Beautiful Fiji

[Wed 12/7 - Fri 12/9] 

Miraculously, we woke to our 3am alarm (on 2.5hrs of sleep!) Wednesday, packed up and were off to the airport a few minutes earlier than planned. Dropped the car, checked in, cleared security, stopped in the duty-free store to pick up a few bottles for Fiji, then boarded our flight to Nadi, on the main island of Fiji. Our resort had arranged for a van to shuttle us to the waterfront where we waited an hour or so before catching a seaplane for a gorgeous 35-minute flight over several Fijian islands to Turtle Island. A small boat was waiting to shuttle us (a nice twist on planes-trains-and-automobiles) 5 minutes to nearby Tavewa Island and Coconut Beach Resort - our home for the next 6 nights. The float pilot was kind enough to circle over Coconut Beach just before we landed.

Co-pilot Karri

One of many spectacular Fijian islands

Coconut Beach

Our plane loading up passengers from Turtle Island for the return trip

Home stretch to Tavewa Island

Our boat was greeted on-shore by a crew of resort staff singing a welcome song, then shouting 'bula!', the ubiquitous Fijian word (it seems) for 'hello', 'welcome', 'congratulations', 'cheers' and more. We got a tour of the facilities and a run-down on activities, meal schedules, etc., then were taken to our respective beach huts ('bures'), where (at least Karri and I) un-packed, excited to be in one place for several days.

Staff greeting us with a song

Bath towel origami

The beach in front of our bure

We swam and relaxed a bit, then cleaned up for happy hour and a delicious dinner in the open-air lodge.

The staff here, the majority Fijians from nearby islands, are amazing - warm, friendly and happy, always greeting us with a 'bula!' and a smile, and excited to share their culture. During happy hour and at breakfast and dinner, there is guitar music and singing of traditional songs - with a few re-makes of pop music (from the Beatles to Neil Young to Guns N' Roses) thrown in.

After dinner, we joined a kava ceremony - a demonstration of the making and sharing of the traditional Fijian beverage or grog (which has sedative properties - just what we needed!). Afterwards, we stopped at the beach to star-gaze, before heading to bed around 9, exhausted after a short night of sleep and a long day of travels.

Moonrise from the beach

The resort offers scheduled activities every day - snorkeling or SCUBA diving tours, a trip to the nearby town, craft-making, plus presentations on the local culture. Thursday we decided to take it easy - relaxing at the beach, reading, swimming, and/or napping in a hammock. In the afternoon, Karri and I kayaked down the beach, stopping for a swim, and snorkeled a portion of the reef just off-shore. Victoria and Keenan took a stand-up paddle board for a spin.

Beach R&R

Coconut Beach at high tide

Afternoon paddle

Perhaps the reason Victoria wanted Keenan to come on the trip

Had another great dinner, followed by crab races - a fundraiser for local school children (Karri and my crab, 'Speedy', won earning us 2 free drinks at the bar!). Star-gazed and pondered the universe a bit from the beach before heading to bed.

Friday morning we lounged at the beach, swam and snorkeled. In the afternoon, Victoria went on a SCUBA dive (she recently got certified) to a nearby reef, while Karri, Keenan and I went on a snorkeling trip to Blue Lagoon Beach (near where the movie was filmed). Both awesome - we saw a bunch of colorful fish, sea slugs, a sea snake, and Keenan saw stingray, while Victoria saw a 3-foot reef shark and bunch of fish. A great day. 

Some of the many tropical fish we saw while snorkeling

Fish swimming along the reef

Here fishy, fishy!

Got back to the resort, relaxed and cleaned up for the evening. Listened to some of the local music during happy hour. One of the guys, Ili, has a particularly amazing voice. He's apparently a famous singer-songwriter who has had several songs top the Fiji pop charts. After dinner, the staff performed a traditional 'meke' - dancing and story-telling through song. They were so good - their voices and harmonies are amazing. They clearly were having great fun performing. Several of the locals came by with small children to enjoy the show. At the end of the show, they got all of the guests up to join in the dancing. It was a really fun night.

Josh (l) and Ili (r) playing during happy hour

Meke performance

Star-gazed and watched the moonrise before heading to bed. Another amazing day.

Back in Sydney

[Sun 12/4 - Tue 12/6]

The drive from the Blue Mountains back to Sydney was easy despite some Sunday traffic in Sydney. We headed to Manly Beach with a plan to meet Victoria and Keenan for lunch and to walk the Manly Markets hosted there every weekend. Karri and I arrived around 11:30 and walked a few of the market stalls, then along the full length of the spectacular beach. 

A few of the market stalls

Beach boardwalk

Australian Surf Rowers League - these people are crazy!

Manly Beach from the south end

We grabbed a table at The Boathouse Shelly Beach and Victoria and Keenan arrived to join us for lunch.  After lunch, we headed back to the markets and strolled a bit - Victoria was looking for a souvenir or two. Around 3:30, Karri and I left for our Airbnb in Darling Point, a waterfront suburb just east of downtown Sydney. Checked-in to a spacious 3rd-floor apartment across from Rushcutters Bay Park, then went for a walk through the neighborhood.

