Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne has a population of 4.5 million and is the second largest city in Australia. You can't help but notice the incredible amount of cranes across the city landscape: 

Apparently, high-rise developments are being built at a rate four times that of some of the world’s highest density cities. And staying here, Melbourne certainly has the vibe of a young, vibrant city.

We were particularly surprised by the number of Asians. So much so that we even looked it up. They say there are a little over 300,000 from Asia residing here but it looks like much more- like maybe 50%:

We couldn't get over the number of Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean restaurants. Good for us that food in these restaurants are cheap compared to Australia as a whole (we've found Australia the most expensive for food of all the cities visited in our journey).

A big attraction is the "Penguin Parade" on Phillip Island (about a 90 minute drive outside of Melbourne):

About 2,000 of these penguins arrive each night at sunset after swimming for food during the day and come onshore to get into their burrows. They are called 'little penguins' due to their small size (only 13 inches tall). They are the smallest of all penguin species and have blue and white feathers instead of black and white: 

Unlike the larger penguins we saw in Argentina that mate for life, these little guys do not- if breeding success is low, they may look for a new mate. Also, they have a shorter lifespan of only 7 years vs the 25 years of their South American counterparts.

We're beginning to realize that our world journey is nearing the end with just two more countries before we fly back Dec. 16th. It's been terrific so far and just feels like we're on a bullet train coming to a close (literally, that will happen in Japan, our last stop).

Next up- New Zealand

Tasmania, Australia

We came over to this island for two main reasons- to see the scenery, obviously, but also to see some animals we hadn't seen yet. Did you know that Hobart, the capital, is 600 km from Melbourne? We flew over as the alternative- boat, then bus- would be too long a journey.

First, the animals. We went to the Hobart Wildlife Sanctuary that helps animals in need (lost their mother, in distress, sick, etc). We wanted to see the Tasmanian devil which is only found in Tasmania (there are only 10- 20k in existence):

These are by no means cuddly or cute. They are the size of a small dog and have powerful jaws and long, sharp teeth: 

A sanctuary staff was feeding this 'devil' a part of a wallaby leg; the tug of war is always won by the devil as they never let go. They eat everything including bones and fur.

Another type of animal found primarily in Tasmania and parts of southern Australia is the wombat, somewhat related to the koala but larger in size and weight:

Although they are cuddly for the first two to three years (this female is 20 months old), afterwards their natural instincts kick in and they become vicious to humans and have to be placed in their natural habitat.

What we really wanted to see was a 'joey' kangaroo (baby) in their mom's pouch. What a treat to see:

This baby kangaroo will stay with its mom for about 18 months. When we were there, it jumped in and out of the sac for nibbling food.

Next, we ventured out to see the Tasmanian countryside. We found a lot of rolling hillsides with houses dotting the landscape, really beautiful:

The downside of living here is the weather as it is closer to the Antarctic. Today it's 16 degrees whereas up in Sydney it's 29 degrees and up in Cairns it's 32 degrees. But it's quite beautiful here as can be seen outside our hotel room:

You've got to weigh everything before saying the weather's too cold. I'll take Sydney though!!

Melbourne's Great Ocean Road

We ventured out to the 'Great Ocean Road' to see some of Australia's beautiful southern coastline. It's a 250 km 'ocean' road that nears the ocean for only about 50 km but when it does, it can take your breath away:

Ever hear of Australia's Twelve Apostles? They are huge rocks jutting out of the ocean that are limestone stack formations from millions of years ago:

If you can only count 8 in the two pictures, that's because there are only 8 still standing (apparently there were 12 some time ago). 

Going further along, there is what the Aussies call the 'London Bridge' formation. This stack was formed by a gradual process of erosion- again over million of years- and until 1990 formed a complete double-span natural bridge:

But the middle collapsed and here's a great trivia question and answer to store in your brain. In case you're ever asked this question "why do they call it a bridge, I don't see a bridge", the arch closest to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly in 1990 leaving 2 tourists on the outer span (true story and they were successfully rescued).

Finally, there is another grouping of limestone formations called the Bay of Islands:

Because this rock grouping is in a bay, it got that naming. This area is also known for its fierce wind at times and when we were there, it was pretty bad yet back in Melbourne a few hours later it was perfect, calm weather. Amazing.

Beaches of Sydney

There are some stunning beaches right along the coast of the city. If you love ocean views, you can take a 5 km walk (and yes, we walked it) along the east coast starting at Bondi Beach going down to Coogee Beach to see some breath-taking scenery. At Bondi (first pic) you can see surfers out in the water looking for the best wave. Further down the beaches, in other pics you can see some bodyboard surfers:

It's amazing the many different colours of water- making it all the more visually stunning. For us, when life gets too busy or complicated, we want to remember the serenity we saw here. 

