Food

I come from a family that loves food. We like trying new food, we reminisce about food, we remember important events by what we ate. So although food has not featured much in the previous blog entries about Mom and Dad’s visit, it did play a very important role. In fact, Mom kept an entire food journal, and we have photos of almost every meal. While I won’t bore you with a complete recap of everything, here are some of the things you can look forward to trying when you come visit us. We of course had to introduce them to several classic Aussie foods:
Vegemite
Meat pies
Sausage rolls
Chico rolls
Aussie burgers (I wish I had a picture of Mom eating one of the best Aussie burgers we’ve ever had… cute little mom sitting there with a burger that was about the size of her head and beet juice and tomato sauce all over her face)
Kangaroo
Barramundi
Lamingtons
Anzac biscuits
Pavlova
Lemon Lime and Bitters
Ginger beer

They also got to try several fun fruits, which aren’t necessarily unique to Australia, but were new for Mom and Dad:
Quandongs
Rambutan
Longan
Lychee
Dragonfruit
Fresh passionfruit
Durian
Green ecology limitless magnificence (I think that counts as a fruit)

So if you don’t know what any of those things are and are eager to find out, go get your plane ticket! And Mom and Dad - if there's anything I missed, let me know.

Australia Day

Yes – the holiday that marks the end of the summer holidays and celebrates all things Aussie… like barbeques and beer and fireworks. And we were right in the middle of all the Sydney shenanigans. We decorated ourselves with Aussie flag tattoos,

ate kangaroo (also known as Skippy steak for those of you who may be familiar with Aussie TV in the 1960s)

and joined a million other people gathered in Darling Harbour to watch the boat and firework show.



When you're 5ft tall on a bridge with thousands of other people, and you didn't arrive the day before to claim a front row seat, this is how you still catch all the action.

And I think Mom and Dad practically have Australian residency after the gusto with which they celebrated Australia Day.

M&D out of Sydney

Mom and Dad enjoyed their first 2 days in the small, obscure Aussie town of Sydney, but they really wanted to see one of the more famous cities that Australia is known for. So we headed to Dubbo – that wonderful, iconic, tourist capital of Australia. I know – it hardly needs an introduction since everyone has already heard about it. We also visited a few lesser-known attractions outside Sydney: the Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains. And while both those places offer scenic views and good food, neither of them have what Dubbo has to offer.

We started our day with a relaxing walk along the Macquarie River, listening to the melodious sound of the cockatoos.

We then headed to the zoo to see where I hung out most of last year. The temperature was only supposed to reach ~104 F, so to avoid the risk of hypothermia, I thought it would be a good idea to stay as active as possible. So we got geared-up with some classic, old-school bikes – the ones that have no gears and you pedal backwards to brake.

And then we set off to get slobbered on by rhinos


elephants


and cheetahs.


Eventually we abandoned the bikes to go in search of roos. We found some wild ones,

and we also saw my old roo-mates: Emmett, Parker, and Xander (...and Kristie).



Having finally had our fill of animal slobber, we decided to check out some of Dubbo's other wildlife. So we headed to the cozy South Dubbo Tavern for Monday Night Trivia. Our team didn't win, but we did make lots of friends thanks to the amazing assortment of peanut butter candy (something notably absent from Aussie lollie shelves) that Mom and Dad had brought from home. So friendly people, friendly animals, beautiful sky, lots of sunshine - what more could you ask for!?

M&D in Sydney

As Mom and Dad flew over Sydney, the clouds parted and a ray of sun lit up the opera house.

They were ushered through immigration and customs with smiles, and were greeted on the other side by 2 wonderful people. (…OK, that might be pushing it, but at least they were greeted by the people they came to see.) Outside, the sky was blue and the temperature was perfect as we drove to Bondi, one of Sydney’s iconic beaches. As we were heading down the hill to the scenic cliff walk, we spotted dolphins jumping just off-shore.

Seriously?!? Ben and I have never seen dolphins along the coast. And it wasn’t just a few random jumps - they kept jumping and playing long enough that we could run back to the car to get the binoculars, and we got some great views.

And thus begins my parents visit to this corner of the world. Not that they didn’t have a few drops of rain, but overall the weather and animals cooperated as if they’d been part of a magical Disney experience.

They had about 3 days in Sydney – plus a few extra hours here and there. So along with beautiful beaches and dolphins, my parents’ itinerary also included exploring Sydney's diverse neighbourhoods, eating fresh seafood at the Sydney Fish Markets


going under and over the Harbour Bridge

meandering around the opera house and the botanical gardens

listening to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the stars

visiting the Taronga Zoo and saying hi to my baby, Luk-Chai


and getting to know the local wildlife.



We also had a Christmas party. Mom and Dad provided the presents; we provided the mini-Christmas tree and the Christmas crackers.

Maybe it was a raw deal for Mom and Dad, but they didn’t seem to mind. Ani, on the other hand, was not thrilled with our decision to put all the party hats that came out of the Christmas crackers on her.