Imagine!

Imagine a march mellow! Imagine a marshmallow with the face of a koala.  Imagine a marshmallow with the face of a koala so furry. Well I don't have to, because I touched one , in the wild, this weekend! It's called a wombat.  I named him Dave.

- Mira

This is my #1 wanted animal!

Urban vs Rural

Because it is the middle of February (already), we are actively talking about our next posting.  To which country will we move in July or August?  Where do we want to live?  What sort of city or town would be our ideal?

I don't know the answer to that question.

Today is our last day in Australia.  We explored the cities of Melbourne, Hobart, and Sydney.  We relaxed in the smaller towns of Torquay, Pambula, and Coffs Harbor.  We trekked and hiked trails in Tasmania.  We had time in urban, rural, and natural settings.

Each has its advantages.

I love the politics and the uber cool, artsy things in big cities.

Hobart protest about refugee treatment by the Australian government

I love the community and friendliness of smaller cities and towns.

Morning visitors in Pambula garden

I love the outdoors and active lifestyle of natural settings.

Coastal hike in Port Arthur

Whatever happens, I do know that the sea must be nearby and nature must be accessible.

We shall see where we end up...

Nadia

Camper

Who knew you'd have to wear seat belts while in a camper? I always thought it would be fun while driving, being able to move around, or lie in bed, for the long car rides at least. But as it turns out, there is only one seating area where one can sit in while driving. The seat belts dig into your neck, and are hard to move around in. Then, if say, one wanted to lie down and go to sleep, their legs hang off the end of the chair. The only way to nap is curled up in s little ball. It's really quite uncomfortable, more so than a regular car. I guess one plus could be the table at the seating area. But then again, one can never put much weight on one side when there's nothing on the other, because then the table will come undone and fall. In the end that's ok, because one can't leave much out anyway. Anytime we want to move, we have to pack everything away in the cupboards. Otherwise things will fall off counters and roll around the floor. However, despite all those negatives while driving, it was so much more fun than I thought. I figured it might get a little claustrophobic, but it didn't. It felt like here was much more space than there actually was. All in all the negatives evened out with all the positives of the camper. We drove around for about a week in Tasmania. First we went to Deloraine, then Cradle Mountain, afterwards we went to Wineglass bay, and finally to Port Arthur. We flew in to Launceston and out of Hobart, but we didn't stay in either with the camper. It was a great trip, and all the camper parks were great, even if one of their playgrounds put a dent in Mira's neck. 

Maya

The sea shore was beautiful all around Tasmania 

10 Days in One Room

Imagine living in a room the width of half the road, and the length of a small swimming pool. Imagine living where 2 beds, the kitchen, and the bathroom are all in one room. Imagine living in a confined space with your parents for 10 days. Imagine driving for four hours everyday with a teenager who gets car sick. Imagine staying in a park with a playground and people who are incredibly nice and have fabulous dogs. Imagine waking up in the morning to kookaburra, and parrots, and birds I don't even know the name of. This was my life for the past eight days and will be for the next two.

- Mira

Luxury in Australia

"It is a luxury to do something that serves no practical purpose: the luxury of civilization!"
   The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman

Luxury:  swinging on a rope swing above Coffs Creek

Luxury: surfing at Park Beach on a weekday

Luxury: hiking Coffs rainforest with a friend

Luxury: rescuing and caring for orphaned or abused animals

Practical:  doing school work to learn and grow

Luxury:  doing school work in a lounge chair by a river in Tasmania

Luxury:  hiking with your family in Cradle Mountain National Park

Practical:  transporting family from one lodging to another

Luxury:  transporting your lodging (camper van) from one national park to another

Luxury:  sitting at a view point on top of Cradle Mountain

Practical:  washing sweat off your body

Luxury:  bathing in Crater Lake

Yet again, I am reminded of how lucky we are...

