G'day, Mate!

We finally got to visit Australia during our

winter vacation (which is summer time down under)!

Even though it was 85º, Santa still delivered Christmas
joy to the Aussies in his classic winter suit.

Even Santa's reindeer got a little help delivering
presents in the southern hemisphere.

This is Mudgee, one of our local tour guides.

We explored the rain forest along the Green Coast
in Victoria (outside of Melbourne). 

The Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road
are 150-foot high limestone beauties!

Loch Ard Gorge is an inlet along the cliffs,
aptly named the Shipwreck Coast
because of the ship that ran aground near here in 1878.

On Boxing Day in Melbourne, people were out en mass
looking for after-Christmas bargains.

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to a
concert at the Sydney Opera House.

This seagull insisted we take its picture in front of the Harbor Bridge.

In the Red Centre, we took hundreds of pictures
of Uluru (a.k.a. Ayer's Rock) at all times of the day.

We even hiked through Kata Tjuta (a.k.a. the Olgas)
16 miles from Uluru.

We weren't sure what kind of animal this was,
and luckily we didn't see it crossing the road.

Of course, we saw many cuddly koalas.

They are experts at  balancing in trees.

A koala's life is a tough one...

...sleeping up to 20 hours per day! 

A friendly kangaroo shared some gossip with Tim.

This merino sheep bleated a sigh of relief
as its fleece was quickly sheared.

At Outback Jack's in Cairns, there was a
massive crocodile on the wall...

...which meant we had to try the equally massive croc burger. Yum!

To top off our Australian adventure,
we explored the crystal clear waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

One of us was even brave enough to try scuba diving for the first time!

We had a terrific vacation in the land down under!