It's been a little bit since I last updated. Most of you know we made a trip to Sydney, Australia last week, and I'm finally caught up at home and able to sit down and write.
The trip started out with us having to get up at like 1:00 am so we could be checked in at the Auckland airport by 0430. It's a good thing we left a little bit early because we had to take the scenic tour of a little town called Huntly. I think we zig zagged down every street in that town...why...I don't know...they just had detour signs up all over the place. 30 minutes later, which is 25 minutes longer than it should have taken us, we were out of Huntly and on our way again. The rest of the trip there was uneventful, and we managed to get a great parking place at the airport.
Check-in, security, and customs was a breeze, but I will admit, I was rather jealous. Because Ben is a New Zealand citizen (this applies to Australian citizens traveling through NZ as well), he was able to just bypass the lines, swipe his passport through a little computer thingie, and he was cleared through customs. Granted, at 0430 in the morning, there wasn't a long line through customs, but still...I want to swipe and go too!!!
From here I'll fast forward to the actual flight. It was less than 3 hours, but I was not impressed at all with Virgin Australia. I do believe they top Delta in managing to find ways to charge you for everything. You know on Delta how you do have some free inflight amenities such as a few tv selections, pretzels, peanuts, cookies, coke, coffee, and water? Well you can forget it on Virgin. You get water, tea, or coffee...that's it. Our plane didn't even have tv's on the back of the seat. You had to purchase a tablet to be able to watch anything. Ummm...no thanks... I dozed and passed the time people watching...and grumbling to myself about a foot being wedged into my ribs. Yes, the baby played in my tummy the entire flight. On a positive note, leg room was decent, but I could only stretch so far to give her a bit of extra room without just lying down in the middle of the aisle.
Once we finally landed, we were off through customs and security. Since we weren't there for a long trip, we didn't have to fight the luggage lines! Woot!!! :D Again, I glared at Ben out of jealousy while he waltzed through the Australian/New Zealand Citizen self swipe line. I was herded through the main line at customs, but at least they quickly and politely processed us in. Ben was waiting once I was cleared through, and we went to security. Here is where I nearly fainted. The pre-screening guy looked at our arrival cards, saw Ben was a NZ citizen, and asked if we had any more luggage. Ben told him we just had carry-on, and we were directed through line 8. Line 8 bypasses security and comes out in the duty free shopping area. Granted, I was happy to not have to go through security, but Ben's nationality earned him more looks from me.
From there, we purchased public transportation passes, and we were set. Heads up...if you ever go to Sydney, don't waste your time trying to get a rental car. There's no need. First off, it's crowded...ridiculously crowded. Second, parking, if you can find it, costs out the wazoo. My suggestion is, you get the My Pass cards. It gives you access to the buses, subways, and ferries. You can catch a cab, but be prepared to spend a fortune. This was my first experience using public transportation, and as you can guess, I was a bit excited about it....so excited, that I took pictures of the subway!
We hopped the train, and a few stops later we were downtown Sydney. From there, we did quite a bit of walking and just taking in the sights. For those of you who like to shop...well, you can shop to your little heart's content in Sydney. They have everything from little surf shops to Rodeo Drive type stores. I specifically remember seeing Armani, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., and Louis Vuitton. I intended to take pictures of them, but the only one I got around to was Louis Vuitton. No, I didn't go into these stores because well, for one, I was 34 1/2 weeks pregnant and it was extra effort to take the steps to go into these stores, and second, I'm the type that if I can't afford something, I'm not going to waste my time looking. For those of you who do like these types of things, I present to you a picture of a real Louis Vuitton store.
Downtown had many other interesting things to see, and here are a few shots of things that motivated me to put forth the effort required to waddle up to for a closer inspection.
 |
| Sand Sculpting |
 |
| Sand Sculpting |
 |
| Sand Sculpting |
 |
| Controversial Statue of Queen Victoria. Read more here. |
 |
| Random Person In Wedding Dress |
 |
| Funny Sign on Store Front |
Chinese New Year was being celebrated while we were in Sydney. There were festivities going on in Chinatown, as well as the parks.
 |
| Chinatown |
 |
| Park Festivities for Chinese New Year |
 |
| Chinese New Year Festivities |
 |
| Lion Dance |
|
|
|
|
We also saw many other Sydney landmarks such as The Government House, which is open for public tours, but where the governor lives. Here's a picture of it.
 |
| Government House |
Also, no trip to Sydney would be complete without seeing the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge!!!
