Sydney, Australia: March 22-April 13, 2009

We arrived in Sydney on Sunday, March 22 after an eventful three weeks in Melbourne culminating in another spectacular basketball game in which Glenda's son, Cameron's team demolished Bendigo's basketball team. Upon arrival in Sydney, we didn't realize it, but an event which was to make national news took place very shortly after our arrival. All we wondered about was why there were so many police cars at the airport??? It turns out that two groups of biker gangs had a confrontation at the airport and that one of these bikers was brutally murdered by one of the groups in full public view. Sydney International Airport is probably the most secure airport in Australia so events of this nature are very rare. However, it also turns out that the man who was killed had just gotten off our flight from Melbourne. Fortunately, we were in another area of the airport picking up our car rental when this all transpired.

It was fantastic to see our old friends, Alan and Deb Boughton at the luggage carousels as we arrived at the airport. Alan was an exchange teacher at Trevor's school, Dr. Denison Secondary School in 1998 and we have maintained contact over the years. We enjoyed lunch with Alan and Deb at a quaint cafe beside the beach at Botany Bay after we left the airport. Then, we all went grocery shopping at a store nearby before we went off to check into our apartment suite at the Medina, Sydney Central which is in the very heart of the busiest area of Sydney and very close to Chinatown and Darling Harbour.

We've also had a chance to catch up with Trevor's cousin, Elwood who lives in the suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Helena. Elwood is Glenda's brother and their late father (Trevor's father's brother, John) also lived in Sydney until he passed away a few years ago. Elwood and Helena visited us at our apartment downtown and we've made arrangements for another rendezvous very soon.

Because we've been in Sydney previously, we are quite familiar with the city but there are, of course many changes. One icon, however, remains constant and that is the Sydney Opera House in Sydney Harbour. We were in absolute awe as we watched the final performance of Opera Australia's final peformance of Madama Butterfly at the Sydney Opera, the Monday after we arrived in the city. This was an outstanding production and we are really glad we booked our tickets far in advance as it was one not to be missed.

As you will see from the photos, we've already had a chance to do some exploring and are looking forward to more exciting adventures in New South Wales in the weeks ahead.

1. At the North Head of Sydney Harbour. City skyline in the background
2. The monorail at Darling Harbour
3. Deb Boughton, Trevor and Lorraine at Botany Bay shortly after our arrival at Sydney airport
4. Alan at the beach at Botany Bay
5. Trevor at the Sydney Opera House
6. Helena & Cousin Elwood visiting our apartment
7. Trevor by naval ship at Sydney Harbour
8. Flying Foxes (giant bats) in Botanical Gardens, Sydney
9. Australian Goose (NOT CANADA GOOSE) at Symbio Wildlife Park, Helensburgh
10. Lorraine and her buddies, the Kangaroos at Symbio Wildlife Park, south of Sydney
11. Trevor and his buddy, the Kangaroo at Symbio Wildlife park
12. George Street, Sydney Central Business District
13. Medina Executive Sydney Central (our apartment building) beside Sydney Central Train Station in Sydney's Central Business District
14. Common Sydney Pharmacy Product

Melbourne And Victoria: March 1-22, 2009

This will be our last entry from Melbourne as we are off to Sydney shortly. Our Melbourne calendar has been very full, not only with tourist activities, but also with cultural and social events.

From a tourist standpoint, we have travelled two hours southeast to see the dramatic Penguin Parade on Phillip Island where the penguins return from sea at sunset every day to feed their young in the dunes beside the beach on Phillip Island. We've travelled two hours north up to Bendigo to tour the Central Deborah Gold Mine which had its heyday in the 1800s during the Australian gold rush. However, they've since discovered a new vein of gold underneath this mine which goes under the town of Bendigo and is being mined by a new set of investors. We also really enjoyed our time on the Great Ocean Route which is one of the greatest drives of all time.

