Return to Healesville

You may recall that the weekend after we arrived in AUS we took the tram, train, then bus to get out to the Healesville Sanctuary to pet kangaroos for Isaac's birthday. On the bus we had driven through a beautiful area with lots of vineyards and rolling hills that we wanted to return to before we left. Anne's visit was the perfect time to go and we stayed at the most beautiful rental property, The White House. It was especially perfect for our family since it is a working farm and they welcomed the boys to help with chores and visit the animals. And animals there were! The day we arrived we saw kookaburras, cockatoos, parrots, kangaroos(finally!), horses, alpacas, goats, and miniature horses. It rained most of the weekend, and we got sooo muddy, but we were having so much that we hardly noticed.

More photos here.

Maca comes to Oz

Anne arrived on Thursday, July 21st, sans luggage which got delivered to the apartment the next day, to start a 10-day stay. It was so nice to see a familiar face and be able to introduce her to our adopted city here. It was also a great excuse for a couple more outings as we had our own departure in sight.

More photos here and here

Collingwood Children's Farm

Jeremiah took the boys to Collingwood Children's Farm on Saturday. I've been wanting to take the boys there since we came here, but was too intimidated by the public transportation route to take them myself. Of course J has no such concerns, so on Saturday they took off for the farm while I was a bit under the weather. They had a great time and I'm very sorry to have missed it. Hoping it might work out to get back there again before we leave.

More photos here.

Great Ocean Road - Twelve Apostles

The big attraction in this area is the Twelve Apostles. They really are amazing, but there was a very specific viewing area and of course we arrived at the same time as about 4 charter buses full of people. We really only stayed long enough to walk and take the photos.

*More photos here*

Great Ocean Road - Loch Ard Gorge

This area was the real gem of our Great Ocean Road trip, I think Jeremiah would agree. It's called Loch Ard Gorge for the Loch Ard shipwreck in 1878 in which only 2 people survived. After looking at the photos, you might see why it's amazing to me that anyone survived. The water beats against the cliffs mercilessly all the way through the narrow channel onto the beach.

We first arrived here to admire the scenery and then returned later in the day to let the boys play in the sand. It was much too chilly to play in the water by any reasonable person's standards, but of course the boys didn't mind at all.

*Photos here*

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Great Ocean Road - Home Away From Home Away From Home

Our vacation rental was the guest house of a couple who lives on 5 acres. It seems somewhat common to have a guest house built onto or near homes in rural areas. We absolutely loved the property. Would recommend it to anyone if you're in the area. :)

*Photos Here*

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Great Ocean Road - Apollo Bay

The second stop we made was in Apollo Bay. The Great Ocean Road was absolutely beautiful, but also full of lots of twists and turns along the cliff-side road. We stopped often to ease queesy tummies.

*Photos Here*

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