Our last full day in St. John's was a busy New Year's Eve, with Elizabeth's mom hosting 27 people for lunch (!) followed by an open house in the evening where we got to see our buddies and enjoy sparklers and champagne in the snow. 

One of numerous ongoing infrastructure projects in the city has been an extension to the Yonge-University line, which Elizabeth's company had played a role in. To celebrate the opening of the extension this weekend, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) made the subway free for a day, so on our way up to the newly opened Pioneer Village Station we were joined by many other subway tourists. Subway Saturdays are really starting to take off!

But we weren't in it just to check out the brand new subway stations - we had set our sights on Black Creek Pioneer Village, newly accessible to us car-free folk. Black Creek Pioneer Village is an outdoor museum made up of heritage buildings from the early 19th century, intended to bring history to life and shed a light on the lives of Toronto's early settlers. It was an interesting spot, and as we wandered the village in the snow we stopped in at a few of the buildings - mostly for warmth, but also to learn a bit about our Torontonian forefathers.

Among the buildings were tinsmiths, weavers, printers and doctors, and stepping inside we were greeted by costumed guides ready to share a bit of historical insight with us. Having been to similar spots in both Wales and Newfoundland, it was interesting to compare the lives of people way back when. For instance, in the saddlery we learned that Canada's first transportation law was mandatory sleigh bells, so that pedestrians would be alerted to approaching (one) horse (open) sleighs. We also made sure to stop in at the halfway house to visit the brewery in the cellar, where we samples some old-fashioned ales and learned a bit about how the recent craft beer movement in Ontario is bringing with it a revival of such old recipes.

The last buildings we visited were Daniel Stong's first and second houses. Both were fairly primitive, and very small for the family of 10 that they sheltered, but the first house, a 3-room log cabin, really gave a sense of how tough life might have been in Canada 150 years ago. While the fire was roaring in the hearth to keep us warm, there wasn't much else to protect against the bitter cold outside.

On our way back home we stopped off for just a little bit of subway tourism at York University Station, one of the two stations that Arup had done the engineering for. All in all, a successful day out, and a nice chance to get outside after hiding from the cold indoors all week!

Planta is a 100% plant-based restaurant in Yorkville, focusing on environmental sustainability, that we have been meaning to check out for a while; a cold weekend with a few flurries seemed like the perfect opportunity. 

The vision of Planta is to "celebrate innovative cuisine in a beautiful environment without the use of any animal products", and they have clearly put in the effort to make their vision a reality. 

We showed up for lunch, but took advantage of the fact that the brunch menu was available so we started off with mimosas. We also enjoyed the Cauliflower Tots which we shared to start, and then split the Planta Burger and Crab Cakes. Rest assured, the burger and crab cakes contained no meat - that wouldn't be very vegan of them! Regardless, we thoroughly enjoyed the food and didn't miss the meat at all.

We had a great Sunday meal at Planta, and if it wasn't slightly on the expensive side, we would definitely add this to our list of go-to restaurants. Either way, we had a delicious meal and we will definitely be back! 

The first of our last 3 days in Sydney was an active one. As Luke's birthday present from Elizabeth, we set off to the world famous Bondi beach early in the morning for our first ever go at surfing. We'd booked ourselves into a 2 hour lesson with Let's Go Surfing. Professional help was definitely needed, as we found ourselves falling on our butts/shoulders/heads/arms repeatedly and swallowing down a few mouthfuls of saltwater in the process. That said, it was a lot of fun and we're now eager to go again whenever we find ourselves in another surf-friendly part of the world (Newfoundland...?). It should also be said that as many times as we may have fallen over, we did eventually managed to stand up, albeit very briefly (and in Elizabeth's case, only when the board had pretty much come to a standstill).

After a well-deserved lunch and rehydrating with a pitcher of sangria, we set off on the coastal walk from Bondi beach along the cliffs to nearby Tamarama, Clovelly and Coogee beaches. The coastal scenery was amazing, and we spent a lot of time watching the surfers ride the big waves at Mackenzies Bay (analysing their technique for when we next hit the waves). After 6km walking in the early afternoon sun we enjoyed a cold beer at Coogee beach before heading back to our AirBnB by way of the Paddington shopping area.

