http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Grandpa--and-Grandma/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Grandpa and Grandma en-us Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:02:01 +0000 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:02:01 +0000 Well we start out with an apology for not getting this posted sooner. We had a wonderful trip and have enjoyed it beyond our wildest dreams.Our final stop was Melbourne. The highlight of this part of the trip was our Tram dinner. We boarded a 1938 Tram and away we went. We had a wonderful dinner and had a complete tour of the city as we ate. Steve is going to post pictures for your viewing http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-220802.html We finally said goodbye to our wonderful oceanview apartment and headed towards Port Arthur. Port Arthur is one of Australia's great tourism destinations. They say every building and every site has a story to tell. Created with convict labour the impressive architecture gardens and prison still stand for all to view. The Port Arthur Historic Site has over 30 buildings. The Penitentiary the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Bicheno/blog-214828.html We left Melbourne on Monday morning. We went on JetStar airlines a little part of Quantas. It took a little over an hour to fly there. We then got our car. Well as luck would have it someone messed up and we got a two step up gradeno worries. A 2007 camary was to be our car of choice. Off we went to Launceston. Launceston is a small town nestled amongst the mountains and hills at the h http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Launceston/blog-214684.html We started our Saturday morning with a brisk walk to one of the shopping areas to have breakfast. Then we headed to Federation Square. We were able to enjoy some entertainment put on by a local guy. He really made us laugh. The pictures don't tell the whole story that is for surebut maybe they will make you smile.Also for smile enjoyment is a picture of a Christmas Tree decoration in progre http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/City-Centre/blog-212910.html We have arrived in Melbourne 1017. We left Erica and family on the 1245 train out of Bairnsdale aboard the Vline train. It took 4 hours to reach our desitantion of the city The Victoria Hotel . The trip really seemed to go fast. We met several nice people on the trip. We arrrived at the Southern Street Crossing. It is a huge train station. We made our way to our hotel by taxi. It was http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/City-Centre/blog-212668.html Well we arrived safe and sound back in Bairnsdale on Friday the 5th.Erica and the girls were there to pick us up. The girls were excited to have grandma and grandpa back.We enjoyed our trip but it was good to get back to home cooking and our Australian home. As we had gathered many goodies in our travels my shopping of course ... We decided to mail some things home. We went to Lakes Entra http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/blog-211639.html October 1st we started our new adventure. Erica took us to Bairnsdale. We rented a car and started out on The Great Alpine Road for a journey of discovery. The Great Alpine Road is considered to be one of the great touring routes of Australia. For more than 300 kilometres there are valleys mountains forests rivers and ocean. You pass thru Victoria's largest national park the Alpine National http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Gippsland/blog-208702.html We returned from Melbourne on Friday.On Saturday morning we celebrated Ella's birthday at a resturant at Lakes Entrance. I had oysters Getting to be a habitthey are so good over herenot as slimy as in the states We played minature golfno scores keptgrandpa's idea...We then went to the parkreally cold.Then home and celebrated all three girls birthdays and Sarn's. Since we http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Lakes-Entrance/blog-208079.html Ok to start out I must correct an entry in our last log. I listed one of the phrase's the locals use as no problem The correct way that they say is No Worries. Sorry about that or no problem. We arrived in Melbourne on Sunday. The girls and adults were ready to get out of the car for a few days. Our first major stop wasKrispy Creme Doughnuts. Yes they have them here and Erica always tr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-207550.html We left Metung on Monday September 17th. Grandpa was finally able to get everything into the car. Packing for Grandpa Grandma Erica and three little ones for a two week trip including food toys was an exciting event. We are able to pull out of the drive at 10 am and thought that was great.We headed out to the Great Ocean Road. Grandpa has taken some great pictures which we will try to id http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-204994.html Well the day started out early for Steve Sarn and Samantha. The three hit the road to try out their luck. They went out on the lakeand then headed out to the Big Ocean. Steve said it was a great experience on that he had been looking forward to for a long time.The waves were a little high and the temperature a little cool but the trip was so much fun. Steve was able to catch 3 fishonly o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Lakes-Entrance/blog-201260.html Well as you can guess by our title Father's day is a different day here in Australia it was on Sunday September 2nd. This is the first time in six years that Steve and Erica have been able to celebrate together so it was a special day that is for sure.Our day started with Steve receiving a wonderful card some great Australian signs for his garage and a bottle cover that says Australia. Th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/blog-199708.html We have been in Metung at Erica's for five days now. Each day was been new and exciting for us and for our grandchildren. They are each special little individuals with personalities that are quite different. We have sampled several different meals all of which were very good. Erica has taken us to several of the small towns around the area.We have been to Metung The Lakes and Bairnsdale. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Lakes-Entrance/blog-197617.html Sunday was a great day. We had a huge breakfast. Bacon eggs toast moreBefore noon Sarn was putting more food out on the table. There was cheese's and dry biscuits cracker olives stuffed with tomatoes olives stuffed anchoviesand a sasuage meat. Around noon Juliet and Judy Sarn's aunt and friend came over. They ate lunch with us another meal. They are both retired school teachers http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Lakes-Entrance/blog-196724.html From the very beginning of our trip Elvis has been a big part of our trip. We heard Elvis on the plane from LAX to Sydney and then in every bus we have taken. These wonderful songs continued with us on our flight to Melborne.We left for the airport at 945 this time our transport showed up an hour earlyThe airport was very interesting. We did however get frys and Steve got a whopper which en http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-196721.html Our third day was different from the others. This was our first day of seeing the city on foot. We started the morning out with a visit to McDonald's. Yes you read it right. Breakfast was pancakes for me and 2 egg mcmuffins for Steve.The menue is quit different here. They do seem to eat much healthier than we do. We walked to the Circular Quay basically the docks for the tourist boatsw http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-195713.html As a foot note to yesterdayI forgot to mention that our flight was 13 12 hours long. The good part is we meet a very nice gentlemen named Mark Mc.. he was from Sydney and was returning after a trip to New York with his daughter who was dancing there. He took the time to write out many helpful hints for us along with a list of places he thought we might enjoy. If you are reading this Mark t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Blue-Mountains/blog-195555.html Well we have made it. We started on Monday with a nice flight from home to LAX. We had a long visit at the airport there. They threw an extra hour of waiting for our enjoyment. Now the flight from LAX to SydneyLet us just say that we now have a NEW AND GREAT respect for our Daughter Erica. How she ever makes this trip with little ones is beyond both of our imagination. We were totally http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-195448.html