Back to Reality (Day 9)

Well, our trip is finally reaching an end. We hit the road at 7:30am to drive back to Sydney to catch our flight. Fortunately for us, we met another young couple who was really nice and offered to let us follow them back to Sydney. They live by the airport, so we were able to follow them almost the entire way. And since our Garmin GPS stopped working for us on our trip back, it turned out to be even better. I can’t believe we forgot to take picture of our car and me driving. It completely slipped our minds.

Surprisingly, we made it to the airport, turned the car in, and checked in without incident or delay. We also caught another break when we found out we were going to be flying on Quantas’ new A380 aircraft (http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/A380/index) back to LA. For anyone that travels a lot, or internationally, this was without a doubt the best airplane we’ve ever flown on. First of all it was massive (seating 450 passengers). But second, even in coach, the leg room was noticeably better, and the seats were far more comfortable. One of my favorite things was the touch-screen TV everyone had in the back of the headrest in front of them. We had this on the 747 we took on the way in, but this was far more advanced. There were over 1,000 movies, TV shows, music, video games, and books on tape to choose from. Aside from recently released movies, they also had one Oscar category that allowed you to watch any of the Best Picture winning movies from the last 40 years (starting with Midnight Cowboy [1969] to Slumdog Millionaire [2009]). I finally watched The Sting…as well as a bunch of other movies and TV shows. The other cool thing was that they had a special “Information” tab. On it you could view video of outside the plane from a special video camera that was attached to the tail of the plane. It was really cool to watch take-off and landing from an aerial view, as well as views of the coast. There was also another button that allowed you to track where the plane was at any given time, the distance and time left to reach your destination, and other information. It was really cool to be able to track everything, as well as see outside the plane on your TV in front of you. I attached a link to the web site, and anyone interested in planes should check it out. If nothing else, it’s worth looking at the video of first class and business class seating. Sadly we weren’t able to enjoy those accommodations, however we saw them and they were incredible.

Tina slept for a few hours on the way back to LA from Sydney, but I couldn’t. The time change had me all mixed up, so I decided that I’d just try to stay awake and try to get to bed early when we got back to Dallas. But Tina and I did manage to fall asleep for about an hour on our LA to Dallas leg of the trip. Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted when we returned.

So that’s about it. We’re hoping to get some more pictures and video from our friends Ron and Leslie, and we’ll be glad to share it with anyone interested. I’m not sure when we’ll get it though.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who followed us during our adventure to Sydney. We had such an incredible time, and it was definitely the trip of a lifetime. We hope to see everyone soon!

The weary (and sad) travelers return.

A couple of pics of the A380 airplane. Definitely our new preferred means of transportation.

The Gifts!!

One thing I have forgotten to post about was the gifts we received each evening as we returned to the hotel from the day’s events. On top of everything else we received, this was a great little surprise to get each evening. One night we came home to find a stuffed koala bear, 2 koala bear t-shirts, and information about a koala bear that GSK sponsored in our name through the Australian Koala Foundation (www.savethekoala.com).His name is Zap, and we got all kinds of information about this incredible, endangered animal.

Another night we came back to find a card for us to pick up a complimentary iPod Nano downstairs!!

The next night we came back to find information about a framed piece of artwork of Sydney that they would be shipping to us by one of the local artists. Sure enough, it was waiting for us when we got back to Dallas.

And the final night we had a picture waiting for us from the dinner in front of the Opera House, and also a really cool painted boomerang shaped box.

We got so spoiled because we'd walk into the room each night excited about our newest present.

Kangaroo Hunting (video)

Tina was on a mission today to see some kangaroos in the wild. Our driver, Ian, told us that we'd see plenty around 4pm when they came out to feed. Sure enough he was right. We saw probably 100 of them at the end of the day. Here's a little video of a few as we pulled the car over to try to get some video and pictures. Sorry the quality and zoom isn't the best. The camcorder we have is fun, but very limited. Hope you can see it ok.

Bondi Beach walk (video)

I thought I'd post a quick video of the Bondi Icebergs. It's a swim club/bar right along the cliffs of Bondi Beach and the Pacific Ocean.

Gala Dinner (Video)

Before I forget, here's a little video of the aboriginal performance from our last night in Sydney. It was really cool watching them.

Hunter Valley Cheers Wine Tour (Day 8)

The last few pictures.



Our first stop of the day.

Hunter Valley (Day 8 - Cont'd)

Here are a few more pictures from our wine tour.


Tina and I at Ernest Hill.

The lady that owned Ernest Hill was great. Very knowledgeable and helpful.

Us outside Ernest Hill Vineyard.

Tina and I outside Mysty Hills Vineyard.

The vineyards at Mysti Hills.

Hunter Valley Cheers Wine Tour (Day 8)

We scheduled a tour of the vineyards on Thursday through Cheers Wine Tours. The owner of the company (and our tour guide, Ian) picked us up promptly at 9:45am and we stopped a few times along the way to “collect” the other 9 people on our tour. We started the day at Oakvale vineyards where we sampled several great wines. Our next stop was at Ernest Hill, which was probably my favorite. The lady who owned the vineyard was extremely knowledgeable and friendly, and we had a hard time choosing which bottle to buy (Since we can only bring two bottles back per person we had to be very selective on what to buy). We then stopped at Peacock Hill, Mysty Hill and finally the Smelly Cheese Shop (yes, that was the actual name). It was a beautiful day and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

That night we had dinner across the street from our B&B at a place called Mojo's. It turned out to be a great last day, and we really lucked out with great weather.

If you look closely, you can see a herd of kangaroos. Tina was on kangaroo hunt all day for pictures.

View from Tempus Two Vineyard and the Smelly Cheese Shop.


See, I wan't kidding about the name.

