Family trip!

1 april: I got up early so I was able to say goodbye to the family. It was a normal day for them, so I was there around 8. It felt really weird saying goodbye. There were hugs, laughs and nice words. After waving them off to school and some tears, I went back to the cabin and put the finishing touch on packing. Around 9.30 Gerda and I went to pick up Meghan and Paddy. We went to the guesthouse my parents and Rik were staying and talked for a bit. Around 10 the dreadful goodbyes had to be said. I found it hard, but I know I will see them again. I mean I have to visit Canada! And after living here, 7 hours away is NOTHING haha. So we left, on our way to Adelaide! Because of some stupid rule here, the one with the most experience driving on the left wasn't allowed to drive. Well unless I paid $35 A DAY! Yeah.. Not worth that much money. We arrived around 5.30 and had an awesome appartement! It was huge and we all had our own room. There were even 2 bathrooms. So that was something else than the cabin haha. We walked around the city a bit, got some take out and ate at the apartment.

2 april: We walked around the city some more and visited the botanic gardens. They were pretty and we made some good pictures. For dinner/tea we got some take out again. All in all a relaxing day!

3 april: Day 1 of Kangaroo Island!! We had to get up around 5, to get ready, eat breakfast, take a bus to cape jervis and take a ferry to Kangaroo Island. On Kangaroo Island we had a coach with 12 other people. We visited a honey farm, sea lions kn the beach and the rest I cant remember (and the paper with the info on it has made its way to the Netherlands haha)
Day 2 was filled with going to a wildlife sanctuary,
an eucalyptus farm, a bird show with falcons and kookaberra's for example and a natural arch. This day was better than day 1. We had fish and chips before getting on the ferry around 7.30. The tour in all was good and we saw some pretty things on Kangaroo Island. We had one more night in Adelaide before heading off.

5, 6 + 7 april: Goodbye Adelaide, hello Hay, Cooma and eventually Canberra! There's not much to tell, the scenery was pretty, Cooma was a nice town and we arrived in Canberra the 7th around 11.30AM. We took the bus to the centre, cause the hotel was located a little too far for us to walk. We walked around for a bit. The centre was small, not really impressive or pretty. In the evening Rik and I went to the movies. FINALLY!!! We went to see Captain America and it was awesome! It was great to go to the movies again and fun to do this with my brother. Because I wasnt home for Christmas, he got this from me.

8 april: Today we went to the Parliament House and the War Memorial. Both were very interesting to see. Had some coffee at the ParliamentHouse and went back to the hotel after. Around 6.30 we had dinner at the hotel. It was really good! Especially the tiramisu!! About Canberra I have to say its not as pretty as other cities, it was nice to see but defonately not a must!

9 april: On the road again! Pitstop with a really nice coffee and vanilla slice. The waitress that we had actually had a Dutch husband and had been i the Netherlands, near Arnhem and in Zeeland. Small world! After that we spend the night in Batemans Bay.

10 april: Next stop Wollongong! To get there we went through Murramarang NP. It was pretty to see! Made a stop at Pebbly beach to see some kanga's in the wild. We did, but it was raining with made it a little less special for me. And I do have to say, its becoming a little been there done that haha. In Wollongong we had some dinner and walked through the harbour there. It was nice, but nothing special.

11 + 12 april: Blue Mountains!!! We arrived at the hotel around 1pm. After some lunch we headed to Echo Point. From there upyou could see the the Three Sisters and you had a beautiful view of part of the Blue Mountains. There was also a trail going to Katoomba Falls. Rik and I wanted to check it out. Well it wasnt easy getting down!! It were uneven steps with mostly no railing and big puddles in the middle. Maybe going down for like 20 min, Rik went ahead to see how far it still was, but it was too far so we went back. We did make some pretty pictures and had a decent work out. For dinner we went Aussie! We all had a dish with kangaroo! It was good, just a little tougher meat. When we got back to the hotel, mom and I did some washing. Needed to be done!!
The second day started with a really nice breakfast at the hotel! After that we went to see Wenthworth Falls. It was beautiful, but took some steps to get there. Scenic world was next. Here you can take different methods of transportation to see parts of the blue mountains. First my dad, Rik and me took a railway down into the forrest. The train goes down in a 54º degree angle, if I'm not mistaken. Quite steep but really cool. When we were down, we took a walk around the boardwalk. It was pretty, except for some weird random objects placed around the forrest. They were not doing anything for the forrest so it was weird to me they put a discobal or an astronaut in the middle of the forrest.. Anyway we took the cableway back up. There was also a skyway, that took you across and gave you a beautiful view of the three sisters and wenthworth falls. When we were doing that, mom was strolling around the souveniershops and tried to see Katoomba Falls. We still had some time left, so we went to Echo Point again to see the Giant Stairway. It was a very steep staircase with another great view. Dad, Rik and md went down a little. From all tha t walking we got hungry, so we went and got subway and I ended up playing pool with dad and Rik. I won 3 times and only lost twice.

13 - 16 april On our way to Sydney!! We had a really cool hotel, and best of all it was pretty much right in the city!! Our roo wasnt ready yet, sowe went to Starbucks first. JAMMM. After dropping our bags off, we went for a walk around the city. Saw the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and made some pics. We ended our first day in Sydney with Hungry Jacks. The next day we went to Hyde park, St. Mary's cathedral and at 3 my dad, Rik and I went to do our Harbour Bridge walk. It takes about 3 hours, so mom went on a tour of the Opera House in the meantime. The walk was awesome, but very tough! The view was great! So after that we deserved a good meal. Because I wasnt home for Christmas, I gave my parents a giftcard for a meal and they collected that that evening. We had dinner at a greek restaurant, while Rik went to the movies.
Manly beach was on the agenda the next day. We took a ferry across and walked around. The beach was nice and other than that nothing much to see. So we took the first ferry back, had some Starbucks and each went shopping. We met at the hotel and for the last dinner together in Australia, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe and it was delicious!!

Unfortunately that was already the end of our family trip together.
Thank you still for baring with me, I know the stories are long, but soo much to tell!! And tbanks for the replies!!