Jervis Bay

We decided to take a road trip after Christmas up to the South Coast of New South Wales, specifically Jervis Bay. White sand beaches, beautiful blue skies and a laid back atmosphere make this one of our favourite spots in Australia.

The kids enjoyed playing in the water and in the sand.

The boys each got boogie boards for Christmas and everyone had a go on them.

One of our favourite past times on the beach was building 'snowmen'. We felt a little bit bad missing out on the cold and snow of the Northern Hemisphere, (okay we didn't really feel bad, but at least we were thinking about y'all freezing in the north) thus our attempts at snowmen in some of the whitest sands on earth.

Our laying out snowman!

Christmas Down Under

We were excited to be in Australia for another Christmas. We had a fantastic holiday and enjoyed the warm weather, whilst the Northern Hemisphere was blanketed in snow.

View of our Christmas tree and a large cruise ship in Port Phillip Bay.

We had lots of Santa interaction this year, starting with a visit to the local library where Jared informed everyone "That's not Santa, he's just a man!"

We then went to the Queen Victoria Market to visit Santa in his red tent, his very red tent.

And finally, we visited with Santa at John's office Christmas party. He sang and danced and was by far the most energetic Santa that we have ever seen. However, Jared was not fooled and came and whispered in our ear that he was still just a man.

We also went downtown to mail our Christmas letters to Santa (which we didn't have with us at the time and so sent them by email). This Christmas tree is downtown on Swanston Street with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

Christmas Eve we went to our friend's home where we all had a go bouncing in the 'Supabounce' bounce house. It rained and the kids were soaked, but we all had a great time.

Christmas morning brought many fun gifts and lots of smiles.

Our favourite shot of the day shows just how occupied and quiet the children were, which was an awesome Christmas gift in and of itself.

The Great Ocean Road - #6

There is only one thing that would make Jenny go on the Great Ocean Road again and that is a visit from friends. And so on December 13 we went again for the sixth time. Let me just repeat we have gone on the Great Ocean road SIX TIMES in less than a year. Thanks Deena and Christian! ;-)

We did have a couple of firsts or 'bests' on this trip. It was the first time someone threw up from car sickness (two others were sick as well). It was the first time we visited Stevenson Falls, which was brilliant.

It was the best trip for spotting Koalas.

The best Kangaroo spotting as well! These Kangaroos inhabit Anglesea Country Club, there were dozens on the fairways and greens.

Overall, the Great Ocean Road was beautiful as always and a trip that Jenny would make again, just as long as you come all of the way to Australia! But you better hurry, you only have 6 weeks before this offer ends.

Shopping Down Under

It is bizarre that every purchase is rounded to the nearest five cents, but sale percentages are as follows.

St. Kilda Pier & Fairy Penguins

From our windows we look out over St. Kilda, an eclectic neighbourhood filled with interesting people, fantastic restaurants and little fairy penguins. We decided to spend an evening down on the pier watching the penguins return to their homes. It was a gorgeous night with no wind, which is rare in Melbourne.

A view of downtown from the pier.

St. Kilda Beach

The Fairy Penguins were amazing. Each day they are out in the bay feeding and then return to their nests at night.

Jared's Birthday!

Jared celebrated his 3rd birthday in December. He was quite keen to have his birthday and gifts because during the previous two months we had celebrated Colin, Brooklyn and Isabella's birthdays. He was patient during their birthdays and birthday parties though and enjoyed the spoils of the parties, but it wasn't the same. All that day he kept informing us that because he opened his presents that meant he was 3. However, the rest of the month he reminded us that he had only had a little birthday and he was ready for his big birthday (party).

Movember - It's for a good cause

Every year in Australia men, at least those that are manly enough to be able to do so, are encouraged to grow a mustache during the month of November. The purpose is to raise awareness of men's health issues (e.g. prostrate cancer, male pattern baldness, ED, etc.) Money is raised through sponsorship and is donated to organizations that provide free prostrate cancer screenings, colonoscopies, Propecia, etc. As you can see below, John was manly enough to participate this year!

The Evolution of a Stache

As a wise man once said, "you do not choose the mustache, the mustache chooses you."

Day 1 __________________Day 5

Day 6__________________Day 10

Day 20__________________Day 30

The Blue Mountains

We ended our trip to New South Wales going to the Blue Mountains. The rock edifice is called the Three Sisters and is surrounded by mountains covered in trees. The moisture from the Eucalyptus trees in the valley evaporates to form a cloud cover that makes the mountains appear blue. It was nice to go up, one more check on our list of things to do in Australia.

We hiked down to this waterfall.

We set off on the "900 steps walk" to the valley floor and I found it necessary to take this picture of Jared, John and Bella in matching shirts. The rest of us didn't get the memo. It was so hot this day and when we got to the top of the steps part of the "900 steps walk" we were told that it was closed because of bush fire fears, I wasn't too disappointed.

And finally, here is another picture of John looking like a bloke. This is a cork hat, one of the few effective remedies to combat the obscene amount of flies that are attracted to your mouth, nose and eyes.