Taronga - Zoo with a View

Using our favorite Sunday public transportation pass, we head off for the Taronga Zoo. Bus, ferry, bus and we've arrived.

Seriously, you cannot believe the view from here - the giraffes have multimillion dollar views of the Sydney Harbor.

We got our first sighting of a kangaroo, koala and wallaby in the zoo. While not exactly in their natural environment, it marked a milestone.

Oh, we also saw a Tasmanian Devil, who didn't look even remotely like the Looney Tunes one I remember. , although he did run around and around and around while we watched him. The Devils are in trouble because of a nasty cancer that is attacking them - because each one is so genetically similar to all the others, their body doesn't know to fight the cancer when it encounters it.


We were not so lucky to catch the shy platypus in action. However, lots of excitement at the bird show when a parrot took a coin from a woman and returned an engagement ring instead of the coin. Romance at the zoo!

Daniel, or "you there in the blue jumper" (and cool shades), was picked to assist in getting a seal to jump and touch a ball at the seal show. Then our star needed a break from fame so settled in with the casual reading he smuggled on the trip.


We rode the Sky Safari a few times - a round trip ride to and from the top of the zoo:


Finally, we fed the giraffes - even Mr. Charlie.

Eastern Coastal Walkway: South Coogee to Clovelly

The rains let up, sort of, and we were very anxious to get out in the sort of sunny weather. We packed our lunches and headed down the path to the Clovelly Beach about 2 miles from our place. It starts with the 122 step decline to the coast that doesn't look so bad on the way down.

The rains returned about half way there, so we hung out on the covered benches at Coogee Beach watching surfers until it let up a bit. The waves today were killer, awesome, gnarly, hang 10 (and that exhausts all the surf words we may know). Coogee Beach was closed to swimmers due to "dangerous conditions" They were crashing over the boat docks and cliffs giving us show on the way there.
The beach we walked to is long and narrow so the waves don't hit it full force. The down side was that the Beach Raker that goes over it usually wasn't there this morning and lots of trash was washed up on the beach - I saw a toy we could have lost in the states....

The kids were very happy to dig and dig and dig. Charlie spent time gathering "high quality wet sand", which I can only imagine were orders handed down from Captain #1 (as he likes to call himself - you know who?). Molly decorated the castle with shells, to the best of her ability with the boys stepping on them as fast as she could place them appropriately.


In this picture Captain #3 is explaining how at one time all of this used to be a lake. Hmm...we might need to reconsider the preschool he's attending:


This beach, like most here, has a Rock Pool that is a rectanglar concrete pool in the embankment next to the beach. There's a long walkway by it that the waves were crashing over and a game of chicken ensued. Only one dry family member by the end. It's good to be the camera person.

I did hand off the camera duties to a kind stranger who managed a pic of all 5 of us together in Australia, imagine that, at Coogee Beach on the way home.

This truck caught our eye on the walk because of the sign on its side that read "Possum Removal." Mike keeps quoting from the "Possum Come a Knockin'" kids book and I keep remembering the time that my mom pet a possum on our deck, thinking it was a cat. Anyway, the back of the truck was reassuring in case the toxic sprays in our laundry room are not quite toxic enough.

Daily Living

Charlie and I started the day with a trip to the public library. It's in a sort-of mall on a main street near the university, so another bus ride for us, at least in the pouring rain. With our lease agreement and my MI driver's license, I'm now a proud owner of a Randwick City Library card. I'll know I've arrived when I pay my first overdue fee (4 weeks and counting).

The book selection is small, but most of the books are new to us, so we were very happy. We read "Daft Dog Danny" and "The Best Jumper." If you're following along with the Australian lingo, you know this latter is about a favorite sweater, which just happened to be knitted by a Grandma.

Back in time for a Vegemite sandwich - on Ritz. Here's Wiki's description:

• Vegemite is made from used brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives [which do not help in the least]. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umani or malty – similar to beef bouillon. The texture is smooth, and the product is a paste. It is not as intensely flavoured as British Marmite and it is less sweet than the New Zealand version of Marmite. [italics added by SAD-C] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegemite

One thoughtful response..."It isn't bad."

Before:

During:
Immediately After:

(note the school uniform skivvy she's wearing).

The report from South Coogee Public is that bad weather has the same universal effect across the globe: indoor recess = show a movie. The teachers looked particularly harried at the end of the day and Molly rated "Gnomeo and Juliet" as Fresh and Daniel gave a two thumbs up review for "Good Boy". Here's one product of the day - I'm not sure if the coloring is accurate because I don't really know what a goanna is. Maybe I can still her with her math?

Almost every day we walk the block to the Coogee Bakehouse for a loaf of bread. Today, the Lego swords went with us - we didn't get a better deal, but the rolls for dinner were still yummy.

