Which way should we walk?

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I'm posting this several days late because I hate the idea of missing a day in the ABC Wednesday challenge. Here's my W entry that should have been posted last week.

I took this while on vacation last year in Australia. We were at the Otway Fly Tree Top walk in Victoria. This if from the top of the tower -- 47 meters up -- looking straight down on the rainforest and catwalks. To give you some idea of scale, the people walking on the catwalks are probably about 25 meters above the rainforest floor. The plants on the rainforest floor are tree ferns.

We did this as a day trip from Melbourne. It was a long day, but well worth it, especially as we took the Great Ocean Road home.

P.S. To answer my own question about which way to walk: Can't go right, that's the way in. We could go left, but that will lead us to a  dead end. The middle is the way out.

I'm participating in ABC Wednesday today with the letter W.
Click here for more about ABC Wednesday and to view other participants.

Underfoot Down Under

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Over a year ago we did a big family trip to Australia. My grandfather immigrated from Australia during the Great Depression and left behind four brothers and sisters who all had families of their own. We've managed to keep in close contact over the generations, but were long overdue for a personal visit. So, me and my husband, my Mom, my sister and her family all flew over there for a big family reunion in Melbourne.

Of course, we couldn't just visit Melbourne, so we added on visits to Ayer's Rock, Cairns and Sydney. We wish we could have stayed longer and seen more, but we didn't have enough vacation time.

Here we all are on the beach on Port Douglas, which is north of Cairns near the Great Barrier Reef. I'd ask if you had any guesses which were mine, but my sister, my Mom and I have very similar feet.

I'm participating in ABC Wednesday today with the letter U.
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That licking sound

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When we were in Melbourne last year, we visited the Australian Centre for the Moving Image where a Pixar Exhibit was going on. I had my old point-and-shoot camera and wasn't attempting any fancy compositions on my images. However, when I posted some of my photos to Flickr, I discovered that when you have a subject as popular as Pixar and Toy Story, you automatically get a lot of views on the photo. Flickr says this is one of my Top 25 most interesting pics, with "interesting" being determined by some secret formula of theirs. It's an oversized panel from a storyboard that was hanging in the ACMI lobby.

I choose this photo today to represent "Sound", which is the theme of the Thursday Challenge this week. I think it's a visual representation of sound in the most primitave sense -- the sound is written down. You might argue that the "Lick Lick Lick" is an action, but I think it's a sound, too.

I'm participating in the Thursday Challenge today with the theme 

"SOUND (MP3 Players, Record Players, Speakers, CDs, Musical Instruments,
Wind Chimes, Singing, Loud Cars or Machines...)".
Click here for more about the Thursday Challenge and to view other participants.

Ladies Only?

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When I was in Melbourne, Australia last year, I saw this mosaic on the sidewalk outside St. Paul's Cathedral. I have no idea what it could have been intended for. Perhaps a Ladies Only bus stop, entrance or waiting area at one time in the cathedral's history? If anyone has a theory or, even better, knows it's original purpose, I'd love to hear it.

And if I'd known how much this was going to intrigue me, I would have taken the time to get a sharper photo. This was a quick walk-by.

I'm participating in ABC Wednesday today with the letter L.
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Reflections of the Australian Hotel

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Technically speaking, this photos has some issues, but I like it anyway.

I took this in Sydney, Australia, during our family vacation in 2007. We were wandering around The Rocks section of the city, which is a really old area of town at the base of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, when we came across this pub called the Australian Hotel. While my husband sampled the huge varieties of beer, I had some fun with my camera. This photo is looking over the bar. In the mirror, you can see me taking the photo, along with the rest of my family.

This photo was used with permission in the fourth edition of our Schmap Sydney Guide. You can see the online version here, and the iPhone version here.

