Melbourne Australia.
What a wonderfully relaxing and refreshing stay in a VERY cold part of Australia. We would truly like to come back here and visit when we aren't freezing and when we can take some time to enjoy the city. Everyone has their tastes, but Ethan and I both felt more at home in downtown Melbourne over Sydney. Ethan's childhood schoolmate, Nancy, met us at the airport. We flew into Avalon (we thought it was Melbourne - discount fare on Jetstar from Sydney) and it was the other side of Melbourne from where Dexter and Nancy live. Oops. Sorry Nancy and Dexter and thank you for everything!


Nancy and Dexter (Our Melbourne Hosts!)

Nancy and Ethan were two years apart in school but their mums are still good friends. They hadn't seen each other in 15 years, but it was really nice for them both to reminisce and of course its always nice to have friends visit from overseas to your new home. Ethan and I learned that when we had friends or family visit in Samoa. We were their first overnight guests in their new house which was fun and I hope we were good guests. They had to work most of the week but there was a computer in the second bedroom and I took advange (poor Ethan) and spent two days working on finishing my college essays. Dexter has heaps of movies and series, so Ethan caught up. We experiemented with the Western style grocery stores and bottle shops and I still need to have my hand held as we go through the isles. Its still overwhelming. I made dinner for Nancy and Dexter, Ethan made me lunch and we truly enjoyed having a home where we could just relax. I also saw the doctor...yes mother...I am back on antibiotics for the cough. I think it should be cleared up but the doc said that some Thai massage and time in a hut on a beach someplace will definately help clear it up. So, no complaints, I can do both tomorrow when we head to Thailand.
Feeding the parrots at the Park.... That's Nancy on the right.


We tried very hard to change our JetStar tickets and our StarAlliance RTW tickets to spend a day or two extra in Melbourne but to no avail. We were completely bummed because Dexter and Nancy scheduled a poker/potluck with some mates on Saturday ngith and Ethan and I really wanted to attend. Did I mention that Nancy pulled out their old yearbooks and I saw the first pictures of Ethan as a child? How funny! He says dorky, but he hasn't seen mine! Anyway.

Today, we spent the day with Nancy and Dexter. We mentioned that we were interested in their little wine region (Yarra Valley), but besides that they were the trip planners. What a great day. They always start their weekends with cartoons, so we made a big breakfast and then watched superman. We headed out with a picnic lunch with winter coats to the mountains, where we fed the parrots. The parrots acted like pigeons but definately smarter and more beautiful. They are native to this area. We had seen one in Sydney and thought someone's pet must be loose, but no. Ethan got pooped on but the rest of us were spared of bombings and noone lost a finger. See pics. Lunch was lovely and then we were off to taste wine.

Midweek wine tastings definately rock over weekend tours. We were usually the only ones in the wineries and got extra special pours because, well, we were the only ones there. The wines were decent and by the last vineyard Nancy and I went in and left the men to power nap in the car. We all bought some. Ethan and I will be enjoying ours tomorrow on our 6 hour layover in Sydney airport. All in all, a great week. Ethan's got the sniffles but I think nothing some warm weather can't cure.


What winemakers do after work...note the beer bottles on the table and the grapes in the background.

We are still travelling in our two backpacks and I have a shoulder bag, Ethan a small pack for carry-on. No extra weight as of yet although if we keep eating as well as we have been, we maybe loosening a few belt buckles and backpack straps..he.he.he.