Technology!! Grrrr

I've been trying to update this using an app I have on my phone and it hasn't gone very well. I also didn't have Internet for the last few days. I will get back to updating soon. Promise. Just got to the Sunshine Coast and now trying to figure out life decisions. All is going great though!! :)

A small 5 hour delay

We left Melbourne this morning and everything was going great! Flew to Alice Springs (in the middle of the outback) to catch a connecting flight to Ayers Rock. 

 

Well the connecting flight never came; so now we are sitting in the Alice Springs airport waiting on a bus to drive us 5 hours to the rock. This should be a very interesting drive. But what is a good backpacking adventure without some hiccups. 

Awesome weekend...

This weekend our hosts took us to the Yarra Valley and to Phillip Island.  The Yarra Valley is northeast of Melbourne and is well known for wineries.  The landscape was beautiful.  I didn't take any pictures cause it rained on us the whole time, but this is pretty much what it looks like.

Such a beautiful place.

That night we headed south to Phillip Island to watch the Penguins come in from the ocean.  They only come to shore at sunset.  They were so cute!!  The come to the surface in groups and you watch as they struggle a bit to get out of the water and then waddle up to the shore.  They have bench seating and lights for you to watch the Penguins, but sadly, you are not allowed to take pictures of them.  On the back side of the stair seating is their habitat and you can watch them all waddle to their homes.  It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.  And since I wasn't able to take a picture of them, they look like this:

Soooooo cute!!!!  This is a map of where they live.

Lori and I are headed out in the morning to Ayers Rock.  Super excited!!!  Mebourne has been fun, but I'm excited to see even more of Australia.

More from The Great Ocean Road

Lori and I have made it back to Melbourne.  Here are some photos of our recent adventure.

This is the route we took from Melbourne to Port Campbell and back.

Now we're staying with friends for the next few days before heading on to the next stop.

The Great Ocean Road

We're on the road in a rental car.

Luckily it isn't a weird camper van; although we have seen a bunch of them.  There is one at our campsite that says "hippie camper" on the side.  Very strange.

The Great Ocean Road has been beautiful!  Here are a few pictures I've taken along the way.

More photos to come later.  :)

To hot for anything but the beach....

Today continued on the wonderful week of 90 degree weather. I'm being sarcastic. It's actually unnaturally hot for Melbourne this time of year (great for us) {sarcasm}; and without proper air conditioning, I have decided to not worry about how I look and have worn my hair up everyday. Today Lori and I decided to go to the beach to help keep cool. It was a great idea except we are now cherries. I well... It was worth it!!  Here is us when we first arrived. 

Tomorrow we have rented a car and are heading out on The Great Ocean Road, which is supposed to be extremely beautiful. I'm not sure how often we'll have Internet, so I'll post whenever I can. We've had a great time so far, but we're ready to get out of the city and see some of the country side. 

 

We're here!!

I'm finding Internet to be a little difficult to come by, so I may not be updating as much as I would like. 

It is currently 93 degrees in Melbourne and I'm about to sweat to death!!  Haha... Right now Lori and I are enjoying the air conditioning at the Melbourne museum and the free wi-fi. This morning we visited the Melbourne gaol (jail) and saw where Ned Kelly spent his final days. He was much like Jessie James with robbing banks and the wealthy and sharing money with people for accommodation. There are a few movies about him and I actually learned the story of Ned Kelly long before I ever came to Australia. It was very cool. I'll post pictures of the jail later that I took on my camera. I'm posting this from my phone. 

Here is a picture of Lori and I 14 hours into our 16 hour flight. Pay no attention to how disheveled I look. 

 

Flights

I've headed out. Notice the multiple bags. This will be interesting carrying them around for 2 months. 

 

Packing...packing...and more packing...

You know how they say that when you pack for a trip you should take out 1 or 2 things before you leave? Well this was my bag this morning: 

 

And these were all the things I still needed to pack:

 

After removing about 40 things, I finally got everything in... And a carry on. :/ close enough. The rule is to only carry a third of your body weight. Good thing I decided to stop losing weight. 

Leaving tomorrow afternoon. I can't believe it's already here. Crazy!