Adelaide, part 2

Hi again,
We are still at Deb and Greg's and will be here until we fly out on Sunday morning. We would love to get emails from family letting us know how everyone is doing - how is school, Kynnan? Any work, Jen? When do you leave for Banff, Michelle? Are you going to be able to visit at the airport, Chris and Megan?
We went to Victor Harbour yesterday to see the little penguins arrive back home from their long day fishing. They are so cute - about 18" tall, blue backs and white fronts. It is fun to watch them hop up the rocks to their burrows.
Had a great walk this morning in Cobbler Creek gully - my favourite walking place when I lived here. Lots of colourful birds, too.
Must run - time to get ready to head downtown for museums and the zoo (perhaps). Some goons hurt a 78 year old flamingo at the zoo yesterday - the amazing part is the bird was so old!!!
Hugs to all,
Les and Shon

at Deb and Greg's

The photos - one is during a guided 4W drive tour through the gorges and hills of the Flinders Ranges, sometimes driving through dry creek beds lined with gum trees. The one of us is along the Great Ocean Road, the Twelve Apostles. The third is a koala in a eucalypt tree near Cape Otway on the Great Ocean Road. We saw many koalas there.

We are now in 'my' home - although extensive renovations make it a new, improved home. It is gorgeous! Deb and Greg have made us feel very welcome. It is so good to see them again. Of course, Ryan is no longer a little boy but a tall young teen. They have all headed to work and school and I am just awaiting the arrival of a former student who is popping over for a visit. Later today, Shon and I will drive south to Victor Harbour to see the little penguins this evening.

It feels good to be in Adelaide again. We are going to the school on Friday. Of course, my students are no longer there but at least two of them will come over near the end of the school day to say hi. It will be interesting to see them as adults - one of them is a parent as well!

Adelaide

Wow, I just realized how long it has been since I added to this saga! My excuse is that we are much too busy to find time to write. Sorry! I am on a dial up computer right now so no photos this time either but, hopefully, within a day or two we will be able to add some photos.
Since I last wrote, we have driven from the Flinders Ranges (Wilpena) to Adelaide with an overnight stop in Port Pirie to see an ex-teaching colleague from my time in Adelaide. Carolyn is now a principal in Port Pirie, has married and has one grandson and another on the way - some similarities to my story since 2000. We had a wonderful, but too short, time catching up!

We arrived here in Adelaide on the 24th and have been staying with Anne, a retired nurse and part of our exchange teacher group as her sister was on exchange to Adelaide the same year as me. Pam, you have a most wonderful sister! She has spoiled us rotten during our time here. She needs to watch out or we may just forget to pack up and leave tomorrow! We have also spent time with Robyn (my sister's ex-nanny), her husband and 2 year old Mahalia - a darling character like her mum! Saturday, we went to a folk festival to listen to her husband perform with his song writing partner, jen. We joined them again for dinner at a restaurant then Andy and Jen sang another set - wish you had been with us, Lisa, as I know you would have enjoyed them and other performers there. Last night, we had dinner at Robyn's and got to know Andy better - nice man! Today, we finally saw downtown Adelaide and spent some time shopping at Rundle Mall, a pedestrian mall. We have 5 more days to see the rest of the sights around Adelaide - fairy penguins at Victor Harbour, museums, the Barossa wine valley, etc. We will move to 'my' old house tomorrow and stay with Deb and Greg, my exchangees, for the rest of our stay.

I can't believe our 6 weeks here is so close to ending. It has been wonderful - we have seen, tasted, felt and heard so much and most of it has been terrific! We will miss our wake up calls by the birds and driving on the other side of the road and roundabouts and Aussie lingo and accents and ....... but we will be happy to see family and friends again, too.
Hugs to you all, Les and Shon

flinders ranges

Hi
Thiswill be short as it has cost me $2 just to sign on to this slwo computer. We are at 'wilpena poundin the flinders ranges norht of Adeliade. The scenery is stunning and ancient - some of the oldest rocks in the world and the folding of the mountains has left layers of rock exposed from eras as old as 650 million years. Some fossils, too. We took a 4wd tour today - expensive but worth it to see areas we couldn't access ourselves and to learn about the geology and flora/fauna. We have seen gorgeous parrots, emus, euros (hill kangaroos), red and grey kangaroos (some right by us), and rarer yellow-footed rock wallabies. definitely worth the drive north through the clare Valley (reisling country. All for now - my time and patience with this keyboard are running out.
Les

