Australia Day 11 – Christmas day

Christmas day started with us all opening presents that were under the tree, just like old times. It was nice to be with the family again, the last time we were together for Christmas must have been around 11 years ago.

The main activity for the day was to go to Ken and Jeanettes place in Gympie for lunch. Every family had to bring food and this was all put together to share amongst the 34 people going for lunch.
Before this we headed to see Jacqui and Jacques property up in Gympie. They have bought a 3 acres plot of land up there and plan to build on it in a few years.

Lunch was great, and having everyone together was quite chaotic at times. After lunch, a toast was offered to the newest member of the family, which was Rob, and after this he offered a toast to someone else. By the time it was all over, every person had received and offered a toast. It was quite unexpected, but was really great and I think it is going to be continued in the following years.

The pregnant ladies
We also played the game “Secret Santa” otherwise known as “Dirty Santa”, where everone brings a gift ($10) and puts it into a pile, you can choose a gift and then steal someone else’s if you don’t like your own. It was great fun, and we ended up with a Texas Holdem Poker set.

Rohan, Arron & Shannon

Australia Day 9 & 10 – Noosa

Sunday was a quiet day, Carla and I drove down into Noosa and walked around a bit. We walked along the Noosa river and watched the pelicans, they really are funny birds, especially when they sit perched on the lights trying to look elegant.

We went for a drive all over the place on Monday, starting at Tinbeerwah lookout which is a great place to look over the whole of the area.

Next was Noosa National Park, we had a short walk to what is called the Boiling Pot.

Along the way Carla spotted a Koala in the tree which was really great to see. Carla had demanded to see Kangaroos and Koala on the trip, so now she had seen both.

We picked up Rob who had been working in the morning and went to a restaurant a little out in the country where we had Kookabarra’s watching us eat our lunch.

Rob then took us to Cootharaba and Boreens Point, there were the larger wild Kangaroo’s (The ones on the property are actually wallabies) there. Carla and I were able to get quite close to them and watch them eating.

We went to Christmas Mass in the evening in Cooroy. It is a small little church with only one Mass as the priest does all the services for the whole area.
Later that evening we went for a drive to see the houses that had been done up with Christmas lights. Some areas were quite spectacular with the amount of effort people had put in to doing up the house for Christmas.

Australia Day 8 – Noosa

My sister had a baby shower, so Carla stayed for that and the guys were delegated to driving to Gympie which is about 45km away to help put up marque for Christmas.

While Mom got everything ready, Rob took us to the Eumundi market to look around. It was nice, but very focused on the tourists.

Carla was introduced to a lot of the cousins, especially the ladies as it was at the baby shower. I think she is starting to get the hang of who is who in the family.

When we arrived back after putting up the tent, I was introduced and reintroduced to many of my cousins and their wives. It is amazing how much I have missed over the last 18 years.
Carla and I went for a walk around the area where Mom and Rob live. It is really nice with many of the places being on large plots of over 7 acres and having a few cattle and horses, quite different from Seoul.

You know you are in Australia when ...

Australia Day 7 – Noosa Boat Trip

Noosa River

A boat trip up the Noosa river had been planned for Friday. We went on a 16 seater booze cruiser type of boat. It was really nice and we were able to see a lot of the water ways around Noosa. There are also a great deal of yachts moored in the river, so it is nice to see all of the different types.

Rob

On the boat was a braai and everyone brought food and braaied there after we anchored up the river. We went swimming around the boat, but Carla was not so keen in case of sharks that have been known to be up the river (it is still salt water) and the minute possibility of crocodiles.

Jacqui and Jacque

We came across a few pelicans as we went up the river, they are really strange birds and look really funny with their enormous beaks.

Australia Day 6 – Fraser Island

We headed off at 06:00 for a trip to Fraser Island. I had been there before 18 years ago when the whole family (cousins, aunts, uncles, granparents,…) came along. We went on a one day tour, which is definitely not enough time to appreciate the place.

