Australia's Blue Mountains

Yesterday we traveled west from Sydney 60 miles to see the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are about 3,000 feet high and separate the coastal plain around Sydney and central Australia. Enroute we stopped at a wildlife park and saw some of Autralia's wildlife. While there we saw a mother kangroo with a "joey" in her pouch and were pictured with a Koala.

The second picture displayed is of Georgia playing the "didgeridoo". The didgeridoo is an instrument that is made out of a gum tree branch, which has had the center removed my termites. It was one of the instruments used by the aboriginal people. To the right of Georgia in the picture is a termite mound.

The last two pictures are of the Blue Mountains showing the falls at the "Grand Canyon" and of the "Three sisters" rock formation.

Sydney Harbor

We spent the day on Sydney's harbor seeing the opra house, the harbor bridge, Watson's cove, the headlands, and Darling Harbor at night. It is everything that has been written about it. Shown are the Sydney Opra House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, Georgia at the harbor headlands, lunch at Doyle's restaurnat at Watson's bay, and Darling Harbor at night.

Australian Wildlife

Yesterday we took a tour to see some of Australia's famous wildlife. We started at a working cattle and sheep station, "Warrook Farm". At the station we saw some kangaroos and wombats. After leaving the station, we proceeded to the Koala Conservation Center and observed Koalas in the wild. Then it was on to Phillip Island to see the penguins come in at dusk. It is amazing. The beach will be empty, and then as a wave recedes, there are a large group of penguins lying on the beach. They take a few minutes to assure themselves that it is safe and then march across the beach to their burrows. As they start marching, there are wallabies eating grass not paying any attention to the penguins near by.

Wine Tasting in the Yarra Valley

We spent the day wine tasting in the Yarra Valley. We started our at De Bortoli winery, followed by Yering Winery, then on the Domain Chandon for some sparkling wine and lunch. After lunch we went to Cold Stream Winery and finished the day at the Yarra Dairy for cheese and coffee.

We had a wonderful tour, met a great group of people, and tasted some fine Chardonnays, Sauvigon Blancs and Pinot Noirs.

Australian Open

One of the reasons for coming to Melbourne was to experience the Australian Open Tennis tournament. We spent two of our days in Melbourne at the tournament and saw five fourth round matches. We were lucky enough to see the #1 and #2 men players, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and the # 1 woman player,Carolyn Woznlacki, play.

Melbourne, Australia

We arrived in Melbourne from Auckland after 16 hours of flying time. Melbourne is a beautiful city and although the Yarra River is quite muddy, walking along the banks and dining in the many cafes, quite delightful. One of the surprise of the first two days here was the Queen Victoria Market. It covers several city blocks and has everything from clothes, to computers to food. The second surprise was the street performers that congregate along the Yarra river quay.

January Sking At Lake Tahoe

Georgia bid on a three day ski vacation rental at Tahoe Donner at a charity dinner. On January 4th, we invited two other couples, Doug & Helga Carlton and Tim & Mary Mosteller to join us for some fun in the high Sierras. Everyone either went skiing or snow shoeing in beautiful January weather, cold and clear. Several of the pictures are of the ground fog developing in the evenings.