Hey friends,

I’m back now with my third and final Australia installation. I seriously cannot believe it’s been more than a week since we’ve been back. Time honestly flies by.

So back to two Fridays ago, Chris and I were boarding our flight on Hamilton Island to meet up with our family back in Sydney …

After arriving back in Sydney and picking up our car to drive to meet our parents at the Marriott, we realized we didn’t have the power chord for the GPS, and neither of our phones had international data plans. In other words — we’d be winging it in terms of finding the hotel. I honestly was pretty skeptical that we would make it back in time for the Harbour cruise that we were meant to meet up with my parents, Chris’s parents, his sisters and grandmother and some aunts and uncles for.

Chris really came through, though (are you reading this, darling?), and we didn’t even make one wrong turn while trying to find it. Still, we were running a bit late and had to rush to get ready, but I’m so glad we made it, because the cruise was totally worth it.

By midnight I’d have to say we were all pretty exhausted (not to mention a bit tipsy). So into cabs we all hopped and it was back to the hotel.

As I mentioned in my previous posts (here and here), the International Fleet Review was happening that weekend in Sydney, topped off by the largest fireworks display the country had ever seen. Lucky for us, my dad had booked our hotel rooms at the Marriott, and with his super-special-I-travel-all-the-time status, we had access to the top floor breakfast area, which offered us the perfect vantage point from which to view the jets flying overhead first thing in the morning:

Afterwards we hopped on the fairy and headed over to Manley Beach for fish & chips:

Back in Sydney after our little detour, we walked through town a bit (amongst the growing crowds for the fireworks display!) and walked across the Harbour Bridge:

Back on solid ground after the bridge tour, we tried to find a good spot to watch the fireworks, but that’s pretty much impossible when millions of people show up to partake in an event and you’re too busy having fun to care about finding a good spot early in the day. So we all ambled up the street not too far from our hotel and tried it there.

After FOUR subway cars blocked our view of fireworks just as they were going off, we decided a move up would be necessary to see anything at all. Our second spot was infinitely better, but we definitely weren’t in a position to take in the whole effect, which went a little something like this:

Ah well … at least we can say we were there!

After the fireworks we were able to find a cute restaurant for some drinks and dinner outside while we watched the crowds disperse:

And that, my friends, about brings us to the end of our awesome, amazing Australia trip. Sigh. I mean seriously, we packed in a crap-load of stuff in 10-days time, but it’s always worth it. You just ignore the tired feeling while you’re there, and you power through, because at the end of the day you don’t remember feeling tired … you just remember all the amazing experiences you had. I’m super proud of my parents for how they powered through on this trip, too. Not gonna lie — I wasn’t sure they’d be able to live up to the Connor Travel Pace … but they did a great job! Way to go, you guys!

So what’s next? Let’s see. We’ve got a Vermont ski trip in December with my family, Iceland in February, a trip to Colorado in April and then, hopefully my friends, fingers crossed my friends, the trip of all trips to South America for a month (or hopefully longer) next October. We shall see. We’re still in planning (and saving) mode for that.

Okay friends — I know April and September/October don’t officially count as summer, but I’m going to use those as bookends for our summer of travel. Here’s a bit of what we did:

• We visited London in April so Chris could complete his 5th World Marathon
• We took a July 4th weekend trip to Charlotte, N.C. and Arizona (here and here)
• We found a new favorite upstate NY winery in Warwick Valley
• I went to D.C. to help a friend throw a party
• We celebrated Chris’s 30th birthday with a Super Secret Trip w/friends to St. Augustine, Fl
• And last, but not least, we had our fourth wedding celebration and honeymoon in Australia (first posts on that here and here)

Hmmmmm. Lately I’ve been wondering why I’m so tired, but looking over that list … I’m not really wondering why any more 😉 Oh well — no rest for the weary, friends! After all, I feel extremely lucky and fortunate to be able to do all of this traveling now — it’s something that I hope I never take for granted.

Bis bald, friends! Hope you’re having a fantabulous week so far!