Our Adventure Down Under has begun!! *Pics added*

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I am trying to add some pictures from our trip. I don't want to duplicate photos that Cousin Orville has posted so will try my best to keep them different. The above is a whale breaching. We were lucky enough to witness approx. 45 minutes of breaching right in front of our boat. The marine biologist said it was one of the best days she had ever seen. I will post a few more.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Our first Saturday in Sydney we went to the Paddington Markets:



On our walk from Bondi to Bronte Beach. It was such a beautiful walk; it was very hard to select just a few photos!





The pool is filled by the water from the ocean.



Fresh coconut water on the beach at Bronte. It was really good!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Sydney Bridge Climb. This was an incredible experience and I highly recommend it if you are planning a trip to Sydney.

.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

We made a stop at Featherdale Wildlife Park on our way to the Blue Mountains:



Some dingos (this was the only place we saw them in Australia):





The Blue Mountains. We were lucky to have such a clear, sunny day as the weather can be unpredictable:

 

[tgeorge]

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing. I'm glad that you guys had such a great time.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Heading to Manly Beach on the ferry for a surfing lesson and some shopping:





The waves at Manly were quite large and dd struggled a bit getting up on the board. Here she is on her board getting out to the waves:

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

A picture of our pre-trip hotel, the Park Hyatt, taken from the Syndey Harbor:



The Opera House lit up at night, taken from the ferris wheel at Luna Park (the only worthwhile thing to come out of our trip there!):



Photo of the Sydney Bridge with Luna Park lit up in the background:

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

With Suzanne at the Salamanca Markets in Hobart:



The Arch of Tasmania (on our way to Port Douglas):

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Here are some random shots that I wanted to add:

At Kuranda Koala Gardens, the only place on our trip where you can *hold* a koala (we went on our free time in Kuranda as it is not part of the ABD tour):



Biking across the Sydney Harbor Bridge:



Sunset at Ayers Rock:



These guys made me smile; I had to snap a shot. It was so cold at Bondi that day I can't believe there were wearing speedos! I was freezing in capris, a sweater (aka jumper) and jacket.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Great pictures! They brings back fond memories.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

In Tasmania, zip lining at Holly Brook. This activity was a lot of fun, but it was *cold* and windy.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

A highlight of the trip for us was seeing Nemo in the anemone on the Great Barrier Reef:





Random underwater pictures:



Giant clam:





The Quicksilver catamaran we took to the outer reef:

 

[sayhello]

Fabulous photos!!

Sayhello

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Fabulous photos!!

Thank you!

It was an incredible trip

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Great pictures! They brings back fond memories.

Thank you!

Do you think ABD China can top the Australia trip? Guess we'll find out next June....I'm thinking that seeing 2 Disney parks (Hong Kong & Shanghai) will be pretty spectacular!

 

[WeLoveABD]

For the Blue Mountains did you use a tour company or train out on your own? Did you get to the caves?

Thank you!

Do you think ABD China can top the Australia trip? Guess we'll find out next June....I'm thinking that seeing 2 Disney parks (Hong Kong & Shanghai) will be pretty spectacular!

 

[paddles]

WDW Groupie - Amazing photos! You really maximized your pre-days and did some fabulous things. There was a dearth of trip reports for Australia, and now you and Cousin Orville have really done a great job highlighting this trip!

Looking through your photos makes me so excited to visit Australia in December.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

For the Blue Mountains did you use a tour company or train out on your own? Did you get to the caves?

We used Frontier Photographic Safari to go to the Blue Mountains. It was just us and one other couple in a very comfortable Mercedes mini van. Our guide took us to some remote spots for amazing vistas and pictures.

We didn't make it to the Jenolan Caves; I debated about this, but it is an hour from the Blue Mountains (so an additional 2 hours total) on an already long day. Plus I knew if we went that I'd want to do some of the more adventurous cave activities and we wouldn't have time for that. It's really a matter of personal preference. I thoroughly enjoyed our day and would highly recommend the company we used (the guide was very knowledgeable, took great pictures, had traveled all over Australia and had a good sense of humor).

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

WDW Groupie - Amazing photos! You really maximized your pre-days and did some fabulous things. There was a dearth of trip reports for Australia, and now you and Cousin Orville have really done a great job highlighting this trip!

Looking through your photos makes me so excited to visit Australia in December.

Let me know if you have any questions.

You will have an amazing time. Lucky you - it's going to be summer; I'm a bit envious as we had cool to cold days there! If you are interested in surfing, I highly recommend Manly Surf School - they were very good with my daughter and the owner was super nice (he let me borrow his camera battery when my went dead - thank goodness he also used a Canon). I'd say Manly is much easier to get to than Bondi from Sydney and I personally preferred Manly to Bondi (it's really just a matter of personal taste).

 

[tufbuf]

Did you purchase separate 'Cuddle the Koala' tickets beforehand or when you arrived in Kuranda?

Did you go on the helicopter tour after the snorkeling in the GBR? Can you give me an idea how much that cost?

I'm currently debating whether to spend pre-days in Sydney or Melbourne...