Stepping out for a taste of wine

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Today is my 14th wedding anniversary. My husband sometimes gets a little squeamish about me using photos of him in my blogs, so instead I'm featuring one of my favorite photos of his backside. :P

This photo was taken during our vacation to Australia last year. Dave and my Auntie Edie are walking up the path to Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley outside of Melbourne.

I like the way the path curves off and out of the picture. Even through the vineyard is dormant, I like the winter greenery around it. I like the contrast of sun and shadow over the vineyard and into the mountains. I like the fact that even through Edie is using a cane, she still looks like she has a spring in her step -- it seems like a jaunty accessory and not a tool.

Mostly, I like that my husband is in it. :) Happy Anniversary.

Sparkling wine

This is one of my favorite photos. I took it in July 2007 while on vacation with my family in Australia. My brother-in-law is tasting sparkling wine at Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley outside Melbourne.

This photo was used with permission by Uplanit in their Australia guide.

Home from Australia

So, here it is, almost three weeks later and I haven't updated this site once. I blame it on a number of factors including less-than-ideal Internet access, problems with our laptop computer, jetlag and all-around exhaustion. We were busy, busy, busy.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm home now. We got back Friday night and spent the weekend in a jetlag haze. Finally got a decent night's sleep last night with the help of an OTC sleep aid. That 15-hour time difference really threw my body out of whack.

My friend Marc has a good rule of thumb for adjusting to time zones. He says it takes one day to adjust for every two hours of time-zone change. That puts the adjustment for this trip at about a week (which is very accurate in my experience).

Even though I didn't write during the trip, I'm going to try really hard to recreate what we did and back-post the entries. It won't have the flavor of being on-the-spot journaling, but I still want a record of it.

Australia - Day 12 - Ayer's Rock

Dave and I overslept and missed our morning tour and 9-kilometer hike around the base of Uluru. I was disappointed that we wasted the money and missed out on an opportunity to be active, but the upside was that we didn't have to freeze in the desert darkness again and we had a much-needed leisurely morning.

After breakfast, we checked out of our room, put our bags in storage, and hopped a shuttle bus over to the Aboriginal Cultural Center near Uluru.

We didn't spend long in the educational portions of the center, since they were all open air and we were cold. We spent much longer in the Aboriginal art galleries and stores, since they were heated. Strangely, we didn't see a single person of Aboriginal decent anywhere in the center. And for cultural reasons, photography was strictly prohibited.

On the upside, we ran into Mom, Heather, Jeff and the boys there when their tour group stopped to look around. They'd taken a sunrise/breakfast interpretative excursion, which they all said was great -- but they'd frozen their butts off.

From the cultural center, Dave and I decided to take the half-mile or so hike to the base of the Uluru climbing area, which is the only part of the rock that looks remotely climbable, and it has a chain rope to hold on to on the way up.



The problem with looking at photos of Uluru is that you have no basis of comparison for understanding the size of the rock. Because it's out in the middle of nowhere, with total flat land around it, the photos don't make it look that big. (To get an idea of how flat it is, see the panorama above that I stitched together from eight photos I took yesterday.) Well, it's big -- 348 meters (1,142 feet) high according to Wikipedia. (By comparison, Wikipedia puts the Sears Tower at 442 meters [1450 feet] tall at the roof, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge at 134 metres [429.6 feet] tall. My own knowledge puts the Sears Tower at about 110 stories tall and I've heard that the Sydney Harbour Bridge is about 40 stories tall.)

The confusing thing about Uluru is the contradictions coming from official sources regarding climbing the rock. First, the literature tells you to respect the Aboriginals' wishes and spiritual beliefs and not climb, but that's followed up with instructions on how to climb and safety precautions to keep in mind.

Well, I respect the Aboriginal beliefs, but I wanted to climb Uluru this visit as sort of a debt of honor to myself.

Twenty years ago, I attempted to climb Uluru. I think I made it about half way up the steep slope, then I stopped to rest. My cousins went on ahead. As I sat there, I over-thought the danger of the climb and listened as everyone else resting near me expressed their fears. I thought about all the people who'd died climbing the rock (there was a plaque at the base listing dozens of names). After a long while, I ended up talking myself out of the climb and scooted down the rock.

