Australia 2013 - Brissy

Our final destination on our grand vacation was Brisbane. Phil had been wanting to take me here ever since we lived in Sydney. It was perfect for this trip as Phil's sister and brother both live there now with their families. 

We started off our stay by visiting sweet little Baby Krok's gravesite. Baby Krok is our nephew who passed away before birth. It was so sweet for Matt and Jade to show us this special place. 

The next week began our theme park time. This is one of the main reasons Phil loves Brissy-it's home of all the theme parks he grew up going to as a kid. We bought passes to Movie World, Wet-n-Wild, and Sea World. 

Movie World is a full on theme park based on Warner Bros. Studios' movies. Here's our view of Movie World from the outside. You can be sure that I had a giddy husband right next to me the whole way through the parking lot.

Batman greeted us on his batmobile

Wet-n-Wild is a theme park but the rides are all water rides. It was perfect during the hot Brisbane weather. They have amazing slides like the aqua loop...

Yesir, you go in a loop. Crazy!

Luckily our family was able to join us at the parks. What is better than theme parks with your friends? and cute nieces and nephew? Plus we had an unexpected addition that limited my riding capabilities so at least Phil had family to join him on the crazy rides...but more on that in another post!

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun and made some great memories.

(Bennallack Boys: Phil's Dad, Phil and brother Andrew)

(trooper kids: Leo, Pacey and Savannah)

Here's a vid I stole from Jade of all our time at the theme parks. 

(Remember this post about the jelly beans, well that's where the end of this vid comes from. Let's just say Phil ate a handful of bad ones all at once!) 

Also, check Phil & I's moment of fame at 1:16! 

Yep! Phil and I actually go chosen to be a part of the stunt racing show. Here we are getting the run down of our parts.

I was so nervous when the host of the show was explaining what we needed to do because his accent was so thick and the speakers made it impossible for me to understand what he was saying. Luckily Phil had a quick second to whisper "frightened, relieved, KISS". Saved my acting career that Aussie hubs of mine did!

While we loved the theme parks, we of course made time for other Brisbane "must-do's" like Surfer's Paradise

All oiled up!

and of course South Bank!

South Bank is a beautiful area just south of the city (across the river) that they've made into a beach-like pool, complete with sand, kiddie pools and amazing views. It's like the beach but in the city!

We loved spending time there!

Brissy was great to say the least. We even tried to leave to come back home and the airline turned us away telling us we had to stay for another week! Ha-Phil actually didn't bring his green card with him (long story) so we weren't allowed on a flight back to the USA without it. Fancy that! Thank goodness for FedEx :)

Well I cried the first time we drove away from Matt and Jade's house so at least we got to see the fam again for another week!

Thanks Matt & Jade, and Andrew & Alex for letting us stay with you and spend time with your families. And thanks for having such cute kids. We miss you all!

Australia 2013 - Sydney

We started our Sydney visit with Alyce & Eric. They read our minds as our first day there was a beach day! We were craving some sunny beach weather, and Sydney delivered. It was beautiful!

We visited The Entrance which had a tide pool as well. Perfect for cute little Landie.

On New Years Eve Phil and I decided to brave the city! People were already camping out for the fireworks show.  Check out all those heads-it is not normally like that!

We took the ferry to Manly hoping to catch some waves but the blue bottle jellyfish were everywhere-so we settled for a walk along the beach. Good ole Manly!

The beautiful bridge and Opera House greeted us on our ferry ride back to Circular Quay. What a view...I love Sydney!

After our beach outing and ferry ride we were tired, hot and sweaty so we decided to get out of the city before it got even more crazy. We snapped a new years pic and called it good!

Welcoming in 2013!!

After catching the train back up the coast we met up with the family at a soccer game. It was nice, especially once the sun went down! The game was followed by a family fireworks celebration at 9:30pm which was perfect for the young ones...and us old fogies too :)

(Check out Carter's dance moves! That kid cracks me up!)

