G'Day from OZ Mon
Feb 14, 2000

Hello everyone, We have enjoyed a hot and amazing first week here in Oz Lots to see and the distances are far, but it is a lot of fun.

We arrived easily in Melbourne, which is the capital of the state of Victoria, the Garden State. Lots of gardens and cool neighborhoods to spend time eating, shopping and people watching. Great big city and we have heard it is much more relaxed than their neighbor to the Northeast, Sydney.

We joined a local in his souped-up van along the famous Great Ocean Road. We enjoyed boogie boarding and wave jumping at Bells Beach, famous Rip Curl headquarters. Lots of great surfing to watch. Mike had a lot of fun boarding, but managed to be crushed by a couple of waves and still has sand coming out of his nose.

We camped in a couple of cool Oceanside towns, viewed lots of rock formations and then made our way into the mountains to the Grampians National Park. We saw our first emus, kangaroos and wild Koalas. They are everywhere and so interesting to watch. Also lots of great bush walking, plus a famous Jazz Festival was taking place. Great luck. Lots of fun with the Australian jazz crowd, lots of drinking and great musicians.

Today we are heading south to Philip Island to camp amongst penguins and then along the coast to Sydney, taking a couple of weeks to get there. Lots of little coastal towns to visit.

Mardi Gras in Sydney is March 4, and is supposedly a wild time. Come and meet us.

Keep the updates coming! Send us any travel favorites for Australia. Love Linda and Mike

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