Time to Squeeze It All In!

We're coming down to our final stretch and we realize we haven't done it all yet! A year just wasn't enough time to fit in everything we wanted to do. If Mike didn't have to work it would make it easier to fit in our play time, but I guess somebody has to pay for it. So here are a few shots from our final days:

After watching Kyle give surfing a go, we thought we should, too. Kyle makes it look a lot easier than it really is. Mariah did pretty good, but Mike and I proved it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks!

Here you can see how good Kyle has gotten.

This one is of Kyle's coach showing us how to surf "Down Under" ( up side down).

The Harbour Bridge Climb is something I'd wanted to do for months. We have walked up one of the huge towers, walked across, boated under and it was finally time to climb up and over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Because it was so dear, only Mike and I went. We went with a friend and his daughter.

The precautions, efficiency and professionalism was amazing. They had special "ghost buster" suits that we wore. Everything had to be clipped on to you (sunnies, hat, radio). You could not take your own camera. You had to go through a metal detector and do a Breathalyzer test...Luckily we passed!

Every 10 minutes a group of 12 depart. This means about 12 per group x 6 per hour x 12 hours = 864 people every day. For $180.00/head it's not a bad business. I thought Mike and I could start a tour of the new Tacoma's Narrow Bridge. What do you think....any business partner's? I think it took about 20 million dollars and 10 years of red tape to get this one up and running.

Here is a picture of Mike and our friend Chris demonstrating how the Aussies open beer using the beer bottle opener on the bottom of their shoes.

We had a wonderful weekend with the other exchange families. It was sad saying goodbye. These families have been a wonderful support system during our trials and tribulations. The best part is now we have many new places to go visit people. Here is a picture of the kids. It was said that this year had more families with kids than ever before.

We also got to spend a day on an Aussie farm at Phil and Tony Thorntons & their 3 kids. It was a day filled with life and death. While we were there a calf was born and the family dog killed a baby water hen. We also took 7 fat cows to the auction (meat market) in the cattle truck.

This is a shot of the Aussie Masters Golf Champions..... Well maybe, New South Wales Champions? Just Taree Golf Champions? Ok, how about a shot of Aussie golfers.

My final picture represents the holiday season that is fast approaching. It doesn't feel like it for us. It's hard to think about Christmas while walking around in your swimmers and flip flops (thongs).

Ready or not we will see you in a week and a half....................................