On our penultimate day in Sydney we thought we'd hop on a tour bus for an easy day of taking in the city's different neighbourhoods. Starting down near Circular Quay, we got to learn a little bit about the different parts of central Sydney before hopping off again at Darling Harbour - a formerly derelict, industrial part of town that has been redeveloped by the city into a tourist hotspot over the past 30 years. We'd been given a couple of free tickets to the aquarium and zoo which we decided to check out.

It was a great opportunity to see again some of the varied wildlife of Australia, and to catch a glimpse of some of the sea creatures that we missed on the Great Barrier Reef. The highlight of the aquarium is its two resident Dugong (very similar to manatees), though we were also big fans of seeing Little Penguins again - endlessly entertaining to watch. In the zoo, as well as numerous kangaroos, wallabies, and snakes we also had a chance to see a cassowary up close, which we had missed in the Daintree. There was also a huge resident crocodile, similar in size to our old friend Scarface, who we had met on the Daintree River. They're scale is even more intimidating when they're out of the water.

From Darling Harbour we then walked down to the Sydney Harbour Bridge for one of the real highlights of our entire trip. Luke's sister Sophie had bought two tickets for us to climb the bridge at sunset, as a birthday present to Luke. The experience did not disappoint and was truly extraordinary.

In the previous days we had both been marveling at the bridge. Neither of us had really understood just how big it was before arriving in Sydney and as nerdy engineers we really enjoyed taking the giant steel structure in from all angles. Needless to say, climbing in and among its structure was something else, and our guide was great at telling us a bit more about the history of the bridge and the people who built as we went. It was particularly interesting to hear how the bridge was a project undertaken during the Great Depression, and, while expensive to build, how it provided much needed work for the people of Sydney. As our climb was at sunset we were lucky enough to take in the great views of the Sydney harbour in twilight and in full darkness, with the city lighting up as we made our descent. Landing firmly back on the ground, it was off to a nearby pizzeria for a quick bite before bed. Thanks Soph!

For our final day, we had arranged something a little bit different: a food tour! We set of in the morning towards the Cabramatta neighbourhood to sample a mix of the local Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese food. Sydney, like many great cities, is a city of immigrants old and new and as such has a number of distinct communities with their own cultures and cuisines. We signed up with Taste food tours, which employs lots of recent immigrants to run tours of their own communities, giving a real insider take on a place.

​We showed up to our tour a little late (train woes), and were immediately greeted with some incredibly tasty Banh Mi (vietnamese pork sandwiches). It was a good start, and it continued from there with samples of Peking Duck, Thai Desserts, a refreshing sugar cane drink, hearty Pho and rice paper wraps, before finishing with an ice coffee at a bustling local hangout. Our guides, long time residents of Cabramatta, were great and filled us in on the local history, and lead us deftly through the bustling streets. It was interesting to see some of the other parts of Sydney on our last day, though the place is so big that we've left a lot to explore if we ever return!

On our way back to our AirBnB, we stopped in at the free Art Gallery of New South Wales and lucked upon an exhibition of modern aboriginal art. We really liked the work on show, and it was interesting to see the mixture of old aesthetics with new methods. We didn't have long before the museum closed, but it was a great little stop and we were sorry we couldn't spend more time there.

​The last thing we had planned for our packed trip made for a very fitting end: opera at the Sydney Opera house. We set off from our AirBnB in the pouring rain and made our way, once again, back down to the Opera House where thousands of Jack Johnson fans were getting soaked at an outdoor show. Before our show began we enjoyed the views of the Harbour Bridge with a glass of prosecco in the foyer. We then took our seats inside the impressive concert hall, and settled in for a couple of hours of Bach, Brahms and Bartok.

And so ended our trip to Australia. It was quite a whirlwind, and we packed a lot into just two weeks but we had a great time. We definitely wouldn't say no to going back at some point and exploring more of what the country has to offer, as there is so much that we didn't get to see.

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We landed in Sydney on the Monday evening and made our way to our Airbnb in Pott's Point. We settled in with a bottle of wine and poured over the tourist maps at the apartment to come up with some plans for the week.

