Travelog for: Argoyle

Today we took another trip to Bathurst and boy it was a REALLY hot day... it got up to 34'c with absolutely no wind... I couldn't believe it! Just sitting around everyone was sweating. Thankfully Sara's new car has air conditioning so we had the windows up all the way to Bathurst while she was listening to music. Because we were in a rush we got a few errands done first but then we went and saw some kangaroos... Sara says she has never seen kangaroos this close before (while in Bathurst)... so we all were in the car looking out since they were... RIGHT there... here I am... that gives you an indication of how close to the car they are when I'm in the shot...


...here are a few other photos Sara took of the kangaroos... mostly while in the car but the moment she got out... well you can see what happens... she actually got a few feet closer to them before they all bounced off... how cool... :-)








Sara told us a story about her around 2.5 years ago she went down to the South coast and was actually able to pat some kangaroos... wild kangaroos... their were around 5 kangaroos, one adult, and 4 babies or juvenile joey's and she just walked right up to them and fed them and rubbed their head. It was amazing. :-) So this was awesome as well for her and us...

Well, remember when we went to the race track last time and we couldn't get on it? Well... this time we could... as you can see it was open this time... :-P here I am on the way to the race track and the view showing us the track is open to tourists today...



...So we decided it was time to go around the track... sadly I couldn't sit on the dashboard like Sara usually puts the toyvoyagers but this time it's a new car and their dashboard we easily slip around and the window was open. Sara didn't want any of us to be lost... so here's some pictures from around the track...


















Well that was mainly our day in Bathurst. We didn't want to spend long outside we could feel our skin burning even under all our fur. It was kind of surprising how hot it was! :-/ Crazy! Sara doesn't like the heat much either lol...

Also as you can see on the track there's houses and everything on the inside of the track. People rent those houses out during the famous Mount Panorama Super Cheap Auto 1000 Races and they go on holiday. People will rent them out for heaps of money each October... there's vineyards and even wildlife sometimes in there. Kangaroos are commonly seen on the race track which can end in disaster as I'm sure you can see why... people walk the track all the time as well (when races aren't on obviously). Also the view from the top of the mountain is amazing isn't it? Well I hope you enjoyed my trip to Bathurst.

We decided we should take a trip to Sydney. It was Daniel and Sara's 4th year wedding anniversary (tomorrow) but she decided to go a bit early since they could get some baby sitting. So we left early and got to Sydney around 11am (lots of traffic) and as we started to get into Sydney we got to see two famous landmarks in the distance, the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge and the less famous Anzac Bridge.


...and before we knew it, we were going over the Anzac Bridge. Sara had never had the chance to go over it before so it was exciting... here we are about to go under the bridge...


After the Anzac Bridge we were thrown right into the middle of the Sydney CBD... there are lots of HUGE buildings, it's amazing really... here are some photos of the Sydney CBD from the freeway going through it...

In the distance you can see something that looks like a tower, that is the Sydney Tower or also known as the AMP tower. You walk around the edge of it - some of which has a clear walkway so you can see straight down, it's called the Sydney Skywalk.


This picture shows Darling Harbor...


...and this is going right through the middle of all the huge buidlings. It's amazing the height of them when your right next to them isn't it?

...and then we did a quick turn and after a few signs Sara realized we were almost about to head under the Sydney Harbor Bridge as well... Sara quickly rolled up her window for our safety and put us on the dashboard so we could get pictures of us going over the famous bridge... Sara hasn't ever been on the Harbor Bridge (on purpose anyways) because it's always the "scary" part of Sydney where it is very easy to get lost. Thanks to the GPS navigator though it's made it simple (more or less) to get through the CBD of Sydney...

...almost there...


...almost there...




...and there we are... we've now traveled the Sydney Harbor Bridge! How awesome is that!...

Well now we're almost at our destination... it's time we get a park and get our way to the ferry... we're not done yet! Write again soon! :-)

Well after what seemed like forever driving around we finally found a park. It was a kilometre away from where we needed to be... thankfully it was mostly down hill but the uphills were massive when they were... I'm sure glad we were in a bag because the heat was just shocking and the walk felt like it took a while but we got there JUST in time... we are now getting ready to board the Manly Ferry... last time we went to Sydney we wanted to do this but for some reason couldn't see what was right in front of our eyes... haha... well here we are, top deck, front row center...

Isn't the beach front and the water there just gorgeous? It was more amazing than that even... it was such a beautiful blue!...


Off we go time to set sail... I wonder where we are going?

Here are some of the photos taken throughout the trip... there was a lot of cliffsides and open ocean, and sailboats, and buoys, and lots more to see it was an amazing trip... you can even see one of the ferry's coming back from where we were going to pick up and drop off more people...














