Great Ocean Road II

I am so behind with posts it is ridiculous. Last Saturday, after staying overnight at the animal park, we went out to see the coast. The area we went to has huge limestone cliffs that are being eroded away by the water. I wish the pictures did them justice...

The Twelve Apostles- remnants of the cliffs in the water. I took at least 40 pictures of this from all different angles, but they all ended up looking pretty much like this.

Looking across the grass and bushes to the cliffs.

R at the cliffs. It was really cold that day.

C at the cliffs.

A blowhole. The ocean will eventually erode the top away.

Another blowhole.

After seeing the coast we headed to the rainforest. It was such a strange area, you could drive ten minutes down the road and be in a completely different environment. Around the cliffs it was very dry with some small bushes, then, not far away was a rainforest. In the rainforest there was a treetop walk- we were able to walk to the canopy and look down. It was amazing. They also had an area with fake dinosaurs. C was a little nervous at first, he wasn't completely sure that they were pretend, but when he realized they were, he loved them!

C and one of the dinosaurs.

Petting a velociraptor.

Rob losing to a T-Rex.

C being a dinosaur statue.C at the top of the treetop walk.

Looking down from the top of the treetop walk.




The rainforest.

It was a great day- the Great Ocean Road is beautiful and so very different from anywhere we have been in the States.

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Great Ocean Road Weekend

We have been so busy lately it has been hard to keep up with the blog!

Last weekend we rented a car and took off Friday afternoon for a weekend on the Great Ocean Road. We stayed at a very small motel/wildlife park called Fauna Australia. It is owned by a family, a couple and their three young children. It is an animal reserve, focused on breeding Australian animals. They allow their guests to freely interact with most of the animals, and they will supervise visits with the more unpredictable or fragile animals. The boys had a wonderful time walking around the park feeding and petting the animals. We all loved the wallaby who would sit by our front door every morning and evening. He had been raised by the family in their home and was very comfortable with our kids petting him and feeding him.

Ben the wallaby at our window.

Petting and feeding Ben.

This guy is a wombat. He is a marsupial who burrows underground.

Feeding the wallabies.

Wallaby eating a carrot.

Feeding a kangaroo.

One of the kangaroos.

R and Ben the wallaby.

Ben

Feeding a wombat.

We were also able to interact with their two koala bears, both of which had joeys in their pouches. One of the joeys was almost old enough to come out of the pouch, and we were able to see its little leg hanging out occasionally. We were also able to touch the pouch and feel the baby inside. Usually koalas sleep for twenty hours a day, so we felt so lucky when one of them climbed down from her tree, walked across the ground, and let the kids pet her.

Matilda the koala- with the joey's foot sticking out.

C trying to feed the koala some gum leaves.

R feeding the koala.

We could not have picked a better place to stay. We had so much fun with the animals, and had the place to ourselves.

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Wicked

Quick update tonight. I have a ton of pictures that I have not finished editing yet. We have been so busy that I haven't had time to work on them. Since my sister is still here, Rob and I were able to go out last night. It is probably our only chance to go out alone while we are here. We went to a great restaurant and struck up a conversation with the people sitting at the table next to us. They actually initiated the conversation by asking us how our food was- Australians are very friendly.
Tonight my sister and I went out to see Wicked. We were hoping for half price tickets but they didn't have any. This morning we found out they do a lottery for front row seats and charge only $30 a ticket. We entered the lottery and were actually picked. We had such a great time at the show- neither one of us has ever sat close to the front in a show.

I will update this weekend with lots of pics.
Thanks for checking on us!

Victoria Market

On Thursday we went to Victoria Market. It is a huge market with a lot of souveneirs, fruit and vegetables, cheeses, sushi, hummus, meat, fish, and even pickled octopus. My sister and I loved it, and the boys tolerated it. They seemed to be happiest when we let them pull the shopping bag.

That evening we went to St. Kilda pier to see the penguins. There is a colony of wild Little Penguins (yes, that is their official name) that live in the rocks. In the evening they come in from the water and nest in the rocks. They are adorable, but flash photography is not allowed, so it is difficult to get a decent picture of them.

The city at night from St. Kilda Pier.

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Federation Square at Night

Since we have gotten here, they have put in a light installation in Federation Square. We can see it from our windows but have not gone down there at night. A few nights ago we finally went there to experience it up close. They had rows of light pillars that also played music. Sometimes all the light pillars were coordinated, but at other times the lights would only come on if a person stepped in front of it. The kids had a great time walking around the lights and making them turn on.

The light installation and the church behind it.

We also went to the Ferris Wheel again. The boys have been wanting to ride on it at night.

The view towards Federation Square and the Ferris Wheel from a bridge near our apartment.

Thanks for checking on us! We have been having great weather this week and have been loving it!

Federation Square and Docklands

My sister got here yesterday and is completely jetlagged. We took her out to Federation Square and to the Visitor's Center so she could pick up brochures to plan her time here. Federation Square is a pretty recent addition to Melbourne. It is across from the train station and is an area of rocky steps and walkways, urban art, and buildings that house museums, coffee shops, and restaurants. It is very unique and hard to describe.


This is in Federation Square- there is urban art everywhere in this city. C calls this "Pick up Sticks".

Today, we walked past the Crown Hotel and Casino (next door to us), and checked out this sculpture.

Then, we rode the City Circle tram with my sister to show her around the city.

Waiting for the tram...

Ann and C on the tram....

While we were waiting for another tram to move, the driver let the kids ring the bell on the tram. This is C in the driver's compartment ringing the bell. And I did not notice the "Danger 600 volts" until I was editing the pictures. One thing we have noticed in Australia is that they are not as concerned about being sued as they are in the States.

We went to the Docklands. It is an area that is being revitalized with new apartments, shops, and restaurants. They also have more urban art.

And lots of bike racks. I think the boys went under EVERY SINGLE ONE.

We also saw this... C's face sums it up for me...

Thankfully it was machine made- for some reason they think it is fun to simulate snow. I have no idea why.


They found this oval in the front of a store. They pretended they were race cars. I think they would have been happy there for the rest of the day, but people did seem to want to get in and out of the store, so we had to move on.

We rode on a Carousel.

We went to a playground...

And we sprinted (R took off running, and since the end had open water, we all ran after him)across this amazing pedestrian bridge. It is called Webb Bridge.

We had a great day and exhausted all of us. I think we are heading to the zoo tomorrow.
Thanks for checking on us!