

Manly Beach…where is everybody?

So – that’s Australia, Part I.  I bet you can’t wait to see Part II!

~Jenn