Visiting Summer for Winter Break

This winter break I escaped to the summer* and Australia. I convinced Dad that Australia was halfway between Vietnam and the US** and we rendezvoused in Sydney!

I got there a few days before he did and spent some time wondering around and even climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge! It was a super fun experience and not nearly as death-defying as I expected it to be because they had, understandably, a ton of safety measures in place. 

Once Dad arrived we had some delightful beach days at Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. We even had a personal tour from a frolleague*** at school who was home for the holidays visiting with her family!

After a few days in Sydney, Dad and I went to Noumea, New Caledonia. New Caledonia is a French territory and it felt . . . very French. We spent most days in the sunshine and enjoying the views. We took a boat tour one day to an island with excellent snorkeling and a lighthouse. 

We then flew to Port Vila, Vanuatu,**** on Christmas Eve. Vanuatu had similar gorgeous Pacific island views to New Caledonia but was a very different country. It is much less developed than New Caledonia and if New Caledonia was St. Martin then Vanuatu was Jamaica. Through poor planning on my part, the two major days we had in Vanuatu were Christmas Day and Boxing Day- holidays that had most of the island closed. Because of that, we weren't able to do much sight-seeing but we were able to sit poolside and enjoy some scenery.

From Vanuatu we flew back to Sydney and then to Hobart, Tasmania. We had originally planned to go to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, but flooding in that part of the country kept us away. We were, fortunately, able to rearrange things and the extra time in Tasmania was definitely worth it!

On our first day in Hobart we walked ourselves around and accidentally saw the winning boats of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race,***** Kelly Street,****** and the Tasmanian Art Gallery.

The next day we went on a tour that took us to Mt. Field park with giant trees and a lovely waterfall, the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary where we got to see Tasmanian devils, echidnas, wombats, and kangaroos, and the top of Mt. Wellington where we saw clouds.

Back in Hobart we visited the Botanical Garden which was, easily, in my top 2******* of all botanical gardens! Just look at how great we look in nature!

At some point we had sufficiently sight-seen and just started to eat and drink our way around town. This included meeting up with Jessie (of Hanoi fame) and her family. We went on a wine tour, we went to a food festival, we ate so much cheese. 

We were even in Hobart for New Years!! We had a literal front row seat from our hotel for the fireworks. It was very glamorous.

Our final Tasmania stops were to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) which was an art museum dedicated to poking fun at art museums while still being an excellent art museum and Bruny Island.

Our trip ended back in Sydney where we packed in another beach day, a tour of the opera house, and a visit to the New South Wales Art Gallery. I loved the Art Gallery so much and there was so much to see that I went two days in a row to enjoy it all. Top 5 world art museums!********

All in all, Australia? Five stars. Maybe it's that we were there during the summer and were getting the beautiful summer vibes when the weather in Hanoi has hit full gloom, but . . . people seem to have more fun there. When America was being settled, they sent the Puritans. When Australia was being settled, they sent the fun people who had committed petty crimes. The beaches in Australia were like a 1960's beach bunny movie. It was amazing. ALSO, Australia is light years ahead of the US in recognizing and celebrating their indigenous heritage. Just about every place we went recognized that the land originally belonged to members of the First Nation and it was really wonderful to see.

We had a ripper of a time! What a way to end 2023 and start 2024!!
-KT

*As a devoted blog reader pointed out- it's always teacher summer somewhere!
**Is he bad at geography or just the world's greatest father???
***Friend and Colleague
****My 179th country!!! I've been incredibly excited for this number because, as you all know, it is the score Elle Woods got on her LSATs and is, therefore, incredibly fun to scream excitedly. Dad was a super trooper who made a video recreating the iconic scene from "Legally Blonde." 
*****Kind of a big deal, apparently! Dad and I were like, "why is everyone staring so hard at these boats??"
******World's greatest street, DUH
*******Number one being in Capetown, South Africa, obviously.
********Obviously, this ranking is highly subjective to the art I like but the others in my list (that absolutely no one asked for but here it is) include: Doha's Islamic Art Museum, the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, the MOMA in NYC, the Tate Modern in London, the Portrait Galleries in DC and London, the Rodin Museum in Paris, and special shout outs to the Boston MFA, NYC's The Met, and the Chicago Art Institute.