That’s all folks! My Australian Adventure has come to a close, but at least I’ve got some sweet Billabong clothes and Aussie Treats to remember my trip by, that and the hundreds of photos.
cheers
-j

Well here I am, my last day in Oz, less than 24 hours and I’ll be hopping onto a plane to return me back to the land of ice & snow. Although actually the weather in Calgary doesn’t appear to be all that bad right now, go mountains!

So last night I decided to go down to the Sydney Habour Bridge after dark and get some pictures with lights reflecting on the water. And in a very poetic way the batteries in my camera died right after taking this shot, which shall serve as my last pic down under. But I guess 871 photos is enough anyways, seems like a nice round number.

Well I’m back in Sydney now and my flight home is in 2 days, damn that was fast! I’ve seen everything I wanted to see in Aus, and so much more. But all good things must come to an end and soon I’ll be back in the land of ice & snow.

I have nothing specific planned for my last few days down under, but the sun continues to shine, so perhaps I’d best hit up the beach one last time.

There may be another update or two after this, but the bulk of my interesting entries are probably done, I hope you’ve all enjoyed!
cheers
-j

While up in the Dandenongs we also visited the stunning William Ricket Sanctuary which featured ceramic carvings & sculptures done by the sanctuary’s namesake. From an artistic point of view this place is truly inspiring, after visiting India in his youth and learning his skill William spend the rest of his life living in the bush producing his art. When his art was done he placed it in the forrest in such ways that it’s hard to tell where nature ended and the art began. So even though the sanctuary has obviously been touched by the hand of man, it’s done in such a way that the art may as well have grown direct from nature.

The whole place was very peaceful and relaxing, perhaps the life of a hermit isn’t that bad after all.

On Friday Zuzka took me for a wonderful drive out to the Dandenongs just outside of Melbourne to show me the proper aussie bush. Despite the draught that most of southern Australia is suffering from the bush we were in was still very green and nice, however you could see how much lower the falls & creeks were then they should be.

One of the finer points of the aussie bush is the pleasant smell of the eucalyptus through out. Being from Canada I’m just used to the forrest smelling like pine, so I found the smell & experience of the bush to be quite nice. I was also taken by how visually stunning the trees are here. Their not of the evergreen/pine variety of all, so it’s all new to me!

Alright this should be the last in my great ocean road series of pics. The image above is of eagle rock which has a another rock next to it called table rock, cuz it looks like a table, go figure. Below we have more coastal shots as well as a quaint little light house we came across. I figured Quaza Moto’s half cousin lived up top taking care of the light, Zuzka says that’s just crazy talk.

Aside from the coastal views along the great ocean road there’s also a variety of wild life including the following kangaroos which live at the golf course. I figure they hustle the golfers for money as their tails give them extra distance on the driving range, Zuzka figured this was also crazy talk. But at least I got to see some wild roos living outside the zoo.

Below is the infamouse pink bird that tried to kill me, it must have figured I was stealing it’s soul with my camera so it flew right over my head as a warning swoop. Damn birds, I still hate them.

This is the last of the great ocean road pics, next I’ve gotta go through my pics from the Dandenongs and get some of those into a presentable format, boy this blog is starting to feel like work, you folks better know how much I love ya if I’m working on my vacation!

Well the great ocean road is gonna be broken up into multiple entries here as I still have a lot of photos to go through. As the pictures below suggest the great ocean road is a great drive, along the ocean, on a road even. So more coastal pics to come, including a giant rock, a lighthouse and a pink bird that tried to kill me.

Alright, did a portion of the great ocean road today with Zuzka, took 135 pics and I’m far too lazy to edit/tweak them right now so you only get the image above for right now as a teaser. But tomorrow we’re going to the Dandenongs which I’m sure will result in another whack of photos. So in a day or two expect some more pics in the same vain as the image above. Until then you’ll have to amuse yourselves.
cheers
-j

Well technically I’m in Melbourne for another 2 days, but I may not get another chance to update until I’m back in Sydney on Saturday. Tomorrow Zuzka is taking me for a drive down the great ocean road and then Friday I believe we’re going to Healesville Sanctuary to photograph drop bears in the wild.

So no updates till the weekend folks!