We returned to Jo's house to ring in the New Year. Needless to say we literally forced ourselves to stay awake until 12am. Ha-what has happened to us?!

Other highlights from our Sydney visit included seeing our dear friends Caylee & Dan (and cute Dillan cheesing it!). We loved catching up with them, just like no time had passed. Love them!

They treated us to yummy chinese food. Can't beat Sydney asian food-they know what they're doing!

Followed by desert churros. We were so stuffed!

And we also saw Phil's good friend Jordan who made a trip to Hurricanes with us.

(this is after the waiter sneaked up on him with a bib, haha!) 

We had to make a trip to Hurricanes while we were in Sydney and this is why...

RIBS! and only Hurricanes serves such huge ribs. (pic does not do it justice) Oh so good!!!

That's a wrap up of our time in Sydney. Thanks family for letting us crash with you and friends for making time for us. Until next time!

Cheesus

In my recent escapade to the local grocery store (yes, an I call it an escapade...makes grocery shopping so much more desirable) I found myself in the cheese aisle, fantasizing of Australia.

I wanted flavor; I wanted something that tasted like something more than yellow wax.

I wanted Australian tasty cheddar cheese.

You see, I do love me some good cheese. Always have, always will.  But it wasn't until Australia that good cheese became the norm.  That's when it all began. 

My palate loved that grocery store bought, home brand, tasty cheddar cheese.

Tasty is right!  I remember just eating slice after slice. 

Nachos. Sub sandwiches. Cheese & twiggy sticks. Grilled Cheese. Cheese and crackers...mmmm.

Ok ok, back to my escapade...so I picked me up some SHARP cheddar cheese in hopes that my palate would be deceived and decide I'm back in Australia.

So far, no luck.  Its a step up, but consider it a tiny one.  Like, real small.

All in all, I would be extremely grateful if my dear Australian friends would

#1: enjoy their cheese, dangit!

#2: send the recipe to Kraft...and then Kraft make it for me in America

#3: break the law by somehow getting my tasty cheese through customs and over to me

Is that too much to ask? :)

Yes, I just wrote a post about cheese.

Yes, I realize that is weird.

Yes, I'm still craving my tasty cheddar cheese.

Exhausted

I feel like life is moving in fast forward but in slow motion too.

We are loving it though.

 < I haven't cooked dinner since last Monday. >

Seriously? Seriously.

< Most nights I'm not even at our house more than 30 minutes...or not at all. >

I'm good at fast packing. Real good.

< We've been caraze-y scared by an intense movie mini-marathon >

I think Don secretly loved freaking us out.

< The surprise party for Phil's mum went off without a hitch. >  

Now we're not walking on pins and needles wondering what we can/can't say. Phew!

< Selling our goods went entirely well. >

Yes, entirely.

< Because of the previous item, we are currently living in a shell. >

No furniture or anything on the wall = shell.

Sad but great!

< Plans for our voyage home have been finalized. >

Final.

< We're enjoying Sydney while we can! >

I will miss nights like these...

Seen

Oh Harry.  Harry Harry Potter.

*no spoilers here...promise!...although how can you "spoil" a movie when it's already a book?*

It was great. Great. Great. Great.

The night went something like this...

11pm...depart the house to deserted streets.

11:35pm...arrive at theatre.  Crazy how bustling that place was in the dead of the night.

12:05am...Harry time.

Action.

Snacks.

Hermione.

Girl crying on my right. (jeez)

Voldermort.

Slew of girls sobbing on Phil's left.

Neville.

Loud breather on my right...inhale, EXHALE (or is she still sobbing?) 

Ron.

More good movie watching.

Professor McGonagall.

Dumbledore.

Snape.

oh...and Harry.

HP.

Potter.

The boy who lived.

Harry Potter.

I felt slightly childish going to a midnight movie, but something about Harry Potter brings me back to 12 years old.

12 years old is a healthy age to love Harry Potter right?  Better than 22.

So since it started back then, it's ok.

Phil agrees.

