Driving from Melbourne to Sydney...

...in our beautiful new car. Well not quite new, a Toyota Corolla 2001 with 70,000 kms on the clock. But we are very proud of her. The beginnings of a beautiful friendship...


First stop was the famous Healesville Animal Sanctuary just out of Melbourne. We saw dingos and koalas and all kind of cute Aussie critters.




The highlight though was the bird show which was similar to the one we saw on Grouse Mountain with Keira, except with Australian birds. This owl was particularly beautiful and loved flighing so close over the heads of the audience that it left our hair up on end. The kestrel was an amazing catcher of food thrown into the air.



Then we visited Badger Weir, a tract of pristine forest.


We ovrnighted with Anne and David. Anne is Mike's sister's husband's sister if that makes sense. What a wonderful couple. They made us feel so welcome. David has a classic MG car which was great to explore.


Next day, we visited Philips Island, famous for its Fairy Penguins - the smallest penguin in the world.


The Silver Gulls posed nicely for the camera...



...as did Ally. Ah, cute! The coastline here was very impressive. So nice to be in a country again with big waves after the tranquil coastline of the UK.


Then we drove through a region famous for its enormous worms - the largest in the world. We read about them in Bill Bryson's book "Down Under" but didn't see any live ones. A local museum that we visited had some old photos showing their extraordinary length.



We saw this beautiful white kookabara. The all white form is quite rare apparently.


Thought provoking. Many parts of Australia are experiencing severe droughts at the moment and water is becoming a precious resource.


Came accross some beautiful pelicans on a river estuary and stopped to photograph them. The Australian Pelican offically has the longest bill in the world. Certainly is impressive.




Beautiful red and white cliffs in Ben Boyd National Park. The beaches went on for ever and the sand was pristine white.


This little cottage in the tiny town of Tilba up in the hills hosted a wonderful collection of Australian nature photographs. Inspiring.


We stopped for a night at Kiana - famous for its blowhole that can send surf 60 metres into the air on a stormy day. We didn't see it blow quite so high but impressive nevertheless, especially with its booming sound effects.



We saw these amazing parrots in the Royal National Park coming into Sidney. Very accomodating they were for portrait shots. They are very loving and spend hours nibbling and nuzzling their partners.

Melbourne

We have arrived in Melbourne. A big contrast to relatively sleepy Perth. In fact, the CBD reminds me a little of London with its European architecture, streams of people spewing from the train station and plethora of cultural activities (there is a Picasso Exhibition, Leonardo Da Vinci inventions exhibition and international film festival on the go as we speak.)

We look forward to spending a few days exploring the city, suburbs and surrounds - and potentially buying a car to take us North.



To call Melbourners footie mad is a massive understatement. They live for the game - Australian Rules Football that is. The players are more famous and popular here than any celebrity star from "Neighbours" could ever hope to be. I went to see a game today, after learning the rules from a propaganda video that made fun of every other sport played and called footie all but the answer to world peace. I was quite prepared to hate the game. Instead I found myself loving it. Very fast and brutal at times, the players make enormous leaps into the sky and photographic opportunities abound - the ultimate test of a sport's metal when I happen to have my camera in the crowd.




Of course, I got into the spirit and had my face painted in the colour of the bulldogs - in friendly rivalry with my new found mate, Harold from Germany, who opted for the "Melbourne Demons" My team proceeded to get thrashed. Oh well.



The fans were a delight to watch - not quite as animated as Rio football fantatics but close. And they start the fans very young - I have never counted so many little kids wearing team hats with their cute little cheeks painted. This particular dad was most disappointed with the performance of The Bulldogs, as was junior!



I wondered what these pipes were for. I suspected they might belch flame like the ones at the Crowne Entertainment complex (see below). I stopped to photograph them (at a respectful sistance) at sunset when they suddenly started chiming - each pipe in a different tone. It sounded absolutely beautiful. It's little touches like this that make Melbourne very special.



We visited the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, situated very close to the CBD. Beautiful and tranquil and suprisingly, totally free.



The swans in Australia are black - unusual for swans. This fellow in the botanical gardens was very accommodating for photos. I think he wanted bread.



We also went for a lovely walk along the famous Yarra River, the Thames of Melbourne. The weather was beautiful, defying all the gloomy warnings we have had about Melbourne's icey chills. We'd better wait around to experience it before we get an overly sunny view of the city.



We watched Pirates of the Carribean (a really fun movie) at the Crowne City entertainment complex. As we walked out, the chimneys lining the river unexpectedly belched huge plumes of hot flame and we thought that we were in the midst of an enormous gas leak. Scary! Turned out this is firey performance is a nightly occurrence to scare the hell out of the tourists. It certainly was impressive.





Melbourne at Night
What a gorgeous place at night with all the buildings lit up. We had some great walks by the river.



And I had an adventurous frolic in the city fountain. Got a bit soaked but worth it for the photographic opportunities:



We had a re-union with Isaac who we met at Galapagos. His home town is Melbourne and it was great to get to see him. He gave us stacks of brilliant info on the city and also Australian wildlife (he is a zoologist by profession) and introduced us to the joys of Asian noodle soup. He was leaving the next day for Cambridge, UK (small world!) to write up a study he did in Georgia for the last two years. Amazing and inspiring guy.



Some nice photos taken by Ally when she visited the Melbourne beach. The bulging mouth is the entrance to the markets. A bit freaky!!

Perth

We are exploring Perth for a few days before heading to Melbourne, Sidney and Brisbane. It certainly is a lovely, laid back city with lots of rollerblading tracks along the river - a big boon in my book. We met up with Colin and Natalie who we met at Galapagos so great to see some friendly faces too - makes a big difference. King's Park is fantastic and apart from exploring suburbs, we are also managing to take in some sights.

Fair dinkum, mate, it's a roo! This little fellow at the Caversham Wildlife park just loved my ear!

Believe it or not, this little joey had emerged just minutes before from mum's pouch! Who would have thought that such a grown up youngster would still live at home! Wonder if mum will go through empty pouch syndrome when the joey finally decides to leave?



Also saw these two interesting characters at the park. The owl was a real charmer with its winking.



We love King's Park with its lush lawns and beautiful views of the city. The baobab trees (never knew they grew here in Austrlia too!) make us feel at home.





My new baby from Singapore. I've dreamed of getting a digital SLR for a long time. Only problem is it makes me feel like a beginner. You can take amazing shots if you get it right, awful if not. I refuse to use the automatic settings!!



Needless to say, I practiced with some of the local birds during our visit to King's Park. I particularly loved seeing this Galah (pink and grey cockatoo). There are lots of cockatoos and parrots here.







We met up with Colin and Natalie who we met at Galapagos. They invited us over to their house for one of the most delicious curries I have ever tasted, complimented with delicious local wine. So great to spend time with two such wonderful people.