It's bothered me for years that I didn't finish the climb. This trip, I'd hoped to have the opportunity to get that failure off my back.

But, the decision was taken out of my hands, as the climb was closed both days because of strong winds at the summit of the rock. (A convenient exaggeration to keep the climb closed? my husband might argue.) Regardless, the decision was taken out of my hands. I guess I'll have to continue to live with myself. :)

Instead of climbing, we poked around the base of the climbing area, taking photos, until the shuttle bus arrived to bring us back to the resort.

This is where I go into an aside about red dust. We had it everywhere. In our shoes. In our socks. And for those who did the morning excursion to watch the sunrise, in other places, too, I'm willing to guess. I was lucky, because it wiped off my leather gym shoes just fine. Jeff ended up throwing away his shoes in the hotel lobby, figuring they were old, he wouldn't need them any more this trip, and he had a replacement pair waiting for him at home.

After what felt like a really long wait, the shuttle bus showed up to take us to the airport. We crossed all our fingers that the bags would make the airline's weight allowance (since we'd acquired more stuff) and we got on our Quantas-link flight for Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef. Finally. Some warm weather ahead in the tropics.

In the Cairns airport, we were met by the transport service and taken to our beach front apartment in Trinity Beach, which is a beach town north of Cairns.

We were greeted by the proprietors of the Meridien, Ian and Barb, and their animal ambassadors Charlie the dog and Midnight the cat, and shown our three bedroom apartment. It was perfect. Warm weather. Our own kitchen. Cable and wireless internet. The beach a short walk out the patio door. And warm weather.

For dinner, restaurants were only a short block or two away. My nephew "Drake" expressed fears that we'd have another dinner fiasco, but we quickly found an outdoor table (yes, it was warm enough to eat outside!) at an Italian restaurant and sent a contingent off to the bottle shop to buy our wine.

Then it was back to the apartment to vegetate in front of the television and watch "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

Australia - Day 11 - The Olgas

We woke up early to say goodbye to Margaret, who was leaving on her trip to Peru. An hour later, we were headed out the door to the airport ourselves. The sun was just rising.

Morning traffic delayed us, and we had our fingers crossed that we'd get to our flight in time. We did. We said goodbye to Auntie Edie, Ross and Gill outside of security, then caught our Quantas flight to Ayer's Rock.

Dave and I were in coach this time, with some squirmy little kids behind us kicking our seats. It made me really appreciate (for the umpteenth time) what good travelers my nephews are, as they were content to listen to their music and play their video games.

We had a spectacular view of Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) on our approach to the little airport of Ayer's Rock. The airport was so little, we deplaned using an outside staircase (I don't get to do that very often anymore) and there appeared to be only a handful of gates. Perfectly understandable, when you consider that Ayer's Rock is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere (closest city is Alice Springs) with the resort and related tourism the major industry.

A free shuttle took us to the Ayer's Rock resort area, which we learned is a collection of about six different hotels/motels/campgrounds apparently managed collectively and clustered around a "town center" shopping area.

We checked into the hotel, snarfed down a quick lunch in the bar, and signed up for our excursions. It turns out that we should have pre-registered for the excursions we really wanted because many were sold out -- such as the sunset camel ride. Instead, Dave and I got on a tour to The Olgas, while Mom, Heather, Jeff and the kids took a shuttle over to Ayer's Rock.

The Olgas (Kata Tjuta)

Dave and I climbed into yet another 12-person passenger van. This time, for a less-than-an-hour ride to see and hike in The Olgas. At first, I wasn't that enthused about getting in a van and driving a distance -- again -- but I really felt the need to get out and do something active, and the booking agent assured me the drive wasn't that long.

And, the booking agent was right: The drive didn't seem that long. Especially because we stopped along the way to view Kata Tjuta and Uluru from a distance.



