Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Family trip to Australia! We took advantage of our recent spring break by flying to Brisbane and spent a week enjoying the Sunshine Coast. Traveling from Singapore is getting easier all the time and we can't wait to continue to explore.

We stayed in Caloundra and ventured up and down the coast to enjoy some beaches, and inland to the forest, zoo and some wineries. This photo is a view from our balcony.  We rented an apartment via Airbnb right across from Bulcock Beach, which was very family friendly; a playground and a coffee hut right out the door.

Cata did some bird watching, she especially enjoys turning the binoculars around to make small flighty birds even smaller and harder to see.

The country side was beautiful and we found a couple of wineries to visit, a visit to Flame Hill Vineyards in Montville being a highlight. Cata even found a chardonnay that she didn't hate.

Another day was spent in a kayak exploring Bribie Island, a sand island that is accessed only by boat or 4x4.  This island provides some nice sheltered beaches around Caloundra, which were perfect for our 3 year old beach bum. She even took an in-kayak nap on the way back to the put in.

We spent some time looking for wild kangaroos but eventually only found them at the zoo. Cata had a good time feeding them and also enjoyed the giant bouncing structure. The Australia Zoo, founded by the family of Steve Irwin, is definitely a place to check out should you be in Queensland.  

Bright sun in Tee Tree Bay beach in Noosa National Park. This beach is about 30 minutes walk from the main parking area, but well worth the work to get here! Beaches certainly dominated our time in Queensland, but we managed to do a few other things as well, including some bird watching. 

Peaceful evening at Castaways Beach

Blue Tiger Butterfly at the Ben Bennett Botanical Garden

Wallaby in the Bobbie Sattler Nature Reserve

Osprey

 

Silver Gull

Gray Butcherbird

Rainbow Lorikeet

Crested Pigeon

Florida Keys

 

We traveled to Florida for our winter break from school. For the first time since COVID started, we took a trip outside of our host countries and not to our home in the Northwest. We found a vacation home and spent a couple of weeks enjoying the weird, wild, and beautiful Keys of South Florida. We stayed in Key Colony, in the Middle Keys and took day trips to Key West and up to Key Largo. 

We met Matt's brother and parents for a family Christmas. Cata had a great time with uncle Ben, Grace, Grandma, and Grandpa. Matt and Kristi got away for some paddling, diving and fishing.

Left: Ben checks the flats in the backcountry and below a day of conventional fishing = ceviche and fish fry.

Kristi completed an open water course in Kuwait at the end of 2019. We did a bit of diving the last time we traveled in 2019 and then had to cancel a dive trip to the Red Sea. She was excited to get back in the water for a couple days of diving in the Florida Reef-the 3rd largest in the world. (We dove with Captain Hook's in Marathon and Rainbow Reef in Key Largo and can recommend both!)

Initial phase of the stoplight parrot fish (above). Hog fish to the left.

Mahogany Snapper

Yellowtail Snapper

Blue Stripped Grunt 

Squirrelfish

Banded Butterflyfish

Redband Parrotfish

Florida has some gorgeous sunsets!

We had a good time exploring the area around where we were staying by kayak. This led to watching some great sunsets and checking out the local wildlife. Unexpectedly, this included a family of manatees that swam right up to the dock at our rental!

We also stumbled upon this small, wooden boat that had just been abandoned at the end of a journey from Cuba. People who saw it land told us that 4 people had climbed out, changed into clean clothes, and run through the forest towards the highway. In the boat was a large bag of bread and a few fuel containers. The boat would have required constant bailing. In the time since the occupants had left, water leaking in had covered the engine which was clearly repurposed from some other non-marine origin.

Obligatory American Alligator Pic

Ben enjoying the backcountry

Our adventures have become a little less adventurous than they used to be. In fact, we now prioritize going to one place and staying in the vicinity over more exploration. The adventure now is guided largely by enjoying the personality of our 3-year old and watching her eyes light up as she experiences new things.

The Florida Keys also turned out to be a great place to check out bird life. My favorite was this Yellow-throated Warbler that frequented the yard where we were staying.

Also near the house in a marshy area were the Greater Yellowlegs (left) and White Ibis (Right).

Tricolored Heron in the marsh and Least Sandpiper at the beach.

Right: Northern Cardinal. Left: White-eyed Parakeet (we spent two days in Miami before flying home and noticed that, like in Singapore, many of the birds are introduced species from other parts of the world).

