Koalas Up Close

We visited a neighboring property that had many eucalyptus trees, which had attracted 15-20 koalas. It was like a treasure hunt, craning our necks to spot the koalas. This guy didn't even bat an eyelash when we (ok, just me) yelled out in excitement.

Kangaroos in the wild

It was incredible to come upon a mob of kangaroos in a clearing. They didn't seem bothered by us. On Kangaroo Island, they don't have many predators except for humans driving at night, so they've really proliferated. We had to drive quite slowly to make sure we didn't collide with the families of kangaroos trying to cross the road. They even have a "kangaroo crossing" sign!

Wallaby groupies

We attracted not only the wallabies but their wanna-be wallaby friends, the possums.

Visiting Wallabies on our Porch

Can it get any better? These wallabies were so cute, and friendly, they followed us back to our room at the eco-resort where we were staying near Flinders Chase Park.

They seemed to like it when Steve scratched under their chins.

Fur Seals and Sunset

At a site called Admiral's Arches, we took this picture as the sun was setting and the young fur seal pups were starting to play fight right below us. Kangaroo Island was full of stunning views of both the sea and the countryside.

Echidnas--the Australian Anteater

We spent a lot of time looking for these spiny anteaters, whose claws point backwards, allowing them to dig vertically down into the ground to hide. They fascinated Barbara and we spent a good deal of time "echidna spotting" along the sides of the roads.

Echidnas--the Australian Anteater

Down Under Above Sydney

One of the fun things you can do in Sydney is the BridgeClimb. This is, as one might guess, climbing the Harbour Bridge. They've set up walkways along the side of the bridge and over the top. Because they need to make sure nothing falls onto the roadway from us we aren't allowed to bring just about anything, and we have to wear these nifty jumpsuits along with some climbing harness belts that keep you attached to the bridge.

We paid a little more to do the Twilight bridge climb and wow, did we luck out with wonderful weather and a fantastic sunset that we got to watch from the top of the bridge.

CLICK on the photos to see a better view of Sydney and its suburbs.

Living the life at Bondi Beach

Looks a bit different than Ocean Beach (SF's city beach). Bondi Beach is considered the city beach in Sydney and is absolutely stunning. It is really clean, clear blue water and was full of surfers.

There is a walk along the cliffs surrounding the beach, which we enjoyed, although the temps were in the high 70s, low 80s which felt pretty hot to us.

Our Sydney "home"

The view from our balcony at sunset in Sydney

Sydney Opera House--we're really here!

Every time we've seen pictures of Sydney, there was the Opera house--it's even more stunning in person (even through jet-lagged eyes)

On our way...

The 14 hour flight wasn't as bad as we thought. We were so pleased to find that our apartment was great, well located, and the weather in Sydney was perfect.