We stopped in the Walpa Gorge section of Kata Tjuta to hike. Our hike was probably only a mile in and a mile out, if that, but it was just enough to feel like I'd done something. The views were amazing, but the sun was a little too harsh and my photos didn't turn out that spectacular. I brought my winter coat, but didn't end up needing it on the hike.



After about an hour, after all 12 of us had trickled in from our hikes, we loaded up the van again and headed for a toilet break. I only mention this stop because Dave encountered a massive spider in the men's room, which, reassuringly, was our first spider encounter on the trip. (After watching Discovery channel for so many years, we were very aware of all the venomous things in Australia -- and were quite delighted not to be seeing many of them this trip!)

Sunset over Ayer's Rock (Uluru)

The last stop on our 12-person bus tour was the sunset viewing area at Uluru. Funny thing was, we ran into my Mom, Heather, Jeff and the boys here and were able to watch the sun set with them.

I hate to admit this, but while the sunset was amazingly beautiful, we were all freezing and a little bored. Dave kept poking me and saying "Take more pictures. That's why we're here. Why aren't you taking pictures now?" Well, it was just a (huge) rock changing (brilliant) color, but otherwise not doing anything, so I humored him and kept taking photos. Now I have a big collection of the same rock in slightly different lighting and framing. I won't bore you with all of them. :-)

The Dinner Fiasco

Our attempt to eat dinner tonight will from here on out be known as "The Dinner Fiasco."

We were warned that we'd need to make a booking for dinner (all the excursions end at about the same time after sunset, so everyone would be trying to eat at the same time). We had done some research and chosen a restaurant on the other side of the resort that was very family friendly and allowed us to cook our own food. They didn't take bookings.

So, we walked across the resort and found the place. Turns out it was near the campground, sheltered under a tent with heat lamps, but technically outside. We hadn't done enough research and it was too cold for many in our group, so we hunted for Plan B.

We found a buffet next door that appeared to be half empty. But, no, they couldn't accommodate a party of 7 because they had bookings. "Could you squeeze us in? We'll eat really fast," we asked. We were given an emphatic no. But, after a moment, they reconsidered and said they could squeeze in 5 of us.

It was a no-go. Time to find a Plan C. We took the shuttle bus back to the other side of the resort. The takeout cafe was closed, the grocery store had items that needed cooking facilities, and the Italian restaurant had a line out the door. We were cold, people were starving, the family was grumpy, and the wait for a table for 7 would be long.

Somehow it turned out that Dave and I got a small table for two at the Italian restaurant, while the rest of the family ordered takeout from the restaurant and took it back to their rooms. We weren't going to be happy, but at least we'd be fed.

Warmed up and with food in our bellies, Dave and I went back to our hotel lobby for a glass of wine and to surf the Internet using the hotel's wireless service. The wine was good, but our laptop wouldn't connect. Something was broken. Dave spent at least an hour trying to make it work.

Heather showed up with her laptop and was able to connect, so we were able get a few of the big things on our to-do list accomplished, such as arrange a pickup from the airport tomorrow in Cairns and a rental van for pickup on Sunday -- but just barely. Bleary-eyed, we stumbled back to the room.

I think all of us had been in go-go-go vacation mode for too long and we were due for a crash. This was it. All in all, it wasn't a good night and the best option was to go to bed.

Australia - Day 9 - Treetop Walk and Great Ocean Road

I'd managed to steal enough hours of me-time with a book this week, but Dave needed a respite today, so he stayed home. He slept in, worked out and went shopping with Stuart, who'd just gotten out of the hospital following surgery on his arm/wrist.

I went with Ross, Gill, Ben, Auntie Edie and the rest of the American family for a marathon drive to the Otways and back along the Great Ocean Road. We had an ambitious itinerary and a lot of kilometers to cover before we had to be back for a final dinner with the family.