Nuriootpa

I just love saying that name! It is a lovely town in the Barossa wine valley - we are just passing through on our way to the Flinders Ranges. We arrived here about 6 pm and Shon saw a lovely linear park across the street so decided to go for a run before wine/beer/dinner. I was planning a walk but the musk lorikeets and rosellas in the park distracted me and I ended up bird watching instead!
Once again, this computer in the caravan park has no ability to handle USB or SD cards so no photos. I sure wish I could include some as we have seen so many wonderful sights along the way. We drove up beside the Coorong - a long stretch of 'sea' divided from the Southern Ocean by sand dunes. It has always been a haven for birds but their population is plummeting as the water recedes due to drought and overuse further upstream along the Murray River (which empties into the ocean by the Coorong. Rasmus and Joan, did it always stink along the Coorong? I don't remember that but it is now VERY pungent driving beside it! Shon had to slam on the brakes to avoid a kangaroo which bounded across the road in front of us - just like the deer by our place, Kynnan! It was a very close call! We also saw a pelican nesting colony through binoculars as it is on an island in the Coorong - lots of the big birds there! On a walk through the scrub land (mallee scrub) by the Coorong, we saw a couple of lizards commonly called 'stumpies' here - a short stumpy tail. There are two varieties - the shingleback and another but I don't know which one we saw. Hopefully, got some good photos though.
We passed through some very flat, dry, brown land today along the west side of the Murray River - not as green as 2000. The Eden Valley area still looked beautiful with big river gums and green grass - I love it!!
Time to make some dinner for the runner,
Love to all,
Les and Shon

Robe, South Australia

We are now on the South Australian coast, having driven the Great Ocean Road since we last posted a note. We spent a wonderful day in Melbourne, taking the train in from Upwey then back out to our car at the end of the day - road their tram, saw their Art Gallery and the new, ultra funky architecture of the Federation Square, had a Starbucks coffee, wandered through Chinatown and a pedestrian mall area, took a cruise on the Yarra River - busy, terrific day. We then drove south on the Mornington peninsula, stopping for dins then finally finding a cabin in a caravan park at 9 pm - the caravan parks (RV parks, usually with tenting spots) also have Jayco cabins available, with or without your own bedding. Cheaper than motels and with a kitchen. The next morning, we caught a ferry across the mouth of Port Phillip Bay (get your atlases out!) and started on the Great Ocean Road. Stayed at another caravan park, tenting this time, in Apollo Bay then, yesterday, stopped at 4 or 5 amazing natural limestone coastal features - the brillliant sunshine made it even more spectacular. Oh, before that, we drove to the Cape Otway lighthouse and, on the road in, stopped two or three times to watch koalas in the trees beside the road. they sleep most of the day but we did see a few moving around in the trees. Surprising that they don't fall out as they sleep! One baby was quite active, near but not touching his mom, trying to reach leaves to eat. He was soooo cute!!!!
After camping again last night, Shon went for a run this morning and got back just before it started to drizzle. Didn't last long but the day was dull until late morning - sure glad we were on the Great Ocean Road yesterday!!! the sun did come out and we saw lots of forest plantations in different stages of growth - read plaques about the fact SA started planting tree farms as early as 1870s - we are only a little slow in BC!!
Tomorrow, we plan to drive up the coast of SA, past the Coorong (a long inland salt water area with sand dunes separating it from the ocean) then skirt Adelaide to head north of the city to the Flinders Ranges. More on that later. No photos from this computer but we should have some good ones of koalas and scenery later from Adelaide.
Love to all,
Les and shon

the Dandenongs

Hello again from Stewart and Val's. Our wonderful hosts have just shown us their gorgeous part of the world! We spent the day east of Melbourne, starting with a long walk in the Sherbrook forest part of Dandenong National Forest. Incredible tall straight trees with an understory of tree ferns (about 10-15' tall). The tall trees are called mountain ash but are not like our mountain ash in Canada; they are a type of eucalypt. We ended our walk at a cafe where we had a Devonshire tea (tea with scones, jam and Devonshire cream) while watching the hordes of sulphur-crested cockatoos, crimson rosellas, galahs, and a kookaburra flock to the tourists to be fed - like mallards and seagulls at home. Next we drove to a viewpoint where we could see Melbourne in the distance - not a really clear day but we could see the city. Following that, we drove to the Yarra Valley north of here where we indulged in some wine tasting - good stuff! Shon, at first glance at the vines, wondered why they had so little growth, then it dawned on him that it is early spring here, not fall!! We stopped at a dairy for 'lunch' of their various cheeses, breads, quince jam and smoked trout. That was a lovely taste treat. The area around here has curvy roads with lovely treed lots and gardens - just beautiful. The Yarra Valley is a very green pastoral area once again. I guess spring is the time to be here as drought has kept the area brown most of the last few years - the reservoirs were UP to 51% in Canberra and are only at about 36% here!!

Val is currently making some pumpkin soup for Shon for dinner as we have not had any of this Aussie favourite yet. It is made with what we call butternut squash but they call it pumpkin here and do not have our orange pumpkins at all.

Dave and Jo, were there any videos downloaded from our camera onto your computer? We think we had taken some (more by accident in my case). No great worry - we just wondered.

Photos - kangaroos in a caravan park in Pambula, NSW and the mountain ash and fern trees from today - oops, just realized they are sideways so turn your head!

Tomorrow we will park our car at the train station near here, take the train into Melbourne for a day of exploring the city then catch a return train and head down the east side of Port Phillip Bay for the night. From there, we will catch a ferry across the mouth of the bay and start the Great Ocean Road for more awesome scenery. The forecast seems to be in our favour for some decent weather along that route.

I don't know where or when we will next find a computer so hugs to all of you until we do.

Love Les and Shon