In Melbourne itself, we had learned about the Federation Field of Bells which we came across on a postcard. After a week of searching, we finally found this park near Federation Square beside the Yarra River in downtown Melbourne. There are 39 bells in total (the heaviest is one ton) and they play music guided by a computer. Disappointingly, we did not hear these bells as they did not play when scheduled when we went back to see them during the day. Ah well! we'll just have to come back again to hear them.

On the cultural scene, we really enjoyed seeing the award-winning musical, Billie Elliot, with Glenda and Geoff at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne which features music by Elton John. Socially, we enjoyed a gathering at Glenda and Geoff's . There, we met Tom, one of Geoff's sons and his wife Sarah and baby, Aston. We also met Geoff's mother , Nellie and saw some South African friends, Des and Patty Slater whom we met in Melbourne on our last visit. Later in the week, we met and had a lovely meal at the home of a long-time friend of Trevor's mother . Mom played hockey with Edwina in South Africa back in the 1960s. Edwina Fortuin (Cummings) and her husband, Henry live in the Northwest suburbs of Melbourne, near the International Airport.

We're now at the halfway point in our journey overseas. On Sunday morning, we catch a flight to Sydney so the next time you hear from us, we'll be in that area.


1. Trevor & Lorraine at lookout on Great Ocean Road
2. The Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road Drive
3. Family & Friends Gathering @ Glenda & Geoff's Place: L-R: Tom (Geoff's son), baby Aston, Sarah (Tom's wife), Nellie (Geoff's mom), Geoff, Des Slater (South African friend), Lorraine, Patty Slater (Des's wife), Sarah (Des & Patty's son's girlfriend), Craig (Des & Patty's son), Glenda, Trevor
4. Group Photo with dogs at Glenda and Geoff's place
5. Geoff and Tom with the Groodles
6. Visit with Henry and Edwina Fortuin (Mom's former hockey team mate) at their home in the northern suburbs of Melbourne
7. The Federation Field Of Bells @ Birrarrung-Mar Park in Melbourne
8. Trevor at the Federation Field Of Bells
9. Lorraine in hardhat and mining lamp gear at Central Deborah Gold Mine in Bendigo
10. Trevor with period miner at Central Deborah Goldmine in Bendigo
11. The Docklands in Melbourne
12. The Nobbies by Phillip Island. This is the home of the largest fur seal colony in the Southern Hemisphere.
13. Penguin warning sign at the Penguin Parade.

Melbourne Special Edition: Groodles and Roos: March 1-22, 2009

We had to add this special little section from Melbourne as it deals with wildlife. Glenda and Geoff have their own special Australian wildlife right at home as they have two very entertaining Groodles. They are cute dogs but very big. Aldo (darker) and Abby (lighter) are just one-and-a-half years old. You see Trevor pictured with the two puppies here as well as Glenda below. Then, Lorraine also has to show off with her special friend, the baby kangaroo that she's greeting at the Healesville Sanctuary in the Dandenongs.

More From Melbourne: March 1-22, 2009

Things have certainly changed since we were in Melbourne five years ago. This city now boasts more than 4 million people but has been suffering from a 13-year drought. Thus, things are quite dry even though we have had some rain since we've been here. Traffic is heavier, speed limits are lower and there is a new toll highway on the east side of the city which makes it much faster to drive down to the Mornington Peninsula outside of Melbourn. And there is even a brand new office tower, the Eureka Tower which boasts the largest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere. Every city seems to want to lay claim to that title.

The labels on the photos should explain themselves but overall, we find that time has been flying by since we've arrived in Melbourne. One of our most memorable experiences here thus far has included the Melbourne Symphony in an impressive performance of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony at Hamer Hall (complete with 10 trumpets, 12 horns, the Melbourne Symphony chorus and soloists). Another memorable and very moving experience was our visit to the Healesville Sanctuary, about an hour east of Melbourne in the Dandenong Mountain Range. This sanctuary specializes in Australian animals and there, in the state-of-the-art animal hospital, we watched veterinarians and staff treat koalas with severe burns and injured turtles. Many rescued animals from the bush fires find themselves at this sanctuary.

