We picked up our little silver car, Ariel, and hit the open road to Melbourne. If there was a competition to spot iconic Aussie wildlife we'd have won it, coming across wild Wombats, Koala's and getting close enough to a Wallaby to see that she had a Joey in her pouch! Perhaps not on the official checklist, we were lucky enough to watch the nightly arrival of the tiny 'Little Penguin' on Phillip Island. The 30cm tall birds appear in their hundreds at nightfall to waddle up to their nests on the coast.
The Great Ocean Road made us feel we were in a fancy car advert, whizzing along the winding roads of the cliff face, right alongside the most pristine coastline. In Melbourne we found a festival by the sea with live music and a World Volleyball Tournament. They have a wicked free program where a local Melburnian takes you round their city, and we were blessed with Peter, and enthusiastic computer programmer who took us to all the best places and totally made our day.
Now we have touched down in New Zealand where I have fulfilled my main dream in coming to the islands. 11th February 2012 was the first and probably last time in my life that I saw a WHALE! A great big Sperm Whale on the waters of Kaikoura, spurting out water and returning to the depths flinging his tail high in the air. Plus on the way back to shore a pod of dolphins joined us, leaping playfully alongside the boat!
I realised just how far away from home I am when I looked up at the sky on a clear night and had to double take when I saw that Orion's Belt was upside down over here.
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