I'd see it again. Mostly cuz I don't want it to end.

xoxo

Countdown

Nope, not our favorite Woolworths store in New Zealand.

This is real life. With numbers!

1

day until Phil's school results.

2

days until Harry Potter 7 pt2.

(Yes, I count down to Harry Potter. Judge me.)

6

days until we have {Bennallack} parents again.

19

more days of work.

30

days until Fiji.

37 

days until America.

Whoa...where has time gone?

Jeez Lahweez.

Salute

Oh 4th of July...Happy Birthday America.

This was my first 4th of July that I didn't spend in America.

Someone at work mentioned it in devotional and that was about the extent of it.

Happy 4th eh!?

We had our own little American treat to celebrate.

Chocolate pudding pie with graham cracker crust. 

Funny how valuable graham crackers are when you just don't get them at the shops.

mmmmm.

I'm proud to be American and I'm grateful for the freedoms we enjoy there.

But I have also grown to love Australia.

Sadly the while we were all celebrating at home on the 4th another Australian soldier was killed in Afghanistan.

America isn't alone...we have allies and friends that are fighting along with us.

So today I salute to Australia too.

Treasures

So recently I've been craving BBQ food.  No no, not just BBQ sauce food.

Like legit, yummy, home-made hamburger BBQ food.

I must admit, I have never had this craving before.

What is going on?

And then I figured it out.

It's summer {a.k.a BBQ weather} in America.

It's the 4th of July in America....well it is everywhere but it actually means something in America.

4th of July = BBQs galore!

So my little American body of mine figured it out, and craves it.

Voila. Oddest craving of my life.

On another note, we've sold like half our house.

Meaning: like almost everything inside it.  

Sadly it looks like a less habitable place each day.

Tis' the life of moving!

But guess what also comes with moving?

Hidden treasures...that distract us from packing and cleaning for a whole 15 minutes.

Treasures indeed!

Weekend Away

Phil & I have been wanting to visit Canberra one more time before our move overseas.

Add Don & Lisa to the mix and we got a weekend away with friends.

There are just some people that you love to be around and are instant friends.  

That's how we feel about Don & Lisa.  

We loved spending the weekend together with them.

First we visited Old Parliament House (one of my favorite buildings in Canberra).

I've been wanting to do a tour there since we only got a teaser last time.

The building is beautiful and has so much history there.  Our tour guide knew all the details.  

It was fun to learn so much.

Plus, we got to try out being Speaker of the House ourselves.

Don went for the powerful look, I'm just amazed by the chair and Phil looks bored with parliament.

After our tour it was time to hit the War Memorial/Museum.

This place blew me away.  

There is no way you would be able to see this whole place in one go, but we did our best.

We were so glad that we went with Don & Lisa because Don is in the army and had so much insight into well...everything.

Again, we learned so much!

The museum is so interactive and really helps you to really get a feel of what soldier/war life is and was like.

I was really humbling for me.

Like I said, it's a great museum plus it's interactive.  You can dress up and all...and of course, we did just that.

Take a ride in an army helicopter? Yesir.

We decided that life on a submarine is definitely not an option for our claustrophobic husbands.

Phil barely let me lie next to him in his submarine bunk because he was getting claustrophobic.

I would apologize to Don for posting his "lovely" photos, but every time I went to snap a pic he pulled a face.

He was asking for it! 

On the loo and a shower too! 

Sailor Don. 

From the submarine on to the barracks.

Phil & Don were looking out for the enemy.

And I'm probably much to happy to be in a war barrack.

On our way out we were sure to walk through the courtyard leading up to the tomb of the unknown soldier.

The ceiling inside the tomb was amazing.

The red poppy is a memorial throughout Australia because of the story told that these bloomed in the war fields following WWI.   

The poppies lined the walls with the names of all the Australians who have fallen in combat.

We loved our trip to Canberra and spending time with Don & Lisa.

Once again, it left me wanting to come back for more.

Until next time Canberra!

xoxo