Halls Gap Australia kangaroos and cave art

Binjal and the two dingos -aborigini cave art on edge of grampians park

huge bouldered area where cave art was

boulders were everywhere

Christopher and the kangaroo in center of Halls Gap 

A brief glimpse of mountains in Grampians Park before they disappeared in the rain and the mist

Kangaroo were everywhere

up close

Scott in rain with kangaroo

drove from great ocean drive to the grampians arriving just at dark. Went into the very small town center and saw tons of kangaroo on the town square. They were not afraid of humans and it was easy to pet some of them. we were given lessons from an australian family that was there with their 4 kids who were petting and feeding them. Next morning we had planned to hike some of the great trails in the park but it was a miserable rainy, misty, cold and foggy morning. We visited the aborigini center and then headed out to find the cave art which was a great stop. No one is sure of the age of the painting but  it could go back thousands of years, area it was in was completely covered in HUGE boulders. very impressive.

rome and St Peter and Paul day at the beach june 2011

bourganville in bloom near house

back of santa maria maggiore on a clear day

swan and 6 of the 7 cygnets

regular afternoon lake scene

has been fun watching them from week to week

some roman scenes I see everyday and a few shots of lake trevignano where we have recently gone to cool off

Scenery (Great Ocean Road Part Two and more)

woke up to this lovely site outside the door of our b and b in warramboul

gum trees on property of b and b 

 in town of warramboul, there is a model 1800's fishing village set up, but the lighthouse in background is the real thing. the day was absolutely gorgeous 10 out of 10!

more of great ocean road

one of the very well laid out paths to the viewing areas

loved this wave coming up in the middle of the sea

another great site called The Grotto

 London Arch Site, these two land masses were connected until 1990 when the middle section crashed to the sea. A couple was on the right hand side and was stranded for many hours before being rescued.

other side of the London Arch Site

Great Ocean Road, Australia

beginning of drive outside melbourne

we stopped along the way and hiked to see this waterfall

lovely colorful birds

really nice rolling green hills prior to the coast becoming very steep

a koala sighting

and another one - we saw more than 20 of them in the cape Otway park

we got to the "12 apostles"  part of the coast just at sunset (only 7 remain, rest have fallen in recent years)

was really beautiful

this was the coast on the other side of the "12 apostles", was so much lighter than the sun setting side, was amazing

same 12 apostles rocks

our last stop on the drive before we headed for warramboul, our overnight stop


 We picked up the rental car in Melbourne and braved the left side of the road driving (with steering wheel on passenger side). Every time I wanted to turn I put on the windshield wipers, a minor problem.  The Great Ocean Drive starts a bit outside Melbourne and ends more or less just before the agricultural town of Warramboul. Gorgeous scenery, some of which you can see from the car and other spots you pull in and hike a very short distance to see the views. It is all set up for perfect viewing. A drive not to be missed if you are in the Melbourne area. With all the stops one can make to look for koalas, enjoy lunch on the coast, hike to waterfalls etc it can take a lot longer than you would imagine. In fact, we drove part of it in the dark (doesn't help that is becomes dark around 4.30). We knew we were missing great sites so the next day we retraced our steps in the light of day and it was well worth it.

Downtown Melbourne and Relatives

lovely public library in downtown melbourne

got to see all of G. Base's original photos for this book in the library, as well as a great exhibit on children's book illustrators. 

one of the theatres

the Yarra in the fall

Eureka tower, tallest building in Melbourne. We went to the top and had a wonderful view

a fun dinner with the relatives

THE UNI!

Some new buildings at the University of Melbourne

and some old

the Student

very pretty part of the campus

oldest part of campus, lovely courtyard, think it was 1840's

more of the campus, biology buildings

lots of lovely victorian architecture around the university

Queens College (at the University) where Christopher stayed during orientation

view across the sports fields
We were given a tour of the Uni by Christopher. Very impressive, nice mix of old and new buildings. Seemed like a fun place to go to school. I loved the swimming pool which I was able to use twice during my trip (would loved to have gone every day).   Was 5 Australian dollars, perfect water temperature, a lane always available, wonderful locker rooms, had glass sides with the sun streaming in on one side and a view of the campus with the trees changing color on the other.  A great place to swim, I'm not used to such  a luxurious pool setting.