Australia: Getting There

Grady (calling to me in the kitchen while doing dishes): "Hey Babe, when you have a minute come in the office."

Me (while washing dishes): "Hang on a sec - my hands are wet and soapy."

I rinse my hands, turn off the water, and head to his office, drying my hands as I walk.

Me (standing in the office doorway): "Whatcha need?"

Grady (quickly getting up and closing the doors): "Have a seat. I want to tell you something."

Me (suddenly nervous and heart slightly racing): "What's wrong? What did I do? Are you upset? Just tell me..."

Grady (interrupting my frantic questions midstream): "Nothing's wrong. Just sit down."

I sit down.

Hesitantly.

And still drying my hands with the towel, but not because they're still wet, but because I have nervous energy wondering why I've been beckoned to his office and told to sit down while the doors are closed.

Grady (with a smile he can't pretend to hide): "Want to go to Australia?"

Me: "What? Why? I mean yes! When? How..."

Grady (interrupting again because my questions continue without a chance for him to answer): "I found out I need to spend a few weeks in Australia next month for work. I've already crunched some numbers and looked into my airline points. I think four of us can fly for free and it seems like I have enough hotel points to cover a majority of our stay. And..."

Me (LOUD and ENTHUSIASTIC and now standing up and flapping the kitchen towel): "Yes! Yes! Yes! Let's go! Of course I want to go! Ohmyword, are you serious? We can all go?"

And from that conversation we both went into hyper-planning mode for the next four weeks and made arrangements for our family to spend three weeks in Australia. It was surreal: we went on the trip of a lifetime and rather than spend months planning, preparing, and dreaming about going, we pulled it off in less than a month.

We had an incredible experience and made the most of every day there to see and do as much as possible. In short, we traveled more than 10,000 miles in 21 days and...

We explored the Sydney Opera House and walked the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

We swam at Manly and Bondi Beaches and made the Coogee to Bondi coastal cliff walk.

We fed kangaroos and held koala bears.

We hiked the Daintree Rainforest and snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef.

We dripped sweat in the 1,000% humidity and reveled in the beautiful views at every turn.

We laughed at our escapades of driving on the left-hand side of the road and bemoaned the fact restaurants didn't serve ice cubes.

We danced with Aborigines, learned to throw a boomerang, and listened to a didgeridoo concert (of sorts).

We traveled in planes and ferries and trains and Maxi Taxi's.

And the best part? We did all of this, and so much more, together. We have these experiences and memories to share forever. Travel is one of the best gifts to enjoy as a family.

I'll share a series of posts with pictures and video clips of our time in Australia, sparing you wordy details on all we did and saw.

With only a month to prepare, we excitedly exhaled when passports for the kids arrived in only three weeks. This made it official: Team Peeler was going to Australia!

Grady had a conference to attend in Washington, DC prior to his time in Australia. He packed what he needed for a month away from home, and we made our plans for meeting each other on the other side of the world at the airport in Sydney!

We were all smiles and happy, anticipating all that was yet to come, when we arrived at the airport. And, we were smiling and happy because we hadn't yet experienced the 27 hour travel to get to Australia.

Mercy.

While we waited in normal people lounges, Grady kicked back in the fancy travel lounge with food and drinks and reclining chairs.

We arrived in LA with 30 minutes to sprint and catch our plane to Sydney. Grady Lee was nervous, Micah acted chill and nonchalant, Annalyse became Jaxton's mother and demanded he hold her hand while we ran, and Jaxton just whined about needing a bathroom. Me? I was thinking how nice it would be to have a fancy lounge to relax in, but was instead grateful (or not) for the full-on sprint we had to get to our gate.

We endured a 14-hour flight, with endless movies and video games, semi-decent food, and nobody slept.

At all.

Even despite drugging them with every safe and legal sleep aid I had.

And, Annalyse puked for about two hours sometime around 2:00 am while we were somewhere over the Pacific.

It was nothing less than memorable.

We arrived, wound our way through customs and immigration, found our bags, and caught up with Grady already there and waiting for us. We took a cab to our hotel and everyone wanted to crash and sleep but Coach Grady gave us a pep talk to "push through the sleepiness and make yourself stay awake," promising us it was the best way to adjust to the 15-hour time zone difference.

So, we faked our interest in sightseeing, cruised around the harbor on a ferry, and walked the area around our hotel. It was anything but magical, but we stayed awake.

After dinner and showers (finally!), we fell into bed at 8:00 pm and didn't wake up until our bodies woke up on their own the next morning.

Correction: most of us fell into bed exhausted. Others fell asleep on the floor while waiting for a shower. Bless.

And this concludes the first three days of Australia. Yes, you read that right. We left home on a Friday evening and arrived in Sydney on a Sunday. 

Next up: highlights of our sightseeing adventures!