Today was all about the views: the Melbourne cityscape was we drove out of town, the green pastures of farm county, the lush rainforest in the Otways, and the ocean vistas at sunset on the way home. I was intrigued, because this is an area around Melbourne that I'd never gotten to explore before.

In Geelong, we stopped at Geelong Grammar School, where Ross' dad was once headmaster and Ross grew up. As an American, when I hear "grammar school", I think of an elementary school for grades 1-5 or 1-6, but Geelong Grammar is more like Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Not with castles and magic, of course, but with dormitories and "houses" and intra-school competitions. I guess a more accurate comparison would be an old English boarding school, but I know far more about Hogwarts than any old English boarding schools.

From Geelong, we took the Princes Highway past small towns and farming country (including a drive-by of a farm that Ross used to own). We stopped for lunch in the town of Colac, where some of us sampled the meat pies (love a good meat pie -- it's a good thing for me they're not common here in the U.S.).

From there, we went on to the Otway Fly Treetop Walk. This is an interpretative trail set up through the rainforest that brings you up onto catwalks about 25 meters above the rainforest floor. From there, we were able to climb a tower that brought us more than 45 meters above the rainforest floor. It's difficult in words and pictures to capture the sense of sway and movement in the catwalks, but yet at no time did I find it scary.

Ross really seemed to be in his element on this walk -- in full school-teacher mode -- while Heather and I had a great time trying to get creative with photos. The boys, Jeff and Gill were all really patient with us (Mom and Auntie Edie had stayed back in the lodge to enjoy the view there).

From the Otway Fly, we took the Great Ocean Road home. My best frame of comparison for the Great Ocean Road is Highway 1 along the coast in California, although Mom insists that the Great Ocean Road is windier. Unfortunately, we were in daylight for only about the first third of the drive -- I have a ton of respect for Ross driving the van on that road in darkness. My nephews didn't enjoy the ride much, as they both started to feel queasy from the twists and turns. We moved them up to the middle of the van where, fortunately, they slept through the worst of it.



I had said our itinerary was ambitious, and it was -- we had to call ahead and postpone our farewell dinner by an hour, and then we were still a half-hour late. Thank heavens Dave was there to represent the American family during that time!

Food was already on the table when we arrived at the restaurant. Waiting for us were Peter and Lynn, Emma and Greg, Stuart and Tasha, Paul and Sara, David and Sue, Natalie and Margaret. There were more than 20 of us total. Dinner was over far too quickly and we were saying goodbye to everyone. I think each and every person was extended a personal invitation to visit us in the States, and I sincerely hope they can come someday.

Then, we were back to Margaret's house, where we had to pack our suitcases and get ready to head on to Ayer's Rock first thing in the morning.

Australia - Day 8 - Yarra Valley wine country

Today my nephews got a reprieve from the adults, as they got to spend the day with Gill and Ben on Ross' farm doing boy things and being kids.

Meanwhile the adults spent the day doing adult things -- like tasting wine.

Last time I was in Australia, the wine industry wasn’t as developed as it is now and I don’t remember touring wineries as being an excursion option. Even if it was, I didn’t appreciate wine then like I do now. This time, it was a must-do for all the adults in our group.

We had a full crew heading out to the Yarra Valley. Margaret was designated driver, and we were joined by Paul, Keith, David, Sue, Ross and Auntie Edie on the bus.

First stop, Yering Station for lunch (and many bottles of wine, of course). We didn’t do an official “tasting” here, but we had a “gorgeous” meal with at least four different varieties of wine. We probably spent too long lingering over lunch and enjoying the fabulous views, but can I really complain about that?

Next stop, was TarraWarra, where we all did the tasting of their full spectrum of wines – and enjoyed the fabulous views. Funny thing was, the server was also one of Ross' former students.

Final stop, Domaine Chandon at Green Point, where we ordered flights of the sparkling wines so we could taste the different varieties, and relaxed in the tasting room where we (can you guess what I’m going to say?) enjoyed the fabulous views. (These wineries know how to maximize on their locations.)

