Surfing in Inverlock, and a few more koalas

This week we were off to Inverlock with some of the other teachers on exchange. The weekend is organized by the volunteers with the International Teachers Association and we are billeted by other teachers who have previously been on exchange. 

We had a fantastic host family who live on 10 acres of farmland. The kids fed the chooks, went out and got eggs in the morning, caught yabbies, rode horses, tracked possums and wombats and played with the family dogs. 

There were lots of activities organized for us including a visit to Eagle's Nest and a scavenger hunt on the beach.

Eagles Nest

Another visit to Philip Island to see the koalas

And surf lessons on Sunday morning. Unfortunately the weather changed overnight and there wasn't any surf. Luckily our host family was good enough to loan us some boogie boards for the kids and took us down to surf beach to play in the smaller waves.

 Both kids looked pretty good in the shallows

And before long they were catching the waves!

This is a happy boy, I don't know how I'm going to get him home :)

Roadtrip to Phillip Island

Our first overnight roadtrip was to Phillip Island, an island about a hour and a half southeast from us.

There we watched up close while the pelicans and the stingrays get fed by the local fishery.

Frankie the Pelican and a huge Stingray!

Then it was across the bridge to our first stop, Churchill Farms. Acres of farmland right on the ocean, and horses for Hannah. 

Later that night we headed to Phillip Island's main attraction, the penguin parade. Every night at sunset hundreds of little penguins gather in groups out in the ocean and then make their way up the beach to burrow in the hills. It was a long wait for the kids, but they were great. And seeing the penguins was amazing. After they come up the beach you can see them while you walk up the boardwalk. This was some of the best penguin viewing.  You could watch them back up until they found somewhere to stop for the night. Unfortunately pictures are not allowed, so here's a shot curtesy of the Phillip Island Website of what they look like.

This is just one group of hundreds that come out of the ocean over  an hour

Sunday morning was Tyler's birthday. His request? Koalas and mini-golf. So our first stop of the day was the Koala Conservation Centre. We saw quite a few very hot but super cute koalas hanging out in the trees.

With the afternoon upon us we still needed to get a round of mini-golf in before the day was done, so we headed for home looking for somewhere to play. Maru Animal Park was on our way and it just happens to have a large mini-golf course, so we pulled in.

Fittingly, Tyler got a hole in one!

And since it was an animal park as well, we checked out the residents and fed some kangaroos!

And the highlight, since it was Tyler's birthday the kids got an opportunity to get up close and snuggly with one of the koalas.

Dezzie the Koala

**I have to note though that while getting to be up close and personal with the koalas was very cool, we've 

recently learned that the koalas who interact with the public regularly have greatly reduced life spans 

due to the stress the interaction puts on them.  It's something to remember as we see many more animals on this trip.

We made it home with enough time for baths and birthday cake. I officially declare our first overnight trip a success.  

Winterlude has snow sculptures, and we have sand sculptures

Knowing that Winterlude was going on at home, we went out looking for an Australian alternative. We found it in Frankston, a waterfront community on the Mornington Peninsula. They hold an annual sand sculpting event which is absolutely amazing. The details in these sculptures was incredible.

The theme was Under the Sea

This one was my favourite, the lost city of Atlantis on the
back of a giant sea turtle

Every angle had more detail

Credit for this picture goes to Hannah

And of course there was time to swim in the ocean and play on the beach

February is Birthday Month!

We celebrated the kids birthday parties before we left Canada so the celebrations were quieter here, but in a way extra special for our little family.


On February 6th Hannah turned 8
















and on February 17th Tyler turned 6

I'm not sure where my babies went and where these kids came from, but Tyler assures me that he is definitely not too old to snuggle with me as he's not a teenager yet!

Breakfast, Dinner and Tea

Even my meals have different names here. Lunch is dinner and dinner is tea.

But breakfast is still breakfast. Or at least it would be if you could find it anywhere. It's hard to find and when you do find a place that serves it, it's ridiculously expensive! And the lack of maple syrup causes a bit of a problem. Like any good Canadian "maple flavoured" syrup is just not going to cut it. Good thing we packed a few cans to bring with us!

Bacon has continued to elude us though. All I'm looking for is bacon that isn't called "middle" bacon or "back" bacon. The closest I had found was a "rasher" of bacon. It would have been better off being called a "slab" of bacon. While I was trying to figure out how I could turn a rasher into strips in my kitchen I hit the jackpot.

I found streaky bacon. Yep, looks like the bacon at home. Except is cost me $4.00 for 200g. Yikes. 

But price didn't matter. My craving for bacon with my eggs and pancakes and syrup won out over practicality. There are about 8 strips in there. I hope I don't have to fight my kids for my fair share. Because I will. And I'll win!

Enchanted Mazes

The kids picked one of our first Saturday outings. I've recently been informed that shopping for a car, a cell phone and groceries is not any fun at all so only it seemed fair we go out and play.

They picked the Enchanted Mazes and Gardens at Arthurs Seat which is a gorgeous mountainside national park.

Since it was our first "trip" out of Melbourne and only an hour away, it was a good test for our little red car. So we packed up some snacks, made sure the GPS was charged and headed out.

There were gorgeous gardens and hedge work.

Sea Dragon

Some interesting places to stop and rest.

This one is for Aunt Danielle :)

 Tubing. Yep, no snow and no water but still just as much fun!

 And and obstacle course for the kids.

On our way down the mountain we came upon a lookout and got our first glimpse of the ocean since we arrived. It was pretty amazing to think we live so close to this now that we can come back next weekend again if we want.

View of Port Phillip Bay from Arthurs Seat on the Mornington Peninsula