Day 58: We're Home!

In some respects it seems like we've been gone longer than 2 months, and sometimes it feels like we just left last week, but after 58 days of being away from home we're finally back.

It's strange to think that when we left Avery couldn't even rollover, was only interested in some solid foods (like Broccoli and cucumbers), and wore side 2 diapers. She's returning home able to stand on her own (with the help of a chair), willing to eat anything we do, and in size 3 diapers. With that said, when we left Avery had no hair and no teeth, and not much has changed there.
Our flights were as uneventful as they can be with Air Canada--we were (predictably) bumped from the bulkhead on our flight to Vancouver in favour of a childless couple in their twenties, so Avery didn't get a bassinet. Fortunately, after repeated asking and reminding check-in staff of their policy that an infant gets priority for bulkhead seats on long-haul flights, they let us bring her car seat to use in the empty seat between us. For the Vancouver-Toronto leg, we not only got the bulkhead, but the flight attendant let us use the bassinet, which is usually a no-no for domestic flights (we concluded that it must have been a Vancouver-based crew).

Grandma and Grandpa Rotstein greeted us in Toronto, which was a good thing because we needed help with all our luggage (4 suitcases, a stroller, a car seat, two knapsacks, and a purse!).

For some reason the jetlag from this leg of our trip was by far the worst. Perhaps it was because we didn't have the adrenalin rush of being on vacation, or possibly because Stephen went back to work the next day, but it's taken us a week to get over it (which is why we've been so slow posting pictures from the last leg of our trip).

Mummy and Daddy's Day Out: Part III

Today a babysitter named Jessica came to play with Avery while Mummy and Daddy went out for lunch and explored some other beaches in Maui. Jessica brought some musical instruments for Avery to play with, which were a huge hit. Apparently Avery insisted on bringing the tambourine with her when they went for a walk, and she was not willing to give back the shaker when it was time for Jess to go.

Day 51: Hanging loose in Maui

Today, in addition to exploring the road to Costco, we hung out at the beach at our resort. At sunset, we watched the cliff jumper/torch lighter light all the torches at the resort, then proceed to jump off the cliff of black rock near our resort. We then walked to the nearby Whaler Village for dinner and some window shopping.

The Road To Costco

Many travellers visit Maui to partake in the scenic day-long drive known as the Road to Hana. But not our tiny traveller! We instead opted to do the less time consuming and more baby-friendly road to Costco. We all found some clothing and bought a snorkel set so we could check out some of the marine life just off the beach at our resort.

The trip was well worth it--we were able to see some huge sea turtles up close less than 25m from the beach.

Japan's Latest Celeberty Sensation: Avery!

If you've been to Hawaii, then you understand that it is a very popular vacation destination for Japanese tourists. And the only thing Japanese tourists seem to love more than Hawaii is Avery.

Everywhere we take her she's getting lots of smiles and hellos. On Avery's 11th flight to Maui she made instant friends with a couple behind us (Avery insisted in going to visit them by persistently lunging through the crack between the seats). When we were waiting for our bags to arrive a group of tourists asked us if they could take pictures of her.

Day 49: Avery's 10th Flight

We spent the entire day, April 15th, travelling, only to arrive in Hawaii on the 14th?!

Daddy was upset to leave Auckland, if only because he had to dispose of his favorite drink, LP (it's world famous in New Zealand). Fortunately, he was able to acquire another fix of the drink on the plane).

Being Avery's 10th flight in her 8 months in this world (and 14th if you count the ones she took while in the womb), she is now fully apprised of airplane safety. With that said, she prefers to familiarize herself with the safety features of the specific aircraft she's flying before takeoff.

Avery took full advantage of her 1st class travel cot and enjoyed watching people walk by and having the mild turbulent lull her to sleep; however, she couldn't make up her mind if she wanted the red or the white wine selection with her teething rusk--unfortunately there was no sommelier on board to recommend the best paring.

