Day 78 Sydney Day 5

Buses, boats, boards and four wheelers were the transportation for the day. First stop was a reptile park where we finally were able to check off the final animal on our Australian list. The platypus!! I realize it is not a reptile, so don't give me any grief.
After we extricated ourselves from the reptile park we headed to the boat that took us out in to Nelson Bay which is about three hours north of Sydney. There we boarded a boat for a dolphin watching cruise. Sure enough we did see some bottle nose dolphins and had a nice couple of hours on the water. The water was very clean for such a busy area and some of the passengers took advantage of sliding down a twisted tube slide into a large net that was let down behind the boat.
Next we rode the bus a little further down the beach to hop into a four wheeler that took us into the sand dunes where we surfed down the dunes on a board. This was lots of fun and had everyone sliding down only to find there was no lift back up. You had to walk up. If not for the walk up I think we would have spent much more time there. Three trips was plenty for me.
Tonight we are repacking so we can be ready for our flight early tomorrow to Christ Church, New Zealand. Most importantly to meet up with our kids who are in the air on their 14 hour flight as I write this blog entry tonight.
Tomorrow the family reunites in Christ Church, New Zealand.

Chris - The 3 hour trip from Sydney to Nelson Bay was through north Sydney, called the "leafy suburbs" because of the large number of trees. It was a wealthy part of Sydney and well maintained with quite large homes. As we left the suburbs we were more "in the bush" and we literally only saw eucalyptus trees for 2 1/2 hours. Even when we traveled on the "Pacific Highway" we only saw trees, the Pacific only making an appearance when we got to Nelson Bay. The Bay was beautiful as was the beach where the sand dunes were. Surfing the sand dunes was fun and the dunes were huge. When you stood at the top you couldn't even see the majority of the hill it was so steep. You rode a fairly narrow wooden boogie board size board and it was like sled riding on soft sand. But just like sled riding you have to walk back up. Well, at least I wasn't cold! In fact we had a beautiful day, it was sunny and about 80 degrees. Tomorrow back to cooler weather and Christchurch, but we do get to see the kids!!!! I will miss Sydney with its many bays & harbors, it's colonial architecture and our spectacular view Sydney Harbour from our room. Now, can someone come live here for a year or more so I can come back for an extended visit?