The End: Back in Samoa

We spent our 16 hour layover in Western Samoa at Aggie Grey's Beach Resort and Lagoon. Nate was on the mend but Trey was getting what became tonsillitis. He made the best of the day though. He's a Roth, what can we say.

Melbourne in a nutshell

We slowed down significantly by the time we got to Melbourne. 2 weeks is a long vacation with 2 little ones and we sufficiently wore them out. We did our best to see the city though. Nate was sick at this point too, in fact we spent our last day in the clinic getting him checked out for an ear infection. He's a tropical boy, not used to the seasons yet. But here are some pictures of Melborne. The Melborne Museum and playground were a big hit. This is the abbreviated version of our stay in Melbourne.

We visited the veterans memorial near our hotel and got some great views of the city.

The Queen Victoria Markets were my favorite. An entire city block was devoted to meat and produce venders, souvenier venders and any other possible vender you could imagine. I could have spent days there (all our money too!)

This about sums up the whole trip. Nate finally gave up the battle with sleep and sat in this corner of our room and crashed sitting up. It was too cute.

Ninety Mile Beach and the end of the road trip

This was such a change from 100 yard beach in A.Samoa. This beach, as one can deduct from the name, was quite long. Roughly 4 Tutuilas (the name of the island we call home). That's a lot of sand.

And here are some signs you won't see on many other continents. Wombat and kangaroo crossing. I never did get to see the wombat cross but there were plenty kangaroo.

On the road again: Pambula Beach

This was one of our favorite stops on the trip. It was an all inclusive family resort with endless activities for Trey and Nate and about 200 resident kangaroos. It was right on a beautiful beach which would have been great if it weren't 40 degrees. The kangaroos you see were right behind our cabin. In one picture, Trey was having a peek inside the pouch to see if there really was a joey in there. Fortunately, it didn't get offended. The best was the giant bouncing pillow. I tried it out myself, just to make sure it was safe, of course. Playgrounds that aren't broken are very popular with us, as we have none in American Samoa.

Wollongong and beyond

This pagoda was part of the largest Buddhist Monastery in the Southern Hemisphere.

And here are the cutest boys in both hemispheres.

What's a trip to Australia without kangaroos?

South of Sydney

After we had seen every kid friendly site in Sydney, we got in a very small car and headed south, staying in Holiday parks along the way. We thought we were taking the "coastal highway" hoping to take in some scenery along the way. As it turns out you had to drive a little further out of the way to see the coast. We ended up seeing a lot of cows anyway. It was much like driving in the western US, only without an interstate and on the wrong side of the road. We did manage to find some pretty amazing sites and get some great wildlife footage. Enjoy the pictures.

Jay and Trey share an octopus from the barbie. He'll eat octopus but nothing his mother cooks. I guess I need to get out and do some fishing.

If you're reading this from Samoa, you can appreciate the beauty of this one.













Here is Trey at home in the sand, no matter where it is. This happens to be at Bondi Beach.

More of Sydney

Here are some more pictures from Sydney.




Carol and Nate overlooking Bondi Beach.



Nate and Trey at the Powerhouse Museum playground.

Sydney continued

Nate admires a sting ray at the Sydney Aquarium.

Here we are again at Bondi. Quite different being in warm clothes at the beach. It was a nice change from Samoa.

Sydney

Carol and Nate and a beautiful panoramic of Sydney from the Zoo.

The must-have photo on Circular Quay in front of the world famous opera house.

Nate spent most of his naps being strolled. Couldn't waste any good tourist time.

Jay and the boys pose for another shot of the Sydney skyline.

Here is the first of many pictures with the native wildlife, taken at the Taronga Zoo, Sydney.

Trey checks out the Quokkas.