Leaving Oz tomorrow

Well we're nearing the end of our trip to Australia - we fly back tomorrow. Daniel has changed a lot - grown out of 0-3 months clothes, can stand up supported, laughs lots, can grab and hold things, and he has learnt to sleep through the night - not bad for a 4 1/2 month old, especially one who is only meant to be 2 1/2 months old! He definitely doesn't look like a premature baby! Going to Peru in September seems more real now having spent a month out of the UK - it is just 4 full months when we get back, and by then Daniel will probably be crawling and maybe even beginning to walk - time goes so quickly!

Fun at Darling Harbour

Today we (Mark, I, my sister Chloe and Josie-Jo a friend from church) went to Darling Harbour in the centre of Sydney and had lots of fun. First we went to the aquarium and saw lots of sharks... ...and penguins (Daniel's favourite - he was fascinated.)

Then we took a walk and stumbled upon the Chinese Garden which was very beautiful. We debated whether we should go in but really glad we did because it was SOOOO much fun. You can even hire costumes to walk around the garden in, so we did...!

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for sleeping Daniel) they didn't have any for babies!

All Creatures Great and Small

(Anna) Today we went to Taronga Zoo. My Dad came too, claiming he didn’t want to miss Daniel’s outing, but really the trip was for Mark, and Daniel didn’t seem too bothered (he slept most of the day). The highlights included…
- seeing the platapus (quite a rare occasion as they often hide)
- the comodo dragon (who says dinosaurs are extinct?!)
- the seal show (they had them doing handstands, and flips and all sorts – very funny) - the flight show (birds flying everywhere like a dance)
- the gorgeous view over the harbour – they say the animals have the best view in Sydney and they’re not wrong!
There were a few other bizarre creatures there too...

On a Bicycle Made for Two

(Anna) Tried to post this on the blog the other day but the computer wasn't having any of it, so will try again now!
Last week we had a lovely holiday with my family three hours up the coast in town called Port Stevens - stayed in a gorgeous hotel overlooking a marina and the weather was lovely.
We took a ferry trip over to a place called The Tea Gardens (the explorers tried to plant tea there but it was a failure yet the name still stuck) and Mark went sea kayaking with the more adventurous whilst Mum, Daniel and I went for a stroll by the sea inlet.

The last day I got to do something slightly scarier – riding a tandem bicycle with Mark!!

Now it wasn’t the cycling that was scary, more the fact that it was with Mark and to balance the bicycle properly the stronger person has to go in front – so we’re dashing through forest and down thin paths dodging pedestrians and all I can see ahead is Mark’s back!!! Mark felt that my cries of ‘slow down!’ were due to me not trusting him (!) but I concluded that it is mere instinct – it is just not natural to be relaxed whilst you are quite possibly (or with Mark, quite probably) in danger and have no idea what is up ahead! I was however alerted to the fact that although trusting Mark is obviously still quite an issue when it comes to tandem biking, trusting God is a bit like tandem bike riding, but without the risk of running into a tree or killing someone – thankfully He is completely faithful!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Highlights of the day included...(as well as a lovely church service)...

...Wind-up chicks (they weren't so great for racing though as they tended to be lopped-sided)
... Eggs - as shown by Mr Egg Head...
... Fun with Uncle Ben - there's never a dull moment with Uncle Ben around...
...Giggling with Auntie Chloe......Chloe laughing hysterically after trying to shock the hiccups out of Daniel. For the record - shocking babies when they have the hiccups doesn't work. Daniel just looked bemused as he hiccuped away...

Australia

I thought i'd (Mark) publish a few photos of our time so far in Australia. The rest are on our flickr account.

This is the view from our bedroom window. Nice hey?

This is from a walk that Anna took yesterday. I can never be bothered with going for walks, although I am swimming in the pool, playing rugby, and most importantly (and taking a fair amount of time up) playing yard cricket with BIL (my brother in law, Ben). Unfortunately Ben has been playing for some time and developed a lot of the rules to suit him, so I regularly lose. That may also be due to the fact that he is better than me and I can't bat very well.
Me after a poor attempt of body boarding. The waves were very weak as well which didn't help. I'll try again before we go.
Ben showing me how to surf, not that I'm going to try. Body boarding was hard enough.

Arrival in Australia.

Well we arrived in Oz on Tuesday evening after a good flight - Daniel slept at all the right times and we managed to get some kip too which was a bonus. Jetlag seems to be delayed this year - it's day 3 and is now hitting us - we are adding to the blog now at 7.34pm to force ourselves to stay up! Daniel has been sleeping at night but waking up more often than usual, which is ok - at least he's not asking to be entertained at 3am! Daniel getting ready for his first swim in the pool

Daniel's first swim
Second swim sporting his new hat and baby sunglasses as well as his wetsuit to keep him warm in the pool - the water is 25'C but a bit chilly for him!
Look at my new hat and sunglasses!