G'day Cobbers!

I hope you all liked the photos of the Aussie wildlife (Chris included!). We are both continuing to work hard in order to save as many dollars as possible for our adventures.

I have continued to get up at the crack of dawn to travel to my school. The plus point is that I often see lots of hot air balloons in the sky and the skyline is sometimes beautiful at this time of year. The other day the early morning sky was a mix of pinks and reds- it really did look nice! Chrissy boy misses all this as he doesn’t get up until much later (I have told him about the pretty skyline and he said that he would take my word for it!).

Apart from working we have continued to explore Melly and visited Melbourne Museum and IMAX theatre. It was a bargain as I got in free to both because I am a teacher! The museum was surprisingly interesting as it was based on science- so of course I was enthralled! They had loads of stuffed animals to allow you to get up close to their native wildlife. It really is amazing how many animals they have that I hadn’t seen before e.g. bandicoot, potoroo, bilby, etc. They also had a couple of stuffed animals that are now extinct including the Tasmanian tiger.

In the human body section they had a real human brain pickled in a jar and a dead person's hand and leg cut open to show all the ligaments, tendons and bones. I loved it but Chrissy found it a bit gross!

The IMAX theatre showed a 3D movie that took you down on a deep sea dive. It was excellent and reminded us of our dive in Cairns! I could feel the panic coming back! Where was the fit Aussie diver to hold my hand?!!

The weather has been very autumnal, sunny at times but chilly especially at 6 in the morning (yes dad in the morning!). Oh well it with help us to appreciate the hot summer days to come!

We can’t wait for mom, dad and Deb to come to Oz. I have already been thinking about trips that we can do. Definite trips include wine tasting in the Hunter Valley, Blue Mountains, Bondi beach, Manely etc. I think that momma would enjoy visiting Taronga zoo to see all the animals or maybe she would like to do a Sydney Harbour Bridge climb- let me know momma it can be arranged!!!!!!

I actually had my hair coloured, cut and styled last week for the first time since leaving England. Believe me it was needed! I was starting to look like a dodgy backpacker ( we prefer to think of ourselves as yuppie packers instead!)

Anyway love to all

Donnie Doodle (my new nickname that Chrissy calls me!)

PS We are both looking forward to the World cup. Chris is going to borrow a video from his boss at work so we can record some games. Although we are going to get up early to catch the England games if we can!

PPS We are going out with Chris’s workmates on Friday for a thai meal to celebrate someones bday ( I should really find out who). So I’d better be good and behave myself ( as Deb would say- be professional, be professional!).

Have I struck gold- no chance!

  

Chrissy panning for gold

  

Sovereign Hill

  

Cute little Koala

  

A crazy Tasmanian Devil having a dead mouse for lunch-yuk!

  

G'day Mrs wombat!

  

Watch your fingers Chrissy boy!!

  

Now I'm getting brave!

  

Crazy Kangas everywhere!

  

Chris and his new mate!

  

G'day skippy!

  

G'day from Melly!

Hello everyone! Here is our latest news:

I am still teaching at my school in Berwick and doing the odd few days of childcare to make up the money. We are both looking forward to finishing work at the end of July and beginning our travels. After Melly we are flying to Tassie to spend a few days there, and then we are flying to Sydney. We are going to stop in Sydney for a couple of days and arrange to put our luggage in storage. From there we are flying to Cairns and spending the whole of August travelling along the East coast (Qld). Then we will return to Sydney and find an apartment to rent for three months. At some point we hope to go to Alice Springs, Ayres Rock and Darwin as well as exploring more of NSW. We are planning to be home in time for Christmas and momma’s special birthday!

Anyway last weekend we went to Ballarat which is another large city in Victoria about an hours drive from Melbourne. It is a place that was very busy during the 1850s when gold was found in the area. We visited Sovereign Hill which is a touristy place set up to resemble life during the gold rush. All the buildings were old fashioned and the staff were all dressed in Victorian style costumes. We went down the mines to see what conditions would have been like for the miners (mom you would have felt very claustrophobic down there!) We also had a go at panning for gold but didn’t have any luck so unfortunately I will have to continue working!

We also went to a wildlife park and saw lots of Australian wildlife. We both fed some kangaroos and stroked a koala. Chris was brave enough to feed an emu- I thought he was going to lose his fingers at one point! We also saw some fat and not so cuddly wombats (they could break your fingers with one bite). We also met Gater the saltwater croc and lots of dangerous snakes including the western taipan (the most venomous snake in the world). Luckily these fellas were behind glass so Chris didn’t have to prove his masculinity and feed them!

I hope you like the photos of the day

Bye for now

Donno