we are in Melbourne

hi all,
We have made it to Melbourne - well, almost as we are at Stewart and Val's in Upwey, a little town about an hour from Melbourne. Stewart taught in Maple Ridge in 1996 and I met them when I was here in 2000. Since we left Canberra on Oct. 7, we have been to the Snowy Mountains (stayed at Jindabyne) then headed to the coast and have stayed in Merimbula, Marlo, Foster and Wilson's Promontory National Park. We borrowed a tent and sleeping bags from our friends in Canberra so have used the tent one night and the sleeping bags another two nights when we have stayed in campgrounds with small cabins that come without bedding. (Thanks, Geoff and Michelle!). We have been through so many different ecosystems - mountainous to warmer rainforests to very green rolling farmlands to windswept coastal heath - all very beautiful in their own way, all with their own unique sets of flora and fauna. Last night, we were thrilled to be up close and personal with a couple of wombats right outside our hut in the national park. This morning we went for another walk in the park and, on our way to another ocean beach, we walked through a grasslands area where we spotted a few kangaroos and an emu. All of a sudden, they bolted and we discovered there were between 50-100 'roos - an ATV had spooked the 'mob' and they were all bounding away from the sound of it. We were sad to see wildlife spooked like that but excited to see so many kangaroos all hopping at once!
I have asked Shon to add his memorable impressions/sightings to this blog and this is what he has given me, in no particular order (as of the first day out of Canberra)
-Syndey skyline at night
-our train ride into the Blue Mountains and back
-the array of boat traffic in Sydney harbour and how much fuel is used there each day
-instant coffee
-the number of visitors/foreigners in Sydney
-talking to two Year 12 girls on the ferry to Manly across Sydney harbour. One had lived in Ontario for 6 months in Year 10 and was thrilled to talk about Canada.
-sugar cane fields in Queensland
-passion fruit - we both love it
-thousands of fruit bats (flying foxes) in Sydney's Botanic Gardens
-the wonderful smell of frying onions as we arrived back at our hostel in Yungaburra. They had bbq dins for $10.
-dinner at Al and Cheryl Rummery's - prawns, chicken skewers, rice, potatoes and salad with lemon pie for dessert - yum!
-yabbies in the creek pond at Dave and Jo's

I am sure there are more equally memorable things since but that is it for now. We have walked so much and seen so much that it is hard to distill it into a digestible amount now. I have gone for quiet morning walks a few times to listen to the incredible bird song and, hopefully, spot the singers. Australia has such an amazing array of birds. The most frustrating is the whipbird which has the most noticeable call but which remains elusive when we try to spot it. We were excited to spot a lyrebird (female so no amazing tail feathers) in the Bemm River rainforest a couple of days ago. We also saw an echidna on an evening walk in Marlo.
The ocean beaches have been amazing along the south coast of NSW and Victoria states - I love to listen to the breakers. Each beach has had its own personality, too, which makes it interesting - squeaky sand, great shells, rock formations, etc.
I will try now to add a photo or two - last time was an exercise in frustration as the blog said it had finished uploading then would ask me to start again. I did that 3 times before I gave up and still no photos on the blog!!! AAAAAHHH!