Another great day in Sydney - March 27

We had another fabulous day in Sydney. We headed out for breakfast out and about (we are really treating ourselves to meals out in this city after cooking so so so many meals in our apartments around the country) and feasted on Sydney breakfast at The Delicatessen. We got a few drizzle rain drops on us as we sat outside but nobody minded. After breakfast, the 5 of us walked to the Westfield Tower / Eye of Sydney (the second highest spot in the Southern Hemisphere - but now that I just Google searched to see what the tallest one is, I learn that the Eye is no longer the second tallest so apparently their info is out of date!). Anyway, the view was 360 degrees of spectacular. The girls absolutely loved it, and unlike me and my queasy feelings, they were right up against the windows, looking around and down. They ran the full 360 degrees, exploring the sky with excitement.

We headed next through Hyde Park (picking up trash and drawing with sticks in the gravel) to the Australian Museum (all of our trekking has been by foot, and we logged over 3 miles again today). The museum was EXTRAORDINARY. The first spot we stopped showed us Eric the 110 million year old opal fossil of a "swimming reptile." Apparently Australia almost sold him and the kids of Australia were mad and donated their pennies (and then a big corporation stepped in) so Eric stayed put in Sydney.

Next was into a whale exhibit. We were told not to take photos inside the exhibit due to the whales being such an important part of Maori (New Zealand) tradition and culture and that it is offensive to and sad for the Maori people to see casual photography up on social media. But trust me when I say this was one of the best exhibits we have ever seen. One video recreated what a whale did after they tagged her - based on the movement and depth, they were able to track her down to over 1500 METERS where she gobbled up a giant squid before heading back to the surface to flop around and lose the tracker. We heard the sounds of various whales, saw their bones hanging around and learned a lot about the whale slaughter and environmental problems that have and continue to plague their populations.

On the way out, there was a small exhibit about the dangers of plastic and people were asked to take the pledge to minimize their use of plastic. Lots of great ideas about how to cut down.

We headed to grab a snack, and ran into Dan and Michele, who were lunching at the museum with their Sydney-based friend. After a delicious meal, we headed to the Kid Discovery Centre, and spent aaaaaggggeeessss in there doing all things kids. At 2pm, there was "story time" and the girls got to sing and dance to Aboriginal music before listening to a story and then decorating wooden boomerangs with red (the earth), black (the people) and yellow (the sun) felt to depict the colors of the Aboriginal flag.

We finally dragged the girls out of the museum (it seriously was a drag - on the way out, they found yet another fantastic exhibit and ran in. We spent ages in there, too! We jumped in a cab (our first!) and head to Abbey's Book Store (the girls and I went for some gelato while G looked for a new book for himself). Then we walked back to the hotel, relaxed for a short while and then headed to the pool. But Sydney was on the chilly side today (73 / 23) so the pool was a bit too cold. Up for a bath and then Dan and I walked to "Kindness Cafe" to pick up vegan Thai food for dinner. It was DELICIOUS. Definitely a go-back-to spot. The 7 of us dined in our apartment together, then shared some tea while the girls played. Then it was time (reluctantly) for hugs good bye. Dan and Michele leave for Chicago tomorrow.

We have one more full day in Sydney and plan on a trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Stay tuned!!! On Friday, we head to Wollongong for a few days (a city about 90 minutes south of Sydney, where my sister and her family live). Then to the Blue Mountains for a few days before we fly to Thailand on April 4.