There's lots happening here so stay tuned for more soon from Melbourne.

1. Trevor and Lorraine @ Werrivee Park Mansion

1.a Lorraine @ Royal Botanical Gardens, Cranbourne (Australian Garden)

2. Veternarian @ Healesville Sanctuary treats Koala injured in bush fires

3. Veternarian @ Healesville treats another Koala with severe burns

4. Trevor with new hairdo @ Royal Botanical Gardens, Cranbourne (Australian Gardens)

5. Melbourne Symphony & Chorus: Mahler's Symphony No.2 (Resurrection) @ Hamer Hall in Melbourne Arts Centre

6. Trevor, Glenda and Geoff on Mornington Penninsula

7. Trevor, the Bushman

8. Lorraine on Swinging Bridge at Warburton in Dandenong Mountain Range near Melbourne

9. Cameron on basketball court in Frankston

10. Glenda and Geoff, proud basketball parents

11. Darren (Glenda's son) Lorraine and Trevor

12. Trevor @ Queen Victoria Market

Melbourne, Australia: March 1-22, 2009: The First Days

After a fantastic month in New Zealand, we have now moved on to Australia. We finished our stay in New Zealand with an outstanding concert by the choir from the Tiffin Boys School of Surrey, England. We had seen the choir at Evensong at the cathedral in Auckland earlier in the month. As they were on tour, we were fortunate enough to see this group again (this time in a full concert) at Christchurch Cathedral in Christchurch. This group performs regularly with the British National Opera and we purchased a recording of them performing Carmina Burana with the London Symphony under Sir Colin Davis. Stephen Toynes, their director has a very impressive resume which includes workshops with choruses at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Thus, you can see that this choir is of an extremely high calibre. Major selections on the program included Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Benjamin Britten's Behold The Lamb. The choir performed for a packed house at the cathedral. The bonus was that the concert was free. They were accepting donations for Ronald McDonald house at the end of the concert.


We were up out of bed, way, way, WAYbefore the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, March 1, to catch our Air New Zealand flight to Melbourne, Australia. After an uneventful flight, we were really excited to be greeted by Trevor's cousin, Glenda at the Melbourne airport. Glenda is a naturopath and is married to Geoff. Glenda's daughter, Nicki and son, Darren also live in Melbourne and Cameron, the basketball star is still living at home. Geoff has two older children, as well whom we have not met.


We picked up our new car immediately after landing and met Glenda, Geoff and Nicki for lunch at a terrific cafe at Fitzroy Park in the downtown area of Melbourne. We were quite zonked from being up so early but it was so exciting to be back in Melbourne that we didn't notice how tired we were. Melbourne had really hot weather for the weeks prior to our arrival so everything is quite dry here. By hot weather, we mean temperatures that soared to 40 and 45 degrees. Wow! Probably just as well we were in New Zealand during that time. It has cooled off for now but comfortable, warm temperatures are expected.



We've settled into our new digs at Punthill Apartments in Burwood, Melbourne. This apartment is in the suburbs but very centrally located and very handy to everything. We're only about 20 minutes drive away from Geoff and Glenda. We stayed at this same location when we were in Australia so it is nice to be in familiar surroundings. Stay tuned for more news from Melbourne.


Photos Are As Follows:
1. Melbourne Skyline
2. Melbourne City Centre
3. Cousin Glenda and Geoff @ Fitzroy Park Cafe
4. Glenda With Daughter, Nicki
5. Trevor, Lorraine and Geoff in Fitzroy Park
6. Geoff, Glenda and Trevor in Fitzroy Park
7. Geoff At Home
8. Cameron, The Basketball Star At Home
9. Glenda With Auntie Stephanie's Knitted Dolls
10. Cameron And Geoff With Auntie Steph's Dolls