We’ve been here a week now and I was very glad to have Joe home for the weekend. The kids and I didn’t have access to a car this week, and that had me a little more stir crazy than I thought it would. Next week we will have one to share with someone else for the week, so we should be able to get to a nice park or the beach a couple mornings. Two little kids in a mostly empty house with a few toys from home got a little old by Friday…..
However, the kids and I still had a pretty good time. We colored in our coloring books, got out our Bendaroos, had matchbox car races, and frequented the two small playgrounds within walking distance. I am learning that I take a lot for granted at home and we are learning to get by on less and be thankful for what we have. We also met a little boy down the street and played with him for a while Friday morning, and direct answer to my plea to God for someone to play with after Sam woke up the night before crying that “There’s no one here! I don’t play with anybody!” (I guess Sadie and I don’t count. I certainly played a lot of superheroes in the backyard….that should count for something.) The kids are also quite enamored with Australian public television for kids, though Sam frequently laments that lack of SuperHero Squad.
Friday night we went downtown to the beach to watch the fairy penguins come in at night to feed their chicks. It was quite amazing to see penguins in the wild!
Saturday we headed to the city of Devenport to ride on the Don River Railway. The kids had a great time on the train. Sadie would frequently say “Choo choo! All aboard!” It took us down to a local beach, where we got off and played for an hour before riding back. It was chilly when we left this morning, so the kids were in long sleeve shirts and pants. By the time we were at the beach, it was warm enough they could have gone swimming. (And Sadie actually did try, diving into the water despite my attempts to just roll up her pants and have her go wading.) I am going to have to learn that the weather changes quickly in a few hours, and to have extra changes of clothes along wherever we go.
I’m hoping to make it to McDonalds tomorrow or Tuesday (Joe has the day off for Australia Day) to upload pictures. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. The kids have yet to be convinced that it’s still bedtime at 8:00 even if it’s light outside, so getting them to sleep is exhausting Joe and I. If you want something specific to add to your prayer list, pray for that! : )
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Our first few days down under
For those of you that are wondering why in the world we are in Tasmania….Joe is here for a project for work and the kids and I were lucky enough to get to come along.
We are in the town of Burnie, on the northern coast of Tasmania, which is a separate island just south of mainland Australia. It’s summer here, though today was the first day that felt like it. Burnie’s population is about 20,000, and it is the fourth largest city on the island. They have a McDonalds, a Dominos, a Kmart, and a Target, so I know we will be able to survive. J
We arrived here on Saturday (it’s now Wednesday night here) and the first few days have been full of adjustments. The kids actually did the jet lag/time change thing pretty well, and are even pretty much back to their normal bedtime and waking time (other that trying to convince me they shouldn’t have to go to bed since it is still light outside at 8 p.m.
I managed to cook my first meal in a strange oven with temperatures in Celsius and everything turned out ok. I also did my first bit of laundry today and got it hung out on the clothesline (apparently dryers are a luxury here) just in time for it to start raining. Sam’s comment was “Silly God! Why did he make it rain now?” And then later when we went out to check on it again and found his underwear had blown off onto the ground he said, “My underwear was so excited it jumped off!”
Grocery shopping has been quite the adventure. Everything is outrageously expensive - a dozen eggs is over $4 and a case of Coke is $16 - and it’s been interesting to try to find things that we are used to and then figure out what to get instead when we can’t find what we want. Cheese comes in three basic flavors - cheddar, mozzarella, and tasty - and I am not exactly sure what tasty is. We have found some really good crackers called “shapes,” though they are all just plain rectangles, and some really good cookies called Tim Tams. I am loving the lemonade-flavored pop, though would pay a lot right now for a Mt. Dew, which I can’t seem to find. Joe bought what he thought was juice the other day and gave some to the kids before tasting it himself to discover it was really, really strong. Later we learned that it is a “cordial”, or concentrate, that is meant to be mixed 1 part to 4 parts water. Needless to say, the kids ask every morning for some “red juice!”
