Taronga - the Sydney Zoo

Our first full day in Sydney was cool and damp (unlike the 40 degree heat that was waiting for us just a few days later) and we decided to spend the day at Taronga, the Sydney zoo. It is beautifully located on a peninsula opposite Sydney Harbour (and quite close to Manly). It was the perfect thing to do as we practically had the zoo to ourselves and the animals were all out in force (on hot days, not surprisingly, they tend to stick to the cool shade). 

And what a great zoo it is! We saw all of the Australian animals that we'd been longing to see (platypuses! Koalas! Echidnas!) as well as a great selection of other animals, in addition to some great scheduled presentations. We particularly loved the seal talk and the bird presentation. The zoo is arranged over quite a steep slope but at the end of the day you can take a cable car back up to the start. 

Not surprisingly, since Toby is very efficient, the movie was made before the blog was written! Here are some video highlights of our Sydney trip Molins Down Under YouTube Sydney trip

Our first koala - very exciting

Emu!

OK - a few not-so-Australian animals were still fun to see

Reptile talk - stroking the python

What a view for the bird presentation! The birds all came swooping over our heads as well.

Recognize anything famous?

We loved the pelicans

Us - and the koala

I think I love their ears most of all

At the end of a busy day

Seal & sea lion presentation - teaching us to fish (and eat) fish that are sustainable and environmentally certified

More bird presentation - fascinating

Condor - teaching us to pick up our litter to protect birds

My, what big ears you have

Hippo

Manly Beach

So way back in a cold and rainy November in Canada we made the booking for our accommodation for our Sydney trip - and it was a bit of a blind choice because, really, what did we know of the Sydney neighbourhoods? Also, the prices were pretty scary - to our innocent eyes. We thought seriously about Bondi Beach (the truth? The girls love the TV show 'Bondi Vet' and are still determined to visit Chris in his surgery there) but thankfully we plumped for Manly Beach, a northern suburb which is a half hour ferry ride to the centre of town. It was such a good choice for us. We LOVED Manly. But what's not to love? A gorgeous beach, boardwalk and surf flanked by fabulous restaurants and cafes, a really cool vibe and a good mix of tourists of locals. We booked a cheap(ish) airbnb in the perfect location - a mere half block between the ocean side and the harbour side. The apartment itself was pretty grotty but no matter - it was worth it to have our morning coffee on the beach and for the girls to run down to the surf in their bare feet. It is amazing to have such a beautiful beach almost in the centre of a big city and it was a relaxing place to return to after venturing out into the city.

We loved Manly so much that - aside from Toby planning to move there - we are planning to hopefully return in June after we return the camper van and meet up with Toby's sister, Sophie, who's coming out to join us for the end of our trip. 

Here are some highlights of our Manly stay - and since our stay in Sydney also had two very hot days on our last day of our sojourn we just decided to stay put on the beach and not even brave the trip into town. Why would we want to leave? 

Zoe in her 'pineapple' - her new Aussie beach cover-up (we got it at a huge craft market in Red Hill before we left Flinders)

Indie and her 'icy pole' - a lemonade popsicle that all of us love 

A good view of Manly Beach

Indie and I did the beautiful walk from Manly to the smaller Shelley Beach 

We could almost be in the Med

A natural swimming pool on the way to Shelley Beach

Lovely little sculptures of Australian animals and other surf icons are inserted in to the rocks on the walk

A real iguana we saw - there were lots of them

Zoe and Toby were the devoted surfers

On our last night we had dinner with an old friend of Toby's from Zermatt, Gerry

Moonlight on Manly

On the way to the surf

The surf was BIG - they're holding the world surfing championships in Manly in March