Australian Literature

Rain, rain, rain - all day. I couldn't resist a run and I'm guessing the weather is usually so nice here that Sydneysiders don't bother going out when it's miserable, since I was the only one on the trail.

We're holed up inside waiting for it to stop, digging into Australian literature or, in most cases, literature about Australia. The Lonely Planet Australia and Frommers Australia 2011 have so many dog earred pages, we'll never have to leave the house even when the sun returns.


Daniel's been reading a pile of Andy Griffith's books - including Treasure Fever in which "Life is never boring at Northwest Southeast Central School." He also wrote The Day My Butt Went Psycho, but I don't think we've got that classic. Molly and Charlie have Amazing Amelia and Jolly Jack, Scholastic books filled with the letters A and J and Australian references we don't get (YET!). Tonight we started The Magic Pudding Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum by Norman Lindsay, billed as an Australian Children's Classic. Oh, and I'm reading Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country, thanks to the No Time to Read Bookclub in East Lansing.

AND...Daniel brought home 3 Scholastic Book Orders filled with books I haven't heard of. Charlie and I have a full day planned for tomorrow!

Finally, Mike went grocery shopping with Charlie today and Vegamite is in the house. I'm off to read the label now.

Just like Glenhaven Ave:

Routine?

We're pretending to start a routine. Daniel and Molly got to school at 8:30 when the uniform shop opened up. We're almost fully attired, but we do need to go to Target for a few more shirts and pants. Luckily, they had one pair of winter pants in Molly's size in the used section ($15 instead of $60 - I'm trying to remember they wear them every day!!) and a couple of jumpers for each of them. The hats are new, but we love them and they'll definitely make it back across the Pacific (thanks editor in chief for catching that one) with us! The uniform shop is run by the Parent Council and all the proceeds go back to the school.

It was raining cats and dogs here, so we decided to bus in to work with Charlie. Turns out, it isn't that convenient. The bus drops you off a little under a mile from Charlie's school with a big ole hill standing in the way, not to mention those crazy round about where the cars appear to be veering toward you from all angles (I tried to explain the Chevy Chase scene from European Vacation and eventually found it on You Tube, since the verbal version wasn't so hot).


So, we're in the office by about 10 and Mike left to meet the kiddos at South Coogee Public around 2:15. Hmm... I think we need to work out a few glitches before we call it a routine.

Boys are now wrestling on the couch, that part is routine.

P.S. While unloading the washing machine, I noticed these cans on the counter in the laundry room.
Coincidentally, when I took the laundry outside to hang it (in the rain, it will never dry), I found this "little" guy patiently waiting for the door to swing open. Sandy, this is what you'd LOVE about Australia. So far, no snakes...

South Coogee Public School - 1st Day of 3rd Term

Look out South Coogee Public School, here come the Conlins!

They're not properly attired yet, most of these are borrowed clothes from the office because the uniform shop hasn't been open since we've arrived. Molly needs a hat so she can play in the sun at recess (otherwise, shade for her). Daniel has his jumper on with some new grey pants from Target. There's a definite gender inequity in uniforms. Both kids must have the South Coogee jumper and hats, but:

• Boys need any grey pants and a specific colored blue shirt
• Girls need very specific plaid tunic or pants that are very expensive to buy new. Here's hoping there are some gently used versions tomorrow at the uniform shop!
  

Here's Molly walking down the hallway with Mrs. Monkhouse the 1st grade teacher. The 1st and 2nd graders are in Stage 1 and Molly is in a classroom with only 1st graders. Daniel is in Mrs. Stevenson's classroom in Stage 3 with a mix of 5th and 6th graders. She warned Daniel that there will be a reading requirement for homework, and she hoped that wouldn't be an issue. I warned her that reading will absolutely be an issue, when she tries to pull his nose out of all those new Aussie books!
Here's how I spent my day waiting to pick them up after their first day...working at the kitchen table with a Pacific view, wondering if the neighborhood birds regularly perch on our drying laundry while we're way, consuming an entire Cadbury bar when I only intended to eat 2 squares (what did I expect being alone all day long?), and watching the huge jets fly by every 2 minutes on their way from somewhere far.



Day is done with two very happy campers. Daniel was thrilled by the playground dynamics he's discovering. Molly had PE, so she should have had her sports uniform on, oops, where she played Stuck in the Mud (can you guess?). She also had library and brought home a reader, just like Marble elementary school. The biggest difference in the school, so far, is that everything opens up to outside - all the bathrooms are a walk outside. They have a 30 minute recess and an hour lunch all outside. The Sydneysiders are not happy with the 50-60 degree temps and Daniel and Molly are getting lots of sympathy for missing summer and summer break. According to weather.com, they're really missing summer in East Lansing!

Where's Charlie!? Kanga Preschool playing in the tree house, riding bikes, having tea and hot lunch and learning the phrase, "Don't cry mate." They only had to use that on the first day, at least so far! Here's hoping he doesn't chuck a wobbly.