more cute animals

Whale watching--unsuccessfully--but what a rainbow!


Emu at Tower Hill Nature Reserve


Cutest koala ever! Just wish I could get her photo rightside up . . .

Not a very shy kangaroo.

Yarra Valley to Great Ocean Road

We spent a day in the Yarra Valley tasting Pinots and Chardonnays.

Then on to the Great Ocean Road and the beautiful Twelve Apostles.








"London Bridge"

Little Aire Falls in the Otway National Park

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon is a 3 hour drive from Uluru. Another beautiful rock formation and a nice hike.
Where's Duncan?

Kata Tjuta

Eileen wanted some record of the rather brutal hike we completed at Kata Tjuta. Part of the same national park as Uluru.


The English named it "The Olgas", which it is often referred to, I think mainly because it is easier to say.

Closeups of the Rock

Uluru

Uluru, as it was named by the Aboriginals (the English renamed it Ayers Rock, but most people now refer to it as Uluru), is a big monolith in the middle of the Australian outback. It is a National Park and has it's own tourist resort and airport, as it is a 3 hour drive from the nearest town of Alice Springs. It has great spiritual significance for the Aboriginal community.
There is a climbing path up Uluru but the Aborigines ask people not to climb it out of respect. Strangely up to a third of visitors choose to climb it.

The previous 4 photos were at sunset, the one below the next day's sunrise (so, naturally, on the other side of the rock).

Sydney

Riding the ferries in SydneyOutside the Opera House
Taking the Opera House Tour
Kookaburra!
In the Botanical Garden near the Opera House

Arlie and Eileen in Oz!

First order of business in Melbourne--go to a Footy game! Unfortunately the Cats suffered their first loss of the year--boo!We took the trains . . .

and trams . . .
and walked through some alleyways.

Steven and Sharon

We spent two days with Steve and Sharon in Lenox Head, about 15K away from Byron Bay. They moved up from Melbourne late last year and are not missing it much . . .

Walking up to the Byron Bay Lighthouse, checking out surfers, schools of dolphins, and even some whales in the distance. They were hard to spot but apparently are just starting their move north to spawn.

I think this photo speaks for itself.

Friends at the lighthouse.

Beach Walk

The next day we did some more hiking, or "bush walking" as they call it here in Oz. This time near the beautiful beach. Wayne strikes a pose.

We were very lucky that the whole 5 days we were near Byron it was sunny and over 20C. Which in Fahrenheit is, uh, warmish. And pretty amazing for winter, although not unusual for the area.

Duncan is in the background of the photo, inspecting something . . .

Minyon Falls

Lucy, Duncan and I went on a 4 hour hike from the top on Minyon Falls to the bottom, and back up again. The hike was well worth the beautiful views. Some sort of bug created these "squibbles" on the tree.

The green plant, the staghorn, grows out of trees in this forrest. I believe it is sub-tropical.

Falls from the bottom.

Duncs and Lucy stop for a photo after crossing the creek.