Good On Ya Australia!

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We have really enjoyed our time in Australia. It is fast coming to an end. To get everyone up to date, when we last wrote, we were in Cairns and Ted and Griff were heading out to the Great Barrier Reef. They went snorkeling that day and although the water was a little choppy, they had a great time and saw many beautiful fish. While we were in Cairns, we did some more culinary exploration by eating crocodile, kangaroo and ostrich -- all of which tasted like some variation of beef. Tasty.
After Cairns we headed to Sydney which is an awesome city with so much to do and see. Not the least of which is the Sydney Opera House which everyone has heard of, seen pictures of or read about, but it's really amazing to see it in person as those of you who have seen it can attest to. In Sydney we went to the Taronga Zoo where we saw all the Australian native animals we've all seen pictures of -- koala, wallaby, cuckaberra, platypus, kimono dragon and the tasmanian devil. Pretty amazing. Ted and Griff also continued on their "adrenaline tour" by climbing the Harbour Bridge which spans Sydney Harbour. The Harbour Bridge is the widest long-span bridge and among the largest steel arch bridges in the world. It is 415 feet high at its summit.
We also learned quite a bit about the settlement of Australia as a country which started in 1788 in Sydney when the first convicts were transported from England. Those penal colonies were the beginning of this country -- the convicts, those transported to "supervise" them and other immigrants looking for a fresh start were how this nation began. Really fascinating. We celebrated Ted's birthday in Sydney at our farewell dinner with the tour group. Leaving our tour director, Pam, was kind of like separating from our mother! She took such good care of us our first few weeks on this trip. Now we're on our own -- at least for a while!
Next we headed across the continent to Perth which is night and day from Sydney. It's another beautiful coastal city but quite laid back. It's a city of about 1.4 million (compared to 4.5 million in Sydney); similar to Denver in size. While in Perth we took a ferry to Rottness Island, rode bikes around and saw the famous quokkas (see the photo) which look like tiny kangaroos -- or rats, take your pick! Rottness Island is the only place you'll see these creatures. Today we flew to Melbourne where it's only 13 degrees centigrade (about 56 degrees farenheit) compared to the 30 degrees it was in Perth. We are going to hang out in Melbourne for a few days and then head over to Sydney for a couple of days before we move on to the next stage of our adventure -- Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Thanks for journeying along with us -- we hope you're enjoying our trip half as much as we are!

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Photos

Great Barrier Reef
This is a shot off the front of the vessel showing the Great Barrer Reef.

Sydney
The Sydney skyline.

Sydney Opera House
Fantastic shot by Griffin.

Sydney Opera House
Another one.

Sydney
The Nelsons enjoying Sydney.

Sydney Taronga Zoo
Wallaby

Sydney Taronga Zoo
Wallaby we were able to pet on the path.

Sydney Taronga Zoo
"Cuckaberra sits in the old gum tree..."

Sydney Taronga Zoo
Sleepy koala

Sydney Taronga Zoo
Hope you can see this koala...

Sydney Harbour Bridge
Ted and Griff in front of the bridge they are going to climb...

Sydney Harbour Bridge
Soon to be conquered by Ted and Griff.

The Climbers
Ted and Griff before their climb.

The Climbers
Success!!

Perth
Beautiful view of the city

Perth
The Swan River in Perth that heads out to the Indian Ocean.

Rottness Island
This is a shot of an area known as "The Basin" on Rottness Island -- it's where the explorers first landed.

Rottness Island
Another shot of The Basin with Griff testing the water.

Quokka
Here's a shot of the famous quokka on Rottness Island. These little guys were running around all over the place. Their fur is soft like a wallaby's fur.

Comments

[Charlotte Pearson]

We miss Australia already!!
Have been home for a little over a week now. Miss the tour and all the great people(like you guys). Enjoyed reading about your adventures in Perth. Hope all goes well on the next leg of the journey. Charlotte and Charles Pearson from Nichigan [e-mail]

[jillybeansan]

Hi Charlotte!
We are loving our tour through Indochina but boy is it different from Australia. Thanks for your message! Jill

[Jade]

AWESOMELY COOL!!
Oh my gosh the great barrier reef is B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!! I feel really stupid asking this but what were Griff and Tedd climbing?? Sydney looks AWESOMELY COOL!! The kangaroo and the Quokka are ADORABLE!! ~-Jade-~