 |
| Sydney Opera House |
 |
| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
Let me just add that you can walk along the bridge. When I say walk along the bridge, I don't just mean you can walk along a path where the cars are driving, but I mean you can walk along the top of the arch...as in where the flags are at the top!! No, I didn't walk along the bridge because once again, it took a lot to motivate this pregnant woman, and I wasn't walking to the top if I couldn't jump off of it.
 |
| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
 |
| Sydney Opera House |
There were also various street performers all over Sydney. The most interesting were harbour side. We saw everything from an Aboriginal playing a didgeridoo to a Canadian unicyclist to a street artist drawing on canvas with chalk. Here are a few pictures of the street performers.
 |
| Aboriginal Playing Didgeridoo |
 |
| Unicyclist on 12 Foot Unicycle |
 |
| Chalk Art |
After several days of walking around in the heat, I will admit, I was rather tired. See this kid...no he's not having a tantrum, he's just doing what I wanted to do...sprawl out on the ground from exhaustion. I cracked up when I saw this, and I couldn't help but be a bit envious and take a picture.
 |
| My Hero |
The heat wasn't as bad as it is in Alabama because of the ocean breezes, but it was quite warm...especially when you've been walking ALL DAY, and not to mention the fact that I'm preggo!! I was thankful when we would return to our room every afternoon. We stayed in the Kings Cross area, which is known as "the red light district" of Sydney. We chose to stay there because it is a very centralized location with a lot of restaurants, ease of access to the trains and buses, and there is people watching galore!! Having said that it is the red light district, some people may cringe or think that it is unsafe. Let me just say this, it has nothing on New Orleans or Bourbon Street...enough said. We stayed at the
Diamant Hotel , and it was fantastic. Anyone heading to Sydney, I recommend staying there!
We didn't go to the beach while we were there because well, it's hard to beat the beach in New Zealand, there was icky seaweed all over the place thanks to the cyclone from the week before, and I'm afraid of sharks in Australia. I use to roll my eyes at my mom when she would talk about people being bitten by sharks in the ocean, and I was like "yeah...yeah...yeah" because who really knows anyone that's gotten attacked by a shark. Well, all of that changed when I was going through orientation at the last hospital I worked for.
We were having to play a little find a person who has _____ game, and I met someone who use to fly to different countries to bring people back to the States that had fallen ill. He mentioned that he went to Australia to pick up a patient, and I was like "Oh, how did you like Australia?" He said, "I wasn't there long at all." I asked why, and his reply was "I went swimming and a shark attacked me." He was missing a leg thanks to that shark, and thanks to him, I will not be going into the ocean in Australia. I will say I had to call my mom after that tell her AAAALLLL about it...I also don't roll my eyes at her as much as I use to because I have personally met someone that has been attacked by a shark.
Okay, back on topic...Sydney trip... The trip in general was okay. It would have been more pleasant had I not been the size of a house, and had it not been summer. I can't complain though because it was a nice little holiday, and I did get to go to a country I've never visited before. If we go back to Australia, I want to go somewhere that is less populated and has more natural landscape.
The flight home was much better than the flight over. Again, we breezed through check-in, security, and customs, and this time, I beat Ben. He had to get the body scan in security, and I got passed right through. Ha!!! Take that with your special passport! Air New Zealand was our carrier on the way home, and I like them so much more than any other airline. Anyone that has the opportunity, fly with them...they are so friendly and helpful, and have saved me quite a bit of money...needless to say, I'm rather loyal to them!
Upon entering New Zealand we were greeted with the familiar sights of home.
 |
| Maori Entrance New Zealand Airport |
|
Seeing that put the perk back into my step. I
plowed over everyone quickly made my way to customs with Ben chasing behind me. He didn't know I could waddle so fast! A quick stop to get my entrance stamp (with a grumpy look tossed in Ben's general direction as he zoomed through the swipe line) and a speedy trip through security and we were home free!!
We made it out to the car after a 5 minute wander around parking, and Ben goes "Someone bust the window out of the car!!" I'm groaning on the inside as Ben goes to inspect the car, and the window was in fact NOT broken out...he left it rolled down!! Nothing was taken, and I gave a silent thank you prayer....I know what would have happened had this happened in Atlanta...we would have come back to find a few pieces of plastic in the spot where our car use to be!!
So there you have it....the long winded post about our trip to Sydney!! I would just like to add in here that I can't wait until we come to the States later this year. I'm going to laugh and get a little personal satisfaction as Ben is processed through the non-citizen customs line at LAX!! :D :D I hope you enjoyed reading...until next time!!