...and then suddenly were getting ready to dock... it's suddenly apparent that were going to be visiting the famous Circular Quay... what's amazing to me, is that there is a military base right there near the Quay... I didn't know that!




...and as we begin to dock Sara takes a few more photos of the quay from the boat... there was a HUGE cruise ship right next to the harbor bridge... it was amazingly big... Sara said she thinks that's the cruise ship we saw in the photos when we were at Manly last time... she thinks it's the Pacific liner that visits all the smaller Pacific islands including places like Vanuatu. How awesome...


...Sara also got a couple photos of the bridge... in the first photo it's obviously the bridge. The second photo is the reminents of the fireworks on Sydney Harbor on New Years. You can see where the sun would have been... if you didn't see it you can see it in this video if you can't tell it's the thing spinning in the middle, which was a sun this year... it was quite beautiful... and the last photo is the close up on the top of the bridge. You can see two teams of people walking up the bridge on another famous touristy thing to do in Sydney... the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb...




You can't be at this dock without getting a picture of the beautiful Sydney Opera House though can you?


Well now that we are finally docked it's time to get off the boat... the seagull said goodbye to us as we deboarded - time to spend a bit of time here before heading back...


Write again soon! :-)

Well now that we are in the CBD of Sydney again, and more specifically Circular Quay it's time to visit some of the shops and see what Circular Quay has to offer us... we got some ice cream from Baskin Robbins and then headed out towards the Opera House... this is how far we were from the Opera House from the boat dock... not that far but on a hot day you feel every step of it...


...once we finally got there I got a picture of myself with the opera house and the sydney harbor bridge... here I am...



...we decided to see a few of the shops... and we saw a few entertainers... these ones were the most interesting to me... they're aboriginal people and one of them is playing the digeridoo a lot of the time aboriginal people hate their picture taken because they believe it's like a gate way to the souls - I'm not really sure... but these ones didn't mind getting their picture taken so Sara took one for us...


We also got to see some famous stuff around the harbor... one of them being Luna Park which is located right below the Sydney Harbor Bridge...


We also got to see some water taxi's... Sara has never been on one but would really like to one day... they look quite fun don't they? We also got to see some of Sydney's other tourist attractions, the Jet boat ride where they take people around the harbor in a speed boat with lots of twists and turns... looks quite fun... :-)


We decided it was too hot to go searching the tourists shops for something for Sara's family instead they decided they'll come back again soon and do that - on a less hot day... so Sara got some videos... one of the Sydney Harbor seen from the ferry (on the way back) and Sara also got a video on the ferry ride back to Manly... you can see that video here it was VERY windy on the ride back to Manly... we even got splashed a few times... it really kind of felt good though on the hot day that it was...

But on the way out of the ferry we saw something pretty cool... we got to see a real pirate ship! How cool is that? :-)


Well have a check out of those videos (they're pretty short) and you can see more of our trip to the CBD... more to come though... we're on our way back to Manly now... write again soon!

Now we are safely back on land in Manly... Manly is a very beautiful beach but instead of having all of us run back to the car (95% up hill) we had Sara's husband do that while we waited near the ferry dock and got a few photos of us at the ferry dock and the pretty calm side of the Manly beach (the other side is about 1/4 of a mile straight the opposite direction)... here I am in front of the ferry dock area..


...while we were waiting there was a few seagulls, and one of the seagulls kept staring at us but you could only see  his head... it was kind of funny...


Here is a photo from the beach front as we were coming back into dock. You can see the beach we are currently standing on in these photos... amazing isn't it? We were standing under one of the trees though trying to get some shade while we could...


Finally Daniel arrived and we drove a short distance and thankfully found a park pretty quickly got 2 hours of parking and got some photos... first was the chance for photos of the beach and a small panoramic video of the beach... you can see that video here... it became very windy on this side of the beach... but it felt nice especially when they got in the water they told us. They didn't want us to get lost so after the photos and the videos the camera and the three of us were put in the car to stay safe... here I am in front of the Manly beach...


Here are a few panoramic shots showing from left to right what the beach looks like from where we were standing... as you can see it was pretty busy that day...






As you can see in the last shot Sara managed to get a seagull in there... that wasn't on purpose and Sara actually think the seagull really adds something to the shot. Very beautiful sights anyways... and the water is so dang pretty isn't it? It was very warm as well... :-)

...and here are a couple more shots from the beach before we got put away to safety so we didn't get lost or blown away (when Sara and Daniel were in the water)...



