Down Under

Lauren's graduation trip to Australia/New Zealand was fantastic...no other way to describe the fun experiences we had together. I've promised a quick recap of the trip, so here goes:
When we arrived in Sydney, we went right to work sightseeing....took the ferry to Darling Harbor, where we visited the Sydney Aquarium and Wild Animal Center--both really great facilities.

We toured the Opera House, and were fortunate to get tickets on the 10th row for that evening's performance of Brahms Violin Concerto.

We also took a hop-on hop-off tour of the entire city and it's beautiful buildings and architecture. We enjoyed the Sydney Museum, the Maritime Museum, and a cruise over to Manly, Sydney's premier surfing and shopping neighborhood.

Lauren bought a kangaroo skin outback hat (which she wore almost daily) and a digeridoo (which I'm hoping will be seen and not heard), and several other souvenirs.

After Sydney, we traveled to New Zealand and spent the night in Hamilton, near the temple. We went to the visitors center that night and visited with Sister Hutchings from American Fork, who gave us some tips on great restaurants. The following morning we did a temple session while Lauren joined a youth group to do baptisms for the dead.

We then returned back to Auckland and went to the museum there, where we were given a tour by the Maori performers...they were awesome!

We stayed at Sky City, and went to the top of Sky Tower, which is the highest tower in the southern hemisphere. You can lean on the glass on the observation deck and look down 200 meters (about 655 feet) to the ground.

Auckland is called the "City of Sails" for good reason--there was harbor after harbor of beautiful boats docked there. We attended Sacrament meeting Sunday morning in Auckland, and were greeted by the friendliest people there--everyone stopped to say hello to us. We did a little sightseeing before catching a flight back to Australia to the Gold Coast.

In the Gold Coast area, we were able to go visit Scott's former apartment and the meetinghouse he attended when he served in this area 30 years ago. The highlight of this area was the Lone Pine Reserve, where we got to hold Koalas, feed Kangaroos, and see a sheep shearing demonstration.


Then, we went to Surfer's Paradise where Lauren had a surfing lesson (see previous blog entry). That evening we spent four hours catching up with Elizabeth Rooks (a convert) and her son, Phillip, over dinner.

We would have loved another day or two in the Gold Coast area...it was beautiful. All of us enjoyed the experiences we had there and look forward to the day we can go Down Under again!