Today was our last day of planned activities and it was an early morning as you can see from the photo above. We had the chance to drive to the town of Sorrento and "Swim with the Dolphins." The company that we use is one of the few that can allow people to see the dolphins in their natural habitat. The company is owned by Judy Muir who you see below, she is one of the leading advocates for environmental issues in Port Phillip Bay. She talked very passionately to our course about the controversial dredging project that is currently about to get started and possibly destroy the wildlife in Port Phillip Bay.
Here is a picture of one of the lovely 89 dolphins that live in the Bay. The group in the morning only saw 2, but the later group saw probably 10. That is the problem with going into their natural habitat, you may not get to see them.
However, both groups did get a chance to snorkel a bit and see some of the other local wildlife like this stingray. We also had a chance to swim at Chinaman's hat where there is a colony of seals. You can see some of those pictures also.
Due to regulations to insure the safety of the dolphins not everyone was able to swim at once. Therefore we had to split our groups. When you weren't swimming with the dolphins you were out on this beautiful walk near Cape Schank. This walk went to Bushrangers Bay and had some great looks. Hope you enjoy.
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Today was our free day in Melbourne. Not many more days to go. Many of the students decided to use it as a shopping day for souvenirs for themselves and loved ones. A number of the students went to the Crown Casino to watch the NFL playoffs. I know many of them will be happy with the outcomes because I heard many talking about the Giants and Patriots.
Mallory and I decided to go to a small seatown called Williamstown. Williamstown used to be the primary sea town instead of Melbourne. It was a very quaint little town. We walked a heritage trail and saw many of the historical landmarks in the town.
One of our favorite sites was seeing the Tall Ship, the James Craig. We were able to walk and explore the ship and it was quite impressive. It is normally docked in Sydney, but happened to be in Melbourne for the first time in 87 years. It was a neat place to be.
This is a picture of the Bolte Bridge that we passed under on our river cruise to Williamstown. Two interesting things about this bridge is that the politician it was named at had a history of drinking and driving charges, weird I know. Secondly, it is the tallest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere, however, what makes it the tallest bridge are the two towers on each side which cost something like $5 million AUD each. The sneaky thing is that neither of these towers actually touch the bridge. Just a little trivia for you.
One last picture of the Melbourne skyline as we came in from our cruise.
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We have arrived back from the Great Ocean Road, where we stopped at Airlie Point, learned to surf, learned about Rainforests in Victoria, and, of course, saw the 12 Apostles. It was quite an excursion -- filled with new challenges and fun memories!
We headed out on Saturday morning and when we got to Airlie Point we split into 2 groups -- half of the group headed to the beach for a surf lesson and the other half headed to see Eagle Rock and the lighthouse on the point. The students had a great time learning to surf, some were even able to stand up on their first few tries!
After our morning of exploring and surfing we headed to our destination for the evening in Apollo Bay -- we stopped to see some Koalas in the wild too. After our detour we arrived to our backpackers right off the Great Ocean Road -- it was quaint and perfect for an aussie barbeque and for some of the students to learn to play backyard cricket!
We departed bright and early the next morning for another round of surfing and a bushwalk through Maits Rest Rainforest. It was a bit chilly Sunday morning for us, but many still perservered and we caught some great waves -- we had the beach all to ourselves at Apollo Bay, which is great when your surfing! In the Rainforest we saw new trees and plants and we learned a good bit about forestry in the Victoria area. The rainforest in Victoria are definitely different from the rainforest that we experienced in Queensland -- it was neat to see the different fauna and even to recognize the differences from both.
After our morning activies it was off to the 12 Apostles -- absolutely amazing and I know my pictures don't do it justice. I have heard and seen pictures of these limestone rocks, and to finally see them in person was magnificent! The students really seemed to enjoy the views and I'm sure they got some great pictures too!
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Today was spent at one of the premier tennis tournaments, the Australian Open. This is the only grand slam event played in the Pacific/Asia Region.
Many of the students (and faculty) decided to upgrade from the ground passes that were purchased to tickets in the Vodafone arena. The Vodafone arena used to be center court, but when Rod Laver Arena was built it became the off arena. New policy has it that you need tickets to go in. Many decided to upgrade so that they could see players such as Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. However, there were also some matches by male players ranked in the top 10 (Dayvadenko and Gasquet).
Some of the students also took in matches on the show courts. The two matches that drew most attention was the morning doubles match by Bob and Mike Bryan. They are currently the number one ranked mens double team in the country and are from the USA. The afternoon saw the Williams sisters play doubles (and win).
It sounds like everyone had a great time at the Open. Mallory and I decided to get a nice meal in Little Italy. Here are a few photos from our day, please Enjoy.
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Yesterday was a very long day. We were picked up from the hotel at 9 am and met our guides from the University of Melbourne (Andy and Phil) and did not get back in until midnight. Just in time to see the end of the last tennis match on TV.
We started off the day with a long bus ride to San Remo where we took a short break and watched the feeding of the Pelicans. A local eatery feeds their leftover fish and scraps to the pelicans. After our break we went on a beautiful coastal walk which had some great beaches and views.
After our walke we went to the town of Cowes and grabbed a quick bite to eat. From there we went to a Koala Conservatory and the Phillip Island Wildlife Park. Both of these spots allowed the students to get some great pictures of native Australian animals. Many of the students took advantage of the opportunity to feed many of these animals. Below you will see a few of the pictures. I will label them for you also.
Here is a great picture of a younger Koala (not bear).
Here is Mallory feeding a Wombat, her favorite animal.
David and Matt stalking a kangaroo and her joey.
Here is an Emu.
Here is a Cassowary, Mallory talked about these in Daintree.
We also saw some Tasmanian devils, snakes, birds and a few others.
After the wildlife park we went to dinner before heading to the Nobbies (picture below). The Nobbies usually have some seals on them but because of the sunset it was hard to see them, but did offer some great views.
After the Nobbies we went to see the Penguin Parade. This is when many fairy penguins come in from the ocean and march up to land to rest after days/weeks of fishing in the ocean. The Penguins are very cute but don't come in until after the sun is set which is why we got in so late. The picture below is of a fairy penguin that some of us saw at the Nobbies. We were not allowed to take pictures at the Parade.
G'day to all who are still reading.
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