Phillip Island

I hope you like koalas, because I took about a hundred pictures of them when my parents were in town!

During mom and dad's visit, we wanted to take one "big" day trip from Melbourne. There are lots of places to see that are within a two to three hour drive of where we live, but after discussing our potential plans with a few locals and with our visitors, we determined that Phillip Island was a good choice. We started the day at the Nobbies Centre, where we learned a little bit about animal and sea life in Australia and also had a look at Seal Rocks, which at any point in time can house over 20,000 seals! Unfortunately you cannot actually see the seals from the Nobbies Centre, but if you pay a few dollars you can get close up views of the seals, as there are video cameras near the rocks that will zoom in, out, and around for you to get a glimpse of the seals. 

It's tough work sleeping 20 hours a day!

Next, we made our way to the Koala Conservation Centre. Here, boardwalks are strategically built around eucalyptus trees to entice koalas to build their homes there. I had read mixed reviews about this place and wasn't sure it would be worth the $11 admission fee, however, it was absolutely worth the trip. We saw several koalas, two with babies (called "joeys", just like baby kangaroos), and also several wallabies. In addition, there were a few birds spotted, including a robin sitting on her eggs.

If you look closely, you can see that the baby is hanging onto the branch and the mom has her arms wrapped around him. SO cute!

This momma has her left arm around her baby.

This wallaby was not getting any attention whatsoever from my mother!

Can you spot the robin? Not the best photo, as she was well-hidden.

This video was taken on my phone and is therefore probably not the best quality, but it is fun to hear our reactions when the koala unexpectedly decided to get out of the tree. I showed my parents so that you can get an idea of how close we were able to get to the koalas. The background noise you hear is actually cars racing on the Grand Prix course, which is a few miles away from the sanctuary. Apparently that noise has sadly driven some of the wildlife away. 

Koala Conservation Centre from Ashley Hanson on Vimeo.

Another wallaby looking for some attention.

Looking at faces like this just does not get old for me!

Our last stop of the evening was the Penguin Parade. Again, this was something that gets mixed reviews from locals and visitors. Some say it is a must-do and others say it is not worth the money. Overall, I thought it was an enjoyable (albeit, cold) experience. Just after sunset, hundreds of "little penguins" (also called fairy penguins) begin to exit the water and come ashore, where they have burrows in the sand dunes. They tend to come out of the water in groups, and it is actually quite amusing to watch as they waddle to shore, trying to avoid being eaten by the seagulls! However, the most entertaining part is actually as you are walking back from the ocean, because the boardwalks have been built so that you can view the penguins going to their burrows. Also, inside the visitor's center, there are little "windows" into a few burrows so that you can look at the penguins that way. One of the penguins I saw through a window was actually sitting on two eggs. There is no lack of penguin viewing on the walk back to the car, and it is even mentioned to visitors to check under their vehicles for the little guys when leaving the area!

This bird was "pecking" at its reflection in the car and it was hilarious to watch!

Waiting on the little penguins. We had decent seats, but I definitely recommend getting there early to get spots in the first few rows, as it will make for much better penguin viewing.

Visitors!!

On September 23rd, our first visitors arrived in Melbourne...my parents!

Their visit was much anticipated by both us and by the traveling party, who took the trip in part to see us and also to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary! Their visit was planned over school holidays so that I would be free to explore with them without the burden of working during the week. Due to the fact that my dad is still working, he could only take two weeks off, which meant about ten days in Oz after you account for travel and also spending a day in LA (where they did a whirlwind tour of Hollywood, drove up the PCH, and got in the audience for a Jay Leno Show taping!). I tried to pick activities that would "highlight" the best of what Melbourne has to offer, since they would spend only seven days here before flying to Sydney for a long weekend. I also did not want to completely exhaust my parents, as after all, it was meant to be a vacation for them!

When they arrived on Saturday morning, we let them get settled into their new surroundings, but then went to Willy for the day to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. We also ate dinner at a great restaurant within walking distance of our house, which forced them to stay awake even though they would have probably liked to have been asleep! They were troopers though, and managed to avoid going to bed until around 10pm, which helped them get adjusted to our "local" time.

Mom insisted I take this picture to show Erik driving on the "wrong" side of the car!

Strolling on a lovely Saturday in Williamstown with the CBD in view.

