Oops!

I have been thinking about writing a blog post for ages now as it has been 4 months since my last post, by far the longest stretch I have gone without blogging since our move here in August 2011. I have an abundance of things to write about too, most notably that the hubby and I are expecting an Australian American to join our family in just 9 weeks. We are excited to embark on what is bound to be our most exciting adventure yet!

I find it extremely difficult to sit down in February and March to blog, since those tend to be the months where the weather is the best it gets in Melbourne. Longer days, sunshine, and warmth mean that I want to spend all of my free time outside and not inside typing away on a computer. Now we are well into autumn, with cool temperatures, rain showers, and shorter days on the agenda. Winter will be here in just over a month.

Signs of autumn on a sunny day

My goal is to revive the blog over the next few weeks (before our lives get flipped upside down with a newborn bub!) and share with you some of the adventures we have had over the last few months. I am most excited to blog about our trip to Vanuatu and Fiji. Sadly, just a few months after we left Vanuatu, the islands were ravaged by a very bad cyclone (hurricane). We are unsure as to what condition the islands are in now, particularly the smaller island of Tanna, where there would be very little protection from a category 5 cyclone.

Accommodation on Tanna (volcano in the background). Not likely able to withstand a cyclone.

Ironically, another place that we visited in 2014 has just been devastated by a natural disaster, as the city of Kathmandu has been hit by a major earthquake. The pictures we have seen so far are horrifying and we are hoping that the death toll does not continue to rise. Both of these countries rely heavily on tourism and both have such poor infrastructure, so we worry about the Ni-Van and Nepalese people and hope that they can bounce back from these tragedies.

Durbar Square in Kathmandu, looking much different than it does today.

Autumn in Australia

The title of this post should really be "Autumn in Melbourne", because I know that there are some places in Oz that do not really experience a true Autumn due to climate and location. At lot of people from back home have asked if we see the leaves change color. In short, "yes", but not all trees change color and the colors are not nearly as dramatic as what you might see in Western Maryland or Northern Minnesota. I'm not a botanist, so I don't claim to be familiar with the names of all of the trees in the Melbourne area, but I believe that many of the trees are from the Eucalyptus family, commonly referred to as "gum trees". Correct me if I'm wrong, fellow Aussies, but I do not think that these trees lose their leaves or greens in the winter months. Many produce flowers at some point that I'm assuming die off in Autumn weather. Melbourne is also home to many palm trees, as our winters seem to be mild enough for the palms to handle.

Erik and I are fortunate enough to live on a tree-lined street of trees that do change color, so it has been enjoyable to watch the change of seasons take place right in front of our house. Technically winter began on June 1st, as the Australians don't seem to believe in following the solstice like we do in the States. The first two and a half weeks of winter have been really nice for the most part, with temperatures in the upper 50's to low 60's during the day and low to mid 40's at night. The following pictures were taken about two weeks ago. Now there are far less leaves hanging around on the branches some trees have lost all of their leaves!

Our street in the middle of the day during the week.
Packed with cars at night even though each house has a two car garage!

Not quite enough leaves for a good leaf pile!

Early moon rise.
Fortunately in just a few days we will start seeing more hours of daylight!