Kangaroo Sightings in Melbourne

When you think of Australia, what instantly comes to mind are KANGAROOS!!  I couldn't wait to see one in the wild, although in the back of my mind I was remembering our trip to Sumatra to spot the elusive Orangutan in the wild---  an Orangutan was NEVER sighted despite spending the night in the rainforest!  But on our second day in Melbourne, we drove (on the other side of the road) to the Cardinia Reservoir state park to do some hiking.  On the way there we saw some signs warning drivers of Kangaroos crossing the road.  I became optimistically excited -- would we see roos in the wild??

 Then as we were hiking the trails of the park, chatting away, we heard a rustle in the grass and there was a kangaroo staring at us for disturbing his/her luncheon!

 
This kangaroo was about 20 feet away and a bit skittish of humans -- similar to deer behavior in the wild.  Now that we knew what to look for ---  look we did!  How many kangaroo do you spot?  It's a bit like Finding Waldo.

 Another excitement for me in Melbourne was visiting the Amitie quilt shop, owned by quilt designer Jen Kingwell. I have made her "My Small World" pattern and had another of her patterns on my Christmas wish list!

 Oh boy, isn't this quilt a beauty??  

It is called Queen's Cross and the pattern and template package went into my Christmas Stocking, thanks to my very generous son, along with a starter set of fabrics to make it, thanks to Santa!  YAY, can't wait to get started on this project!!


Ann's parents live in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, and Ann went to college here, so we loved having such knowledgeable guides.  Melbourne is really a mix of old and new, with tightly clustered vintage homes with fine architectural details interspersed with modern apartment buildings.  We took the city circle Brown Trolley all around the downtown area to get our bearings.

Contemplating the artist's vision

Then, we visited the National Gallery of Victoria to view the exhibits, which included some Ming Dynasty pieces and famous paintings.
















We also spotted this mural downtown.

 How many different animals unique to Australia can you find?

For a city of its size, the second most populous in Australia, Melbourne has a lot of parks and green open spaces. 

One of the parks that we enjoyed the most was the Royal Botanic Gardens, located just a block away from where we were staying.

Visitors enjoying a carriage ride at the Royal Botanic Gardens

You see a wide variety of plants here. Many of them we recognized from our time living in Hawaii and California while others were totally new to us.

Charming little wedding chapel in the park

We also observed this colorful Rainbow Lorikeet in the Botanic Gardens.  Doesn't the color of it's beak match the red blossoms?  The Lorikeets were just as colorful on the hike that we took to the Werribee Gorge State Park -- the bird was just a bit further away from us.

This hike was fun because, for a section of it, you had to hold on to a cable drilled into the cliff as you made your way along a narrow ledge next to the river. 

 However, if you have pollen allergies--beware, the place was a'bloomin !!  And we were annoyed by swarms of flies buzzing all around. We had to keep our hoods up to keep them out of our ears and face, even though it was bright and warm that day.

Stay tuned as we HOP over to Sydney, next!!