Palace in the Trees

Well, it isn’t the kind of food fight you are thinking about. I mean a food fight of names. At the store, we saw some items that we sort of recognized except the characters looked a little different and the names were different. Rice Krispies are Rice Bubbles, Frosted Flakes are Frosties, raisin bran is sultana bran and sausages are snags.

My first day back at school was pretty cool seeing I wasn’t the only one in a school uniform. I think that it is pretty cool that in the morning we just wait outside for school to start. My uniform is a blue polo shirt and grey shorts and black leather shoes with grey socks. On Fridays, we have to wear a yellow shirt and blue shorts for sports day. Yesterday we went to the pool and had to do 1 lap and 4 half laps to train for the swimming carnival next Friday. I can’t go to it because we are going to Sydney that day. It felt really good in the water because it was a hot day.

We drove such a long time on the Great Ocean Highway and on the way we saw LOTS of beaches. We saw waves of all sizes: big, medium, and small. Also on the drive, we saw a bunch of cockatoos. We reached our destination which was an AMAZING place called Seafarer’s Getaway that overlooks the ocean. For supper we had a sandwich and chips then went down to the beach in the thunder and lightning! We saw something in the distance and found out they were dolphins! Then we left the beach because it was raining really hard. In the morning we got up and saw a little dot in the water really far out and saw that it was a boat but then they drove away. When we checked out of the motel we went to a local market and saw some really cool signs for the Hobbit and Harry Potter. When we moved on eventually we reached the 12 Apostles and took some pictures:) for supper, we went to a place called NouriShed and I had a smoked salmon sandwich. The building was like an old history museum and a convenience store combined. In the end, we stopped at Colac for the night.

On the 16th we went to the Melbourne aquarium and saw lots of neat fish, scorpions, and scarab beetles! In the end, we saw PENGUINS swimming and waddling around! It was feeding time and you could go underwater and watch the swimming ones catch their squid. You could also see the ones on land being fed by hand so the workers would stick a fish in the penguin’s mouth.

Then when we went to Philips Island to see the penguin parade where all the little penguins wait to be fed by their parents. You watch the penguins come out of the water and up and over and up the rocks and hills. Then we went up to the boardwalk and I made a new penguin friend that followed me everywhere. I named it Fluffy.

Fluffy and I would walk together and I would bend down and talk to him and support him when he needed to catch his breath. His friends would help him too; they would come up from behind and tap his back to tell him to move along. There was another penguin that was kind of overweight and flopping around. I think he was Fluffy’s friend.

After Fluffy joined a group of a few other penguins we left because if we stayed any longer I would love him even more than I already do. I miss Fluffy and if you do too, you can help save him and his friends and family by visiting penguinfoundation.org.au and donate to help them.

We arrived home and it was SO COOL! There was an Xbox with tons of games and a Wii with even more games! Best of all there was a HUGE TV with speakers everywhere around the room! At home, there are palm trees in the backyard and mountains EVERYWHERE!!!! We went to the Siding Springs Observatory and saw some really cool stuff like when we left we saw some wallaroos. Interesting fact: In Australia all of the YouTube commercials are Australian! We are heading off on an adventure to Canberra and Melbourne!

When we first arrived in Sydney we got picked up by Mr. and Mrs. Moore and we noticed that cars drive on the left side of the road and the driving wheel is on the right side as opposed to Canada where you drive on the right side of the road and the driving wheel is on the left side of the car. Then once we got settled in we went over to Palm Beach, went shopping, and went back for dinner.

The next morning I had cereal then went to the aquarium and we saw sharks, fish, dugongs, and rays. Then when we got back I went in Mr. and Mrs. Moore’s pool and had dinner.

In the morning we went to MacDonalds for brekkie and then to the wax museum which took us a few hours to get to because we were walking then next door to the wildlife zoo and saw my first koala and kangaroo and brown snake! Then took another little walk to the train station and didn’t know what to do but got to the Sydney Harbor Front and saw the SOH (Sydney Opera House) My favourite part was when Dad and I went to the colour blow up beside the SOH. there were lots of different colour rooms and I liked to lay down and look at all of the colours around me.

It was very hot out that day and we went to a fish n chips place called City Extra and I had a BLT which was amazing! Then walked over to the wax museum and got a picture with Albert Einstein and Johnny Depp! Then went next door to the wildlife zoo and saw kangaroos, koalas, and snakes! For supper, we had Pizza Den and I had Hawaiian. We had trouble getting home because we couldn’t catch a taxi or find a phone so the manager called a taxi and he drove us home.

The next day we went to friends for a BBQ and drove to Newcastle and stayed at a hotel. Then the next day we had brunch at Goldbergs’s Coffee House which was AMAZING. When we got back to the hotel I went into the pool and dad pretended to be a dugong. Then after that, we went to the beach and there were tons of humongous waves. We had wraps for supper at the beach and I used my boogie board. It was so much fun!

In the morning we went for breakfast and I had beans, toast, an omelet, and bacon. Then we went to Tiananmen Square and saw lots of soldiers and the Great Hall of the people and then we walked to the Forbidden City. All of the buildings were made without nails or screws. And we saw the emperor and the empresses thrones and the Imperial Garden. It had lots of funny-shaped rocks and trees.

After that we had lunch which was chicken, noodles, and salad. Then we went to a park called the Temple of Heaven and walked around and saw lots of people singing and dancing and playing Chinese checkers and STREET POKER!!!!

Then we went to a pearl factory to see pearls and jewelry. Then we went to the supermarket which was very crowded and bought a few things. Then we had supper and it was peeking duck. There was way too much food for us so we gave it to some other people.

After supper, we went to a Kung fu show called “legend of Kung fu” which was really good. There were some really cool parts like when one of the characters was balancing on flimsy weapons. It was a really fun day.