Wednesday, December 26 Drive to Melbourne

     Although we spent most of the day on the road driving to Melbourne, we did get to make a few stops along the way.

The coast west of Melbourne looks a lot like the Big Sur

A quick look-and-book to check out the ocean

     We got into town in the afternoon, found a place to camp, then drove into the city to meet a couple of Kristy's friends, Jake and Lorelei, at a park by the river.  We found an unused barbie, threw on some Kangabangas (roo sausages), and watched walkers and bikers and families enjoying the cool afternoon.

      Later, we strolled through the nearby Botanical Gardens, humming along with the strains of music from James Bonds movies. The park had a huge inflatable movie screen set up to show the latest Bond film, which we decided to skip, as the $18 tickets seemed a bit beyond our budgets.

C'mon people, can we please decide which way we're going

View of Melbourne from the Gardens

Kristina Leaf Hands

      We got back to our caravan park late, set up our tents, and tried to ignore the usual urban night noises as we went to bed.

Tuesday, December 25 Victoria Coast to Melbourne

      The day started out like any normal Christmas;

Waking up and finding presents by your tent

Excited anticipation of the gifts inside

The joy in receiving something you've always desired
(in this case, your very own fly strip)

     Sometimes in the Burt family we go for a walk after all the presents are open and the candy eaten;

With Mom leading the way ...

... and Dad bringing up the rear

      If it is white outside the kids may lay down and make angels

     Then a drive through the winter countryside ...

... looking for wildlife

... just beware of the bears

They're even more dangerous when they come in pairs

Mothers are particularly frightening when with their young

      All-in-all, it was a rather nice Christmas day.  Hope yours was as well!

Monday, December 24 The Grampians to the Victoria Coast

     In the morning we had breakfast, packed up, and headed out towards the coast.  There was one surprise along the way.

Low clouds over the Gampians

What's she doing here?  If Australia gets to have some of our deer, I think we
should get a few of their roos wandering around the US.

      We spotted this volcano while driving through the countryside and decided to check it out.

 Mt. Rouse, an extinct volcano
(photo borrowed from Google)

Whew, there's some kind of weird gravity thing goin' on up here!

OK, if you hold on real tight to those metal bars,
maybe you won't float up into the sky.

Back on firm ground, Dan treats the gang to shakes and ice cream. 

      We got to the ocean in the afternoon.  Australia has over of 66,000 kilometers of coastline, most of it pretty impressive.  But the shore along southern Victoria is especially beautiful.

The 12 Apostles sea stacks

Nice view of London Bridge formation

Uh oh, looks like we've got gravity issues again

      We were lucky to find a place to camp near Princetown.  Again, lots of space and nature.  After setting up our tents we enjoyed our traditional Christmas eve dinner of lamb, flat bread, hummus, apricots, almonds, olives, and cheese, even if the setting was a little unusual.

Sunday, December 23 Grampians

      We spent Sunday in the Grampians, a small mountain range in south western Victoria.  We'd gotten a nice National Park campground the day before and planned to stay two nights, which is a luxury that eliminates an unloading and unpacking of the roof bundle.  Our site was big and roomy, with many visiting kangaroos and birds.

Home for two nights

     We spent the day hiking around the mountains.  It felt good to get a vigorous leg stretching after a couple days of driving through the outback.

Walking through a canyon

Dan - "I like your new hat, Kelly"
Kelly - "Yours looks mighty fine too, Dan"

How all the new hats look from the sun's point of view

Smile, pardner

Kelly in her signature, 'I've climbed to the top of some high place and
now I'm scaring everyone' pose

Ryan getting ready to pose on his own precipice

Of course Diana has to get in on the action.  Where do you think
they all get their fear of heights from?  

     
    After dinner Kristy played her ukulele, the other kids and Diana read, and I sat watching birds snatching bugs out of the cool evening air.

Saturday, December 22 Murray River to Grampians National Park

     We had a quite a lot of driving on Saturday, but naturally we did get in a bit of adventure along the way.

These water buffalo were unimpressed when I did my Mick Dundee imitation

No day would be complete without some shopping.

Ryan 'enjoying' the shopping experience ...

... ditto Kevin

    OK, so that wasn't much of an adventure, but Kristy, Kelly and Dan did get some nice hats, which will help protect them from the bright Australian sun.  Plus, they look so fine in them!

December 25 - Santa made it to Oz!

     We woke up this morning to the surprise of little gift bags from old St. Nick outside our tents.

First he had to make his list ...

... then he had to tune up the old sleigh.

Rudolph needed to be thawed out before he could lead the way.

"Ho, ho, h... . @#*&, I forgot how many trees there
are in Australia"

"Just in case that nice Yank family need a replacement
for their Land Cruiser"

To all our dear friends and family,
Merry Christmas
(especially David, who we miss and love so much)

Friday, December 21 Tablelands to Murray River Region - Good News!

We're still here!    

    We made it to December 22!  Just wanted to let you all know that the world has survived.  Well, at least Oz has.  I guess you've got a few more hours to go.  We just Skyped with David and things are looking OK in Connecticut. Hope all is well where you are.

     Yesterday we returned to the real Outback, for a few hours at least.  We drove from the Tablelands west of the Blue Mountains out to Hay in southwestern New South Wales, which is at the edge of the immense arid center of Australia.  Temps of only around 95 F, so it wasn't too hot, but it was dry and for a couple hours of driving nearly treeless.  Although not the 6 weeks Diana and I spent driving through, it did provide a good glimpse of what the majority of Oz looks like.

     Just prior to leaving the Tablelands we passed through a fruit fly exclusion zone, which meant eating a pound of cherries, ten apples, and three mangoes, since we wouldn't be allowed to bring them along with us, and Kelly certainly wasn't going to let all the fruit go to waste.

Getting fruity at the side of the road

Kristy depositing cores and pits and peels

    Then, on to the outback.

First emu spotting for the newcomers.  Fortunately, we saw several live ones
a few minutes later.

We stopped at a bird-filled swamp in the middle of the desert ...

... with alien plant life ...

... and skeletons (this was a fox) ...

... all protected by nasty spiky plants

A new roadside phenomenon ...

... red vehicles on posts.  Could it become the latest fad?

     Nearing the Murray river we were back to trees and towns and agriculture.  But the Outback will always be there, waiting for our return.  Even if only at a steakhouse back home. (Eww, I don't think so!)