Day 48: Day trip to Waiheke Island

We spent our last day in New Zealand visiting Wahiheke Island, which is a 30 minute ferry ride outside of Auckland. We took a bus tour around the island, followed by lunch in Oneroa Bay. We returned to Auckland and did some more shopping (our last chance to buy stuff with NZ$!).

Day 47: Our last day in Rotorua

We spent our morning taking advantage of the favourable New Zealand currency rates by doing some shopping in Rotorua. In the afternoon, we headed back to Auckland, but not before Avery could feast on some chicken and corn at her favorite place, Nandos (their yummy veggie burger also makes it a favorite place of mummy's).

Day 46: Meeting the Maori's

Today we went to Te Puia, a Maori cultural center (read: tourist trap). We got to see a performance of traditional Maori songs and dance, which Avery absolutely loved (she was mesmerized by the dancers for the entire 30 minute show!). We then saw some kiwi birds, followed by seeing a thermal geyser and mud pools.

Day 45: Mummy and Daddy's Day Out: Part II

Today we had a late breakfast at our hotel (Avery enjoyed dinning on one of her favorite foods--toast).

In the afternoon, Avery stayed at the hotel with a woman who works here--yet another Carol--while Mummy and Daddy went to the Polynesian spa (voted one of the top 10 spas in the world). Avery seemed to had more fun with Carol than she would have at the spa, where you soak in hot mineral pools before your treatment--mummy had a mud rub while daddy had a mini-mud and massage combo.

Day 44: Smelly Rotorua

We left Auckland and have headed south to Lake Rotorua (pronounced "Roe toe ru a"). We are staying in a lovely boutique hotel that just opened and is a referbished old-style motel (which means there's door jams for Avery's jolly jumping--yipee!).

We arrived in the mid-afternoon, and did a walk around part of the lake to see the smelly sulpher-smelling mud pools up close. We also saw some unique birds, including black swans. The entire area smells like sulpher (the strength of the smell seems to depend on the wind and how close you are to the lake)...but as a local mentioned, at least the smell isn't man made :-)

Day 43: Seeing the blue skies up close

Today we went up the Skytower, which is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. As tall as that sounds, it really felt small compared to the CN Tower in Toronto (or other tall buildings in North America, for that matter), and was a total rip-off of the CN Tower experience, right down to the glass floor and the gift shop in the basement. Since it is still the school holidays, there were many guides dressed up for the occasion. Avery bonded with the `Queen of Hearts`--perhaps it was their love of bossing people around??

In the afternoon, Avery and Daddy did some more exploring of the city, while Mummy took advantage of the spa and pool at the hotel (the Hyatt has one of only two pools in the world with a retractable roof).

For dinner, we went to a Chinese vegetarian restaurant. Avery didn`t notice that there wasn`t any pork in her steamed pork bun, and daddy enjoyed his pepper "steak".

Day 42: Touring Auckland

Due to the late flight and the 2-hour time difference, we had a late start to our first day in Auckland. We did a lot of walking around and exploring. The NZ$ is currently much lower than CAD$, so the shopping conditions were very favourable. Avery got another hat (after loosing the blue hat in Noosa we've realized that you can never have enough hats!) and daddy got a shirt.

For dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant. Yes, it seems strange to travel to the Southern hemisphere to have North American cuisine, but with the loads of fresh veggies grown in New Zealand, it was a very good meal. Avery especially enjoyed the flour tortilla.

Day 41: G'bye Australia

Today was our last day in Australia. We spent some time at the pool, then Daddy went to the beach while Mummy and Avery drove to a sports store to buy Daddy his new AFL jersey--the Fremantel Anchors--which he sported for the rest of the day.

Avery took her 9th flight today. We arrived in Auckland, New Zealand late in the evening.

