Just A Little Detour: Just a little about fall 2011 . . . Part I

I didn't realize just how long it had been since I posted until I looked at the date of my last posting. Since then (Sept. 3, 2011) fall has gone by in a flash. It's like once we actually told the world we were definitely coming home FOR GOOD in December, things went into fast forward!

For the second year in a row, we celebrated Oktoberfest at the Kempinski Hotel in Chengdu with friends. This year we had 38 people in our "little" group. We had a wonderful evening of good food, free-flow Oktoberfest beer and even a band from Austria to entertain us. Joe even won a beer downing contest. What a fun-filled evening with good friends.

Oktoberfest, Chengdu, China - 2011

We took our last R&R in September. We decided to go back to Australia, one of our favorite places to visit in all our travels over the past three years. This time around it was a much more relaxed trip since we were returning.

We started off with a few days in Sydney. Since we had seen most of the sights on our trip in 2009, this time around was about enjoying being away from a sunless Chengdu and Joe's work. We rode the ferry over to Manly Beach one day and spent the afternoon having lunch, watching the surfers and swimmers at the beach and enjoying the springtime sunshine. We walked the streets of Sydney, taking in the street market of The Rocks area, enjoying a little Oktoberfest, enjoying a beer and watching World Cup Rugby on the big screens on the harbour and having wonderful patio dinners along the harbours at night.

Enjoying a beer, watching USA in World Cup Rugby

and enjoying the sights of Darling Harbour

The seafood is amazing!

Joe having grilled prawns our first night in Sydney

Just relaxing at Sydney Harbour

We spent our 32nd anniversary at a restaurant called Wildfire that sits on the Sydney Harbour. We sat out on the patio with a breathtaking view of the Sydney Opera House across the water. Our meal was a 900 gram Wagu beef t-bone steak that melted in your mouth! You can't go wrong with the food in Sydney by any means!