Tasmanian Devils, Wombats, Statues, and Clouds

NEW ZEALAND

soooo, new zealand has been amazing so far. unfortunately no pictures available bc we don't have much access to computers. however, as soon as it's updated, check out how we celebrated the 4th of july: http://www.rapidimage.net/media/searchAlbum.php?album_code=AJHN
search in the daily photos and type in this code: AJHN607040188461. the whirlwind tour continues, and it's safe to say that the adrenaline levels have peaked with the skydive and bungy behind us. no worries though, plenty of gorgeous landscapes to keep us entertained for the last days. be home july 16th... can't wait to see all our loyal blog readers. (all 2 of you.) Happy 4th! Later.

-Noam

A Reflective Piece*

So this bridge has glass plaques on it representing all the different countries from which people have moved to Australia. If weather like this keeps up they may get one more citizen.

*Please excuse the unrelenting pun here. Thank you.

Around Town

After Tassy, it was time to panic and run around Melbourne taking as many pictures as possible along the way.

(Top Left) Why was this street vendor not brought to my attention earlier,

Yarra River,

The classic statues on Swanston St.

I wasn't kidding about it being Fall here,

and a random staircase at the Ian Potter Museum

More Tassy

Busy little bees at the Honey Farm,
The Trio again (note Brian's choice of beverage) , one of the many lookouts along the way,
Checking out the megapixels, and the coolest lunch stop ever (lakeside)

Tasmania: 'Yeah, it's part of Australia too."

Dave harassing the local convicts at Port Arthur,

Brian pondering the existence of waves,

Waterfall at Cradle Mountain,

The Trio at Wineglass Bay,

and finally Dave haunting the insane asylum

Crazy Creatures

(From top left):
"Iz a wombat" - Lauren,

tasmanian devil getting some aerial for some fresh meat,

young devils fighting for a bone,

AWWWW,

and finally this mysterious creature called Katinka. Origins unknown. Experts argue whether the origins are traced back to The Netherlands, Holland, or if in fact it is Dutch. . .

School's Out (for winter)

Sooo... the semester is over, the final papers are submitted. Now it's time to frantically run around the country and our own city of Melbourne to see everything we've missed. Our journey begins in Tasmania (not the home of Dracula as I previously believed, that's Transylvania.) However, turns out tasmanian devils really do exist, and now we know why they're so damn devilish. This venture includes a ghost tour at an old prison, a leisurely stroll through the mountains, long rides in a 10 person van, wineglass bay, wombats, and other silly creatures.
Upon return, the panic continues to see the rest of our home city, so I give you some more glimpses. Some of these are things we pass on a daily basis, right under our nose the whole time, but now we've come to realize that our noses are gonna be on the other side of the world soon.
I leave you with some excerpts of an e-mail I recently wrote to my sister, who happens to be in Israel:
tasmania was awesome. we were part of a relatively small group, 10 people, so we got to see a lot without having to make too many peepee breaks. it's funny how when you're traveling everyone's a 5 year old again. i'll update the blog soon with pics, but in a nutshell we saw some great coastal areas, a lot of mountains and crazy wildlife. turns out tasmanian devils actually do exist, and they're absolutely nuts. i took a few short video clips, which i'm sure you'll appreciate. let's just say they're not exactly vegeterian animals.

and:
also sounds like its heating up like hell over there, big surprise. it's actually getting pretty cold here. i know we're all becoming a bit spoiled bc we should be used to New England weather, but it does dip into the 40's here in melbourne. and in tasmania we actually saw some frost... as in like ICE..... ICE tal... this is australia, i thought i signed up for sand in my shoes and sunscreen.

100 Years of Funktitude (Wilson's Promonotory)

The 3 amigos (James, Noam and Dave); Estuary... Es-tu-ary;
Hittin the beach and then the mountain; "Follow me if you want to live"; One of the few moments of sunshine on our wacky weekend of wonder at Wilson's Prom