View of the park from our Airbnb

We were both still full from our late lunch and so decided we didn't need dinner. Instead, we opted to check-out another Sydney speakeasy. We showered, dressed and walked about 15 minutes to Jangling Jack's, where we sat at the bar, enjoyed a couple (or so...) well-made craft cocktails, and chatted with the bartender. Good spot. 

We both slept in Monday morning, had a light breakfast at the apartment, then set out on a walking tour to explore some new parts of the city. First we headed to Hyde Park, which we had intended to explore on our first stint in Sydney (but got sidetracked touring the Hyde Park Barracks). From there we continued on to Darling Harbour, then stopped in Chinatown for lunch (excellent dumplings at Nanjing Dumpling) before heading back to the apartment - a 5.5mi walk.

Tree-lined path through Hyde Park

Photo from 1932 when the above trees were first planted

Darling Harbour

Splash pool and fountains at Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour

Entrance to Chinatown

We relaxed a bit until Victoria and Keenan came by the apartment, chatted a bit then said goodbye to Keenan as Karri, Victoria and I were headed to the Sydney Opera House for a Jack Johnson concert. His album 'Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George' was a staple in our house when our kids were little and Victoria really wanted us to go to the show. We caught an Uber to Bar Luca for a pre-show beverage, then walked half a mile to the opera house. Thunderstorms had passed through earlier and more were in the forecast, so we all brought rain jackets for the outdoor show (note foreshadowing). We grabbed a bite to eat from a food truck, then found a good spot to stand and watch the show. It was really fun - he's a great performer and many of the songs were familiar. About 45 minutes into the show, we were treated to a light show complements of mother nature which steadily intensified over the next 10-15 minutes. Johnson was mid-song when an official came on stage and told him he had to shut down the show and send everyone home due to a looming storm. Not more than a minute later, it started to pour (and lightning) as people scrambled for cover and funneled to the exits. We hustled back to Bar Luca, arriving with dry heads and torsos but soaked pants/socks/shoes. Had a nightcap then caught an uber back to the apartment. Showered, played a quick game of Catan - a family favorite - then headed to bed.

Threatening clouds over Jack Johnson and Sydney Harbour

Steps of the Opera House - a great venue for a show (barring thunderstorms)

Tuesday - our last day in Australia - we relaxed in the morning, did laundry and reorganized our stuff in preparation for packing for our 6am Wed flight to Fiji. Around noon, we walked to the Botanical Gardens, stopping for lunch on the way. It was another gorgeous day with lots of sunshine, temperatures in the upper 70's, and a nice breeze blowing. We walked several of the paths, made a stop at Mrs. Maquarie's Chair, then headed to the beautiful State Library of New South Wales, where we briefly walked through the reading room and galleries, then stopped at the book store so Karri and Victoria could pick up another book for Fiji.

Botanical Gardens

Mrs. Maquarie's Chair

Walked back to the apartment and relaxed a bit, finished packing, then showered and dressed to head to dinner to meet Keenan's parents. They had picked 2 great spots - The Roosevelt for a cocktail and Fratelli Paradiso for dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening - it was really nice getting to know Kevin and Deb, wonderful people! The meal was delicious. My only regret is that we didn't take a group photo.

I've failed to mention that we invited Keenan to join us in Fiji. Fortunately, he was able to get the time off of work and to book on our same routing. 

Kevin and Deb dropped the 4 of us at the apartment just after midnight - leaving a very short night of sleep before our 3:00am(!) alarm so we could be on the road by 3:45 to drop our rental car and check-in for our 6am flight to Nadi, Fiji. We'll catch up on sleep at the beach!

Blue Mountains and Valley of the Waters

[Fri 12/2 - Sun 12/4] 

Our travels leaving Brisbane went much more smoothly than getting there. Caught an Uber to the airport for our 10:05am flight to Sydney, then picked up our rental car and drove 1.5hr west into the Blue Mountains, arriving at the lovely 3-room Valley of the Waters B&B around 3:30pm. We dropped our bags in the room and immediately headed out for a hike.

Convenient reminder

View from the deck of our room at Valley of the Waters B&B

The Blue Mountains aren't the tallest - the highest peak is just over 3,600' - but they are beautiful. They are covered with eucalyptus trees that emit oil droplets that evaporate and give the air a slight blue tint. The Valley of the Waters is a region within Blue Mountain National Park known for several waterfalls and spectacular cliffs. Our B&B was less than 50 yards from the parking lot and trailhead for Valley of the Waters. 

We walked to the trailhead, then headed out on the Empress Falls trail - normally a loop, but due to a closure it's a 3-mile out-and-back trail that passes several waterfalls. 

The Valley of the Waters

One of many falls along the trail

Another

And another

Great trail that (I later read) was initially built in the early 1900s

The trail starts with a slow descent that steadily gets steeper. In the 1.5mi outbound the trail drops over 900 feet. But, as (I assume) they say south of the equator, 'what goes down must come up'! So we turned around and headed back up the steep trail. It was one of the most exhausting 3-mile hikes I've ever done.

