It's Been a While!

Wow, it's been a while! I meant to put up another post after Week One, but the software was down or something! So I'll do it now. :) Well, We got into Honolulu, Hawaii late on a Monday, I believe. Mom had been there for over a week, but Dad, Nora, and I only got to spend a day there. It was a nice, relaxing day, and we went to the beach, went shopping, and all that jazz. :)

I buried Nora. :)

Mom fell asleep on her mat after a long week of workshops. -.- zzz.

... and I bought a dress. :D

Then we flew for eleven hours into Sydney, Australia! In crossing the International Date Line, we lost Halloween, though. So our flight attendent walked up and down the aisles with a candy dish!

We have been here in Australia for almost two weeks! We got into Sydney last Wednesday and stayed there for a couple of days, sightseeing and such. We got around to a lot in those two days! The first day, we visited the New South Wales Parliament House. We went in for the grand tour of the Houses and learned the basics of Australian politics. Basically, there are two Houses: Upper and Lower. The delegates in the Lower House are then split into the political parties they represent. The party that got the most votes sits on the left side of the room, and they are called the Government. The minority party sits opposite the Government and are called the Opposition. Here is a picture:

The Government runs the state of New South Wales, but the Opposition is allowed at certain special meetings to challenge the decisions of the Government.

Then there is the Upper House. This is where bills are amended and passed. There is no real seating arrangement in this House like there is in the Lower House. Here is a picture of the Upper House:

The next day, we went to see the Sydney Opera House! It was amazing! It's right across from the Harbour Bridge, too, so we got to see both and get some really fantastic photos.

Here are Mom and Nora in front of the Harbour Bridge. This is one of the best views of it you can get. :)

And here is the first view we had of the famous Sydney Opera House! It is the view from Hyde Park, I believe.

Dad waving Hello. :)

This is really about the only real theater we were allowed to take pictures of, and it was definitely the most breathtakingly beautiful. It is the Symphony Room. Down at the bottom is where the orchestra plays. If you look closely in the middle of the picture up at the top... Can you see it? That is a pipe organ! And the place where the organist sits is right in the middle of all the pipes!!

Sydney was a truly fascinating city. After our second day there, we caught a train to the city of Bathurst, just four hours away. It was a very beautiful ride through the country. There were all these beautiful grass fields that were covered in purple flowers that looked like lavender (but are actually called Patterson's Curse). They made the whole field look as if it had been dusted with purple mist or something lovely like that. :) I wasn't able to get any pictures of these fields on that trip because my camera was too low on battery, which is a terrible shame. But I will leave these fields to the imagination until I am able to procure a decent photograph of them. :)

When we arrived in Bathurst, we were picked up at the train station by the McLeod family, who we are staying with until around the fourteenth of December. They have been so kind as to let us stay with them in a cottage (or granny flat) behind their house... at no cost! And when we had unloaded our things, we found that they had stocked the house with groceries and candies and a Monopoly game! That first day, we got the grand tour of their town and were taken out to ice cream to boot!!

This is a picture of us on the first day. The McLeods also had another family staying with them, and they are in the tree too. :) So this is Ben, Emma, Alys, Jessica Mcleod, Brendon McLeod, Nora, and me. :)

I have just realized that I have no photos of the McLeod parents. Must make a mental note to do that so I can show you all of them!

So since that first day, we have settled in, Nora and I have started home-school, I have had my first French Horn lesson, and Brendon McLeod turned 13 two days ago! We have been busy as bees, and have enjoyed every second of it. Until next time, g'day mates!