Manly Beaches and Royal Gardens

I realize it's been a full 6 months since our trip to Sydney, Australia and I still haven't finished posting the highlights of our trip. Maybe it's my way of making it feel like I'm still in beautiful Australia. So, if you need a refresher on what we did on our trip up to this point, you can read more about it here, and here. Otherwise, you can jump right in and read about our adventures during the next couple of days in Sydney. 

No trip to Sydney is complete without exploring a couple of their famous beaches, so we hoped on the ferry and headed for Manly Beach. The ferry was a great chance to take in the breathtaking city views of Sydney.

Once at the beach, we were able to talk rules and build sand castles.

We strolled along the shore line and met some giant Australian Water Dragons.

We learned how to play smash ball and had a water fight!

We finished our day just before a giant downpour and took refuge front the the rain with Margaritas (Oh - And a little Mexican Food to go with them); And no day with Papa Touchdown is complete without ice cream!

By this point in our vacation we were all a little sick of Uncle Smelly, so we left him and Cristina at Manly Beach and headed back on the ferry.

The following morning we were off to the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Gardens turned out to be better than we could have hoped for. The grounds were beautiful and there was so much to see! We were all surprised at the number of trees planted by/for a special person or a special event. Next time, we're going to bring our own tree and see if they will add a placard for us ;-).

As soon as we made a stop at the ice cream truck, Dustin and Papa Touchdown were content for the rest of the day.

Emilie stole the camera and did an amazing job at capturing the beauty of these flowers.

This lion has finally met his match!

These guys were MUCH larger than this photo portrays and they were EVERYWHERE! 

With our trip to the Royal Botanical Garden complete, we were ready to challenge Uncle Smelly and Cristina to a little bowling action. Papa Touchdown gave us all a huge break and bowled with his left hand. In the end, this was the advantage needed for a Smelly victory; And the Hamlin's can now say we have been bowling on three different continents.

Climbing to New Heights in Sydney, Australia!

Coming off the high of watching the Diamondbacks open the season in Australia was tough, but we were certain we could find SOMETHING to take our minds off it. We were in Sydney, Australia after all. Our next stop was the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. D-Man wasn't old enough to participate yet (something silly about safety standards I guess, we don't encounter much of that thing in Indonesia), so he and I set off exploring a little of the Bridge itself while everyone else prepared to climb! D and I happened to time it just right and were the bridge pylon just as everyone was starting their climb.  We managed to get some pictures of them heading up the bridge!

After the Bridge Climb, it was time for lunch at the Harbour View Hotel. We enjoyed listening to the rain (perfect timing since the weather waited until we were all off the top of the bridge!). It was nice to sit and relax.  This is also where we learned that baby kangaroos (Joeys) can fly!

Our next stop was the Sydney Oprah House.  Although they won't admit it, everyone agreed to the Oprah House tour just to humor me. It was well worth it. If you don't know the story behind the building of the Oprah House, it's amazing. We all had fun learning a little more about the history and struggles behind the building as well as getting to see the amazing venues inside.

From the Sydney Oprah House we headed to McMahon's Point. This is more of a local area and it was so much fun. The views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Oprah house were amazing. We had a great time walking along the quiet street, admiring the homes, and window shopping. We stopped for dinner, hang-man, and the biggest ice cream brownie sundae you've ever seen (good thing we got two!).

The perfect end to another wonderful day in Sydney!