Internet access has proved to be not what I expected. Everything here is billed by the megabyte, so I am going to have to limit my uploading of pictures. Ugh. McDonalds has free WiFi though, so I may try to go there on weekends to get some pictures up. (I don’t have a lot of access to a car, so I have to wait for when Joe will be home to venture very far from home.)
The kids and I have been hanging out playing at home during the day. There are a couple parks within walking distance of our house, and the plant operations manager (from the US as well) lives up the street from us. His wife was kind enough to take us to the grocery store this morning and to a couple nature preserves to hunt for a platypus and some wallaby. We weren’t successful this time, but are sure we will be soon.
That’s all I can think of for the moment…..off to bed!
We are in the town of Burnie, on the northern coast of Tasmania, which is a separate island just south of mainland Australia. It’s summer here, though today was the first day that felt like it. Burnie’s population is about 20,000, and it is the fourth largest city on the island. They have a McDonalds, a Dominos, a Kmart, and a Target, so I know we will be able to survive. J
We arrived here on Saturday (it’s now Wednesday night here) and the first few days have been full of adjustments. The kids actually did the jet lag/time change thing pretty well, and are even pretty much back to their normal bedtime and waking time (other that trying to convince me they shouldn’t have to go to bed since it is still light outside at 8 p.m.
I managed to cook my first meal in a strange oven with temperatures in Celsius and everything turned out ok. I also did my first bit of laundry today and got it hung out on the clothesline (apparently dryers are a luxury here) just in time for it to start raining. Sam’s comment was “Silly God! Why did he make it rain now?” And then later when we went out to check on it again and found his underwear had blown off onto the ground he said, “My underwear was so excited it jumped off!”
Grocery shopping has been quite the adventure. Everything is outrageously expensive - a dozen eggs is over $4 and a case of Coke is $16 - and it’s been interesting to try to find things that we are used to and then figure out what to get instead when we can’t find what we want. Cheese comes in three basic flavors - cheddar, mozzarella, and tasty - and I am not exactly sure what tasty is. We have found some really good crackers called “shapes,” though they are all just plain rectangles, and some really good cookies called Tim Tams. I am loving the lemonade-flavored pop, though would pay a lot right now for a Mt. Dew, which I can’t seem to find. Joe bought what he thought was juice the other day and gave some to the kids before tasting it himself to discover it was really, really strong. Later we learned that it is a “cordial”, or concentrate, that is meant to be mixed 1 part to 4 parts water. Needless to say, the kids ask every morning for some “red juice!”
Internet access has proved to be not what I expected. Everything here is billed by the megabyte, so I am going to have to limit my uploading of pictures. Ugh. McDonalds has free WiFi though, so I may try to go there on weekends to get some pictures up. (I don’t have a lot of access to a car, so I have to wait for when Joe will be home to venture very far from home.)
The kids and I have been hanging out playing at home during the day. There are a couple parks within walking distance of our house, and the plant operations manager (from the US as well) lives up the street from us. His wife was kind enough to take us to the grocery store this morning and to a couple nature preserves to hunt for a platypus and some wallaby. We weren’t successful this time, but are sure we will be soon.
That’s all I can think of for the moment…..off to bed!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Getting here…
Forgive any typos….my internet access is still quite limited so I am not taking much time to re-read this…..
Wednesday, January 13 - 2:48 p.m. An 8-passenger van picks us up to take us to O’Hare. (Yes, there were only 4 of us. That’s how much stuff we had.) We are going to be living in an unfurnished house in Tasmania, so that required us to bring along a bit more stuff than I would have liked. They‘d be renting us furniture and getting us some kitchen supplies, but we still had to bring sheets, towels, blankets, and pillows: not exactly compact items when packed. Given that, I was pretty happy with getting that plus all our clothes, toys, and random electronics equipment into 6 suitcases, each under 50 pounds each. We also had to check 2 carseats and had the double stroller with us.
Wednesday, January 13 - 3:24 p.m. I feared for the worst for the rest of the trip when Sam started asking “How many more minutes?” when we had only been away from home for half an hour. Thankfully that only lasted through the ride to the airport.