On Tuesday, our first day there, we started off with the Sydney Opera House, and only got slightly lost trying to find our way there from the apartment. We joined the crew of the 350,000 annual visitors who take a tour of the Opera House; over the course of an hour we learned about the history of one of the most iconic buildings in the world. The tour was fascinating and gave us an opportunity to explore many spaces in the Opera House, although Elizabeth was slightly disappointed by how little they focused on the engineers... Regardless, it was a beautiful space and we had the opportunity to go back on our last night in Sydney when we went to an opera! 

After we worked up an appetite, we wandered through the Royal Botanical Gardens and stopped to have lunch at their cafe.

Our afternoon consisted of some wandering around the historic laneways of The Rocks neighbourhood, next to Sydney Harbour Bridge. We also stopped by the Museum of Contemporary Art to go to a free museum because our pockets were feeling the expensiveness of Australia after a week and a half. 

Then hopping on a ferry, we saw the expansiveness of Sydney Harbour as we headed across the harbour to Manly. We walked around this chilled out community until we reached Manly Beach. Grabbing an afternoon drink, we watched surfers and swimmers out in the water, followed by an oceanfront walk to the smaller, more secluded Shelly Beach.

After some BBQ for dinner, we journeyed back across the harbour, eventually attempting to catch the Sydney Opera House light show. We tried to watch it from Mrs Macquaries Chair, which is on the wrong side of the building. Ooops!

The next day we hopped on a bus out of the city to the Blue Mountains. This World Heritage mountain range is full of breathtaking views with gorges and cliffs galore. Our first stop was Kings Tableland. 

Our lunch stop was the town of Leura where we broke from the crowd and enjoyed some homemade pies at a local bakery. Normally the tour continues on to the Leura Cascades from there, but due to an extremely unfortunate accident that same day at the Leura Cascades, our plans were changed. Instead we headed to Wentworth Falls for more bush walking, this time with the rest of the group. 

On the way back into Sydney, we drove through the Olympic Park, the home of the 2000 Olympics Games, before cruising along the Parramatta river, up Sydney Harbour to Circular Quay. 

The boat ride was a good way to see more of Sydney from a different angle. Once we hit dry land, we made our way back to Pott's Point and had a tasty Thai dinner - carbo-loading before our big surfing debut on Thursday morning...

While planning our trip to Australia, we weren't sure we'd make it out to see the Great Barrier Reef, as Elizabeth isn't too keen on snorkelling, and after a traumatic scuba dive with Father Christmas (Santa Claus) a few years ago diving was definitely off the table. However, since we were up on the northeast coast we just had to see it, so Elizabeth overcame her fears and we set off on a catamaran for the Low Isles.

The sun was shining as we left the rainforest covered slopes of Queensland behind and sailed out to the coral cay Low Island and nearby coral/mangrove island Woody Island. It was a very pleasant journey on a luxurious catamaran, and we were excited to jump into the water and explore the depths.

Once we arrived we were kitted out in full body suits to protect against any wayward jellyfish, and ferried to the shores of Low Island where we began our first snorkel session. We set off as a group out into the shallow waters surrounding the island where we were immediately immersed in the colourful and varied sealife of the Great Barrier Reef, spotting creatures as varied as Giant Clams, Sea Snakes, and lots and lots of fish, big and small. We even caught a brief glimpse of a large Blacktip Reef Shark. It was awesome, and by the end we couldn't wait to get back in and continue exploring.

First, though, it was time for a little break from swimming and a short tour around Low Island. Being a coral cay, the tiny island is made up entirely of coral (that has been eaten and pooped out by fish, to be precise). Being so far from land, the only occupants of the island are a bunch of noisy birds who enjoy the safety of being away from all the dangerous predators. There are a couple of human occupants too, who run the carbon-neutral lighthouse.

After our little tour we were ferried back to the catamaran where we spent the afternoon enjoying a feast of a lunch before jumping into the deeper waters for another snorkel. On this second snorkelling trip we were left to our own devices, and the two of us set off to see what we could see. Thanks to some our fellow snorkelers, we came across a couple of turtles munching on the reef who didn't seem at all bothered by our presence. It was the perfect note to end on and shortly after we headed back to the catamaran, grabbed a beer and settled in for the sail back to Port Douglas.

