It’s the last day of December. 2008 is almost at an end. It has been a year of ups and downs, great adventures, new experiences and fantastic trips. Hopefully over the next few days I will find time to summarise some of the more momentous occasions of our first full year Down Under.
Phil and I were missing home very much over the Christmas holiday. December just doesn’t feel like December when it’s warm and sunny out. Try as we might to get into the spirit, it just didn’t work. Christmas is all about being with family and friends, so needless to say we were a little lonely. On December 23rd I hoisted a decorative Christmas tree and laid out the wonderful gifts we had received from friends and family.
Oh Christmas Tree
I later thought that it would have been fun to decorate the miniature palm tree we have growing in the back yard and take a few photos. But time escaped us. Maybe next year. We had a great time opening gifts and thank all of you for helping us get rid of the bah humbug attitude. Even the cats were excited about opening gifts, although mostly because of the ribbons and paper.
Pixel’s Christmas
On December 24th I ducked out of work early and we headed off on our road trip to Melbourne in the afternoon. We saw a few unique sights along the way, including The Rock in The Rock, New South Wales. It’s funny how striking hills seem now that we live in such a flat area.
The Rock
We spent the evening in Albury (on the border of New South Wales and Victoria) at a quirky hotel complete with knights and king motif.
Albury Manor Hotel
On Christmas morning we woke up to the realisation that nothing was open and hence we couldn’t eat breakfast befored heading off to Melbourne. Regardless, we were back on the road by noon and enjoyed a few hours of freeway before hitting the city. Driving was a breeze as traffice was light. We checked into our downtown hotel (complete with valet service!) and then went for a bit of a wander. We put on more than a few kilometres visiting the Yarra River, Shrine of Remembrance, Federation Square and more. The city was beautiful and had a great vibe. Though many places were closed, we managed to find a decent Japanese restaurant to eat our Christmas dinner.
Yarra River
Shrine of Remembrance
Shrine of Remembrance
Shrine of Remembrance
We also discovered a great little fast food joint called Lord of the Fries. Not only did it have a great name, it was also 100% vegetarian and served poutine. We were overjoyed!
Lord of the Fries
We spent Boxing Day braving the crowds and shopping in the Bourke Street Mall and surrounds. We didn’t check as many things off our shopping list as expected, but did manage to pick up some clothes, a guitar and a few DVDs.
Meyer Store Front
Boxing Day Crowds
There was a massive Boxing Day test match on at the cricket grounds in Melbourne that day, and the fans were out in full force. While we enjoyed local beer and giant veggie burgers in Federation Square, we were amazed to see the fans numbering in the hundreds hunkered down for the day, watching the game on the public big screen television. Aussies sure do like their cricket. And in the end, after five days of play, South Africa won anyway.
Giant Veggie Burger (complete with an egg and pineapple slice – very Australian!)
We caught up with my coworked Jacki that evening in St. Kilda for a few drinks. A born and bred Melbourne-ite, she was a great travel advisor and showed us some fantastic sights.
On Saturday we had full intentions of driving to Phillip Island to catch the penguin parade. Unfortunately we got sidetracked driving around Mornington Peninsula checking out beaches, and ran out of time. We were pretty disappointed but the beaches were beautiful.
St. Kilda
St. Kilda
Mornington Peninsula
Mornington Peninsula
Mornington Peninsula
Phil’s Kilt Towel (thanks Fiona!!)
After a long day of driving, we made it to a town called Healesville northwest of the city at around 9:30. Exhausted, we went to bed right away knowing we had another full day of driving ahead.
On Sunday morning we had to stop at the Healesville Animal Sanctuary before heading home. We were determined to see platypi, and the sanctuary claimed to have them in large numbers. We spent a couple hours wandering around and were (as always) amazed by the Aussie wildlife. Dingos, wombats, koalas and yes – platypi!! Though it seemed like nothing more than a glorified zoo, we took some comfort knowing that the native animal hospital was well set up and provided a great service to injured wildlife. We even got to see a baby koala with a broken leg being tended to.
Dingo
Dingo
Australian Pelican
Koalas
We were on the road by noon and had a great time driving through the forests around Healesville.
Tall Trees
Australia is certainly a land of contrasts as we were back in the flat, yellow-brown landscape that is central New South Wales within a few hundred kilometres. We arrived home just before 10pm, did a quick unpack and settled in for a few hours of sleep before the early Monday work morning. Though we didn’t get to golf on Christmas day or see the little penguins, we still had a wonderful time in Melbourne and are keen to get back.
We are both still catching up on our sleep, but have had no time to rest with New Year’s Eve tonight and a trip to Sydney on the weekend. I guess it really is the Silly Season!