Up, up, up

We got back to the B&B, relaxed a bit, then showered and headed into the nearby town of Leura for a great meal at The Bunker. 

Saturday we had breakfast in our room (old school B&B!), then drove 20 minutes to the Grand Canyon trailhead. We got one of the last spots in the parking lot and headed out on the 4.6-mile loop trail. Once again, we started with gradual-then-steep descent, then leveled off in the canyon before climbing back out. It was challenging but completely worth it as we passed several waterfalls, creeks, pools and vistas. Karri and Victoria both described stretches of it as 'magical'. 

Descending into Grand Canyon

Sun meets falling water

One of very few flowers along the trail

Waterfall

The climb out

Nearly there!

Back up top - at Evans Lookout

We finished just before noon and drove to the nearby town of Katoomba. Sat in a park and had a snack before walking several blocks of the town - making a couple stops but mostly window shopping - then headed back to the B&B around 2:30. Victoria and Keenan were going to a concert in Sydney and Keenan generously offered to come get her. She packed up and Keenan arrived around 3.

(Long-awaited and oft-requested photo of) Victoria and Keenan

Karri and I relaxed in the room a bit until we realized it was too nice out and too early to sit around until dinner, so we headed out for another short hike. We walked back to the Valley of the Waters trailhead and set out on the Wentworth Falls circuit - a 2.5-mile loop with only a moderate descent. We were both tired but ended up being very glad we made the effort.

Valley of the Waters

Wentworth Falls in the distance (if you zoom in you can see people near the top)

Return trip under the upper face of the cliff

Got back to the room around 6. Karri took a bath while I relaxed, then we headed into Leura for a 7:30 reservation at Polar Bear - a Turkish restaurant with great food. They also pour the best gin martini we've had in Australia, with bartender/owner recommended Olive Leaf gin. Mmm. Sunday we had breakfast on the deck, then packed up and headed out.

Breakfast with a view!

We're heading back to Sydney to meet Victoria and Keenan at Manley Beach. Hard to believe this is the last leg of our travels in Australia.

Travel Delays; Rainy Brisbane

[Wed 11/30 - Thu 12/1]

We had planned it would take us about 7 hours to get from our hotel on Hamilton Island to our hotel in Brisbane. It ended up taking nearly 14 hours thanks to a delayed flight caused by heavy rains. We checked out around 9:15am, caught a shuttle to the harbor, caught a boat back to Airlie Beach, then another shuttle to Whitsunday Coast Airport, arriving at 2 for our 3pm flight to Brisbane. Just as we got in line to check our bags, it started to pour outside. After several announced departure delays, we finally learned that the inbound flight from Brisbane had circled over us a few times before heading back to Brisbane. So we sat in the tiny (3 gates total) airport and waited. Fortunately, they had a restaurant with decent food - and a bar - so we made the most of the time, relaxing, reading and/or watching a show or movie. The plane eventually made it through (with a new crew) and we boarded around 8:30 for the 90-minute flight to Brisbane, where it was also raining heavily. We got to our hotel around 11, grabbed a light meal from the restaurant next door, and went to bed. A long day, but if that is the worst of our travel woes, we'll consider ourselves very lucky.

We woke Thursday to more rain and wind, with a forecast for it to continue all day. We had reservations for a boat cruise on the Brisbane River with a stop at a koala sanctuary - and a little rain wasn't going to stop us Seattleites. We bundled up and caught an Uber to South Bank, where we boarded a Miramar Cruises tour boat for a 10am departure. We cruised west/south along the winding river with a surprisingly good recorded commentary describing various points of interest. Turned out to be a great way to see (a portion of) the city on a rainy day.

Pedestrian bridge over the Brisbane River

A couple of the riverfront mansions (the one on the right is available for A$44 million!)

Around 11:15am, the boat dropped us at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where we had until 2:15pm to explore the grounds. It was really fun. In addition to koala's they house lots of other mammals, birds and reptiles. We saw dozens of koalas up close, plus: kangaroos, dingos, platypuses, tasmanian devils, owls, eagles, bats, crocodiles, lizards, snakes and more.

Koalas

Curious kangaroo

Feeding a young kangaroo

Feeding a mama with a 'joey' in her pouch

Dingos

Freshwater crocs

The boat ride back was nice - despite the continued rain and wind. They dropped us around 3:30 and we decided to walk along the riverfront, in the direction of our hotel. Stopped for a couple beers and appetizers at Sea Legs Brewery - a cool spot near Kangaroo Point. Afterwards, we walked another mile or so toward the hotel, then Karri and Victoria hopped an Uber while I decided to walk the last 2 miles or so back.

Arbour on the riverfront walkway

Central Brisbane on a rainy day

Lots of waterfront art

Trying to decipher the game of cricket at Sea Legs Brewery

We met back at the hotel around 7 and decided our appetizers were going to be enough to hold us over for the night - and that a warm shower and staying in might be nice. Karri and Victoria are watching a movie while I write this. Tomorrow morning we catch a flight back to Sydney where we'll pick up a car and drive west to the Blue Mountains for a couple nights.