From Mountains to Ocean to Island

So, like I said in the last post, we sent Nikki on her way back to Melbourne so she could have a day to get some work on her thesis done. Let me start by pointing out that I would much prefer hiking with Saggy and Rachel than Cara and Nick. I still love Cara and Nick but the Cleveland fitness level is a lot closer to the Beddes's. We woke up early on Tuesday morning and headed out for a hike down Wentworth Falls. What an incredible hike! You literally walked along the edge of a cliff, while every now and again you'd emerge to walk across or under this huge waterfall. Then they went on the skyrail/rail that Nikki and I did a few months ago. Saggy just loved the steep train rail. That evening we were catching a late flight back to Melbourne and we had a bit of time before the rental car had to be back so I came up with the genius idea to go check out Bondi beach, which is supposed to be a very famous beach. Now, everyone I have ever talked to about Sydney told me not to drive in that town. When I typed it into the GPS it said it wasn't much farther than the airport. Naturally I figured we would just skirt the city center. Turns out the best way is right through the absolute heart of downtown, and of course, it was about 5 o'clock. After some white knuckle driving and fair bit of swearing we made it through to the beach. I don't know if it was worth it but it makes for a good story.



That night when we got back to Melbourne Saggy and Rachel stayed in Geelong so they'd be outside the city when they got their rental car to drive the Great Ocean Road. Turns out Saggy was a bit intimidated by the famous Melbourne hook turn. Judging by Saggy about to pee himself as he told me about all the kangaroos and koalas he saw I think he liked the drive. Rachel was just glad to be alive. Her description of the drive was: "only 2 near death experiences and the blinkers used correctly once". For those who have never driven on the wrong side of the road/car. The hardest thing to get used to is the blinkers. It is something that is so automatic that when it is on the wrong side it totally screws you up. Nick did the same thing when he was here. Nikki loves to say: "You can always tell when Mark is turning because the wipers come on." Now she'll have to expand that to:"You can always tell when Mark/Saggy/Nick is turning because the wipers come on."


For the last day we decided on Phillip Island which is supposed to be a very popular wildlife area. The first stop out there was at a Koala Conservation center. Which roughly translated from tourist talk is: Let's put up some boardwalks and charge people ten bucks to see the Koalas that already lived there. It was worth it, but all of Phillip Island seemed to be a bit touristy and overpriced. When we found out the Penguin parade was $30 all four of our cheapskate butts clinched right up. But, we thought that was what we went out there for and what Phillip Island is famous for so what the heck. It was well worth it! When the sun went down a few penguins starting popping up out of the ocean and looking around. Then almost like they went in and told the rest it was okay, hundreds of the little buggers came strolling on in. They just walked past on their way to burrows. The park ranger said they actually don't even sleep or hunt while on land, just mate and play. That was exactly what they looked like they were headed to do. They would get to running and stumble a bit. It was so ridiculously cute. This lasted about an hour and then the rangers turned the lights out and we walked back along the boardwalk and the penguins were all over around us. We came across two of that looked like they were fighting or dancing, then one (I assume the boy) hopped on the back of another (I assume the girl) gave a little wiggle, laid there for a minute, then kind of stepped backward and gave awkward glances to each other and these funny humans that just watched them. We were laughing so hard it hurt!

These guys were so fun to hang out with. They like food and wine, are great conversationalists, and have absolutely no problem being mesmerized by the simplest things and not being embarrassed when acting like an excited little kid. Rachel was worried early on Saggy and I would kill each other by the end of the visit but Sag and I assured her as we did Saggy's mom, Mary, many many years ago; that is just how we talk to each other.