Our great friends from Chicago came to visit. We started our vacations together in China when they joined a tour we were hosting. The next year we met in Island Park, Idaho for some great snowmobiling with a few families. Now they came to visit us in Australia. We can now say we have vacationed on 3 continents together. We couldn’t wait to see what the next week together would hold.
Keaton and Debbie had arrived early that morning… how do they look so awake and rested after such a long flight? They do have their own secret for that but we will let them share it:) We knew that they needed to stay awake as long as they could and then they would acclimate better to the new time. With that said we planned moving activities, so why not walk to downtown Sydney with the outdoor market, street performers, and lots of fresh air.
Dale and Debbie to see if they could take on a new look…. they opted to not keep these for good. Thank goodness!
This contortionist was not only nibble but she was hilarious. We stood for over 15 min. watching her on the pier by the Sydney Opera House in the distance.
We ended our long day by taking them for a traditional New Zealand meal. The local LDS ward in Sydney was having a family dinner with the big NZ meal cooked underground as it is traditonally done.
This delicious traditional New Zealand meal is called the ‘Hangi’ which means Earth Oven. Historically the Maori’s used this method of cooking meat and vegetables in the ground which gives it a smokey taste. We were lucky enough to experience the full meal cooked just as it was traditionally done. Everything had a wonderfully smokey taste. As they say, “Kaore te kumara e korero motona ake reka”.
Travel Saving Tips:
1- We planned the day of activities with our friends that would not cost anything (while trying to keep them awake and moving all day because they had just flown in that morning – the best way to beat jet lag is to get on the same sleeping schedule of the country you are in). We walked around downtown to some outdoor markets, watched the entertainment on the pier by the Sydney Opera House, & a ‘Hangi’ dinner at our local church. FREE.
2- Keaton is quite the sailor (Yep, at 16) and because ‘Sailing on Sydney Harbor’ was on his bucket list we were able to join. Debbie looked for different offers on various sites such as Groupon, etc… to find the best price to hire out a boat. You can also just google discounts and see what comes up.
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