Wednesday, January 13 - 4:00 p.m. We got to the airport a good two and a half hours before our flight and got checked in fairly quickly. The fact that we had a huge cart of luggage and had to be taken to a special line may have helped with that. We headed for security and were pleasantly surprised when the first TSA person we saw quietly waved us away from the long, snaking line and indicated we should follow him. Next thing we knew we were bypassing all those long black ropes and were showing our boarding passes and passports to someone who sent us directly to the security scanners. Joe and I both said thank you about 5 times and I said to the man, “You must have children….” “Triplets.” he told me. “I didn’t think those beautiful kids of yours wanted to wait an hour in line.” And neither did their mother!
Wednesday, January 13 - 5:25 p.m. I have the joy of realizing that the flight from LA to Sydney that I thought was 20 hours is actually only about 15. The total trip from Chicago to Sydney is what was 20 hours. There is no way to express how happy this made me!
Wednesday, January 13 - 7 p.m. The first flight to LA was fairly uneventful. Both kids were happily entertained with their Leapsters, coloring, and various books and games contained in their backpacks. Thank you to all their grandparents, aunts, and uncles who supplied us with many of those items for Christmas!
Wednesday, January 13 - 10:00 or so Chicago time (Now my times are going to get a bit weird since I never really knew what time it was again for a couple days once we started jumping time zones…) Sadie slept about an hour of that first flight, and Sam fell asleep about 30 minutes before landing. The challenge came when he wouldn’t wake up when it was time to get off the plane, and Sadie was crying because she wanted me to hold her. We were quite the sight when we left the plane: Sadie walking crying in front of me, me carrying Sam fast asleep, and somehow Joe and I got 2 adult backpacks, 1 laptop bag, 2 blankets, 2 kids’ backpacks and 2 Leapster bags off the plane as well. We deposited Sam asleep in the back seat of the stroller, strapped a crying Sadie in the front, and set off on our way to the next gate.
Thursday, January 14 - 12:00 a.m. or so Chicago time. Sam slept through the hour at LAX and managed to sleep though being loaded on to the next flight (and stayed asleep for 6 more hours)! I gave Sadie a dose of Benedryl just before we got on the for the long plane ride, and she finally fell asleep a couple hours into the flight (at about 2 a.m. Chicago time). I do not know where that girl gets all her energy!
That flight went better than I had feared it would. Sam was awesome - either sleeping or playing his Leapster most of the time very happily. Sadie did as well as could be expected of a nearly 3-year-old who really didn’t know what was going on. She only had 2 minor meltdowns right before she fell asleep (she slept 5 or 6 hours at the beginning and then again an hour or so near the end). When she gets really tired she gets really, really active in an attempt to stay awake, and was not so happy with her mom trying to rock her to sleep, to say the least. We also had hourly battles of the wills over whether or not she was allowed to kick the seat in front of her, and thankfully she never won. We got a few compliments from other passengers on how good the kids were, so I count it as a success!
Friday, January 15 - 8:30 a.m Sydney time (which I think is sometime Thursday afternoon in Chicago) We got into Sydney about a half an hour late and our flight to Melbourne was leaving at 9:30. We had to pick up our bags, go through customs, recheck our bags, and check-in for our connecting flight. Our travel agent had assured us we had plenty of time to do all that, but even if we had gotten in on time, there way NO WAY that ever would have happened. He seemed to think that there was a bag re-check right by customs and that we could check-in with Qantas (our connecting flights) right outside of there, but we would find out that was not the case.
We were, however, blessed again with some very sympathetic people. Sadie just happened to have a very well-timed major meltdown as we were waiting to get our bags. She and Sam were in the stroller and she was quite hysterical about not being able to be held. I couldn’t hold her since Joe had one small cart to try to load all our stuff on, and I had to be carrying the majority of the carry-on items and pull one suitcase behind me as I pushed the stroller. We were quite the sight. A quarantine agent came over to see if we had anything to claim, and since I had brought with some dried fruit that we had failed to eat on the plane, we did. I tried to tell her I would just throw it away if it meant we could skip the quarantine line, but no such luck. Five minutes later we still hadn’t made it to the line since we were waiting for more bags, and another quarantine agent came over and had pity on us. She looked at my fruit and decided it wasn’t a threat to whatever the first lady thought it might be. She took a look at Sadie (still screaming, now with tears and snot running down her face) and took our customs cards over to a customs agent. Soon she came back with the agent who signed off on everything and they sent us out the express line.
