Reef-stricken

The reason we were in Port Douglas was its accessibility to the Great Barrier Reef, via a 2-hour ride out on a big tourist-packed boat to a specially purposed pontoon.

They efficiently process all the people through their choices of lunch, an underwater viewing tunnel, scuba lessons, a submersible excursion, and of course snorkeling. C. bravely gave it a go.

Jess got substantial time underwater, which we can prove thanks to the aforementioned underwater viewing tunnel.

She reports that, Great though it may be, the experience is no match for Hanauma Bay. And T., too young to have any idea where we were, wandered the pontoon with a swim noodle, pretending it was a vacuum cleaner. And a trumpet.

So for Colin, the experience was equivalent to a normal day of childcare. With a bonus of last-minute seasickness!

The resort of last resort

Stokestralia would like to thank our sponsor, Ernst & Young LLP, for sending Jess on so many trips to Brazil that she could use frequent flier miles to put us up at the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas, on the northeast tip of the continent. Though a little ragged, the resort did provide the shallow water required for C. to amuse herself for hours.

It also provided easy access to the splendid coast at sunset.

The children used the beach time just how you'd expect. C. assembled a hut from fallen palm leaves...

And T. found a coconut and--well, what do you think?

The age for aquaria

Activities for our final day in Sydney were hard to pick. The ferry to Manley? The walk across the Harbor Bridge? A stroll around the Rocks to look in the lobby of Cate Blanchett's theatre company? In the end, we succumbed to the most extreme wing of the party and saw more animals.

Not different at heart from the two thousand other aquariums we've visited together, although this time C. had a toy platypus, the manatees were called "dugongs" and swam over us, and it was T.'s turn to commune with a diver.

And of course we had great company in the form of old friend Karin, whom we met up with on her way to a holiday in Fiji.

Darling Harbour is one more lovely public space, and its restaurants maintain the essential custom of providing crayons.

Cate Blanchett, and so much else, will have to wait till next time. Tomorrow we head north.

An unexpected thrill ride

To go down into the eucalyptus rainforest below the Three Sisters, you take a train that the coal miners used to take. We all thought that sounded neat. Well, almost all of us.

Turns out it's the steepest train in the world--a 52 degree slope. Sitting down in it feels like tipping forward, because it is. Plus, in the middle it plunges through a tunnel into total darkness. Also, there are no seat belts. We were a little rattled when we got off. How steep was that?

That steep, huh.

We reenacted our ride down in the old train car they have set up at the bottom. It was therapeutic.

We spent the rest of the morning exploring the rainforest from beautiful boardwalks they've installed to keep us off the thorny, viney ground. Colin was reminded of the old Bradbury story about the time travelers who hunt dinosaurs from a raised path, lest their footsteps trample a bug and change the course of history.

T. kept asking with a worried look if there were going to be any more steep trains. The ride back up via cable car was a great view, and did not require blood pressure medication afterwards.

These three sisters don't want to go to Moscow

Two hour train out to the Blue Mountains. A milestone: the kids keep each other entertained, some of the time.

After a rainy afternoon perfect for naps, the sun comes out and we stroll down the street to the Three Sisters lookout. Perilous stairs take us to one of the rock pillars. T. rides in style.

That's us in the shadowy nook on the lower left.

The way back up is just as steep but has the advantage of not facing down.

When we get back up, the sun is setting behind the mountains, with a golden glow on us and a pink light on the clouds that just keeps getting more glorious, until eventually it tires itself out and turns gray.

Meet the instruments

The ferry ride back from the zoo heralded T.'s big moment: the children's concert at the Opera House.

We may have been near the back row, but he named each instrument as it took the stage.

Afterward was a "meet the instruments" session throughout the building, meant for older kids but appreciated by no one more than this two-year-old.

When the musicians finally filed out of the building, he followed after them forlornly.

Gelato in this extraordinary place completed this very special day.

Zootopia

The ferry from Circular Quay (rushing past the didgeridoo player) takes us to the zoo on the top of a hill, where the giraffes have a penthouse view.

A futile quest for a platypus leads us through a lovely recreation of a gorge and its Aboriginal art.

And Sharp-Eyes catches sight of a rare lyrebird, a kookaburra, and this rock wallaby, which she christens "Wallaby Willing," in honor of her grandfather.

Meanwhile, after four days of hard-core sightseeing, Colin begins to suspect that the animals have it easy.