Why did the koala cross the road?

to get to the other side! It was one of the most amazing things you've ever seen!

After a few days in Sydney, the Murray's headed to Melbourne to finally get the chance to see where we actually lived. Dad wanted to see waves, Mom - penguins, Denise - koals and Lauren...the GAOL! Sunday afternoon we headed to Phillip Island to see the fairy penguins coming in from the ocean. Once the sunset, hundreds of little penguins started body surfing onto the beach and headed into their burrows. What a funny phenomenon! Then later in the week we headed back down the Great Ocean Road which hugs the Southern Coast of the country. First stop, Bells Beach. It is winter and the waves were thunderous.

As we continued on our drive, we remembered that we had seen some Kolas in the Eculyptus forest on the side of the road so we stopped and hoped we would get lucky again. Well lucky doesn't even begin to describe what we were...we had a once in a life time experience. We were looking up at the trees at the sleeping koalas, then all of a sudden we turned to look across the street and there was a koala, walking across the street!! We had to flag down a car so they wouldn't hit it and before long about 20 people had stopped to check out the action. The koala wasn't even phased. He walked right by everyone and up another tree. WOW!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/GreatOceanRoadWithTheMurrays

Murray's visit 'Oz - Part I

So the Murray's much anticipated trip Down Under started in tropical northern Queensland - the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef [GBR]. Melissa and I were tired after an early morning flight from Melbourne to Cairns but apparently not as tired as the rest of the family who just spent 24 hrs in United economy [eeek!] Most people don't realize that northern Australia is very tropical. This part of Queensland is home to two world heritage sites: the Daintree Rainforest and the GBR. This leg of the trip included Cape Tribulation, Great Barrier Reef, Mossman Gorge, and Cairns.

We started off with a trip up into the Daintree Rainforest. I have never seen so many different shades of green. It was beautiful! We started off on a path to the top of Mt. Sorrow. In a Wizard of Ozish way the sign basically said - I'd turn back in I were you. None of us listened and proceeded up the mountain. A kilometer or two into it, it became quite obvious that it was a treacherous path and a steep climb. Lauren convince Mom to turn around and the 4 of us proceeded for another couple of kilometers then the path turned into a tangle of roots leading almost vertically upward and we realised the end had come. It was one of the most difficult treks we've ever encountered!

The biggest mystery of the rain forest is the Cassowary. Cassowaries are very large flightless birds native to the tropical forests of northeastern Australia. The Cassowary is the second largest flightless bird on the planet, second only to the ostrich. Cassowaries are very shy, but when disturbed, they are capable of inflicting fatal injuries to an adult human. Everywhere you look there are signs to watch out for them, but as hard as we looked, we couldn't find them!
The next day was the outing to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a bumpy ride and quite windy, but once we got out there the snorkeling was amazing. There was so much to see that the ropes couldn't keep us (Dad) in. You can see it was quite an exhausting day!
















Check out all the pictures of Queensland:
Great Barrier Reef:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/GreatBarrierReef
Daintree Rainforest:http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/DaintreeRainforest
Mossman's Gorge: http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/MossmanSGorge
Palm Cove & Cairns:http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/Cairns

Kangaroos live in the mountains

That's right, kangaroos live in the mountains. We learned this fact during our long weekend excursion to the Grampians. A weekend in the Grampians is similar to a weekend trip to Shenandoah Nat'l Park outside of DC. Its about a 3 hr drive and once you get there the scenery is amazing. I'll put a lot of pictures in the posting, but they will not do the scenery justice.

The trip was a much needed break. You'll notice the picture of Melissa below - yes, there were a few stops for meditation. The drive up on Saturday was secretly planned out by Melissa. I say secretly because only she was aware of our stops on the way. When I suggested a stop in Ballarat for an early lunch she was in complete agreement. [I later learned that was because she had planned this rest stop all along!] Ballarat is an old gold-mining town. It was nice, and there is one thing that I remember very distinctly about Ballarat. The water is disgusting! We made the mistake during lunch on Saturday. Melissa forgot and made the mistake a second time when we stopped in on our way home Monday. I did not. Karma for keeping the plan a secret. On Saturday, we also planned to stop at a winery that offers cellar tours - something we've never done before. A wrong turn by the driver [me] and poor navigating skills by my co-pilot [Melissa] meant we missed the cellar tour time. Again, karma for keeping the plan a secret!

Sunday was all about hiking. There is a 9km roundtrip loop from Halls Gap [based of the mountain] to the Pinnacles [top of a major ridge]. The picture at the beginning is overlooking Halls Gap from the Pinnacles. The original plan was to do the loop as it brought you down the face of the ridge - very cool. However, due to bushfires last summer, that part of the trail was closed to hikers. So we retured to Halls Gap on the same trail. If you check out the pictures on picasa, you'll notice there were several wardrobe changes as it went from cold to really cold. You may also notice that I got a haircut between our trip to Tasmania and this trip. The haircut actually came before RJ's christening; it was suggested that I cut my hair prior to the big day and who am I to argue.

