New Year in Australia

Halls Gap

30.12.2009 - 11.01.2010

We left a cold and wet England on Dec 30th. New Year's Eve largely passed us by but we spent a few hours in Singapore Airport - has to be the best airport in the world! It's like a 5* hotel with shopping mall & cafes & fountains, also lots of sofas & reclining seats and big TV screens; it's even got a swimming pool!

Singapore Airport - New Year's Eve

We landed in Melbourne on Jan 1st for a very Happy New Year with Ollie & Lyds and Simon & Rachel too. We were cosily packed into Ollie & Lyds home but able to spill out onto their decking area and enjoy very warm, sunny weather - not thinking too much of freezing England.
Jan 2nd was Simon's birthday and we had an interesting BBQ meal at a Mongolian restaurant where the owner got us playing games

Simon's birthday

Rachel and Lydia all tangled up

We then spent a week at Halls Gap in the Grampian Mountains 3-4 hours Northwest of Melbourne. The Grampians are a National Park with beautiful mountains largely covered in native bush with much evidence of fire damage but good regrowth.
view from Boronia Peak

view from Boronia Peak

Simon enjoying the view from Boronia Peak

We stayed in a comfortable house on the edge of the bush, well shaded by big eucalyptus trees and with kangaroos hopping around outside; they really are ridiculous creatures but quite cute. We also saw lots of colourful birds, including emus, but sadly, no koalas. The weather was hot, mostly in the 30s. We tended to walk in the mornings and then go to the local pool in the afternoons. Ollie was not able to join us on most of the walks as he has injured his knee for the third time (most recently playing squash with Simon!) but could enjoy the pool. The day we left was very hot and there was a 'code red' bushfire warning which means high risk so leave the area if possible. It was good that we were due to leave anyway. The Australians are very anxious about bushfires especially since 'Black Saturday' last February when many people died.