Ellen and I have returned from our trip to Australia and New Caledonia on the weekend and are back to work. We had a fantastic time....an amazing time. Arriving in Australia was like reverse culture shock with so many english speaking people that are very friendly. Hard to walk around without getting a "G'day mate" or "How you going?" from locals. We were spoiled to spend time with Ellen family. Aunt Allyce and uncle Allan put some serious miles on their cars getting us from the airport and just being great helping us plan our trip and getting to know their amazing location in Mt. Martha just outside of Melbourne. Our first day in Australia we didn't waiste much time getting to the beach which is a 5 min. walk from Allyce and Allan's pad.
People have these colourful sheds down by the beach to store their stuff. I feel on my rear end to find out it's around $200,000 to own one (space to have one). Sorry maybe it is a luxury storage facility and not a shed. Yikes, I'll just carry my stuff down thanks.
Allan took us out on the kayak's. Here is Scott making his way back in. Later that day, I was out for a snorkle with Allan which was great. On our way back we spotted three dolphins. Likely mother, father and a little guy. We were able to paddle along with them as they came to the surface. They would come within 3-5 feet of us. Really enjoyed that random moment. What luck!!!
I was jonesin' for some local beer and food. We found something like that at the Wednesday market in Melbourne. There was a lot of people out having a great time. Lots of great music, live bands, tons of food stands and of course some local beer/wine.
We were also walked the boardwalk in the downtown of Melbourne at night.
Riley (Ellen's cousin) took us out one morning to do some fishing. Fishing for squid, flatheads and whatever we can get. Scott got some nice action on his rod at one point and reeled in this bad boy. Great fight. A Port Jackson. Type of shark. When I went down to net the thing, I was blown away to see the colour on the guy. Let 'er go of course.
After being limited in our choice of groceries in Korea, we really went nuts here. We cooked up a storm and ate tons of cheese, breads, pate and of course all washed down with some great Australian wines and beer. Scott and I made quick work of filling up the recycle bin!!
Ellen here is putting the final touches to her chicken, apple, blue cheese and spinach pizza made on the BBQ.
Here is the happy family. We had some great laughs!
We spent a week with the Graham's and then we rented a car and headed up the coast to Sydney. In the time we were in Melbourne, we experienced the hottest day on record in 100 years 46 C in Melbourne. The dry conditions, heat and high winds were disaster for the forest fires. We came close to some driving up the coast, but were never in any danger.
On a happier note. We went to Raymond Island to see some Koala's. The island is 150m from the mainland. No typo there...150m. Ferry ride was 2 minutes. Here is Ellen and Emma trying to see what it's like to hang out in the trees and do nothing...'cause that is what Koala's do...nothing. This was not a zoo or anything, completely in the wild. Just hanging out.
We left Lakes Entrance for Batemans Bay. Not a bad stop. We got a little weather on our way and it dropped a bit in temp (low 20's), but still doesn't take away from the gorgeous coast on our drive.
Ellen always has a good eye to catch some shots of colourful flowers. Won't bother trying to name it, to me its a flower.
Just can't get over how blue the water is and how white the sand is in some places.
We next headed to Pebble Beach to check out the Kangaroos that apparently are just sitting there on the beach. Well...they were. Quite calm and likely used to seeing people, but they are totally in the wild. Really cool to see. We didn't have any food, but tried to get close all the same without disturbing them.
It had been cloudy for a couple days, and our tans were fadding....oh no. We were close to Jervis Bay and noticed a blue sky opening close to the water. We headed to Hyams beach and were not dissapointed. The whitest sand we'd seen and really a gorgeous spot to hang out for the afternoon. This is some more of that life sucks kinda stuff. The sand is seriously so white. It almost looks washed out in this picture, but it is crazy white. Also squeeks when you walk on it...weird.
Here I am on a rock. (purpose is to show I'm not the 205lbs I was when I left. Still some work to do!!)
Looked up in time to check out a hawk in flight. Again, name of it is...hawk.
We made our way to Kiama and checked out the blowhole on the pier. We saw the rock pool, but after being on the beach most of the day, we didn't take a dip. Can't say we swam in one, but you can't do everything, I mean c'mon!! Had a nice dinner that night (ok...everynight) and relaxed before our hike in the Minnamura rainforest.
Ellen was looking at me, but starting speaking french to this tourists from France. Couldn't help herself of course. Also the only time the blowhole actually blew when she was there.
This was a wonderful hike, or should I say walk along the great boardwalk through the rainforest. The destination brought us to a nice waterfall, of course.
We got into Sydney and stayed the first night at Bondi beach. There had been 2 shark attacks in a row just 150m of shore in this picture. Too chilly to go in anyways.
The next night we stayed in Sydney in the Rocks which was great.
Scott and I kept busy while the girls did some shopping. Had a choice to enjoy a hamburger Australian style with "The Lot". Beef patty (yeah, not kangaroo), cheese, egg, slice of beet, bacon...a true treat for me and my arteries.
What is a visit to Sydney without a shot of the opera house?
We saw Emma and Scott off in the afternoon as they were catching their flight back to Canada. It was really great seeing them and spending time with close friends from home. Made us truly miss home.
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