Easter in Sydney

We explored Sydney on the Easter long weekend... it rained on us for most of it but the sun did come out for the last day!

yurtle and pudgy in front of the opera house on the first day

night views

We went on a bus tour to the Blue Mountains on March 22nd to see some rock formations but this was about all we saw because of the rain!


We went to the Jenolan caves as well that day so at least the day ended better than it started!




On the Sunday, we went on another bus tour. This time we went on a winery tour of the Hunter Valley. The wine at McWilliams was pretty good but not at McGuigans.

We ran across the road from McGuigans and crashed another winery called Tempus Two... much better wine!!



On Monday, we went on a monster walk from the famous Bondi beach to Coogee beach to meet up with our friend Anne from the Perth tour (local girl). The sun came out that day and Sydney actually looked pretty for a change!

Phillip Island and Great Ocean Road

On March 8th, we went to Phillip Island on a bus tour with our English friend Mel from the Perth tour. We stopped at a wildlife zoo where we saw a sleepy baby wombat, Tasmanian devils, koalas, kangaroos and wallabies (smaller, darker colour, shorter noses).







We stopped at Cape Woolamai for a walk on the beach and drove past the Nobbies to see the rugged coast line.




We watched the world's smallest penguins waddle their way across Summerland Beach at sunset. They were maybe 3 feet away from our viewing platform and it was great fun to watch them tumble down the sandy hill towards their burrows. This was the only picture of a penguin we were allowed to take:


This picture is from the internet just to give you an idea. They are only about 5-6" tall!




The following weekend, we rented a car and did the pretty but scary drive along the Great Ocean Road. It heads west from Melbourne along the coast line for 273 km and winds past surfing beaches and through temperate rain forests. We went as far as Port Campbell and stayed in a winery bed and breakfast. Our new friend, Pudgy the penguin, joined us for this trip.





We actually saw a koala in the wild!


These signs were everywhere to remind the tourists which side to drive on because the Great Ocean Road is quite popular.


We were a little disappointed when we got to the Twelve Apostles (awesome limestone formations carved by the Southern Ocean and the wind)... it was really overcast and foggy. Needless to say, we didn't see a sunset. We'll have to go back another time because it is supposed to be spectacular. This is what we saw when we got there:


Sunrise over the winery

We went to Gibson's Steps only to find they had closed it temporarily.... we kind of ignored the sign.

this is what we saw without clouds and fog the next day...

We waded around in the Southern Ocean and Kat got soaked by a huge wave!

Flowers for Grama

succulents, shrubs and trees...

looks like a chicken and hen??

another picture of them

these grow about 2.5 ft tall

giant succulent?

giant aloe vera?

more big cactus things?

don't know?? grows about 1 ft tall

a common shrub that is a neat yellowy-green



some kind of shrubby bush that flowers (from somewhere in WA)

there are palm trees everywhere!

kind of like a palm tree but not quite??

i think this is a banyan tree?

this is a gum tree (loses its bark)

kind of like a pine tree (from Cottesloe, WA)

strangely enough, there are oak trees lining the streets around my neighbourhood

a peach tree... there are also lemon trees on my walk to the train station

grape vines also on my walk to the train station

flowers...

has purplish leaves and grows about 3 ft tall

i think this is a lily of some sort? or astromaria?

kind of like a bleeding heart but not really... grows about 6 ft high

i really think this is a giant spider plant hedge!

moonflower i think?

a flower on a tree about 10 ft tall

weird little flowering hedge-like ground cover?

bird of paradise (beauty and the beast of man)

de had a tall plant like this from aunt linda but killed it??

these are every where and grow at least 8 ft high

has rigid leaves and thin white petals

a silver plant about 1.5 ft tall that flowers too

pretty flowers on a broad-leaved hedge about 6 ft tall

i think these are giant bleeding hearts??

a little purple flower on a hedge about 3 ft tall

the leaves are almost like a rubber plant or a tobacco plant??

pretty rose that i saw

a lot of people use lavender for a hedge to line their yard... one person used rosemary!

don't know... tall tall tall though - like 8 ft!

kind of like a giant hyacinth?

some kind of creeping plant with lupin-like flowers

the "flower" seems kind of woody??

the geraniums here grow taller than i am!!

??

grows about 3ft high... looks similar to lavender but not quite?

this was the "flower" on a shrubby bush