Melbourne, Australia

We took off for our first "not seeing family" family trip to Australia on the 13th. We already made the trek by flight to the States so we knew a 7 hour ride would be a piece of cake. And it was. Smooth. We spent a week in Melbourne, eating yummy food and playing in the grass. Sophie never gets a chance to play in the grass here in JB so every chance we got, we put her down. It took time but she loved it. We did a ton. We walked a lot which is really something Thomas and I miss from the days living in Holland.

We hit a great 'local' market, Queen Victoria's market on Sunday- apparently the busiest day. And it was. There's a little for everyone and a lot for tourists. Have to admit I did partake in the tourist shopping- I purchased a straw cowboy hat. (Been looking for one for years). Monday, we took one of the greatest day trips ever. we went to a sanctuary to see wallabies and other animals. Sophie met, for the first time, horses, sheep, cows, ducks and a goat. Not too sure if she saw the wallabies - they were hiding- but you couldn't tell that she was upset. She loved the sheep and horses. From there we went to see koalas but all Sophie cared about was walking on the boardwalk. After that we ventured to a small town for dinner and gelato and off to the penguins. We hit Phillips Island - the home of 66,000 penguins. They go out during the day (for work) and come home after dark. The most amazing thing I have ever seen. No pictures since the flash causes blindness in the penguin but we did get postcards. Tuesday was spent wandering the rest of Melbourne and Wednesday was spent taking a wine tour of 4 different wineries in the Yarra Valley. Thursday rounded off our trip and we were on a plane back home.

We had a fantastic time in Melbourne and definitely want to go back to Australia. I couldn't pick which pictures to share so here's the whole album. Lots of just playing around.