To get to Fraser, you go from Noosa the major part along the beach heading north for about 100km. Once we get there, we have to take a barge across from the mainland to get to the island, and have to have a 4 wheel drive as the entire island is made only of sand, but is covered with various types of vegetation, from rain forest to open grass land, with some enormous trees.

On the beach we were lucky enough to come across a couple of Dingoes which was really great to see.

We went up to Lake McKenzie, which is a fresh water lake at the top of one of the sand mountains. The water stays in there by plant sediment / mulsch that has collected over hundreds of thousand of years (if not more, the tour operator did mention it but I wasn’t listening all the time).

We swam in the lake which is really beautiful and clear and then went for lunch. We then went to what is called Central Station which was and old logging center. There are some rain forests there and a 1000 year old fern.

We headed back to Noosa and arrived at about 17:30, completely exhausted.My Sister and her husdand Jacque arrived a bit later after flying up from Melbourne.

Australia Day 5 – Blue Mountains / Katoomba / Noosa

We had to leave to head back to Sydney to fly up to Noosa, so our day was having a relaxing breakfast and driving back to Sydney. The drive was easier then expected and we got to the airport right on time. Sydney with view of the Opera house & Sydney Harbour bridge

It was short flight up to Queensland and we were met by Rob, my mothers husband. The drive up to Cooroy where their house is was very scenic.
As we arrived on the property, there were kangaroo’s out on the lawn, except two strange people peeking around the corner of the house scared them away.
My Grandparents came over for dinner which was really great. The last time I saw my Oupa was when I was here 18 years ago.
from left Rob, Mom, Carla, Ouma, Oupa

Australia Day 4 – Blue Mountains / Katoomba

We had a busy morning, as we had to check out of the hotel by 10:00, but before this we had to get to Circular Quay and try find AVIS where we had hired a car from for our trip to the Blue Mountains.

The trip was easy, with one road straight there. We stayed at a guest house called Jamison Guest house which I can recommend to anyone. It is overlooking the whole of the Blue Mountains which makes the setting fantastic.

When we arrived the room was not ready, so there was a walk starting from next to the guesthouse. We started out on a short walk, but ended up walking to the 3 Sisters and Echo point.

It was a really nice walk and ended up taking about 3 hours, but at least we got to do the major attractions.
We went out for dinner where I tried Kangaroo for the first time and found out what BYO is (bring your own … wine), where the restaurant owned a bottle store next door, so we went next door, bought the wine and had a great meal.

Our enormous Hot Chocolate

Australia Day 3 – Sydney City Tour

Today we got up relatively early as we planned to go on a City bus tour. We started from the main train station. It was good in that it gave us some of the history of the various areas and places that was really good. Queen Victoria Building

One of our main aims was to go to Bondi to have a look at the famous Bondi Beach. Unfortunately it was really windy which made going to the beach a little uncomfortable and we didn’t go for a swim. We walked around and Carla bought a dress from one of the shops along the waterfront.

After Bondi we got back on the bus and as we went round a corner the wind suddenly came up and I donated a cap to someone in Bondi.

W caught the bus back to the Opera house and then went for lunch overlooking the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
Carla and Mom at lunch at Circular Quay
My mother was leaving and flying back to Noosa, so we went back to the hotel, collected the bags and said our goodbyes.

I had been having a great deal of problems trying to access the internet and my e-mail, but finally managed to from the hotel across the road.

Carla and I then went out again for dinner at Darling Harbour. After walking around and checking out all the restaurants we finally decided on one and settled down with some nice wine and a good meal looking over the harbour.

We crashed fairly early after dinner and thought that our evening was over, but at 00:30 the fire alarm went off in the hotel. I thought “what did I do…” as I had woken up a few second before and just turned over in the bed when the alarm suddenly went off. Carla also thought “what has he done now…”

We had the pleasure of evacuating the hotel and meeting the Sydney Fire department. After determining that it was a false alarm we were allowed to go back in and to bed. At 03.30 it went off again, this time we took our time and ended up ignoring the alarm, except for just checking the corridors and having someone tell us that it was another false alarm.
The Sydney Fire Brigade