At the end of our tour. The Cheers Bus was a blast.

Sunset from the balcony of Wilderness Grove Bed and Breakfast. An absolutely breath taking view.

Wilderness Grove (Video)

I thought everyone might like to see a little video of our B&B. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Day 7 (Hunter Valley - cont'd)

More pics from our B&B.


Our basket of goodies left for us by the B&B owners.



You can see the surrounding olive groves of Wilderness Grove. Our room is on the balcony to the right.


Dinner at Amanda's. The food was outstanding!

Day 7 (Hunter Valley)

Everyone from GSK was heading back to the airport to catch their flights home, however Tina and I elected to stay two extra days to go up to Hunter Valley, which is two hours north of Sydney. It’s basically the Napa Valley region near Sydney with over 140 vineyards in the area. So we rented a car and took to the highway. What’s the hardest part about driving in another country? Well, besides EVERYTHING, it’s the fact that you have to fight every natural instinct you have of driving on the wrong side of the road. One of the hardest things for me was getting used to the blinker. Since the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, everything is reversed. Every time I pulled the left lever to turn on my blinker, I actually turned on the windshield wiper. This quickly became infuriating….and funny.

It definitely takes some getting used to driving on the left hand side of the street. But since they delivered the car to the hotel, I didn’t have the luxury of starting off practicing in a parking lot. I was baptized by fire pulling out of the hotel into downtown Sydney traffic and driving over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was a bit nerve-wracking to say the least, but fortunately we survived. I’m just glad we elected to pay a little more to get an automatic transmission instead of trying to drive stick. I think that would have been TOO much to take on my first time driving in another country.

About two hours later we arrived in Hunter Valley at our Bed & Breakfast (http://www.wildernessgrove.com/huntervalley) Wilderness Grove. The place was perfect! It’s a little B&B just off the beaten path, but still close to all the vineyards. We enjoyed walking through the olive groves on the property grounds and sitting in the Adirondack chairs on our balcony and enjoying the views of the surrounding olive groves, vineyards and mountains in the distance. An absolutely gorgeous sight to behold.

That evening we went to dinner at this quaint little restaurant not too far from where we were staying. The place was called Amanda’s, and the food was fantastic. Our tomato, basil and mozzarella salad was definitely the best either of us has ever had. We split the prawn (shrimp) pasta dish and it was delicious. It was a perfect evening to end a perfect first day in Hunter Valley.


The vineyards as we pulled into town.
The view as we drove up the gravel driveway to our B&B (Wilderness Grove)


The view back down the driveway. You can see the olive trees on the left.


Sitting on our balcony enjoying a glass of wine.

Day 6 (“A Toast to All that Sparkles” pics cont'd)

Here are a few more pictures from dinner.

Day 6 (“A Toast to All that Sparkles”)

Tonight was the gala for all Winner Circle members and their guests. Since Tina was an Encore Winner (meaning that she tiered last year for WC – there are 3 levels for the top reps, and they honor those who repeat from year to year, which is extremely difficult), there was a special cocktail party beforehand to honor those folks who repeated from last year. This is definitely a really big deal in her company, and I’m so proud of her!

After the cocktail party, the gala dinner began. The doors to the ballroom were closed and when they opened them, descendants from one of the Australian aboriginal tribes, who were wearing the customary loin cloths (I can’t believe I just wrote “loin cloth” in my post) and were also covered from head to toe with body paint. They came out of the ballroom and walked up the stairs as they played their aboriginal instruments and sang their songs as they led the groups down the stairs into the ballroom (I can’t imagine that happens every day at the Four Seasons). Once we were all inside, they performed several of their tribal songs and dances right after they lit the eucalyptus leaves and fanned the room with the smoke to lift any “evil spirits” that were in the room. It was such an amazing thing to witness. Shortly after their performance dinner was served. The food was excellent, as we indulged in steak and shrimp, and topped it off with a great cheesecake dessert. There were a few more acts to entertain everyone, and it turned out to be a great final night in Sydney.

Tina next to the Winner Circle sign with her name on it.


Our aboriginal entertainers came upstairs to lead us to dinner.
Using burning eucalyptus leaves to cleanse the room of any "evil spirits."

Waverley Cemetery (Video)

Not to be too morbid here, but I didn't get a chance to post a little video of our stop in the Waverley Cemetery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waverley_Cemetery) along our Coogee to Bondi Beach walk. I thought a little video would better capture what we were witnessing along the way. Again, while we thought it strange to have to pass through an old cemetery to reach the beach (especially on such an eery and gloomy day), it turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. The cemetery was just so remarkable that we felt we had to share a little video.

We're back!

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay in posts. The day we had to leave Sydney to go up to Hunter Valley, I was not able to update the blog. Unfortunately we didn't have any internet access when we got to the bed and breakfast either, so I'm just now getting a chance to post some updates. We got back yesterday at about 6:30pm, but were too tired to do anything. I will post the rest of the updates this afternoon. Thanks to everyone for checking our blog!

Quick Update

Hi everyone! Sorry we haven't been able to post updates the last few days because we've been out in Hunter Valley, which out in the middle of nowhere. We didn't have a TV or phone, much less wireless internet access (and one day we didn't have power for a few hours). So we haven't been able to send out an update. We just got to the airport here in Sydney and are about to board our fligtht to LA. It's noon on Friday here and we won't get back to Dallas until about 6:30pm on Friday. I will be sure to update the blog when we return. Thanks for everyone's comments. We've enjoyed reading them. Be sure to check back in about 48 hours for more pics and updates. Time to go sit for 18 hours! My butt already hurts just thinking about it. Luckily for us, we are on the new Quantus A380 aircraft which is one of the most advanced airplanes in the world. Should be fun.

-CK