Gardner Whitehurst Rankin trip pictures: 08/2009

Some pics of our time in Australia with Mom, Dad, Lauren, Adam, and Theo:

the big golden guitar, baby!  tamworth, nsw.  payton saw this on a sampling trip and brought back golden guitar magnets for the kids.  we may come home with a big magnet collection...

aah, sydney, nsw.

view of sydney from our hotel room.  

nova, mom, lindsey, theo, lauren on the circular quay (pronounced "key") in front of the sydney opera house.

gran, nova, grandaddy, HUGE ray at the sydney aquarium.

theo at the sydney aquarium.

nova and lindsey on the ferry to manly beach, sydney.

fred and liz on the ferry to manly beach.

getting ready for the water at manly beach... it may be pants and jackets weather, but these kids are getting their feet (and most their bodies) wet, dammit!  its beach time!

nova on gran's shoulders, manly beach.

nova at taronga zoo, sydney.

adelaide's central market.  pictures just don't do it justice.

central market: ok dad, kranskies.  chili cheese kranskies... go, go, GO! 

theo at the central market.  its hard to explain to a two year old why he can't crush the pretty flowers....

gran and nova, central market, adelaide, sa.

go the redlegs!! our local norwood oval and footy team - the redlegs.

lauren and theo at the redlegs game.

at (one of) the hans heyson trail head(s), and nova's 2 year old birthday (sunday aug 07, 2009).

hiking along the hans heyson trail.

a kangaroo mob we raised on they heyson hike.

payton hiking with nova in the backpack, heyson trail.  the views on this trail were unbelievable.

beautiful nova.  on the heyson trail.

nova's birthday cake, decorated by aunt lauren.  

happy second birthday, baby girl! 

  

dance party to madonna with the girls.         theo playing in our backyard, norwood, sa.

yoga with gran. 

nova and theo at the adelaide botanic gardens.

wow! i cannot explain this behavior.  i don't think i've ever worn that outfit while pushing nova in HER stroller.  but there she is.  i think she can walk in heels better than i can!

lindsey and nova in front of nova's "school", adelaide, sa.

theo and nova on lauren's and my shoulders on the walk home from visiting nova's montessori school.

lauren and theo at henley beach.

lauren, theo, lindsey, nova digging sand holes at henley beach, adelaide.  

lauren, lindsey, mom playing hopscotch at henley beach.  turns out its a more difficult game than it looks...

theo and nova, the young oceanographers, henley beach.

theo and nova doing some sand climbing, henley.

nova combing the beach, henley.

theo is ready to fly the kite! henley beach.

different beautiful day, same great beach - henley.  lindsey, nova, adam, lauren, and theo.  pretty sure we went for gelato afterwards...

the whitehurst rankin family, henley beach.

nova and lindsey, henley beach. this was the first time i got to put a skirt on in... oh... about 10 months.  we had great weather while everyone was here, but once they left, adelaide went back to cool and rainy.  blast!  people say we'll want the cool back when it is 40 C out, but i don't think so.

 

lindsey, nova at henley.

aah, the barossa valley.  wine making central of south australia, and australia in general.  

vineyards in the barossa valley.  vines weren't budding yet, but the wine and the biking were fantastic.

the sonntag house.  our self-serve b&b in the barossa.

brekky on the barby, sonntag house, barossa valley, sa.

wine tasting at the rockford vineyard.  INCREDIBLE wine - if you ever find a bottle from here or are at a restaurant that serves it by the glass, get it.  and if its too expensive, then you'll just have to come here to try it!  they still make red wine the old fashioned way here, in large, open wooden vats.  the buildings are all original as well.  a really amazing place.

making red wine the old fashioned way, rockford vineyard, barossa valley, sa.

nova and theo playing at the table... this is what mom and dad got to do while lauren, adam, payton and i got to go wine tasting for a weekend! 

theo and lauren at glenelg, a popular beach area in adelaide.

gg's load for the great ocean road three day road trip; in front of the norwood house, sa.

gg's back seats - you can tell it was early in the trip as everyone was smiling!! payton and adam are up front, smiling even bigger because they're not in the back.  here, though, you can see theo's carseat, dad and nova in the backseat, and in the far back are lauren, mom and lindsey.

the giant lobster, great ocean road.  

the limestone coast, great ocean road, south australia.

nova on daddy's shoulders, great ocean road.

liz, lindsey, lauren, nova, adam, theo, payton, fred at the 12 apostles.  also saw some southern right whales here.

liz and fred at the 12 aposltes.

tired babies! 12 apostles, great ocean road, sa.

some of the 12 apostles (there aren't really 12, due to collapse).

the (less than) 12 apostles.

exhausted and thirsty for milk.  we had lunch in the village of torquay (pronounced "tor-key") and got one last chance to stretch our legs before zipping up to melbourne.  

the mcg (melbourne cricket ground)!! hallowed ground for sportsters (angelic choir in background).

the actual oval inside the mcg.

the very un-posh heading off to the posh "fog" restaurant. we were not part of the "in" crowd, and not because of our accents...

the monarch bakery in st. kilda (a suburb of melbourne, victoria).  we got some treats here and ate them on the beach.  last evening before lauren, adam and theo flew home.

theo and nova on st. kilda beach.

payton and nova, st. kilda beach, vic.

grandaddy and theo, st. kilda.

adam and theo, st. kilda.

the family on st. kilda beach.  

the giant koala (this is giant thing #3).  we didn't actually stop here, but saw it from the highway when mom, dad, nova and i were driving back to adelaide from melbourne.

cinderella helps me clean after company had gone (and while mom and dad are in perth) - who doesn't love doing house work in their wellingtons?

the artist at work in the backyard.

nova on an evening hike at rawnsley station, wilpena pound, flinders national park.  mom, dad, payton, nova and i came here for a quick weekend, but got beautiful weather and a great hike in.

wilpena pound wallabies.

as usual, photos don't do the area justice, but this pic was taken from the wilpena pound lookout hike.  the mountains are the backside of the syncline, the treed area in the foreground is the trough of the syncline.

team gardner at wilpena pound lookout.

wilpena pound emu - these things were everywhere.

drove home from wilpena pound via the clare valley on father's day.  the clare is a less tourist-y (but no less successful) wine growing valley like the barossa.  this valley has a lot more farming - and the hills are covered with hectares of of bright yellow crops - rape seed, from which canola oil is made.  

and finally, on mom and dad's return from their barossa valley trip, the giant rocking horse was photographed.  so many giant things. so little time....

last day before mom and dad flew home to colorado - brekky on the barby at home.  mmm mmm, good! love the half grill, half griddle combo.