Exploring Melbourne

Tessa and Richard are in Tasmania for two weeks, so I have the house to myself. I have their two dogs to keep me company. I went out for a night on the town with Bruce, a guy that Kyrstie introduced me to. I finally got a taste of Melbourne nightlife. Melbourne is full of restaurants and cafes. It's 'heaps' of fun (as the Aussie's say)!It took me forever to take the train into St. Kilda, to meet him. We went out for seafood, had great conversation, and sipped on red champagne that Bruce had brought, since you can BYOB at most restaurants in Australia.

Kyrstie and the rest of the family took me to see the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary, since they know I am a huge animal lover. I was excited to learn all about Australian wildlife.
I saw Possums, Tasmanian Devils, Wombats, Kangaroos, Wallabees, Flying Foxes, Koalas, and the deadliest snake in Australia:the Taipan, Kookaburras ,Ibises, Platypuses, Monitor Lizards, and some Australian birds of prey: the Sea Eagle and the Wedge-Tailed Eagle. I learned that there are over 500 species of Eucalyptus trees, but koalas only like 50-60 species of them. I learned the difference between a Wallabee, a Red Kangaroo and a Grey Kangaroo.

Bruce took me to some wineries out in the Mornington Peninsula. The first winery was T'Gallant. After tasting about 8 different wines and getting a little buzzed we headed over to Red Hill Winery and enjoyed the view of the ocean. It was autumn here in Australia, so the leaves were all yellow and red. It was so beautiful, lying on a blanket sipping wine, while looking over the colorful rolling hills and vineyards.

I have really been enjoying chilling out in the funky cafes of Melbourne. I listened to some amazing jazz in this pub called The Plaza, by Luna Park. I met some friends of the band that was playing. Supposedly this was the best jazz band in Melbourne - "Sunday Cruisin' Club".