Melbourne

Melbourne has been our home for the past 5 months.  In that time, we have come to know and love the beautiful City with all it's wonderful cultural influences.  We've hung out in Federation Square, danced to digereedoos, ok, so R did all the dancing, but we watched!  We've walked along South Bank, gambled in the casino, dined in China Town, wandered through the delightful arcades, strolled around the enormous Queen Victoria Market .. and munched on fresh baked Turkish bread at the same time .. stood in a glass box 300 meters (approx 984 feet) above the ground (crazy I know!), taken an old tram around the city, watched some amazing tennis at the Aussie Open and much more.  Melbourne was our home and we have grown to love it, it will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Our trip to Sydney NSW

As our time in Oz draws to a close, I realize that I'm quite behind on posting pics!  Just too busy having fun and exploring this wonderful country.

For Christmas and New Years, we took a trip to Sydney.  In an effort to see more of Australia, we decided to drive ... yup, with 2 little kiddies, a crazy idea!  We spread the drive over two days, stopping in Australia's capital, Canberra, for the night.  The drive was mainly highway on the way, and it rained most of the way!  For the return, we followed the coast and saw some beautiful beaches.  Easy to see why Australia is a surfers heaven!

Upon arrival in Coogee, we all jumped into the tumble dryer ... kidding of course, although we did need to dry off a bit ;o)  Coogee beach is beautiful and has a 7K walk to the famous Bondi beach.  Can't come all this way and not see it.  We embarked on the walk with our double stroller in tow, but the kiddies decided they were walking, so we carried the stroller up and down stairs while the kids followed ... hmmm, next time the stroller stays home!   The walk consists of path and stairs ... as M is quite little, I wanted him to hold my hand on the steps, but Mr Independent exclaimed "I hold my own hands" and then proceeded to hold his own hands and climb down the stairs.

Another outing was a trip to the Blue Mountains, about an hour outside of the City.  It was a beautiful day and we got to see the amazing rock formation known as The Three Sisters. 

Of course, not trip to Sydney is complete without the Harbour Bridge and the amazing Opera House.  In a moment of pure insanity, my mum and I decided to climb the Harbour Bridge at 3:30am.  After dragging ourselves out of bed at such an insane time of the morning ... yeah, I know that's the time I actually went to bed in my younger years! ... we were rewarded with breathtaking views of the sun rising over Sydney and watching the city come to life as people started their day.  

All in all, a fun time was had by all on our trip.  Farewell to Sydney, a beautiful city that was our home for 10 wonderful days. 

Good friends

One of the great things about moving to Oz has been making new friends.  Thursday we went with our good friends Annica, Mika and Dante, to Bossy Boots, a local cafe, for lunch.  Rachael, Matthew and Mika had lots of fun checking out the mini cupcakes!

Thanks Annica for the awesome pics :o)

Sometimes it's just not a good idea ....

.... to go and swim in the ocean ...

Yup, we had a few little visitors at our local beach ;o)

Where did December go?

Ok, so this whole blog thing is still very new to me, and of course I have forgotten to post anything!!!

Well we blinked and December vanished before our eyes. Our day to day life continues as before. Hanging out at parks with friends, paddling at beaches or heading out on driving adventures, explorers that we are.

One visit took us to the Children's Garden at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. A magical garden for children with steams to paddle in, sprinklers to cool down in and of course a vast array of pint sized plants. Rachael has been begging to return!

Our exploration of the beaches continued with stops at Port Nepean and the beautiful town of Sorrento, with it's nice quiet beach.

Mum (Nanny) arrived mid December to join us on our adventures. The extra set of hands to help with the kiddies was much appreciated! Of course, it was also good to have some good home cooked meals too ;o) One day trip we took was to Phillip Island which is about an hour away from where we are living. There we visited a park called Manu where the kangaroos roamed around freely and the kids were able to feed them. Rachael was so excited to pet them and feed them, whereas Matthew decided that imitation was the way to go. Every time a kangaroo came near, he jumped up and down in excitement.

Next we headed to the awesome Koala Conservation Center. Matthew, being Matthew, managed to get himself into trouble. He snuck around a sectioned off part of the boardwalk and stood under Mr Koala who was just getting turned down by Mrs Koala. Mr Koala was not happy and climbed down to where Matthew was standing! Managed to grab him out of the way before Mr Koala spotted him and decided to take out his frustrations on him! Phew ... life with a two year old boy is never dull :o)

Our last stop was the Penguin Parade. Every night, around 9pm, around a thousand fairy penguins come home from their hard day of fishing. The ride in on the waves and, after a few false starts, make their way up the beach to their homes. Their family and friends are waiting for them under the boardwalk and shout out their welcome. A magical thing to watch for sure <3

Happy Hanukah!

Hanukah, and soon Christmas, spent in the summer sun ... kinda different, but we like it!

Happy Holidays to all!

"Kangaroos!! I want to see kangaroos!!" Our princess was adamant that she wanted to see kangaroos, so off we went on a hunt. Our hunt led us to the Healesville Sanctuary, an hour outside of Melbourne, in the beautiful wine country ... good thing too, as we were sure to need a drink after this outing!

We found the Sanctuary, and thankfully, the kangaroos, along with some adorable cuddly koalas. As kangaroos can pack quite a punch with those super strong legs, it was a little surprising that all that separated them from us was a rope ... a short little rope that our little devils could walk under and that we could step over. No deterrent for a bouncing animal I'm sure! Thankfully, all they were interested in was eating and sleeping, so we were able to see the Roos, then move on. All in all, a fun day for all :o)