Day 40: Sunshine Coast finally lives up to it’s name

Besides a few clouds, today was sunny and warm, and not too humid. We skyped with the grandparents this morning, which wore Avery out, so we started our day taking Avery on what we’ve dubbed “the sleeping trail”. The sleeping trail is the boardwalk from the Noosa Heads beach into the National Park. We’re not sure if it’s the sound of the waves, the trees in the sky, or the bumpy boardwalk, but every time we walk Avery along it she falls right asleep. She stayed asleep until we arrived at her new obsession--Booster Juice. Like clockwork, she woke up as soon as they called out our name to pick up our juice. And no sooner than we started drinking it, Avery was calling out to us to share.
After lunch Avery went into the ocean with her floaty (the new green one) for the first time. It was a huge hit, and she enjoyed bobbing in the waves. The sun started to get warm, so we headed back to the lagoon pool at our hotel, where Avery continued to enjoy swimming for another hour. Needless to say, we didn’t need to take her on the sleeping trail to get her down for her afternoon nap.
We spent our last evening in Noosa getting ice cream (for mummy and daddy only...Avery can have some once she can ask for it using words rather than grunts) and walking on the beach, followed by yummy burgers and wedges (with cream and chilli sauce for dipping) for dinner.

Roll over, roll over…

When we left for Australia, Avery had virtually no interest in rolling over. Now it seems to be all she wants to do, but only when mommy and daddy aren’t looking. Within a few minutes of going to bed she will roll over and then yelp out wanting to be put back on her back (only to roll over again the second mommy or daddy leave the room). She also does this trick when she’s left alone on the bed (so we need to make sure to put her in the middle of the bed).

Day 39: A sunny morning--finally!

Today we awoke to sunshine, and it managed to stick around all day. We took advantage by heading to the beach first thing. Noosa has a very mild beach (it faces North, and is sheltered from the large waves that come in from the East), so Avery is able to swim around in the water. With that said, she does seem to prefer swimming in the pool. At the beach, she seems to prefer eating the sand (or at least attempting to). Being a statutory holiday in Australia, we were clearly not the only people who decided to go to the beach today--there were literally thousands of people on Noosa Beach. Avery met a nice surf lifesaver, who let her practice her lifesaving skills by sitting in the chair.
Another new adventure for today was Avery trying a booster juice. She was so obsessed with trying it, that getting the juice out through a straw was not going to stop her. After a few attempts she quickly figured out how to suck on the straw. It’s now yet another thing mommy and daddy can’t have without sharing.
One unfortunate event from today is that we lost Avery’s orange floaty raft, which she likes to use in the pool. Daddy forgot it at the pool yesterday afternoon, along with Avery’s pink hat, and only the hat was there this morning. Fortunately, Noosa has many stores, and we were able to quickly locate an alternative green floaty for swimming today. For dinner, Daddy broke Passover fast at our new favourite pizza place--Eagle Boys--which has some yummy gourmet pizza. Avery enjoys sucking on the crust.

Day 38: This rain is a pain!

There’s no risk of us getting a sunburn on this trip! It seems that no matter what the weather forecast is, it rains wherever we are. Despite the poor weather, we finally bought Avery a new hat this morning. The sun came out again in the afternoon, so we went for a swim in the pool, followed by a walk to the beach and some ice cream (for Mum and Dad only).

Day 37: Rain again? Are you serious???

We were greeted this morning by more rain. It started to look like it would be a clear day when we headed out to find Avery a new sun hat (see yesterday’s entry). After about 20 minutes it started to rain and eventually down poured while we were shopping in a surf store close to our hotel. The two guys working there looked very concerned when we told them that we’d already experienced some serious storms in Melbourne and Perth…fortunately this wasn’t more than a heavy down pour, and it cleared up by the afternoon. In the afternoon we went to the Noosa Civic Center to check out the shops, followed by some swimming in the lagoon-style pool at the hotel. We then went for a walk in the National Park where we saw a Koala sleeping in the tree (you need to look closely to see them). Unfortunately, Avery wore herself out swimming and didn’t get a chance to see the Koala. Maybe next time.