After a long day of hiking, we walked around the town of Halls Gap. When I say we walked around, I mean from one end of town to the other is about a 5 minute walk. It's not that big. Tired and hungry, we tried to grab a little snack to tide us over until dinner. However, we missed afternoon tea and were too early for dinner. We split a brownie from one of the cafes and bought chips and salsa to take back to the bed and breakfast.

So I mentioned that kangaroos live in the mountains. There was no shortage of kangaroo sightings on our drive back to the B&B. We even got up close and personal with one. A pair jumped out of the brush, and as I was able to dodge the first, I was unable to dodge the second. I hit the little guy but he kept on hopping. I stopped to see if he was OK, but he had already disappeared in to the bush. We hope he made out alright but it just highlights how stupid these large hopping rodents really are. We need to be careful on these trips because we're always using rental cars. [We don't have a car in Melbourne.] There is nothing worse than totaling a rental car on a stupid kangaroo. We escaped this encounter with a few cracks in the bumper [that Hertz did not notice ;-)]

Monday was the trip home. Nothing too eventful other than Melissa drinking the gross water in Ballarat.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/GrampiansTrip

They made me an offer I couldn't refuse

Well, the offer was not just to me, Melissa was part of the deal as well. [And the one that made the deal possible ;-) ] I'll try to keep the corny Godfather references to a minimum.

First, I too must apologize for our extended gap in blog postings. But let's be reasonable, eventually we'd have to go to work and stop traveling! Despite our efforts to do so, we can't just travel the country on holiday the whole time. May and June were the busiest months for me on the Australia Post project. If you read Melissa's last posting, you may have thought that I 'took over' the entire project. Good thing my work collegues are not reading this blog. Actually, I've take on a role with more responsibility - a role typically reserved for someone a bit more senior - managing the day-to-day activities of the various project teams. I'm taking over for my friend Scott who is returning to Ottawa with his family. No change in title and no change in salary :-( [Isn't that always the case.] For Melissa, the Australian fiscal year ended June 30 so she was busy traveling throughout Australia and New Zealand to close deals and get the CEB name out there. At times, I really was not sure what city she was in. [If you ask her, she may say the same!] Anyway enough about work and more about the title of this posting.

The highlight of our May 2008 was not Cinco de Mayo - not celebrated in Australia - or the Red Sox 5-game and 7-game win streaks. It was the christening of our nephew and godson Robert John [or RJ]. The christening itself was only about 30 mins; the real highlight was the chance to meet this little guys for first time.

The trip was a whirlwind adventure. We left Melbourne Thursday morning at 11AM and arrived in Philadelphia at 11PM - still Thursday. It's crazy, it's like traveling in time. When you land in LA/San Fran, you actually land earlier than when you left Australia. Crazy! We left Monday evening and arrived back home in Melbourne on Wednesday morning. In between the flights, a long weekend full of family and fun times.

Upon arrival Thursday night, Melissa and I wasted no time flexing our new beer muscles. Australian beer is much stronger than US beer, so we had no problem putting down a case with Bob - who was not working on Friday. We stayed up late, or went to bed early, depending on what time zone you are following. We quickly learned that Jeanna had RJ on a schedule at that the arrival of Sean and Melissa was going to disrupt that schedule. Thanks to Jeanna for being flexible and letting us have fun while we visited.

Friday afternoon we headed to Ocean City to have a bbq with Denise and the rest to celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating so we moved the cooking indoors but still had a great time. Jetlag finally caught upto Melissa and I and we were in bed early Friday night forgoing a night out in Somers Point. [Losers!] We spent Saturday at Melissa's parent's house, and the day was punctuated by great food. Italian subs, stuffed shells, pizza - we made sure to get a taste of all the good food we are missing in Melbourne.

Sunday was all about RJ. The christening ceremony was nice. The party afterwards was even better. Jeanna, Bob, and RJ hosted a great afternoon for family and friends. It was great to catch up with everyone we missed over the holidays and let's face it, it was great to play with RJ.

As godparents, Melissa and I pledge to help guide RJ spiritually and emotionally. In addition, we pledge to make sure RJ understands the important things in life - the University of Maryland over the University of Delware, the Red Sox over the Yankees, and there is only one NBA team, the Celtics. I'm afraid he will grow up to be an Eagles fan which isn't as great as being a Patriots fan but a good alternative. We can work on this as he grows!

I couldn't resist adding this photo to the blog. Notice how good RJ is behaving in all the other pictures...