An unexpected trip to Australia (Part 1)

It was just about the end of November when Judy got a telephone call from Adrian (her son by previous marriage) to announce that he and his partner of 13 years, Sasha, wee going to get married. Arrangements hastily made and we landed in Melbourne, where I have cousins, in the middle of January.
It was great to meet family, most of whom I had never met. We had a good time together.


Great Aunt Janet

Janet emigrated to Australia for a new life when I was about two years old.


Michelle

Cousin Michelle with whom we organised our get-together. (Janet's daughter)

Beth & Kate

Guy

Only a small part of the family but it was great to meet up. Next time we come to Australia we will organise things better and maybe have a proper family party/barbecue!

We stayed for a few days in Melbourne and did some sight-seeing around the city. The trams were great! Loved the Victorian shopping arcades which are very reminiscent of Bath.

The automata playing on each hour

The Victorian arcade

Lovely historic tram - and the ride is free!

Soon it was time to move on towards Sydney for a wedding. We left Melbourne and went up into the Dandenong Hills where the little Puffing Billy railway enchants visitors.
We stopped off at Phillip Island to see the little penguins come ashore, then down on to Wilson's Promontory and on to Bairnsdale where we learned that we should visit Raymond Island and see the Koalas.


Koala in a tree

I took loads of photos of koalas before we moved on to Eden via the Buchan Caves. This took us up into the hills where we saw kangaroos risking what little traffic there was. The caves were beautiful.
At Eden we visited the Killer Whale museum and saw a number of pelicans in the harbour before heading northwards.

Pelicans on the lampposts (don't walk underneath!)

We called in at the quaint ex-mining villages of Tilba-Tilba and Tilba.

Pam's Village Stores - Tilba-Tilba

Tilba Bakery - Tilba

A stop at Narooma found more Pelicans and some Rays swimming in the harbour.

Ray swimming in the harbour

Pelican waiting for scraps from the fish cleaning station

We stopped for the night at Bateman's Bay. In the morning we went to Pebbly Beach there were no pebbles, just sand and kangaroos chillin'.

They were just chilling out on the beach.
Our next stop was Jervis Bay for some walking and beaches.

The Pacific Ocean breaking into Jervis Bay between the headland and the island

Just miles of sand...

From Jervis Bay we went through the pretty town of Berry on our way to the Kiama Blow Hole.


Kiama Blow Hole

Then returned to Nowra for our night stop. The next morning we went up through Kangaroo Valley to the Fitzroy Falls.

The bridge over the Kangaroo River

Little lizard at Fitzroy Falls

The Fitzroy Falls

The blue of the eucalyptus tree vapour in the distance

Judy at the Fitzroy Falls

Then it was on to the Hume highway and into Sydney.