We thought we still might have a chance to make our flight, since we thought all we had to do was drop off our bags at some location close by and print off some boarding passes at a kiosk somewhere. We asked the first official looking person we saw for help in finding the bag re-check, and she looked at us like we were crazy. “A Qantas-link flight? You have to go down that long hallway, turn right, wait in another line, talk to an agent to get your boarding passes, stand in line to recheck your bags, and then take a shuttle bus to the other terminal.”
Friday, January 15 - 9:10 a.m. Sydney time. We somehow made it with our loads of stuff to the Qantas line, only to discover that there were quite a few flights delayed that morning and nearly everybody in line is waiting to get rebooked on another flight. We wait in line about an hour, only to have the agent tell us that we have to go talk to United. Since they were the ones that were delayed, and Qantas has no more seats to where we are going that day, they will have to figure out what to do with us.
Friday, January 15 - 10:30 a.m. We make our way to the elevator, but then can’t remember what floor they told us to go to. We pick the 3rd floor, which turns out to be the administrative offices of all the airlines. We encounter some very, very nice man who helps us navigate the “rabbit warren” of hallways to United’s office. He even pushes the stroller for me. (Remember, I am also lugging 4 carry-ons and pulling a suitcase while Joe tried to balance 5 suircases and 2 carseats on a too-small cart.) We get there only to see the sign that says “This office is temporarily not staffed. Please go to the 2nd floor reservations desk.” I nearly start to cry, but the kind man from before rings the bell anyway and by some act of God, a United employee appears. She agrees to help us and disappears back inside the office. Eventually, she comes back with flights rebooked for the next morning and a hotel room for us for the night. She directs us to go back to the first floor, find the door by the McDonalds, and wait for the shuttle bus for the hotel (which she says will have the hotel name in large letters on it).
Friday, January 15 - 11:45 a.m. We somehow made it back down the elevator (in 2 shifts, because us and all our stuff didn’t fit in at once) and find where we think the shuttle bus will be. We wait a good 20 or 30 minutes, watching various shuttle buses come and go, but never see one with the name of our hotel in prominent letters. Finally, Joe goes to ask one of the other shuttle bus drivers if we are even in the right place, and he tells us he will take us to our hotel. Joe tries to explain to him that we are waiting for the one from our hotel, and the driver points up to his bus, which has the name of our hotel (along with about 5 other hotels) written in small letters across the top (and Sydney Signature Shuttle in big letters on the side.) We feel very dumb, since we had watched at least 3 of this particular shuttle come and go since we had been standing there.
Friday, January 15 - sometime around 12:00 p.m. We checked into the hotel and mustered up the energy to go back downstairs for lunch at the restaurant. Neither Joe or I slept more than an hour or so since Wednesday morning, so this was quite an accomplishment for us. I was overjoyed to see broccoli and a potato casserole on the buffet, since we’d been surviving on graham crackers, fudge striped cookies, and fruit snacks since getting on the first plane. I was too tired to care about much of anything, so I let the kids have some lemonade-flavored soda to drink. Sam was so thrilled I think he drank about 5 glasses of the stuff.
Friday, January 15 - 2:30 p.m. We can’t stay awake any longer and tell the kids we are just going to take a little nap, but secretly hope their bodies will think it is night time. Thankfully the plan works and we all sleep about 12 hours.
Saturday, January 16 - 2:00 a.m. The kids wake up refreshed after their 12 hours of sleep and want to start exploring what the hotel room has to offer. We attempt to keep them quiet with their Leapsters until we have to leave for the shuttle bus to the airport at 4:30 a.m. Sam tells me, “I know we’ll make it to Tasmania today.”
