Our Journey to Australia March 3, 2003, found Larry and me boarding a plane from LA to Sydney, Australia for a 13 hour flight. We arrived there on the 5th, and flew on to Albury, NSW where we were met by his son's family. We had our first views of the landscape riding from Albury across the Murry River to Wodonga, Victoria. The summer had brought drought and many forest fires to the region. We were reminded of West Texas throughout the trip - only with different varieties of trees. This was Larry's first opportunity to meet his grandchildren, Jared (age 4) and Lachlan ( 2). During our visit we saw much of the nearby area, beginning with a visit to Hume Weir. The drive proved exciting as we saw our first kangaroo in the wild! The lake was extremely low, but still beautiful. Nearby Hume Hill provided magnificent views of the area in all directions. We ended the trip with a stop at Henry's Bakery with the world's largest rolling pin atop the facade. Our next day trip was to Chiltern, with a stop at the Box-Ironwood forest and Magenta gold mine. Since Andrea grew up in Chiltern, we met her family friends and were treated to tea under Australia's largest grapevine (planted in 1867 and seen in the photo above) at the Star Theatre and Grapevine Museum, and walked down the quiet main street of the historic gold mining town. Our animal adventure was at oz.e.wildlife where we saw and fed several varieties of roos and wallabies, enjoyed the koalas, and were amused by the tiny fairy penguins. They knew when feeding time was, and were not happy when the keeper was late! A trip to Beechworth was next on the agenda, beginning with a drive along the Gorge Scenic Drive with stops to enjoy the sights. We enjoyed the many beautiful historic buildings in the town as we walked around and learned about its history during gold mining times. Larry and David were up early for a fishing trip, and I went along to the mountains with camera in hand. The stream was beautiful and peaceful, unless you count the raucous parrots and kukaburas. We drove on to Alpine National Park, through forest which had been burned this summer. Despite the destruction, we saw signs of regeneration everywhere. The highest point was a ski resort where the cold wind was blowing as hard as any in W. TX! The area had been saved from the fire by the people who live and work there. We stopped to view Mt. Bogong and take photos of the highest mountain in Victoria. A more leisurely day began with a visit to a real character who makes boomerangs using techniques learned from Aboriginal people. His products have set many records in Australia as well as several world records. We visited Jared's preschool, and did some sight seeing in Albury where we had a bird's eye view of the city from Monument Hill. In the evening we had dinner at one of the many restaurants with outdoor seating beside the main street. Rutherglen is an area noted for its wineries-all 16 of them. We visited four and tasted some excellent wines. The water tower replica of a wine bottle was a true photo stop. Most of the wines of that region are not exported to the U.S. and are less well known than those of other areas. Andrea's mother took us for a delightful early morning walk along the Murry River in a park between the two cities and enjoyed eating breakfast in such a beautiful setting. The scenery was beautiful, birds delightful, and food was especially good in that setting. Our final days took us to Melbourne for two nights. We enjoyed watching rowers as we crossed the river, then had the fun of the old trolley as we rode it around the downtown to see the sights. Lunch was at the Hard Rock Cafe, followed by time walking through the well-manicured parks. The flowers were beautiful. We also took time to visit the aquarium and see fish from that part of the world-my favorite being the lionfish. Evening found us on a bus to Phillip Island for the penguin parade-the nightly return of the numerous fairy penguins. One group was especially funny as they'd get close to shore, then swim away, regroup and try again. It was probably at least 15 minutes before they finally decided to head onto shore. We spent the next morning walking along a section of the beach and enjoying the change of scenery and pace, as well as enjoying breakfast at one of the many bakeries. Having the opportunity to see new country was second to meeting David, Andrea, Jared, Lachlan and Andrea's parents, grandfather, sister and brother. They were what made the Australian trip so delightful. All too soon we were back on a plane to Sydney to catch our return flight to LA. We did get some excellent views of Sydney Harbor and even a good view of the bridge and opera house. Larry tells me I can say I saw them-even if only from the air. I wouldn't have traded any of the time in Albury for time in the big city.