love you grandmama

Koala!!!

We also got to pet and feed a koala. Both the koala and kangaroo were really soft. Aaron really enjoyed petting/feeding them. Lydia wasn't as sure. I think Jen would have stolen her (Sally the koala) if she could. This was the coolest place and we hope to go back so Caleb can see them too.

Kangaroos!

One of the coolest things at the park was getting to pet and feed kangaroos (and wallabies, wallaroos, and emus). Not real sure the difference between kangaroos, wallaroos, and wallabies but I think its a lot to do with size and face shape. Anyways, we all loved getting to get up close with them.

Featherdale park

Click picture to see larger images

We went to the coolest park ever. Its called Featherdale park and it is about an hour by train and bus outside of the city. While Caleb was working hard providing for our family, the kids and I joined the Greshams (parents and bro/sister-in-law) to the park/zoo. We walked in quick to catch the penguin feeding. It was neat to watch that. We saw all sorts of Australian animal and had a nice picnic lunch where we were joined by a chicken and peacock. Since we rushed in to see the penguin feeding we walked right past the coolest part...in the next post.

Sunset and Sunrise

We have seen many beautiful rainbows. They are definitely more common here. A couple weeks ago Aaron came to me in the kitchen and said he found a big pretty rainbow. I walked to the sunroom and this was our view. Breathtaking.

It was neat to watch it disappear as it was getting darker.

The next morning Lydia got us up bright and early and this was the view. It doesn't help Caleb's fear of heights when we are above the clouds.

The other side of the road

One thing we didn't expect on our drive down the great ocean road was the beautiful country side. A lot of the road is along the cliffs of the ocean but on the other side of the road was beautiful countryside. Caleb wants to buy and farm down there with beautiful rolling hills overlooking the ocean. We also drove through a thick forest that was neat in its own way.

That's all on The Great Ocean Road. I hope you enjoy the pictures but they do not do it justice.

Coming up...feeding and petting Australian animals, great barrier reef, and New Zealand...

The Twelve Apostles...but there are only 8

One of the most famous stops on The Great Ocean Road is the Twelve Apostles. There are 8 limestone rock stacks and its neat to see how they are each carved differently by the ocean. There were 9 until one collapsed in 2005. There was never 12 so I don't understand why it is called the twelve apostles. Wikipedia doesn't even have an answer for that. I guess more research needs to happen, but at this point I'm just playing blog catch up.

Do they appreciate it?

I am doing a little back tracking here. I realized I have a few more post to do on The Great Ocean Road. Aaron and Lydia have seen some of the most amazing scenery over the past few months and I wish they knew how great it is. I hope that even at such young ages they are learning to worship our creator through His beautiful creation.

Long time no post

The past few weeks have been very busy.  First we had the Sisterhen's here!!!  We had a blast with them.  A few days later my parents and Brian and Jen (brother and sister-in-law) came for almost two weeks.  While they were here we did a trip to the Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand.  Within 9 days we did 5 flights, stayed in 6 hotels and spent lots of time in cars, trains, buses, and some ferries.  Needless to say I have a ton to update and at least 1000 pictures to go through.  I will start updating tomorrow.  Caleb and I have a black tie dinner to go to tonight with some of his coworkers so I need to get the apartment cleaned up and ready.  Hope your ready for some beautiful pictures because New Zealand is AMAZING!

Bedtime

Lydia wanted to get into bed with Aaron Saturday night. They cuddled for a couple minutes...

then Lydia got up, but gave a sweet kiss...

then Aaron hugged (aka tackled) Lydia...

all in 45 seconds. Love them!

Quick pit stop

We made a quick pitstop is a small town called Peterborough...I really don't think you can use the word town it was so small, we couldn't even find gas in it. But we could make a restroom stop. While on our little break it looked like a storm was coming and again we were amazed by the power of the ocean.

We also found a patch of wild calla lillies. I've never seen wild calla lillies before but they were beautiful.

and this little peanut was pretty tired at this point. So sweet!

The Grotto

London Bridge

Australian's can be funny too...

Read the sign...pretty interesting.

Sunday turned out to be a pretty day, with a few rain showers. It was warm when you were in the sun, but the wind was blowing like crazy which made it feel a lot cooler when it blew. We made a lot of stops on Sunday so at some of them we took turns getting out of the van to see the sights and someone would stay in with the kids some. They don't really appreciate the beauty of it all and at some points were just to tired to get out.

The Arch

The ocean on Sunday was very rough. It was magnificant to watch the power of it and the waves crash into the rocks.

Port Campbell

We stayed in a little hidden gem Saturday night. It was a cute town called Port Campbell. I was a little nervous booking it, but it worked perfect. We had a nice two bedroom apartment to share with the Sisterhen's and it didn't break the bank either. We had one of the best meals we've had in Australia at a little restaurant called Room Six. The food was reasonably priced and they gave more than enough. That is rare here in Australia.

The little town, one main street and no stop lights.

The town from above.