...well that was our trip to Sydney and the beaches. I saw some amazing sights and I'm glad I got to see more of this stuff before traveling onto my next host... tomorrow I'll be off to Japan! :-) I hope to see some more fun stuff there and maybe even some beaches... :-)

Hi mom! Well my journey around this area has ended and I'm off to the next host along with Resi she's very friendly so I cannot wait to see where I'm going next. Sara says I'm off to an American military base and will be hosted by JaymeC in Okinawa, Japan. I hope the trip won't take too long! Write again soon mom! Miss you! :-)

Dear Mommy,
I arrived with Resi and Chipper in Okinawa, Japan! We were greeted by Bally who was excited to have some more company.

Jayme told us first off we needed to do some work in the children's room while they were asleep. We were going to rearrange some shelves and put up a toy net for the stuffed animals. Look at these poor pitiful stuffed animals, they need a better home!

First we moved one of the beds and the shelves over next to it. Jayme moved the furniture, but we took care of the cars.

Then Jayme put up the toy net. We got to rest and relax in it for awhile.

Then we tried to hurry the toys into the net.

Wait a second! The little ones are going to get squished. Big ones first!

Okay now little ones! Whoa, we almost ran out of room.

Hiding in the toys we found a toyvoyager! She explained her name was ChiChi and she was supposed to be released into the wild ages ago, but Jayme's son had hid her in the other toys and she'd been patiently waiting. Hopefully we can help her get released.

After setting up the toy net we were very hungry so we went to make dinner. First we got the meet cooking with onions, garlic, and teriyaki sauce.

In the mean time we got some beans, brocolli and lettuce chopped up in and in a bowl.

Then we combined it all and let it cook.

Served with brown rice it was very yummy!

Jayme said we'd need the energy, hope we have some more updates soon!

More later,
Argoyle

Mommy,
I know I'm in Japan, but today we visited a Chinese garden. It was quite pretty. First we had to stop for just a quick lunch since we were all hungry.

They had this very pretty building where we walked in.

And aren't these dragons neat?

There were LOTS of little ponds.

Of course we had to stop and feed the fish, Jayme's children wouldn't calm down until we did!

Isn't this view pretty?

They had lots of little statues around as well.

Here's another pond...

They had this statue here, we're not sure of who it is though.

We stopped to take a break for awhile...

And they even had a waterfall!


We had a great time! More soon,
Argoyle

Dear Mommy,
Today we went to Shurijo Castle. We were going to try to see the cherry blossoms, but unfortunately the weather had been too bad this week and knocked the blossoms down. Fortunately they had other flowers to see.

And of course there was the castle itself to see. Here's the main entrance to the walls of the castle.

We were going to go up the stairs to the top, but Jayme said the stairs get dangerous when its wet and since she had two young children we didn't want anyone slipping. So instead we walked to the back entrance, but the stairs up are still pretty

Here's a marker at the back entrance

And here's the back gate with even more flowers!

This is the outside of Shurijo Castle. We didn't go in because they're doin repainting and restoring, so there's lots of not-very-photogenic scaffolding. We also wanted to get inside before it rained!

We did have to make a quick stop in the bathroom, and found some surprising faucets.


Then we headed back to the guest center and our car. Outside the center was a pair of shisa.  Shisa are the protector lion/dogs of Okinawa. They are a tradition taken from China, and can be found on most homes. They're always found in male/female pairs. You can tell this one is a female because her mouth is open to let the good spirits through. The males have closed mouths to catch the bad spirits.

Write more soon,
Argoyle

Dear mommy,
We got to watch the American Superbowl. Since Jayme is American and lives on a military base she gets to watch it here. Unfortunately it comes without commercials. Also unfortunately, it started at 8am, yikes! Since it was too early in the day for 'real' food we had cinnamon rolls.

Jayme had jerseys she got at burger king that fit Resi and Chipper, don't they look cute?

And then it was time for the game! We watched the opening ceremonies.


The coin toss

And there they go!


And the Steelers won! Afterwards we had some more appropriate superbowl food.

Chipper was a little sad that 'his' team lost so we went for a walk at the park to cheer him up. We found a funny bear.

I hung out in a tree for awhile while the children played.

See all those buildings? They hold lots of sporting events here.

We took a break for a bit on this bench.

And we found a pretty statue. Jayme's not sure, but she thinks it's a phoenix.


More soon,
Argoyle

Dear Mommy,
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner, but Jayme's been very busy! We decided to try to help her and she instructed us while we cooked. We were going to make what Jayme called Jayme-enchiladas since its not a "real" enchilada recipe. First we browned the meat. Then we added enchilada sauce (from a can), and a little cheese.

We put this mixture onto some tortillas

And rolled them and put them in a pan.

We a little more sauce on top and more cheese and then put them in the oven to crisp

In the mean time we made some simple cheese quesadillas for the kids since they don't like spicy sauces. We put some cheese on more tortillas

And put them in a little oil on the oven to cook.

