Koalas, Penguins, Dolphins, and Roos......

We returned home from our trip to Melbourne and vicinity late last night. We had a really nice few days. It was our first trip to Australia. A few impressions- the Victoria area (state Melboure is in) is very flat. Flat as a pancake for miles and miles. It is also very dry. They are running only around 30% of water in reserve in the wells. Conservation and water reclaiming is key. You could see lots of dried up lakes and rivers. The swine flu mania has also hit Melbourne. We got temperature scanned in the airport and they were also shutting down schools the last few days. The Victoria state has around 4 million people (about the size of NZ) and Melboure has something like 3 million people (double the size of Auckland). Melbourne is light years ahead of Auckland when it comes to public infrastructure..... they have a free city circle tram, light rail service and train service. Overall, it was a cosmopolitan city that was friendly and clean and was doing a lot of right things to draw in the tourists. Melbourne was one of the richest cities in the world in the late 1800's and it still shows. Here are some trip highlights:


Pictures- http://picasaweb.google.com/jandlmarshall/Melbourne2009_05_21?authkey=Gv1sRgCM-Hqv2J0-rZhgE#

Thursday- We arrived in Melbourne on Thursday and got settled in a B&B that used to be an old stone bakery. We did a walking tour around the city and also made a visit to the aquarium. It was a well done aquarium with peppy penguins and rangers that gave some interesting talks about the wildlife. Thursday night was saw Billy Elliot the Play in the theater district. It is about a kid in England in the 1950's who is supposed to be learning to box and instead turns to ballet. I believe this show is coming to the DSM Civic Center (or has been already). Go see it if you get the chance. We really enjoyed it.

Friday- We started the day by going to Victoria's Market. There are 1,000+ stalls at the outdoor market- everything from shoes, to clothes, to fruit, veggies, meat and gourmet shops. In the afternoon we rented a tandem bike and cycled the trail that runs along the Yara River. That evening with had dinner in the Italian District.

Saturday- We picked up a car and headed south out of town to Phillip Island. The main reason for going here was to visit the koala conservatory and see the Penguin Parade. First stop was the koala's. We found out the koala's are extremely lazy. To find a koala, you look for a furry butt sleeping in the tree. Check out the pictures..... you will see what I mean. We also saw a wallaby (small kangaroo) at the koala conservatory as well. Next stop was the Penguin Parade. The island is home to a large populate of Little Penguins (yes, this is the official name). The Little Penguin is the smallest penguin. The little penguin will spend 2 - 3 weeks at sea fishing. At dusk, there is a particular beach where any penguins that are back from fishing nest at. All the penguins come in at dusk in waves. So, you will see groups of 50 - 100 of the penguins come to shore, cross the beach and go to their nests in one wave after the other. The penguins have their nightly parade choreographed pretty well- one group makes it across the beach and the next group comes out of the ocean to start the journey. Pictures weren't allowed during the penguin parade but you can see one here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_penguin

Sunday- Sunday we took a car ferry to cut time off the driving and had a couple dolphins visit the boat during the trip. They didn't stick around long, but we at least got a look. The goal for Sunday was driving along the Great Ocean Road on the southern coast of Victoria. This is kind of like driving Hwy 1 in CA- very scenic and also listed as one of the top drives in the 1000 Places to Visit book. At the end of Great Ocean Road is what I really wanted to see. The Twelve Apostles. The Twelve Apostles are majestic rock formations standing off the beach. It told John we drove 150 miles to see rocks.... but it was worth it. Sunday night we stayed at another B&B along the Great Ocean Road. We had wine and cheese with the owner and her friend and heard some local stories about kangaroos getting in the road (just like the deer in IA).

Monday- We woke up to rain Monday morning. The locals were happy as they will take any moisture that comes around. We had hoped to see whales on Monday put they were not yet in the harbour for the birthing season. We headed back to Melbourne to head home. Highlight at the Melbourne airport---- Krispy Cream donuts! Can't buy one of these in NZ!

Now back to work for a few days. This weekend we have another 3 day weekend. It is the Queens Birthday..... got to love the queen for giving everyone a holiday for her birthday.