Williamstown Beach

On Sunday, we took a day trip to Phillip Island. This was one of the few days that Erik was able to join us for activities, as unfortunately he was (and still is!) quite busy with work. I am going to do a separate post for Phillip Island, since this was our first visit there, but for now I'll leave you with a few pictures from the Koala Sanctuary. We also attended the Penguin Parade, but they do not allow photography (much to my mother's dismay!), so the only pictures I have from that event are of the lovely sunset over the ocean that evening.

One of the koalas that my mother became attached to...she did not want to leave!

There were many wallabies at the koala sanctuary, though Sandy did not have much interest in them!

Watching the water for any sign of penguins

Monday was rather low key due to the fact that I sustained some sort of food poisoning, likely from a Red Rooster (a local fast food chain) rotisserie chicken. Unfortunately I was still feeling sluggish on Monday, but that did mean that we could relax at home and watch the Ravens play Sunday night football. Later on in the afternoon, we took the train from Footscray Station into the city so that we could ride the City Circle Tram. The free tram travels around the city in about an hour, giving a little bit of commentary along the way. It is a good way to get your bearings of the city and it was a nice way to spend a cool afternoon. On the way home, we stopped at Olympic Doughnuts so that my parents could try their famous hot jam donuts. The place looks incredibly dodgy, but luckily the girl in front of my mother explained that she had been coming to get donuts for years from that place (it opened in 1981), so my mom was convinced they were okay to eat. :)

Flinders Street Station

Hanging out at the tram stop

Hot jam donuts at Footscray Station!

On Tuesday, we departed for the Great Ocean Road! The three of us (Erik had to stay home to work...booo!) headed out in the morning and set our sights on reaching Apollo Bay that evening. We would return back to Melbourne on Wednesday night for Erik's birthday dinner. Our trip was absolutely fantastic, and I will do a separate blog post about our trip there as well, because there is just too much to write about in one post. Highlights included surfers at Bells Beach in 3 meter swells, kangaroos at Anglesea golf course, baby koalas on the road to Cape Otway lighthouse, witnessing two koala fights on the same road, stunning views from Teddy's lookout, a tapas dinner in Apollo Bay, and obviously seeing the 12 Apostles.

Wednesday evening we celebrated 34 years of Erik with pizza for dinner and cake for dessert. He even had a few presents to open, some of which traveled all the way from Africa, where Erik's mother spent some time just a few months ago.

Birthday boy!! :)

Rainbow chip cake is the way to this guy's heart!

For Thursday, we planned a trip to Queen Victoria Market. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of mom and dad at the market, but I think they enjoyed looking at the items the stalls had to offer and they did a good amount of souvenir shopping there as well. I actually drove to the market (which I would never do under other circumstances because I hate driving in the city), and came to a sign where I was supposed to do a hook turn. Well I have never encountered that before and I had absolutely no idea what to do! There were no cars coming in the other direction (though there was a cyclist who probably had to slow down to avoid hitting me), so I just turned right instead of waiting like I was apparently supposed to do. I might need a Melbournian to work with me on this hook turn thing! On Thursday evening, we headed to a local brewery, Matilda Bay, for a beer tasting. I will post additional information about that as well, because I think local readers might be interested in learning more about that adventure. We all had a great time and also met some "friends" during our tasting experience!

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin

Our friends!

Friday was spent watching the Ravens on Thursday night football and also packing up for the next adventure -- a trip to Sydney! On Friday night we had dinner with some members of our "footy family", who were generous to host us for dinner after just returning from a three week holiday in Europe the day before. My parents enjoyed being able to be inside the home of an Australian family and there was no lack of good food, drink, and conversation! We flew out of Melbourne on Saturday morning on different flights and met up at our hotel, Marriott Circular Quay, later that afternoon. Again, I will do a separate post on Sydney, but here are a few pictures from the trip.

Two iconic sites in one shot. Lots of people out enjoying the lovely Sydney weather!

Family!

My parents flew out of Sydney on Monday at 1pm and arrived back in Baltimore at 8pm on Monday night, over 24 hours after they left Australia. We had a fantastic visit with them, and we are so glad that they were able to make it here to see what our lives are like Down Under. Stay tuned for more detailed reports from their visit! :)