Yum!

And the enchiladas finished as well. Don't they look yummy?


Jayme said we'll be taking a special trip next. I hope its fun!
Argoyle

Jayme said today we're headed to the Churaumi Aquarium. Apparently its very famous, and one of the largest attractions on Okinawa. It was a very long drive up north but we made it! Here is the view from the aquarium entrance to the ocean below, isn't it beautiful?

We went in to find the largest coral tank in the world that is lit by sunlight. Wow! Here it is.

And here's some more.

These are clown fish, but they must be just babies because they weren't longer than half a pinky.

Finally we got to the main show piece, the whale shark tank. It was the largest in the world until the one in Atlanta was completed, now its the second largest. However, it still has the largest viewing glass in the world. We were sitting way up high in the seats available, do you see the whale shark?

Here's a better picture, and you can see the people below looking at it. They're right up next to the glass.

While we were there there were diver's in the tank cleaning, you can see how big they are compared to the mantas in the tank.

After watching for awhile at the viewing area, we went into the cafe. Here they have seats right next to the tank and you can sit and eat lunch or enjoy some icecream. I know its dark (the flash would ruin the view of the tank!) but here I am having icecream.

Even after we finished the icecream we just sat and watched the fish for awhile.

After seeing the whale sharks we headed outside. They had sea turtles you could see out here!

There is a drop off behind us that is the sea turtle nesting area. Isn't it beautiful here? The water was so clear, and the sun so bright!

Then we went to the dolphin show! Here I am at it.

Jayme had to zoom in to take these pictures of the show, aren't the dolphins cool? They had a few different types, unforutnately Jayme doesn't know their names since she doesn't understand much Japanese.


We took a walk along the grounds then. Here's a pretty spot we found with a little pond.

We also found a gate into the Okinawan Village, but Jayme's sons were getting very tired then so it was time to head home.

On the way we got to see some of the flowers made up to be sea creatures! Here's a manta ray.

And a turtle.

And isn't this a cool shisa?


I'm sure we'll have more adventures soon!
Argoyle

Dear Mommy,
I'm sorry I didn't write you sooner! It's been very busy here. First I'll start with telling you about Valentine's Day. We were sitting around reading more about Okinawa

Then Jayme asked us for some help! She had to get valentine's ready for Jacob's class. So we went to work. What a mess..

There are six children in the class, so we split everything up into groups of six

Then we bagged them up and tied them and attached the card! Do you notice something?

The hearts didn't fit so we got a bit of a snack! Yum!

And look, isn't that cute? Chipper got Resi flowers for Valentine's Day!

We had lots more adventures, so I'll write more soon!
Argoyle

Dear Mommy,
Jayme and her husband said we could go out on their Valentine's Date with them! They were supposed to go snorkeling, but because the weather wasn't nice they decided to go ice skating instead. First we had to read the rules

Then we had to wait, we got there just as they were cleaning the ice.

Wow! Look at all those people! It was very busy because of the rain, but Jayme and her husband had lots of fun.

We rode with Jayme for a bit, but she got tired first so we all sat down to wait for her husband.

Then we went out for a late lunch. This is called Taco Rice. Its one of the odd foods Okinawans came up with to pull in American service members to eat. Its white rice on the bottom with taco meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. It was very yummy!

Write more soon,
Argoyle

Dear Mommy,
The weather has been very icky! We got a brief period of just gloom today and decided we needed to get out of the house a bit. We went to a place called Ryukyu Mura. Here I am at the entrance.

And here is a pretty building on a raft in the water, I know you can't see the water and stuff too well

The biggest part of Ryukyu Mura is the parade showcasing small bits of typical Okinawan parades. First the emperor and emperess come out to sit down to watch the show.


Then this karate dude came out. Did you know karate was invented on Okinawa?

Next came the old man and the dragon. They made the dragon do tricks catching a ball!


Then came the Eisa Dancers. Eisa is a drum dance done on Okinawa, its very pretty.


Finally some people came out and did another dance, Jayme wasn't sure who they were. And they got the crowd to join in! It was such fun.


After that we went up a path to a place where we got to learn about Habus. Unfortunately it was very dark and the pictures didn't really come out. We did get to watch a 3D show of a Habu fighting a mongoose though.

We walked back through a small version of an Okinawan village where they were selling Okinawan crafts, but we had to hurry it looked like rain!


We ducked into one building near the exit to find out it was where they made Okinawan pottery. Look at all those tables and clay!

Here are some Shisa on the outside that were made inside.

There was also a man outside pushing an water buffalo around, but we're not quite sure why.

I hope you enjoyed learning about our visit! I'll write again soon,
Argoyle