Perspections

We had pictures taken of our family in December 2009. We enjoyed our photo shoot with Ellie from Pitter Patter Portraits. Here is a blog entry of our session.

On Friday morning we had planned to get an early start for our Great Ocean Road Trip. We did not leave until about 11:15am, which meant that we were in for a late night as our accommodation booking was in Portland about 160 km further than we needed to go to see Twelve Apostles. The drive was certainly a long one, but I was happy to see more of native Australia.

During this trip we ventured through Geelong, Torquay, Bells Beach, Anglesea, Apollo Bay, Port Campbell and numerous other towns along the Great Ocean Road. The view did not disappoint and the Twelve Apostles (now just eight) were an impressive sight.

We dined in Port Campbell before continuing our travels to Portland. We arrived in Portland with our fussy baby around 10:30pm and immediately went to sleep.

In the morning I awoke about 9am and put Agustin in the Baby Bjorn and went for our morning coffee run. I also found a grocery store and since our room included self-service facilities I bought supplies to make breakfast. After a little effort I was able to turn on the gas stove and cook our meal.

We got on the road soon after breakfast. We ventured a little further to Breakwater Bay for a cup of coffee at the beach. I am very glad we did this as the beach here was very beautiful. After it began to rain, we jumped in the car and began the journey back to Melbourne, which took us until about 6pm. I am very glad we broke it down over a couple days, but would recommend getting accommodation in Port Campbell for one night for families traveling out from Melbourne.

On December 31st, 2009 we had invited a few friends to join us to watch the fireworks from our apartment. We talked about doing this for a while, but then waited until the last minute to actually confirm we would do this. As a result it was a small event, which led to great time of conversation and reflection. The fireworks went off as expected around 9:30pm and then again at midnight. Our apartment had great views of the Docklands fireworks as well as the fireworks set off from rooftops in the CBD.

The night also turned stormy and there was lightning and thunder accompanying the fireworks on the ground, you might say God was demonstrating real fireworks!

On Wednesday we drove down to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. We left in the late afternoon and arrived on Phillip Island around 6:30. We enjoyed dinner in Cowes at a Fish & Chippery and then headed to the Penguin viewing location.

At the Penguin Parade we parked our car and headed into the wildlife reserve down the boardwalk to the general admission stands. Visitors are required to arrive approximately 1 hour before the penguins are expected to return from their day of fishing in the ocean. This meant being seated around 19:45 and once the sun began to set penguins began arriving for their trip across the beach back into the dunes where they have their nests.

We took this time to dress Agustin in warmer clothes, feed him, and then I put him in the Bjorn and walked in the aisle until he fell asleep. Then I returned to my seat about 10 minutes before the first penguin arrived.

It was a great experience watching the timid penguins gather and make their dash across the beach. The story of the penguins is this is their home and they spend the day out at sea fishing and then return to shore and wait for the background to be dark enough to make their dash across the beach to the dunes.

The penguins are about 1 foot tall and supposedly the beach crossing is the scariest part of their daily journey. The penguins certainly looked timid as they came up out of the water. Sometimes the trip would be aborted and they would quickly scramble back into the water. The seagulls on the shore were not really enemies but there was certainly some sort of territorial interaction going on as the penguins came up the beach. Once the penguins made it to the dunes they relaxed. As we left we had to make our way back up a long boardwalk to the admission center. In the dunes all along the boardwalk area there were many penguins taking a break, preening their feathers, and otherwise demonstrating a much more relaxed outlook then during the scramble across the beach.

Once we left the Parade, we then drove back to Melbourne, which made for a long car ride as Agustin was overly tired and refusing to fall asleep in his car seat. I talked to him and he calmed down, but he stayed awake for quite a while after we began the drive home.

Tuesday was another good day for a car trip. We rented a car for six days so we took it out for a spin each day this week.

On the recommendation of some of our friends we visited Healesville Sanctuary on Tuesday. This animal reserve shows off many of the animals local to Australia. We saw our first dingos, Tasmanian devils, and Koalas. We saw raptor bird show featuring a falcon, buzzard, and a few others. We also saw more Kangaroos, Echidnas, Wombats, Platypus, Emus, lizards, snakes, and birds.