Saturday, January 16 - 4:28 a.m We make our way downstairs and get some disparaging looks from the others waiting for the shuttle bus, probably for fear that we will somehow get priority on the bus and there will be no room left for them by the time all our suitcases are put on the trailer. The trailer holds more than I though it would, and we all manage to get loaded up.
Saturday, January 16 - 4:50 a.m. We get to the airport, the driver deposits our stuff on the curb, and Joe tries to get a cart (which were free at the international part of the airport we were in yesterday). He discovers they cost $4 here, but we don’t have any Australian money yet. The kids and I hang out on the curb while he goes in search of an ATM.
Saturday, January 16 - 5:15 a.m. We get checked in and all of our suitcases checked through to our final destination. There is no mechanism for gate-checking the stroller on these flight, so we have to drop it off at the special baggage area and navigate the next 2 airports without it. Not a big deal, other than the fact that Sadie thinks it is hilarious to run away from me. However, she’s also very attached to her new special backpack and insists on wearing it even though it weighs just about as much as she does when loaded with all the stuff to entertain her on the plane. This helps slow her down a bit, and if she happens to fall she needs help to get back up.
Saturday, January 16 - 10:30 a.m. After 2 short flights, we finally make it to Tasmania! It’s about a 45 minute ride to Burnie, where we will be. Sadie takes a short nap on the way. Once we get there we drop off our stuff at the house (with no furniture in it since the rental place wouldn’t let anyone sign for it other than Joe and they are not open on weekends) and head to McDonalds for lunch (and a little bit of free WiFi). Then we go downtown to get some supplies for the house. We want the kids to try to make it to a normal bedtime so we can get a decent routine, so we head to the park in the late afternoon. They had been up since 2 a.m. and I could not believe how well they were doing. Sam was running ahead of us on the path at the park, ready to “go on an adventure!”
Saturday, January 16 - 8 p.m. Finally….asleep in Tasmania.
Wednesday, January 13 - 2:48 p.m. An 8-passenger van picks us up to take us to O’Hare. (Yes, there were only 4 of us. That’s how much stuff we had.) We are going to be living in an unfurnished house in Tasmania, so that required us to bring along a bit more stuff than I would have liked. They‘d be renting us furniture and getting us some kitchen supplies, but we still had to bring sheets, towels, blankets, and pillows: not exactly compact items when packed. Given that, I was pretty happy with getting that plus all our clothes, toys, and random electronics equipment into 6 suitcases, each under 50 pounds each. We also had to check 2 carseats and had the double stroller with us.
Wednesday, January 13 - 3:24 p.m. I feared for the worst for the rest of the trip when Sam started asking “How many more minutes?” when we had only been away from home for half an hour. Thankfully that only lasted through the ride to the airport.
Wednesday, January 13 - 4:00 p.m. We got to the airport a good two and a half hours before our flight and got checked in fairly quickly. The fact that we had a huge cart of luggage and had to be taken to a special line may have helped with that. We headed for security and were pleasantly surprised when the first TSA person we saw quietly waved us away from the long, snaking line and indicated we should follow him. Next thing we knew we were bypassing all those long black ropes and were showing our boarding passes and passports to someone who sent us directly to the security scanners. Joe and I both said thank you about 5 times and I said to the man, “You must have children….” “Triplets.” he told me. “I didn’t think those beautiful kids of yours wanted to wait an hour in line.” And neither did their mother!
Wednesday, January 13 - 5:25 p.m. I have the joy of realizing that the flight from LA to Sydney that I thought was 20 hours is actually only about 15. The total trip from Chicago to Sydney is what was 20 hours. There is no way to express how happy this made me!
Wednesday, January 13 - 7 p.m. The first flight to LA was fairly uneventful. Both kids were happily entertained with their Leapsters, coloring, and various books and games contained in their backpacks. Thank you to all their grandparents, aunts, and uncles who supplied us with many of those items for Christmas!
