Happy New Year!

We are back from a wonderful holiday trip to Australia and Singapore, had a great Christmas and New Year and hope the same can be said for all of our family and friends!

We found Australia to be beautiful and friendly – it is now Claire’s favorite vacation spot (might have something to do with all the theme parks we hit).

Our trip began mid-December for the kids and me; we hit the Gold Coast (Brisbane area) first:

Day 1 – December 15 – was all travel as it took 5 hours flight time to reach Singapore, then another 7+ to Brisbane.

We had a few hours to relax at the Singapore airport, which, if you have to be airport trapped, I highly recommend (entertainment area for children, internet access at 15 min. intervals free, art projects, goldfish ponds, gaming areas for kids, tons of shopping etc.). And it was sparkly clean. The bathrooms even have sanitizer you can use to clean the seat (weird thing to make a point of mentioning, you’re thinking, but we’ve had a few less than satisfactory bathroom visits in India).

Anyway…Singapore Airlines treated us well on both of our long flights to Australia and at 7:00 a.m. we wandered out of the Brisbane airport to a gorgeous, sunny day!
I swear our driver to the hotel looked like Crocodile Dundee’s sidekick (what was his name anyway?) or I was so tired I was conjuring up images.

We ditched our things at the hotel and went to a pancake house, the first we’ve seen since leaving the U.S. Then we hit the beach right by our hotel, a section known as Surfer’s Paradise. We did see a whole lot of surfers – gorgeous aqua blue waves and soft sand. The water was colder than at Goa, but lovely and fun with strong waves for wave hopping.

Plenty of other tourists were enjoying the beach, mostly Asian. Many wore their socks and shoes on the beach and carried purses. Huge contrast to the Australians and us: swimsuits, towels and books. (No we aren’t into surfing just yet.)

We spent our day alternating between the beach and the hotel pool, not a bad way to rest after all that airplane time, then had dinner at the Hard Rock Café (I know – so touristy – but it was fun and I was craving a hamburger, which I thoroughly enjoyed). Plus we sat outside on the balcony and enjoyed the clean air and freedom of movement.

In Gurgaon it’s a bit of a process to do anything; you don’t just walk out the hotel door and wander the city – you call your driver, shlep out with carseats (yes we’re probably the only people in India with them – I take that back – us and the other ex-pats -- BTW the doorman tries to put them in the trunk of the car every time he helps us in), then you head to wherever you want to be, usually encounter some kind of security if you’re going into an apartment complex or house – they’re all gated. And if you’re going to a mall, the car is also checked by security. To return you go through security before entering the hotel again, etc.

So being able to walk out of the fine Mantra Legends Hotel and wander to a restaurant, walking on concrete sidewalks and waiting at crosswalks with other people who aren’t touching your children was quite liberating!

(Disclaimer: I more than appreciate the security in India, particularly given the recent Mumbai incident. But coming from a country where comings and goings are so easy, one no longer takes this for granted!)

Plus I do so enjoy a sidewalk. In India life happens in and around the street and cement sidewalks as we know them aren’t necessarily the norm. Oftentimes they're dirt and filled with activity. Or they're full of people, motorbikes, cows, you name it, so you find yourself dodging cars and autos in the street to get to where you're going.

Suffice it to say we thoroughly enjoyed our first day, jetlagged and happy in the sunshine, clean and green of Australia, reveling in the familiar: signs for Target, Starbucks, the typical fast food chains, etc.