And on our last day in Sydney, we walked along the Sydney Harbour bridge to get this view of the Opera House:

It's got to be one of the most impressive buildings I've ever seen.

Next up- Melbourne 

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is an architectural wonder and a national treasure. They even made an opera here that's called the 8th Wonder of the World. It sure is beautiful; you could sit for hours looking at it and the bridge. It's an incredible experience being here- you almost have to pinch yourself that you're seeing all of this:

There's quite a story behind the building of this structure. It was built in the 1960s with a planned budget of $7 million but went way over at $102 million. It got to a point that the Aussie government stopped payments to the architect to try to control the spending- he left the project all together and it was completed by a totally different firm. There are actually five theatres in total- the Concert Hall (with a seating capacity of 2679, a bit larger than Roy Thomson) and then the Opera, Drama, Playhouse and Studio Theatres. This is one of the top tourist attractions in Australia. Over two million watch performances in the five theatres each year.

The building has 'shells' that make the sides and ceilings of the structure:

Though the shells appear uniformly white from a distance, they actually feature over a million tiles in two colours: glossy white and cream:

Believe it or not, there are over 1 million tiles shipped from Sweden that make up the roofs. From start to finish, it took over 10,000 builders to complete the structure. 

We saw a play here- it was a revival of a 100 year old french farce called 'A Flea in her Ear' with sex, revenge and plain old comedy. It was fun to watch but the experience was surreal. Being in the Opera House watching a performance had a feeling that this was something very, very special.

Not to be outdone, we came out of the theatre to see the Sydney Bridge lit up:

Sydney is certainly a fun, stunning city and we're having a blast!

Sydney- Australia

What a city! With a population of almost 5 million, it's got flavours of Vancouver, New York, Seattle and Toronto all rolled into one. The people are very friendly, it has hundreds of open air restaurants, there are all kinds of chic, high-end and unique stores and the downtown core includes a botanical garden, the Opera House, Macquarie's Point (that reminds you of Vancouver's Stanley Park) and a fabulous waterfront all situated together:

It's also very cosmopolitan, much like Toronto, except for ethnicity. Apparently there was a White Australia policy making it difficult for Asians, particularly Chinese, from entering and working here. These policies were eliminated in the early 1900s but didn't come into full effect till after WW II with the encouragement of first non-British, then non-white immigration. The colour mosaic is not as pronounced here as it is in Toronto.

We're in a downtown section called Potts Point which is quite upscale except for one rather seedy section about 2 blocks away. Apparently this was a favourite spot for US army personnel who were on leave during the Vietnam war. They frequented 'lady pleasure' shops and along with it brought the drug trade. We now have our bearings and we're staying away from there.

We have tickets to the Opera House tomorrow night so it will be interesting to see it upfront. 

Brisbane to Sydney- Australia

The drive from Brisbane to Sydney is 1,000 km along the Pacific Coast Motorway. We thought it would be right by the ocean and we would see miles and miles of beach but the motorway is actually inland 99% of the time. 

During the drive we couldn't get over the number of sugar cane and banana tree farms, then cattle ranches and then miles and miles of woodland like you were driving through Northern Ontario. Then it would open up to the mountain range and ocean and you'd feel like you were on the west coast of Canada.

We stayed on the coast at night and we weren't disappointed: 

Byron Bay- this is a favoured tourist area for Aussies and International travellers. The village motto is "cheer up, slow down, chill out" and there are many surf and tie-tied shops around with a lot of people in bare feet.  Tiny in size (only 5,000 permanent residences), it has some beautiful beaches for surfers and whale watchers. Note the two surfboards (second pic) identifying where it is ok to swim and surf- the guards look out for stingers and sharks.

Coffs Harbour- nice beaches with one in particular for swimming. They have a pier that used to have a train running along the pier out to the ships 100 years ago full of cut trees as forestry was their prime industry.

Nelson Bay- my favourite by far! Quite a cute town with a lot of beaches (note hardly anyone in the water). This was the first village with a harbour for boats and it actually felt a bit like the Boulevard Club.

So far we've driven over 3,400 km and we're still together (that's almost the distance from Toronto to Vancouver) . One negative about the roads are that the signs make it hard to navigate. As you know, we're 2 MBAs with PMPs and Type A personalities 'suggesting' that one is right and the other is wrong. We're ditching the car tomorrow in Sydney for the sake of our journey and our marriage!