Blogs

Hi:

Well, we are celebrating Christmas Eve, as Michele must be on call tomorrow.  Here it a breeze 20 degrees, and the sun is shining.  The folks were up at 5:30 this morning to go to the markets to buy oysters and prawns.  Apparently the line-up was around the block.  I suspect everything will be gone by noon.  We will be eating outside at 3:00.  A cold Christmas dinner - frest oysters, prawns, a huge lobster, frest trout and cold ham.  Sounds delicious.  Tomorrow we are off for around a week - driving up the coast and visiting a few friends and relatives.  Christmas is certainly well celebrated here, although not on the beaches down in Melbourne, but probably in Sydney and farther north. 

Have a great holiday everyone.

Mahara and Ken

This is a picture of the coast of Phillip Island, where we went last weekend  to see penguins. It's a couple of hours drive south of Melbourne and lots of people have holiday homes there. The big draw is that at dusk several hundred tiny penguins called Fairy Penguins or Little Penguins come up from the sea in a penguin "parade" and settle down for the night.  It's a well organized attraction, which is of course important for conservation.  The night before we came 1933 penguins came ashore. Our experience was different, and in many ways just as exciting.

You see, Melbourne is in a drought and the day and evening we arrived the region received the first "real" rainfall since 2006. Around 50 mm or two inches, but it was driving rain.  We are learning more and more about the Antarctic winds every day and Phillip Island has their share.  It was so windy and rainy it was hard to walk.  So, the prospect of sitting outside for two hours waiting for these little creatures to show themselves lost out to a Christmas party buffet and dance held at our hotel.

We wandered around the "Nobbies" or knobs of land during the day, and enjoyed a great dinner with new friends, lots of dancing and discussion with others going to South America.  We went back the next day and saw a few little guys, but only in sleeping position.  There are only about a foot long.  We had a great time in spite of the very rough weather, which made our weekend quite memorable.  We will probably have another chance to see the penguins.

Here's a baby Silver Gull, one of thousands that line the shore of Phillip Island

Here's a picture of the Yarra River, which has considerable development.  Melbourne is like many other cities such as Vancouver.  They have taken advantage of their waterways and have great walkways along both sides of the river.  Casinos, the convention centre, aquarium, shopping centres  and dozens of restuarants which spill out to outside seating along the river banks - this city has it all.  We strolled through the Botanical Gardens yesterday and were able to easily walk downtown along the river.  The train and tram system is excellent - over 100 years old in some cases so getting around is easy.  We spent one afternoon at the Docklands, where we needed to go to get our India visas, and that area has been a work in progress for about ten years.  Highrise apartments, shopping plazas, parks and restaurants line the little curves of land where boats, both grand and tiny, are moored.  It's a conbination of Granville Island and Yaletown in one, but much bigger. 

 As well, several rowing clubs are along the river, stadiums are nearby and a grand  modern square, Federal Square, as well as the major train station used by daily commuters is right at hand.  As this is Christmas week, we've seen many sets of outdoor performances at all the stations and along the streets - so strange in the middle of summer to be hearing Christmas music.

 We don't find it that warm, however.  Mornings are cool and there has been rain or showers several times since we've been here.  Melbourne has been in a drought for the past four years, so the water is welcomed. 

We've spent our last week organizing ourselves for the next four months.  We've booked land tours in India, Jordan and Eygpt, Turkey and Morocco.  This is a great deal of work - getting insurance, getting all the dates to jive, rearranging our airline tickets for these dates and extra hotel night stays.  But it's been worthwhile, I think.  We shall see.  Much of our time in South America was spent in organizing ourselves.  I just couldn't see myself trying to move through about 10 cities in India for example - figuring out where to go - the best transportation methods - train or bus and then lining up to buy tickets, getting ourselves to the right places on time with all our luggage etc. 

We booked through a Canadian company, Gap Adventure Tours. Group sizes are small - 10 to 15 people, and I think we will meet a great deal of interesting people this way as well.  We are looking forward to trying this way of traveling.

Mahara

Here's a ring-tailed possum that visits the back garden.  They are marsupials - like kangaroos.  The babies are born be about an inch long and bald.  They climb into their monther's pouches and suckle. This picture was taken in South Yarra, a suburb of Melbourne.