The next day it was time to leave Port Douglas and head back to Cairns airport for our flight to Sydney. Before we left we had one last wander around the town, enjoying some the beautiful coastal views and little beaches. We grabbed a couple of delicious sandwiches at the Lovely Larder, and set off back down south to begin the final leg of our journey.

We flew up to Cairns on the Thursday morning, and upon arrival picked up our rental car before setting off for the north, heading away from the city and along the coast all the way to the Daintree Rainforest. The drive took us around two hours, and took us deep into forests, back out onto open plains, along winding coastal roads and eventually onto a short ferry that would take us across a crocodile-infested river. On the other side, we continued our drive deeper and deeper into the Daintree National Park, before finally arriving at our AirBnB.

After settling in, we took a short jaunt out to the nearby Thompson Beach which we had completely to ourselves - except for perhaps a few hundred thousand Sand Bubbler Crabs who had carved the entire beach into weird and wonderful patterns. ​On our way home we grabbed a quick dinner at a nearby restaurant before darting back to the safety of our AirBnB as the heavens opened and we came to appreciate the 'rain' in rainforest. It was very cosy in our rainforest retreat though, and we enjoyed an evening of listening to the rain fall and the constant racket made by the birds and bugs in the surrounding forest.

We hit the ground running the following day, eager to see as much of the rainforest as we could in the short time we had there. Our first stop was a short boat ride along the previously mentioned crocodile-infested river - aka the Daintree River. It was a great little tour of the local wildlife and it was interesting to lean about how much of a political issue crocodiles had become in the area - a convenient distraction, our guide suggested, from some more pressing and difficult issues. The highlight of the trip was when we spotted the 4.5m long crocodile known as Scarface just cruising along in the water. We could only see the top of his head and the spiky skin along his back and tail protruding from the water, but that was enough to get a sense of his size and we were glad to learn that he'd recently had himself a very filling meal (an unlucky cow that had drowned in the river).

After crocodile watching we made our way back across the river and up to the Daintree Discovery Centre to learn a bit more about the rainforest and to enjoy the boardwalks that take you down to the forest floor and all the way up to above the canopy. Here we learned that, at around 180 million years old, the Daintree Rainforest is considered to be the oldest in the world having survived as a tropical haven throughout various ice ages. As such, its teeming with a huge variety of flora and fauna, including some very ancient species. The flightless cassowary - whom you have to watch out for on the roads - look particularly like dinosaurs. The Discover Centre also featured a few creepy animatronics of some of the extinct prehistoric wildlife, including the giant Demon Duck of Doom (no joke).

After lunch back at our rainforest retreat, we set off further north again towards the 'town' of Cape Tribulation. Along the way we stopped at several more boardwalks which took us deep into the rainforest to see more beaches and some of the coastal mangrove forests. The walks were full of bizarre sights, such as 'basket ferns' that grown high up in the canopy on other trees, strangler vines that wrap themselves around other trees and choke them until they rot away, and the occasional tree snake darting through the mulchy forest floor. Most of the time we were exploring completely by ourselves which added to the sense of remoteness, especially when we emerged onto empty beaches that disappeared into the seemingly endless forest.

The next day we had to leave our luxurious hut to head back down south to the coastal town of Port Douglas. Along the way we stopped in at the Mossman Gorge for another rainforest hike. This time we were a bit further inland and trekking up and down the steep slopes of a gorge, which has long been an important area to the local Kuku Yalanji people who now run the visitor centre. The scenery was stunning, and despite Elizabeth sporting a injured foot (complete with some very sloppy bandage work) we really enjoyed the hike.

We continued our drive south to Port Douglas and arrived mid-afternoon, giving us plenty of time for a quick swim at the beach before dinner. Like all of the beaches we had explored in the Daintree Rainforest, the waters around Port Douglas are sometimes home to the potentially-deadly Box Jellyfish so they have a net set up around one section for bathers to swim safely. We enjoyed ourselves a quick sunset dip there before heading out for some tasty tapas for dinner, and finally collapsing back our apartment, resting up for our next adventure: The Great Barrier Reef.

