Australia is fantastic. It is summer there and we had perfect weather - lots of hot sunny days for the beach. All the locals we met were really friendly and seemed to have a relaxed attitude. Aside from visiting our friends, major attractions for us were the unique wildlife. Imagine wallabies and kangaroos on the side of the road instead of deer and moose, flocks of exotic birds flying by. We were very fortunate to see many types of animals in the wild, but more about that later.
We started our vacation in Melbourne which is in the state of Victoria, on the southern part of Australia. Melbourne is very clean and tourist friendly. Our hotel was in the area called Southbank, right across the river from the main transportation hub. They have fabulous public transportation with trams and the metro running throughout the city. From our location, we could easily walk to see many interesting places. Very near to our hotel was a tourist area and we were entertained by buskers every time we went out. We were also only a short tram away from the piers. It happens to be cherry season in Australia and we were thrilled to be able to get some fresh cherries from a local stand.
On our first day in Melbourne, we took the free tourist tram for a ride around to see the sights. We got off at a park and enjoyed the grass, flowers and trees. I loved seeing oak trees beside palm trees. We also loved the mix of old buildings and modern architecture. Melbourne is a beautiful city with so much to see. The next day we took the tourist bus for some more sightseeing. We got off at the Old Melbourne jail. After taking a tour and listening to the ghost stories, we got arrested. The kids were "junior sergeants" and helped enforce the rules. They were excited to have the opportunity to "dob in" anybody misbehaving.
We took a bus trip up the Great Ocean Road for our 3rd day. We rode along a windy ocean road with sheer cliffs dropping down to the ocean. One focus of the trip are the "12 Apostles" - gigantic rock formations erupting out of the ocean. The views were spectacular! Along the way we also stopped for a walk in a rain forest and in a koala nature reserve. It was our first view of koalas and since they were in the wild it was even more exciting.
The next morning, we rented a car and Rick got the experience of right hand drive on the other side of the road in an unfamiliar city. Things got off to a rocky start when he wanted to make a right turn, and the sign said to make right turns from the left lane. He opted to go straight and try again at the next intersection. Again, the procedure to turn right is to go from the left lane. We continued going straight! Fortunately, the next intersection was "normal". We were able to make our way around and then take left hand turns which were more familiar. The other thing that continued to stump Rick was the turn indicator being on the right side. I can't tell how many times he turned on the windshield wipers when he wanted to turn! All in all, the drive out of Melbourne was surprisingly easy. We drove along the Prince's Highway to Lakes Entrance to visit our friends.
We stayed with these friends for several days. The kids loved being able to run around and play in the grass and we loved letting them have that freedom. Our friends took us on an Australian adventure everyday. I was surprised how much there was to see within an hour of this small ocean side town.
One day, we went to Buchan Caves where we toured the amazing underground formations. This was also where we saw our first kangaroos. We went for a walk through the park and found a herd of kangaroos. We were able to walk fairly close before they hopped away.
On another day, we drove to Raymond Island. Raymond Island has many eucalyptus trees which are home to the koalas. We walked along and easily spotted at least a dozen koalas resting in the trees.
Of course we had to have beach time in the Southern Ocean. The waves were huge and everyone loved jumping through them on foot or on the boogie boards. I have to say that I have been very spoiled by the Persian Gulf and I found the water to be cold. That didn't seem to bother anyone else though.
Zoe also got her ears pierced while we were in Lakes Entrance. Later that afternoon, we stopped at a playground with an incredibly long slide. While the kids played, we watched a flock of cockatoos fly around!
We continued our trip eastward along the southern coast and spent 2 nights in Merimbula. Merimbula is a vacation destination and a quaint little seaside town. The highlight of our stay here was our visit to Potaroo Palace, a wildlife sanctuary. Here we able to get very close to the kangaroos as we fed them. They were incredibly tame and friendly and we held pellets in our hand which they gently took from us.
We drove back to Lakes Entrance for one last night with our friends and then headed to Melbourne for our midnight flight. Our last day we drove inland through the beautiful Yarra Valley which is full of vineyards and orchards. We went to the Healesville Sanctuary which is entirely dedicated to Australian wildlife. We finally got to see a platypus, a wombat and a tasmanian devil.
Sadly, we made our way to the airport. We allowed ourselves a lot of time and ended up getting there very early. After checking in we found some seats optimally located for people watching. A while later, we saw a group of well dressed men and police walking by. After a second glance, we realized that it was Prince William.
We have posted a few photos on our Picasa web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/rdzcadventure/Australia2010#
Let me know if you have trouble with it and I can send you an invitation.
1 comment:
Thank you! Australia sounds and looks amazing!
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