Wednesday, January 13 - 10:00 or so Chicago time (Now my times are going to get a bit weird since I never really knew what time it was again for a couple days once we started jumping time zones…) Sadie slept about an hour of that first flight, and Sam fell asleep about 30 minutes before landing. The challenge came when he wouldn’t wake up when it was time to get off the plane, and Sadie was crying because she wanted me to hold her. We were quite the sight when we left the plane: Sadie walking crying in front of me, me carrying Sam fast asleep, and somehow Joe and I got 2 adult backpacks, 1 laptop bag, 2 blankets, 2 kids’ backpacks and 2 Leapster bags off the plane as well. We deposited Sam asleep in the back seat of the stroller, strapped a crying Sadie in the front, and set off on our way to the next gate.
Thursday, January 14 - 12:00 a.m. or so Chicago time. Sam slept through the hour at LAX and managed to sleep though being loaded on to the next flight (and stayed asleep for 6 more hours)! I gave Sadie a dose of Benedryl just before we got on the for the long plane ride, and she finally fell asleep a couple hours into the flight (at about 2 a.m. Chicago time). I do not know where that girl gets all her energy!
That flight went better than I had feared it would. Sam was awesome - either sleeping or playing his Leapster most of the time very happily. Sadie did as well as could be expected of a nearly 3-year-old who really didn’t know what was going on. She only had 2 minor meltdowns right before she fell asleep (she slept 5 or 6 hours at the beginning and then again an hour or so near the end). When she gets really tired she gets really, really active in an attempt to stay awake, and was not so happy with her mom trying to rock her to sleep, to say the least. We also had hourly battles of the wills over whether or not she was allowed to kick the seat in front of her, and thankfully she never won. We got a few compliments from other passengers on how good the kids were, so I count it as a success!
Friday, January 15 - 8:30 a.m Sydney time (which I think is sometime Thursday afternoon in Chicago) We got into Sydney about a half an hour late and our flight to Melbourne was leaving at 9:30. We had to pick up our bags, go through customs, recheck our bags, and check-in for our connecting flight. Our travel agent had assured us we had plenty of time to do all that, but even if we had gotten in on time, there way NO WAY that ever would have happened. He seemed to think that there was a bag re-check right by customs and that we could check-in with Qantas (our connecting flights) right outside of there, but we would find out that was not the case.
We were, however, blessed again with some very sympathetic people. Sadie just happened to have a very well-timed major meltdown as we were waiting to get our bags. She and Sam were in the stroller and she was quite hysterical about not being able to be held. I couldn’t hold her since Joe had one small cart to try to load all our stuff on, and I had to be carrying the majority of the carry-on items and pull one suitcase behind me as I pushed the stroller. We were quite the sight. A quarantine agent came over to see if we had anything to claim, and since I had brought with some dried fruit that we had failed to eat on the plane, we did. I tried to tell her I would just throw it away if it meant we could skip the quarantine line, but no such luck. Five minutes later we still hadn’t made it to the line since we were waiting for more bags, and another quarantine agent came over and had pity on us. She looked at my fruit and decided it wasn’t a threat to whatever the first lady thought it might be. She took a look at Sadie (still screaming, now with tears and snot running down her face) and took our customs cards over to a customs agent. Soon she came back with the agent who signed off on everything and they sent us out the express line.
We thought we still might have a chance to make our flight, since we thought all we had to do was drop off our bags at some location close by and print off some boarding passes at a kiosk somewhere. We asked the first official looking person we saw for help in finding the bag re-check, and she looked at us like we were crazy. “A Qantas-link flight? You have to go down that long hallway, turn right, wait in another line, talk to an agent to get your boarding passes, stand in line to recheck your bags, and then take a shuttle bus to the other terminal.”
Friday, January 15 - 9:10 a.m. Sydney time. We somehow made it with our loads of stuff to the Qantas line, only to discover that there were quite a few flights delayed that morning and nearly everybody in line is waiting to get rebooked on another flight. We wait in line about an hour, only to have the agent tell us that we have to go talk to United. Since they were the ones that were delayed, and Qantas has no more seats to where we are going that day, they will have to figure out what to do with us.
