Kangaroo Island - Simply Remarkable

After seeing the Fur Seals we took a short drive over to Remarkable Rocks, a huge cluster of weather sculptured granite boulders perched on a large granite dome that drops 75 metres to the sea. By the number of pictures I have posted here, you can tell that I found these ginormous rocks to be brilliant!

A New Pose

Here is Bella's new pose...straight legs, straight arms and actually looking at the camera!

Kangaroo Island - Emu Bay

On Kangaroo Island we stayed at Emu Bay. The views were magnificent and the beach was incredible. As you can see we were able to drive onto the beach and spend time in the warmish water. The kids loved the sand and we loved how close we were to the beach.

When we arrived at Emu Bay we were amazed how quickly we saw the wildlife that is so abundant and common on Kangaroo Island. This goanna was on the driveway by our cottage when we were checking in. Each of the kids got a close up with Jared finally scaring it away.

We spotted this Kangaroo on the way to dinner resting under a tree close to our cottage.

On the way home that night, John continued driving around to find more Kangaroos to the frustration of Colin...who told John to quit being "the world's best wildlife photographer" and take us home.

John took this sunrise picture on Saturday morning before the kids and I woke up. He enjoyed an early morning walk with his parents and also spotted the Galahs in the trees close to our place.

And finally, sunset over the kids' cubby house. It was brilliant!

Kangaroo Island Ferry

We flew to Adelaide on Thursday, February 12 for our trip to Kangaroo Island. We drove 2 1/2 hours to Cape Jervis and spent the night there. The next morning we woke up early to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island. The crossing only takes 40 minutes and we had a smooth ride there, but coming home was an entirely different story. At least a third of the passengers had to hit the toilets, fortunately all of us were numbered amongst the lucky two-thirds.

Only in Australia

We flew to Adelaide on Qantas and the pilots were extraordinarily friendly and invited the kids into the cockpit for a tour. For an hour and half flight, they provided a hot dinner and an activity pack for the kids to play with. This definitely doesn't happen in the United States.

Only in South Australia

When someone travels around the country they expect to change their clocks to local time when they arrive. The change is usually in one hour increments forward or backward. Not so in South Australia (Adelaide and Kangaroo Island)...here you change your clock in 30 minute increments. What? Are you serious, you ask? Of course, this is Australia and they tend to do things a bit differently down under!

Beach Park

One of our favorite spots to play and watch the sunset is Beaconsfield Parade Beach Park. The kids can spend hours playing in the sand with little or no supervision. It is a parent's dream.

Grandma and Grandpa loved the beautiful birds and wildlife found throughout Melbourne.

Oz

Melbourne has a very active arts scene including a great theatre district. John and Jenny took advantage of this to go see Wicked while John's parents were in town. Jenny loved it so much she went again with Colin and her parents when they were here.

Black Saturday

On Saturday, 7 February we went down to Mornington Peninsula. The weather was blistering reaching a high of 118 degrees and the wind was strong. We enjoyed the morning in Sorrento and swam in the water, ate our Nutella sandwiches for lunch and enjoyed playing in the sand. We then went over to London Bridge and John, Paul, Sharon and Colin went snorkeling in the tide pools because of the low tide. The girls, Jared and I went down to the sand, but immediately changed our minds and escaped the heat in the air conditioned van.

On the way home we got our first sight of one of the many wildfires that were prevalent throughout the area. It was such a sad day for the people of Victoria. On every news station we heard that conditions were ripe for wildfires and it proved to be a terrible truth. The smoke and ash continued to plague the area throughout the entire month of February and into the first part of March.

Our First Visitors

Grandma & Grandpa Norton came to visit in February. It was awesome! Here they are at Brighton Beach with the bath houses behind them. In the distance you can see the city of Melbourne. On the first day they attended Wesley College's weekly assembly and were able to sing the Australian national anthem, watch Brooklyn get an award and get a tour of the children's school. On Friday we had a great time visiting the Queen Victoria Market, where Paul picked up this fantastic hat.

First Day of School

And so begins another school year, the third that the kids have had in the past five months! Colin began year 3, Brooklyn began year 1 and Bella began Pre-Prep 4. Colin declared today his favorite first day ever, after Kindergarten of course. He then went through and ranked them all, but decided that his first day at Wesley in October doesn't really count. Isabella will only attend three days a week and is beyond excited (I am excited that she will be home two days a week to help entertain Jared). Here she is in her uniform and her sun cap.

Here are the kids before school. I love the size of Bella's backpack in relation to her body and Colin wasn't as sad as he appears in the picture...I rarely find a picture when all of the kids look at the camera at the same time, but it is usually Isabella that is the culprit.

After school, Jared's look of pure delight to once again be surrounded by his favorite people, speaks for itself.