Aussie Rite of Passage

So Toby got poo'd on by a koala this morning above him in the tree - he's a true Australian now. I'm sure that must be the requisite rite of passage - next stop, citizenship.
The weather has finally warmed up for us - it's been really cool here for the last week or so. The other night it was 12 degrees here (Australian summer) and 9 degrees back in Baie d'Urfe (Canadian winter). Crazy. I know the rest of Australia is sweltering under a heat wave and the news has been full of eggs frying on car hoods in Queensland but I'll tell you one thing - it hasn't come to south Victoria.
Last night we left the campsite at about 8.30pm to go and see the glow worms up the valley. It was a very steep, dark and narrow road but we held our nerve and the pay off was seeing the amazing glow worms on the cliff face like little stars in the dark. And now of course we have looked up the answer to the question of 'why do glow worms glow?' (We missed having you here, Dad.) The answer? To attract prey (insects) into the sticky threads their snare.
The only problem was when we got back to the campsite at 9.30 pm, we couldn't get in! The boom gate wouldn't open for us. So we had to sleep parked on the road. To be honest, with the camper van, it made no difference at all. Then we drove back into the campsite this morning. What was particularly sweet was that another camper came up to us on our return saying he'd been worried about us and was prepared to drive up the steep road this morning to make sure we didn't need a tow out. Australians are very friendly.
Now off to Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road via some waterfalls.

Koalas! In Kennett River

Clearly it's feast or famine with my blog as I am, again, woefully behind in my updates. We are clearly too busy doing all these things - and trying to plan our next stops - to catch up with the reports. We've also had pretty dodgy wifi in our past few campgrounds which has made keeping on top of things a little harder. 

So yes - we are now in the camper van and travelling along the Great Ocean Road south west of Melbourne, but I'm still due to write about our road trip to Sydney, which is now more than a week ago. And our trip to Canberra on the way back. And the getting and packing of our camper van. And finally getting on the road with some time in Anglesea and a quick side trip to the most amazing museum - Sovereign Hill - in Ballarat which recreates life in the town in the 1850s. Whew!

But I'm finding it a little overwhelming to work sequentially so I've decided to stay on top of the current posts while catching up with the older ones. 

So we are currently in a little campground in Kennett River that is famous for its colony of wild koalas. (What's the collective noun for koalas, I wonder. A cuddle? Although they move so slowly that Toby suggested a 'doddering' of koalas.) There is not much here aside from the campground, the beach, the Koala Cafe, the parrots and, of course, the koalas. They are such funny little creatures - they basically spend the whole day sleeping on a branch with occasionally getting down to change trees. They are so clumsy walking - they walk like stiff-legged old men - and even climbing they don't look that comfortable. They are completely adorable though and the girls were pretty happy to do their schoolwork today under a koala in the tree (and then feed the wild parrots on 'recess'). 

We also had a lot of fun playing in the surf on Kennett River beach in the afternoon. We've really loved this little campground - it's been really quiet and very relaxing. Tomorrow it's off to Apollo Bay, and maybe a tree-top canopy walk. 

We ordered the campsite 'with a koala, please' - and they delivered

Sleepy time - which is basically all the time

Our bunkmate in our campsite - always look up

More koala pictures to come, I'm sure - we took a lot

Feeding the parrots

They liked Toby's new hat

My new fascinator - suits me, don't you think?

Zoe also likes Toby's new hat

Another Lunch at a Vineyard and some Rockpooling

I know it's actually Wednesday here, which makes it Tuesday at home, which makes it not quite Thursday but we'll pretend because I need to do a flashback Thursday for this blog...  I forgot to post a great lunch we had a local vineyard at the end of January in honour of our friend Johnny's birthday. We went to Foxeys Hangout - a vineyard here on the Mornington Peninsula with fabulous food and wine. It was a glorious day. Afterwards we took the girls down to the local beach (the Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary) for some rockpooling.

Jo, Toby and James (Jo and Johnny's son - and Toby's godson!)

Fabulous lunch with a fabulous sparkling rose to start followed by an equally fabulous pinot noir (it was a very merry lunch)

Toby soaking up the rays while we soaked up the view

Rockpooling at the local beach

The girls' shell collection is growing