Nadia

Beautifully wild and unspoiled Tasmania

It's a beautiful and sunny late afternoon with Nadia and I sitting in foldout chairs in the shade of the camper van we've rented to tour around Tasmania. We're along the banks of Coles Bay on the East coast of this rugged and unspoiled island and are really enjoying the natural scenery and incredible wildlife all around us.

We flew in 4 days ago in Launceston, north Tasmania and were met at the airport by our camper rental guy who took us to our new home on wheels for the next 10 days. After a half hour introduction of how everything works we headed out to a camp ground about an hour to west. After arriving, we parked along a small creek and quickly set up (i.e. plug the thing in and set out the fold out chairs). I then went for a small walk and within just a couple of minutes saw a platypus swimming along without a care in the world. Sitting out having coffee the next morning I saw a couple of wallabies (small kangaroo types animals) hop by - not a bad start to our adventure.
The next day we went to an animal park and saw and learned about Tasmanian devils. They're small black animals with sharp teeth, reddish ears, and a white patch on their chests. The hiss a lot at each other and bare their teeth but rarely fight. Maya and Mira really enjoyed feeding kangaroos while there.

Two nights ago we camped in Cradle Mountain National Park but didn't arrive to our campsite until after dark. We were only there a few minutes and starting to prepare dinner when we were visited by some friendly wallabies and a beautiful bushy tailed and sturdy looking possum. Yesterday, inside the park, we hiked for 4 hours to a mountain pass and had lunch overlooking beautiful mountains and lakes. On the way back we saw a juvenile wombat which Mira fell in love with and which Maya and Mira were able to pet while the chubby little guy chomped away on grass shoots.

Now we're at Coles Bay where we'll hike tomorrow to a lookout over a place called Wineglass Bay. From everything we've read it should be a nice hike. If lucky, we may even see some penguins on the beach. Until now, South Africa had been the most southerly latitude we've traveled to. We me get even further south, depending on what route we take once we get to New Zealand, but for now Tasmania is the most south we've ever been.

Last week we enjoyed spending time with friends and great hosts Carol Ann and Tim, in Coffs Harbour. The beach there is beautiful, as are the hills with massive old growth trees and hiking trails. Tim took us on a short hike one day through the forest, which aside from being beautiful ended up being quite eventful. After only 5 minutes in the woods I had to pluck a leech off my ankle. I kept looking down after that to see if any others were trying to get my blood and, low and behold, I picked 26 more leeches off my shoes in less than an hour. Luckily for me, I kept them all off. Nadia wasn't so lucky because after returned home she took her sneakers off to find lots of blood spots on both her socks. Once she had her socks off  she pulled 4 leeches off her feet. She's still scratching the bites, which itch like crazy for days.

At the end of our time in Melbourne (Feb 26th-27th) I also had the chance to attend the men's quarter finals at the Australian Open tennis tournament and watched Novac Djokovic beat Nishikori from Japan.

Cheers, Rob

Kookaburra, Coffs Harbour - what a sound these birds make

Tasmanian Devil

Mira making a friend

Maya feeding roos

With young wombat - cutest animal ever according to Mira

Cradle Mountain National Park

Nice spot for lunch on our hike

Nomads at Crater Lake

Maya balancing in the forest

Melbourne, a beautiful city

On top of the Eureka building overlooking Melbourne

In the clutches of a street artist in Melbourne

Mira  helping a street magician who kept calling her "Kevin"

Djokovic at Australian Open

Friends

I have lots of friends.  Like clouds, they love me so much they follow me everywhere I go!  And trees, they cling on to me all the time just so I will stay with them!  And Water! Every time I touch it it stays on as best it can!  But they are only my friends because I am nice to them!  If you break a tree or do anything bad to them, they will grab on to you and not let you go so that you don't do it to anyone else.  And clouds, if they see you polluting, they will stalk you and pee on you if you do it again.  And water, if you dump trash in the ocean, it will stay on you so you don't do it again.  If you do, it will get one of its children to sting you or bite you!  Everything is living.  Everything has eyes. Be nice to our planet and it will be nice to you.

- Mira