Friday, January 15 - 10:30 a.m. We make our way to the elevator, but then can’t remember what floor they told us to go to. We pick the 3rd floor, which turns out to be the administrative offices of all the airlines. We encounter some very, very nice man who helps us navigate the “rabbit warren” of hallways to United’s office. He even pushes the stroller for me. (Remember, I am also lugging 4 carry-ons and pulling a suitcase while Joe tried to balance 5 suircases and 2 carseats on a too-small cart.) We get there only to see the sign that says “This office is temporarily not staffed. Please go to the 2nd floor reservations desk.” I nearly start to cry, but the kind man from before rings the bell anyway and by some act of God, a United employee appears. She agrees to help us and disappears back inside the office. Eventually, she comes back with flights rebooked for the next morning and a hotel room for us for the night. She directs us to go back to the first floor, find the door by the McDonalds, and wait for the shuttle bus for the hotel (which she says will have the hotel name in large letters on it).
Friday, January 15 - 11:45 a.m. We somehow made it back down the elevator (in 2 shifts, because us and all our stuff didn’t fit in at once) and find where we think the shuttle bus will be. We wait a good 20 or 30 minutes, watching various shuttle buses come and go, but never see one with the name of our hotel in prominent letters. Finally, Joe goes to ask one of the other shuttle bus drivers if we are even in the right place, and he tells us he will take us to our hotel. Joe tries to explain to him that we are waiting for the one from our hotel, and the driver points up to his bus, which has the name of our hotel (along with about 5 other hotels) written in small letters across the top (and Sydney Signature Shuttle in big letters on the side.) We feel very dumb, since we had watched at least 3 of this particular shuttle come and go since we had been standing there.
Friday, January 15 - sometime around 12:00 p.m. We checked into the hotel and mustered up the energy to go back downstairs for lunch at the restaurant. Neither Joe or I slept more than an hour or so since Wednesday morning, so this was quite an accomplishment for us. I was overjoyed to see broccoli and a potato casserole on the buffet, since we’d been surviving on graham crackers, fudge striped cookies, and fruit snacks since getting on the first plane. I was too tired to care about much of anything, so I let the kids have some lemonade-flavored soda to drink. Sam was so thrilled I think he drank about 5 glasses of the stuff.Friday, January 15 - 2:30 p.m. We can’t stay awake any longer and tell the kids we are just going to take a little nap, but secretly hope their bodies will think it is night time. Thankfully the plan works and we all sleep about 12 hours.
Saturday, January 16 - 2:00 a.m. The kids wake up refreshed after their 12 hours of sleep and want to start exploring what the hotel room has to offer. We attempt to keep them quiet with their Leapsters until we have to leave for the shuttle bus to the airport at 4:30 a.m. Sam tells me, “I know we’ll make it to Tasmania today.”
Saturday, January 16 - 4:28 a.m We make our way downstairs and get some disparaging looks from the others waiting for the shuttle bus, probably for fear that we will somehow get priority on the bus and there will be no room left for them by the time all our suitcases are put on the trailer. The trailer holds more than I though it would, and we all manage to get loaded up.
Saturday, January 16 - 4:50 a.m. We get to the airport, the driver deposits our stuff on the curb, and Joe tries to get a cart (which were free at the international part of the airport we were in yesterday). He discovers they cost $4 here, but we don’t have any Australian money yet. The kids and I hang out on the curb while he goes in search of an ATM.
Saturday, January 16 - 5:15 a.m. We get checked in and all of our suitcases checked through to our final destination. There is no mechanism for gate-checking the stroller on these flight, so we have to drop it off at the special baggage area and navigate the next 2 airports without it. Not a big deal, other than the fact that Sadie thinks it is hilarious to run away from me. However, she’s also very attached to her new special backpack and insists on wearing it even though it weighs just about as much as she does when loaded with all the stuff to entertain her on the plane. This helps slow her down a bit, and if she happens to fall she needs help to get back up.
