CONGEWAI

Miss Jennie & Mr. Ron's slice of farm "Heaven"

The vineyards

Two weeks ago we were invited to spend a long weekend in the Hunter Valley Region, the town of Congewai.  We have met some Aussie friends through our North Carolina neighbors (thanks - Seilers) and they have a second home that sits on the 170 acres in the wine/cattle country of New South Wales.  At the farm (aka ranch in American terminology), they have 15 steers (Black Angus), 4 alpacas (Sunnie, Charlie, Pablo & Andy), 4 dogs (Edwina, Burt, Archie & Max) and many wild animals i.e. kangaroos, emus, snakes,….

As many of you know, we left our dog, Cooper, in the states with my brother because we were so worried about him coming to Australia.  We were not sure that he would survive quarantine and not knowing how long it would take (anywhere from 8 weeks - 6 months) ….we were quite worried for him.  He was living quite a human life with us in North Carolina and our vet felt that being confined to a cage for many weeks/months might just kill him emotionally.  So we made the toughest decision in terms of coming here and we gave up our dog.  There were tons of tears from all family members.  I won't say who may or may not have cried the most at that final goodbye but, he is the only one with a Y Chromosome.  We have days when our entire family MISSES that little guy and we wish that we had brought him for selfish reasons.  He brought joy into our lives, gave us snuggles on a regular basis, and just kept us happy.  Cooper, we miss you.

So you can imagine, my children jumped at the opportunity to spend an entire four days with dogs and other livestock.  It was a complete joy to be in the Hunter Valley.  Miss Jennie and Mr. Ron were lovely hosts and so generous with their little slice of heaven.  

600 Kg Black Angus Steer

Feeding them HAY biscuits (aka cookies).

They were beautiful!

Claire is LIVING her dream…..she is a country girl at HEART.

We went for rides on the QUADS (ATVs) looking for kangaroos.
They girls will able to see a momma with her LARGE joey and to herd about 20 Kangaroos into a paddock with the steers.  They were searching the fencing for holes that needed to be repaired.
 The Roos had been busy making holes….they found 40 of them. 

Swinging - a favorite. 

Emu

Pool Volleyball - so refreshing on a HOT, HOT DAY!

We LOVE pool time.

It was a fantastic experience and one that our girls will NEVER forget -- Thanks Miss Jennie and Mr. Ron.

MELBOURNE

When we moved to Australia, one of the many places that Australians recommended that we visit is Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bin).  It is south of us in the state of Victoria and is known for its fantastic food, shopping and many sporting events (Australian Open Tennis, Melbourne Cup Horse racing--similar to the Kentucky Derby).

When my parents decided to come visit us for Christmas, one of the places that they truly wanted to see was Melbourne.  So we thought that we would go with them after the holiday and see what all of the "buzz" was about.

Melbourne is almost the same size of Sydney but does not feel as big.  The streets are wider (traffic does not seem as congested), the city is much flatter and just feels more intimate.  The cafes and shops are amazing and I would not be surprised if we went back again just for this.  Every meal we had was a different cuisine….Greek, South African, Mexican, and Malaysian.  I think you get the picture we basically ate our way through the city.

We enjoyed visiting the Old Melbourne Gaol (the jail where BushRanger Ned Kelly was held prior to being hanged), Parliament House, rode the city trolley, shopped, and ate, visited the beautiful city gardens (and ate some more) and we spent an entire day traveling the GREAT OCEAN ROAD. 

Papa Bruce rented a car for a day and took us on an ADVENTURE!  We traveled the Great Ocean Road and went to all of the surfing hot spots.  It was so beautiful and we really enjoyed our drive.  There were a few hairy moments with Papa behind the wheel but, there  were no HUMAN causalities besides a "minor scrape" on the car bumper (from a MAJOR brick wall but hey--who said walls were major stopping points??).  Overall, it was a great trip and we were so happy to share it with Papa Bruce and Gram.  Here are some photos.  

Inside the old "Gaol"

Wow those doors are short.

The widths of the cells were only as wide as Tom's arm span.

Grace dressed and standing by Ned Kelly.

Jane ready to "shoot" her way out of the gaol.

In the courtyard of the prison. 

Parliament has two houses (Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly).
This is the higher house - Legislative Council.

The Library - where proposed law is researched before going to the Houses to become law.

The entrance doors

Parliament House of Victoria

St. Peter's Cathedral

Carlton Gardens

Waiting for the city Trolley - it was raining. :(

Graffiti Alley - very cool what some artists can do with a can of spray paint.

South African Hot sauce!

A View from the Great Ocean Road.

Papa and his girls.  :)

Love these two beautiful people - Papa Bruce and Gram.

Posing at St. Kilda at sunset…the kite surfers were amazing!