Tarango Zoo

Mark had to go home a day earlier because we could not get four frequent flyer tickets for Jan 2 so I took the girls to the zoo in Sydney. It sits overlooking Darling Harbour. Alexa was chosen to be in the seal show. We had a nice time despite a few rain showers. We also were fortunate to pet a wallabee.

More Australia pictures

The top two pictures are of the crowds for the fireworks on New Year's Eve in Sydney. There were fireworks at 9 and then a boat parade and then the grand finale at 12. The crowd was full of drunk teenagers and it was getting out of hand so we left after the boat show. We were lucky to see the 12 o'clock show from our hotel room. The bottom left picture is at a Mexican restaraunt in Sydney and the right is at a park in Melbourne.

Great Ocean Road

Here are some pictures from the Great Ocean Road trip today. A long day, but worth it. The girls were able to spot about 20 wild koalas in the various parks. Callie saw (and Patty confirmed) one walking across the road near her. Originally we thought there were pigs under the brush based on the sounds. We soon realized that the heavy grunting was the Koalas.

Australia Trip - Port Douglas and the Reef

More words to come, but we are finally able to post a few pictures. The pictures here were taken heading to the Great Barrier Reef, overlooking the Coral Sea, and in the rain forest (Daintree).

This was the first three days of the trip.

More photos from Gingerbread Party

Gingerbread Party

We went to the Shanghai Expat kids Christmas party. They made gingerbread houses, ate, got gifts from Santa, did crafts and saw the Chinese acrobats. Here are some photos.

Beijing Airport Vending Machines

I noticed this on a previous trip but did not get a picture.  This is a shot of a Beijing airport vending machine – 10RMB ($1.40) for a Beijing beer. . . from a vending machine.

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