All three places had “beautiful” wines, but we didn’t buy any to bring home. We had far too many airplane flights ahead of us with carry-on liquid restrictions and baggage weight allowances. But, I plan to look up these wines at the “bottle shops” at home. It’s fun to be able to read a wine label and actually know the region the wine is from – and say “I’ve been there.”

Not everyone in the group was a wine drinker, but one thing I learned living in California is that the best way to try wine is at tastings like these where you get to sample many varieties. I’m not sure Paul is converted, but he made a great effort.

Tea at Auntie Edie's house

“Tea” tonight was at Auntie Edie’s house. "Tea" we quickly learned this trip, does not mean that the beverage "tea" will be served; instead, the Australians tend to use it to describe the evening meal -- what I would call "dinner". (Yet, even though this was a dinner, Auntie Edie served some of the yummy tea-cakes and tea-biscuits she'd been tempting us with all week. Speaking of which, I need to track down the recipes for some of those.)

I'd only seen the outside of Auntie Edie's home at the retirement village, so I was surprised at how spacious the place was inside. Many of the treasures I remember from her old house were there, including the weird-yet-fascinating piece of "hair art" made from the hair of one of my great-great-grandmothers. Those wacky Victorians. It's one of those family relics that kind of makes you go "yuck", but yet it's been saved so long and meant so much to someone at one time, how can you get rid of it? With that said, I may someday receive a package from Australia with the "hair art" inside, because I'm not sure many other people in the family appreciate it the way I do...

Australia - Day 7 - Melbourne and Victoria Market

Today was our "city" day. Margaret drove the bus to pick up Sue, Heather, Jeff and the boys, and we were off to our first stop, which was the Victoria Market. I'd forgotten that I'd been to the market when I was here in 1991 until Auntie Edie reminded me that this was where I'd purchased sheepskin rugs. (Some as a wedding present for Heather and Jeff, and some for myself.)

The first part of the market we went into was mostly flea-market. Tons of vendors selling mostly touristy type things. We bought some camphor laurel cutting boards (which smell heavenly and have really cool grain patterns), then moved on.

While we were enjoying ourselves at the market, Dave and I didn't get really excited until we made it into the produce area. Very Victorian looking and lots of gourmet food stalls. It would have been fun to really shop there, but traveling with perishables would have been problematic.

From the market, we headed to Federation Square. This is where driving the bus proved challenging. Turns out, we were a little too tall from many of the parking garages. When we finally found one that could accommodate our height, we had to search for a stall on the ground level, and once found, Margaret had a real tricky time maneuvering into place. She did an outstanding job, even if some people inside the bus were afraid to watch.

We walked to Federation Square, where we popped into the Australian Center for the Moving Image to see the Pixar: 20 Years of Animation exhibit. My nephews, Dave and I were all excited to see this exhibit, which showed how Pixar has brought stories like Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. to life. A highlight of the exhibition was the zoetrope, which contained all sorts of models from Toy Story. The zoetrope would spin in sync with a strobe, making the models appear animated.

The writer in me really liked all the commentary about how Pixar brings a story to life. One quote that really stuck with me was by John Lasseter: "Computers done create computer animation any more than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation is the artist."

Once we had finished the Pixar exhibit, the fog had cleared up outside and we were able to enjoy Federation Square a little better. The square has a really modern look that a lot of people apparently don't like, although most people seem to admit that it's functional as a community gathering place. I found the square to be interesting and fun to explore. I even liked the juxtaposition of the modern architecture against the more Victorian architecture of its neighbors. To me, it made the city seem more vibrant and alive, as though it's never stopped growing and changing.