In actual fact, Elizabeth arrived in Melbourne the week before Luke did because she was there for a work conference. It took place an hour outside of Melbourne in the Mornington Peninsula wine region and was held at a winery! So Elizabeth spent the first week sharing knowledge and networking with colleagues from around the globe, getting some work done, as well as sampling a bit of wine. It was hard work…
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Luke showed up the next Sunday, and that’s when the real tourism began. To ensure Luke was not a victim of jetlag, once he arrived in Melbourne at 3 pm, it was straight out exploring the city to delay sleep as much as possible. We headed to Melbourne’s annual Night Noodle Market for some food and drinks to keep Luke going. Surprisingly – to us at least – there were few noodles to be found. Although we did enjoy our BBQ Pork Buns and did manage to find some Yakisoba. We then finished up the evening by meeting up with one of Elizabeth’s colleagues at a bar under a bridge. As we were told numerous times, Melbourne is a city you have to explore to truly discover. 

Spanning 243 km southeast of Melbourne, between Torquay and Warnambool, the Great Ocean Road is a paradise for surfers and anyone who enjoys a good ocean view.
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The day started off relatively early as we were picked up by our tour bus at 7:45 am. We stopped off for coffee at a beach an hour into the trip and then kept on heading along the road until we came across the Memorial Arch, a tribute to the WWI veterans who built the Great Ocean Road. There were a number of stops at beaches along the way, but we also stopped at some other places that you may not expect along the Great Ocean Road.

We drove through the seaside towns of Anglesea and Lorne before stopping to walk through an area full of wildlife such as cockatoos, lorikeets, and koalas. As to be expected, the birds were all over the group looking for a snack, and the koalas were minding their own business, asleep in the trees. We only managed to see one.  

Koala spotting was followed by a tasty lunch at Apollo Bay before some rainforest exploration. We were led on a bush walk through the Otways rainforest by our guide, and it was our first taste of rainforest in Australia; this one was temperate, not tropical like the Daintree, but was still full of lush green vegetation, with giant trees above us and ferns below. 

Our final stops were to see rock formations at the Loch Ard Gorge as well as the iconic 12 Apostles sea stacks. These limestone stacks are created by wave action eroding the limestone cliffs, creating caves which then become arches, which eventually collapse leaving these large sea stacks. Unfortunately, due to the same wave action and erosion that created them, some of the "Apostles" have collapsed, with only 8 still standing. 

Our last stops of the day were all incredibly picturesque and it was difficult to capture the scale and the essence on camera. 

Afterwards, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Melbourne. We enjoyed some Korean Fried Chicken and beers near our hotel and then packed our bags for our flight to Cairns (Daintree Rainforest and Port Douglas) the next morning. Stay tuned for our adventures in the rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef!

We met up with Meghan and Garrett down in the area surrounding the St. Lawrence market for a bite to eat before the show. We settle on a popular Italian place called Uncle Tony's, where we got some bar seats with a view of the kitchen, some tasty pasta and a couple of drinks. It was a nice cosy place with a great atmosphere - enhanced by the accordion player - which provided a warm escape from the bitter evening outside. We also timed it pretty well, and made the short walk over to the Air Canada Centre just as the support act - Broken Social Scene - took to the stage.

While our seats were up high in the arena, the stage sat right in the centre of the floor, providing us with a great view of the bands and the accompanying theatrics of the light show.

After a stellar warm up by Broken Social Scene we were ready for the main event, and Arcade Fire did not disappoint. Their set was around 2 hours long and every song was fantastic. Luke is a long time fan of Arcade Fire, and had seen them play twice before, and Elizabeth has spent the last month immersing herself in their music to be fully prepared. Both of us were loving it (not quite as much as the guy in front of us - but his enjoyment appeared to be a little 'chemically enhanced').

Arcade Fire (if you're a fan, at least) is one of those bands who have so many great songs in their 5 album back catalogue that every tune in their set is great, and its disappointing that they couldn't play even more. They got the show started with a new hit, Everything Now, and ended, as always, with Wake Up from their first album. The crowd didn't want it to end though, and continued to sing the song even as the band left the stage and made their way slowly down the corridor of fans and off the floor.

After the show we made our way to the Loose Moose for some beers and snacks, to spend a little more time hanging out with a couple of good friends. We had an awesome time, and are now looking forward to our next show - one of the final few performances of Hey Rosetta! in December.