We thought our friends and family would want to see how we are doing, so we put together a post with some pictures from the past couple weeks. Meg and I spent Easter weekend with her Dad and Glenda in Bermagui where they have a house on the coast. The first couple pictures show the beach out in front of the house where we spent most of our time. The water was 72 degrees, and the waves were rolling.

We spent Easter Sunday climbing Gulaga, the mountain pictured below. The area has several drastically different environments all right next to each other. The terrain goes from the beach, with arid plants, to rolling country farm land, to eucalypt forest, to temperate rain forest.

When we were approaching the top of the mountain, we discovered three Lyre birds. Lyre birds are known as the best mimics in nature. Their call is a combination of every other bird in the forest, with some mad man sounds thrown in as well. I recorded one that was hiding in the nearby brush. Click the play button to hear it.

It was difficult to get a picture of one since they constantly are moving between the trees and bushes. I managed to snap this one picture as it ran across the trail.

Also on the mountain there are Bell birds. The Bell birds all group together, such that you can walk for hours, not hearing a single one, until suddenly you are surround by hundreds of little ringing bells. Click play to listen ( i haven’t figured out what type of bird is making the single loud call):

The environment becomes a temperate rain forest about half way up the mountains. Some of the ferns towered over our heads.

Surrounding the base of the mountain is idylic country. The hills are covered with lush pasture. There is really cool town nearby called Tilba, which we visited; the town was alive with the yearly easter festival, which included several live bands, a poisonous snake handler, an egg toss, and a contest called the gum boot throw (don’t ask me, i had no clue either, it had something to do with throwing an old boot up through your legs and over your head; i never figured out how or what you won.)

Meg and I now live in area just outside of Melbourne, called St. Kilda . St Kilda is located right near the bay, so the ocean is just a few blocks away. The area is full of great restaurants and all types of people. This is the George hotel on the corner of our street, a popular pub and landmark of the area.

This is the St. Kilda pier, on it is a renovated old building that is now a restaurant and wine bar.

Another famous landmark is Luna Park, a throw back amusment park, that sits right on the oceans edge.

There is a boardwalk that runs along the beach.

After fighting the rental market for a month or so, we finally landed this apartment. These photos are here at the request of Meg’s mother to assure her that we have a roof and four walls.

We hope all is well back in the states. We miss all of you and really look forward to seeing you this summer when we pop back to America for a bit.

Cheers.

Meg and I have been in Australia for about two weeks now. Its been nice being in a country were we dont stick out like a sore thumb. Meg’s Dad, Dennis and his partner, Glenda have graciously welcomed us into their home in Ballarat while we are looking for an apartment in nearby Melbourne. Its hard to explain how much we started to miss things like hot showers, a (full) fridge, and a bug free bed. After an Aussie summer christmas with them, Meg and I have begun to explore Melbourne and the surrounding territory. We took the train into Melbourne so Meg could show me around a bit. The city is beautiful, well organized, and full of great people and food.

Meg will be attending RMIT in about six weeks, its located in the center of the city in several really interesting buildings.

The city has the Yarra River flowing through it, which really adds to the atmosphere.

And of course there’s the MCG,one of the biggest stadiums in the world and the home of Australian cricket. It holds about 100,000 people. Australia just won the Ashes against England. There has been quite a bit of cricket fever about, and ive actually figured the game out and begun to really enjoy watching it.  Im looking forward to going to a cricket game, or atleast an aussie football game, at the MCG soon. ( and John, if you’re reading this i haven’t forgotten about the hat.)

Back in Ballarat, Dennis has been helping Meg and I construct wood furniture for our new apartment. He has a carpentry workshop in his garage and a decent supply of old beautiful pieces of wood.

Our first attempts, which turned out succesfully, were recreations of the multipurpose wooden boxes that we had around our apartment back in Boston.

Last week we all drove down to the Great Ocean Road. The road stretches for hundreds of kilometers along the coast.

One of the big attractions is the beautiful collection of monoliths rising from the ocean called the Twelve Apostles.

I got my first delicious taste of the australian ocean surf at Torquay, the surfing capital of Australia.

On New Years eve we headed down to Melbourne.

We grabbed a nice spot along the river, for the festivities.

The early fireworks show was a bit down the river from our spot, but beautiful none the less.

We had front row seats for the midnight spectacular.

Yesterday, Meg and I hit the road for Bell’s Beach, made famous by the move Point Break.  The weather was beautiful and even though the waves were only 3 or 4 feet high it was a blast.

If you were patient and swam hard, you could grab some pretty big ones.

All in all it was a perfect beach day.

The surf up until now has been tame by Aussie standards. According to the forcasts, Wednesday will bring some big, clean, and consistent waves. We can’t wait.