From Federation Square, we walked along the Yarra River to find lunch, then we went to the top of the Eureka Tower to enjoy the views. Unfortunately, the wait was too long to experience The Edge, but we were able to watch it in action. It's a little room with glass walls and floor. You board The Edge when it's tucked inside the building, then it gradually pulls away. The glass on the walls and floor appears to be LED, so that when it's moving away from the building, the glass is obscured. Once it's all the way out, the LED turns clear, and those inside get the illusion that the floor has dropped away, revealing a view of the ground 88 floors straight down.



From the Eureka Tower we walked to the casino, stopped to rest, then wandered back to the bus, enjoying our views of the city as we walked.

For all the time I've spent in the Melbourne area, I've spent very little time in the city. Maybe someday I'll stay in downtown Melbourne for a night and get the true city experience.

Australia - Day 6 - Penguin Parade

I've been social so many days in a row, today I was finding it more difficult. The urge to curl up with a book and declare that "I want to be alone" was strong, but even stronger was my desire to hang out with the family and see the penguins.

We picked up a rental bus this morning, one that accommodates 12. It made shuffling us all around easier.



Our first stop was the crematorium gardens where my Uncle Ray and Cousin Ian had their ashes spread. Two years ago, my Mom brought a few of my Dad's ashes and scattered them in the same flower bed in the garden so that a little bit of my Dad will always be here in Australia.

The gardens were really gorgeous, even though it was winter. We each placed a rose in the flower bed and paid our respects, then explored the grounds.

A nice feature of the gardens is the seasonal pavilions containing memory books of the people officially memorialized here.

At one point, Dave pulled me aside and told me quite seriously, "They've made a mistake. The books are in the wrong room. June, July and August are in the winter room, and December, January, February are in the summer room."

I had to really look at him to try to gauge his intent. "You're serious, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, they've messed up." Then, after a moment, realization dawned. "Oh, that's right. Southern Hemisphere. I keep forgetting. The seasons are reversed."

Funny thing was, not 2 minutes later, I heard my nephews having the same conversation.

Peter, Lynn and Alicia joined us at the Crematorium, which was really nice, since I'd never really gotten to spend much time with any of them before, except for a few quick conversations at the reunion.

After the Crematorium visit, Margaret and Edie left to take Ro to the airport, and the rest of us drove on to our next destination -- to meet up with Ross, Gill and Ben and see the Penguin Parade.

The Penguin Parade is located on Phillip Island, south of Melbourne. It's a little bit of a hike by car, but still easily a day trip. The island is home to a colony of Little Penguins, which are the smallest penguin species. During the day, many of the penguins are out fishing in the ocean, but at sunset, when they deem it safest from predators, they'll come ashore and waddle to their homes.

When we were in Melbourne 20 years ago, we came to see the penguins, and I've always considered it one of my favorite Australian stops.

Since the penguins come ashore on the beach and walk right past the spectators, the park has had to implement more and more safeguards over the years. From reading the website, it seemed like we'd have to take more of an organized tour to get the close-up experience we were hoping for.

Taking the ranger tour was our best decision of the day. Not only because we got all the extra little details that a tour guide provides, but because she walked us back to the viewing stand as part of the tour and pointed out the best seats to watch from. We were all set up by the time the rest of the crowd was allowed in. The only drawback was that we had a full hour to wait for the sun to go down and the penguins to start coming ashore. It was a really cold hour. But, at least Margaret had sent us off this morning well prepared. We had blankets to sit on and blankets to wrap ourselves in.

And when the penguins arrived, they walked right past us. Just a few feet away. So very, very cute as they waddled past. I think there were about 350 that came ashore that night total.

Unfortunately for us, photography was strictly prohibited. They didn't want people using flash photography and hurting the penguins' vision -- and since they didn't trust people to keep their flashes turned off, they made all photography verboten. (We had about 30 seconds during daylight when the ranger said it was OK, and I was able to get one hasty shot of us getting settled in the viewing stand.)

When the penguin parade was done, we were a cold group of people wandering into the visitor center to warm up. After a round of hot drinks, we were back into the bus for the long drive home.