Our Home

We've gotten a few questions about the living situation here in Singapore, so we thought we would share a video of our home.  

We live quite near our school; about a 10 minute walk.  We chose this strategically because we don't plan to own a car as they are quite expensive to acquire and maintain in Singapore. Cata's campus is a little further away, but she walks with us and then takes a shuttle bus ride to her campus.  We live between two MRT (train) stops and have found our location to be pretty convenient so far. We live on the purple line, which runs North/South and has stops at Chinatown, Little India, and runs South through the Downtown core.  

Our condo, as they are called here although we are renters, has about 90 apartments.  Some of those are owned and lived in by Singaporeans and some are rented.  We have quite a few students and staff from our school in our building due to the proximity to campus.  Cata's favorite part is our lovely pool and she has become quite the little fish.  We also have a small gym.  Our apartment is fairly large, at around 1200 sq feet. We pay around $2,800 USD for a 3 bedroom apartment.  Rents are quite steep here and we got what is considered a pretty good deal. Luckily, we were also able to find something that is covered by the housing stipend the school provides.  

Singapore is quite dense and the most popular housing option amongst Singaporeans is the HDB (Housing Development Board).  Anyone can live in an HDB, but we chose a little more comfort over saving on the rent. Singapore has almost 90% home ownership rate, due in large part to the government land ownership emphasis in the HDB scheme coupled with subsidies for homeowners. Owning a home was a key part of the initial nation building philosophy once Singapore became an independent nation.

These HDB's are massive complexes that are much more affordable than a condo, but tend to be older and without the amenities of a condo complex.  We live near quite a few and they are like mini cities complete with their own playgrounds, clinics, and food courts, and they are usually on the doorstep of public transportation.

All in all, we think we chose well and are enjoying making our home 'ours' bit by bit.

Singapore with kids

 One of the things that has stood out to us in our short time living here is how child-friendly Singapore is. There are a ton of amazing playgrounds with beautiful and well-maintained equipment.  There are theme parks, indoor and outdoor play spaces, and attractions designed specifically for small kids.  

Many restaurants cater to families with playgrounds on site, stroller parking, coloring sheets, kid's menus, toys, and special tableware for kids.  Some of our favorites so far include Open Farm Community and Carrotsticks and Cravings (next to the super fun Museum of Ice Cream) in Dempsey, and Coastes on Sentosa Island.  We love being able to eat and meal and have Cata be entertained long enough to actually enjoy it!

Public spaces often have kids sized toilets and sinks, as well as seats inside the stalls to park your wiggly kid while you use the bathroom. The beaches all have showers so you can leave the sand at the beach. The public transportation is easy with a stroller, with spaces on busses and the trains to park it and elevators to navigate stations. Kids are generally adored here and Cata gets lots of approving smiles and waves when we are out in public simply for being cute. 

Some of our favorite playgrounds include the COMO Adventure Cove at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.  The Botanic Gardens is one of Matt's favorite places to explore and look for birds and is a true gem of a green space in Singapore.  Cata really digs the playground and Kristi appreciates the coffee shop situated strategically next to the playground!  

Cata climbing the giant durian play structure at COMO Adventure Grove

Another Botanic Gardens win is the tree top nets

The structure on the left is a favorite in the neighborhood.  The slides at Fort Canning are fast and fun and appeal to our adventure-loving kiddo.   The amazing Tiong Bahru Bakery is right in the park too; Singapore thinks of the parents also!

Two other places with interesting and well-kept playgrounds are Pasir Ris, also a nice place to see wildlife and walk, and Admiralty Park.  Admiralty is a long-haul for us, as it is all the way at the north end of the island, but it's worth a trip!

We also bought a year-long membership to the zoo here, which actually includes unlimited visits to 3 parks: Jurong Bird Park, the Singapore Zoo, and the River Safari. 

Some of the indoor options for when you just can't brave the heat and humidity of Singapore are The Museum of Ice Cream, a Tayo Station themed indoor playground, the Art and Science museum (which has some fun, rotating exhibits for smaller kids), the digital light canvas at Marina Bay Sands, and the lovely soft play space, The Joy of Toys.  We've even found covered spray parks and bouncy house extravaganzas.  

Cata loves the "digital light canvas"

We've explored a lot in our 6 months here, but our list of new places to check out only grows.  Especially after the isolation of Kuwait + COVID that we experienced before moving here, we are so happy to be able to get the whole family out in nature exploring or finding new (cool) places to have some fun indoors.