Australian Enchiladas

This was the day we hooked up with the Echidna Walkabout Tour for the day. They took us to an animal reserve out in the "bush," about an hour and a half outside Melbourne. It was very rainy and a bit cold, but completely worth it.

Our tour guide Martin was amazing, knowing everything you could possible want to know about Australian animals. 4 months out of the year he also does African Safari tours. So cool.












At our first stop we saw a wild emu wandering around with a baby. Apparently emu's are raised by the father, as the mother disappears shortly after birth. Not often you hear about that happening in nature.
















After the emu's, we wandered into a giant open field to see the wild kangaroos just enjoying the rain. We could get fairly close before they got scared and wandered away. So cool.



  
In the midst was also a giant male that we named Arnold. He's huge!

 












After kangaroo chasing, we went to one of the giant ponds and enjoyed some bird watching. Birds are everywhere, especially the cockatoos. We even listened to the kookaburras cackling in the trees. They sound a bit like baboons to me. Australia is filled with over 700 kinds of eucalyptus trees, so the area smells amazing. At one point our guide picked a few lemon leaves from a eucalyptus tree to use for tea. If you are a tea drinker, you would have loved it.

We then stopped for a "bush" picnic, complete with sandwiches, fresh fruit, and tim tam chocolate cookies. Yum. Martin then made tea using the fresh lemon leaves he'd picked earlier, mixing it into the boiled water the old fashioned way.


Then we did some koala hunting up in the You Yang Mountains, which apparently are all granite. Martin's wife went out early that day searching for the koalas, and marked their location with a pink ribbon. She'd then send Martin the coordinates, we'd find the ribbon, and then scan the top of the trees to find them. They were just so cute and cuddly looking that I couldn't get enough of taking their pictures.





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We took a few pictures from the top of the You Yang Mountains and enjoyed the view.

    













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On our way down, we stopped to see a random critter along the road. Ironically, this little guy is an echidna, or as our guide referred to him, an Australian Enchilada. Martin grabbed my camera and leaned out the window of the car to take some pictures for me. He got some great ones too.














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After that we headed back to the city where Brigid and I crashed for the night after a fun, but cold and wet day in the bush.

The Australia Trip

Because every trip I go on has to have some kind of fiasco, the flight and first day were the only random incidents of the week long trip. To start with, I couldn't print off my boarding passes. I tried everything. I could check in online, but that was it. Flights were through Qantas Airlines, - there is no Qantas ticket counter in Austin Texas - so I was a bit stressed as to how I was going to get on the plane.

Frazzled, I chatted with my travel companion Brigid, who said she'd make a call. As I was on my way to the airport, she called me back saying I had to check in through American Airlines. Because of the quirky way the booking was done, we couldn't print any passes online.

Crisis averted and my stress level dissipated.

Qantas Airlines was amazing. While we didn't fly first class, we did notice they had a completely separate entrance to the plane. The were stationed upstairs, while all of us commoners in coach remained down below. Nevertheless, the 16 hour flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne was as smooth as could be expected. The food was surprisingly decent, and the attendants very friendly. Nicest airline I've ever been on.

A car was sent to pick us up at the airport, and we proceeded to our luxury 5 star hotel.


The Sofitel Hotel is situated in the French district of Melbourne, in the midst of the expensive high end stores. Gucci, Armani, etc. surrounded us. And the view from the private lounge was incredible, along with the view from the room. We were often told this was the nicest hotel in town. Um . . .yes, I fully believe that.


 As our room wasn't ready for check in, we wandered through the town for some necessity shopping. It was on a little corner that the second strange incident occurred.

While Brigid used the public toilet, I sat on a lovely park bench to wait. An older woman sat at the other end. After a few moments, she turned to ask me if we were in Melbourne. I confirmed and wondered if she was crazy. She talked in circles, repeating herself over and over again. She was from Sydney, had come to Melbourne for a specific reason but couldn't remember. She'd fallen somehow and hit her head, but wasn't sure how it happened.

What do I do? This had never happened to me before.

After a few more tries, I coaxed her into pulling out her cell phone and calling a family member. She left a message, and once Brigid joined in the mix we offered to walk her to a police station around the corner.

Just as she was standing her daughter called.

They'd separated to do some shopping, and 5 minutes later the daughter came rushing up the street in a panic.

I was relieved the woman wasn't traveling alone. Turned out they were in town for a wedding, and staying at a hotel not far from our location.

They thanked us for helping and we parted ways. Crazy!
    After that, we toured St. Patrick's Cathedral, then returned to the hotel to dress for the Tramcar Restaurant Dinner. Even though we were delirious and exhausted, it was so worth it.


If ever in Melbourne, it's a must do. The 5 course meal was fantastic, along with the lovely drive through the city. By the time we returned to the hotel we were stuffed and desperate for sleep.

So ended the first day of my adventure in Oz.