Saturday, January 16 - 10:30 a.m. After 2 short flights, we finally make it to Tasmania! It’s about a 45 minute ride to Burnie, where we will be. Sadie takes a short nap on the way. Once we get there we drop off our stuff at the house (with no furniture in it since the rental place wouldn’t let anyone sign for it other than Joe and they are not open on weekends) and head to McDonalds for lunch (and a little bit of free WiFi). Then we go downtown to get some supplies for the house. We want the kids to try to make it to a normal bedtime so we can get a decent routine, so we head to the park in the late afternoon. They had been up since 2 a.m. and I could not believe how well they were doing. Sam was running ahead of us on the path at the park, ready to “go on an adventure!”Saturday, January 16 - 8 p.m. Finally….asleep in Tasmania.
Monday, January 18, 2010
We are in Burnie!
I don't have an internet connection where we are living quite yet, so I am at the plant manager's house taking advantage of their wireless connection for a few minutes just to get some pictures up. Later this week (hopefully) I'll have my own connection and more time to write about our adventure in getting here.
But for now, here are some pictures of our trip downtown to the beach on Sunday. Sam's comment was "This is the coolest place I have ever been!"
But for now, here are some pictures of our trip downtown to the beach on Sunday. Sam's comment was "This is the coolest place I have ever been!"
Friday, January 15, 2010
They made it!
This is Jane's mom writing - they called from Tasmania (from a McDonald's that has free wi-fi) to say that they were there and doing fine. They had spent the night in Sydney at a hotel courtesy of United Airlines when they were late in arriving in Sydney and therefore missed their connection to Tasmania.
All went well on the plane - the kids even slept for some hours in a row...don't think Jane and Joe did very much of that, though. They are staying at their rental house tonight with only an air mattress for furniture. Joe's boss tried to get the furniture delivered before they arrived but they wouldn't until Joe came and signed for it or something like that. Anyway - Monday is the day they will get furniture which will hopefully include beds! They also hope to have internet access at their house so Jane can keep all of us up to date. I'm sure there will be a few airport stories to tell...
All went well on the plane - the kids even slept for some hours in a row...don't think Jane and Joe did very much of that, though. They are staying at their rental house tonight with only an air mattress for furniture. Joe's boss tried to get the furniture delivered before they arrived but they wouldn't until Joe came and signed for it or something like that. Anyway - Monday is the day they will get furniture which will hopefully include beds! They also hope to have internet access at their house so Jane can keep all of us up to date. I'm sure there will be a few airport stories to tell...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
As ready as we are going to be
1 double stroller
2 carseats
2 adult backpacks
1 laptop bag
2 kids backpacks
2 Leapster bags
1 purse
6 suitcases
4 travel pillows
2 special blankets
2 Bobs
1 bunny
and just a few doses of Benedryl in case we need them for the 28 hours we will be on airplanes
If all goes as planned, by this time on Friday we should be in Tasmania!
2 carseats
2 adult backpacks
1 laptop bag
2 kids backpacks
2 Leapster bags
1 purse
6 suitcases
4 travel pillows
2 special blankets
2 Bobs
1 bunny
and just a few doses of Benedryl in case we need them for the 28 hours we will be on airplanes
If all goes as planned, by this time on Friday we should be in Tasmania!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Random Christmas Catch-up
I finally dug out my other card reader and got some more pictures from Christmas off the other camera - completely random and in no particular order.
Sam with his new racetrack.
Sam and Sadie quite into their new Leapsters. Good thing, since I am planning on those little devices helping us get through at least a few hours of the 28 hours on the planes to Tasmania.
Yay! More Geotrax!
Snuggling Uncle Johnny
Learning to make Weegies (Norwegian pancakes)
Painting nails with Hillary, Molly and Stacy
Sam with his new racetrack.
Sam and Sadie quite into their new Leapsters. Good thing, since I am planning on those little devices helping us get through at least a few hours of the 28 hours on the planes to Tasmania.
Yay! More Geotrax!
Snuggling Uncle Johnny
Learning to make Weegies (Norwegian pancakes)
Painting nails with Hillary, Molly and Stacy
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