Sydney: Day Seventy-Three - Afternoon (31 December)

There is a children's fireworks display at nine o'clock but I was allowed to stay up for the big one at midnight. It's one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen.

Morris

Sydney: Day Seventy-Three - Morning (31 December)

Here I am with Barnaby at the Sydney Aquarium. It's amazing being under the water with the fish without needing breathing equipment.

Morris

Melbourne: Day Sixty-Nine (27 December)

Although it feels very funny to be celebrating Christmas in the summer, Barnaby and I did enter into the spirit by wearing our Christmas hats :-).

Morris

Melbourne: Day Sixty-Seven (26 November)

Here we are in the beautiful conservatory at Fitzroy Gardens and beside the Faerie Tree.

Morris

Phillip Island: Day Sixty-Seven (25 December)

Here's Barnaby and me on the beach at Cowes, which is the main town on Phillip Island. We stopped here briefly on our way to the Penquin Parade.

Morris

Melbourne: Day Sixty-Six - Afternoon (24 December)

The sun came out for Christmas Eve afternoon so we explored Carlton Park before catching the train from Flinders Station.

Morris

Melbourne: Day Sixty-Six - Morning (24 November)

Here I am on the Neighbours' tour too, next to the special mini bus.

As you can see the weather was still wet - the sun doesn't always shine in Australia :-(.

Barnaby

Great Ocean Road Tour: Day Sixty-Three (21 December)

As well as koalas we also saw two kookaburras and a kangaroo – all the K’s (although cookaburra can also be spelt with a C).

Morris

Great Ocean Road Tour: Day Sixty-One (19 December)

Here I am in the Narricoorte National Park. I'm glad Barnaby is only posing by a model of one of the animal fossils found here because I wouldn't like to meet a real one.

Morris

Barossa Valley: Day Fifty-Nine (17 December)

On the way to the Barossa Valley we took a very pretty drive through the Adelaide Hills and saw the Big Rocking Horse but we opted not to climb it.

Morris

Adelaide: Day Fifty-Six (16 December)

We also went to Carols by Candlelight in Elder Park.

Morris

Sydney: Day Fifty-Six (14 December)

The tour of The Rocks was very interesting but I’m glad I didn’t live in Sydney in those days: it was mainly full of convicts who had been sent to Australia instead of going to prison in England.

Morris

Sydney: Day Fifty-Five (13 December)

We had been upgraded to a room with a harbour view, which was fantastic because Sydney Harbour is one of the most beautiful in the world :-).

Here's Barnaby and me admiring the view at night time with all the wonderful Christmas lights.

Morris

Emerald Beach: Day Fifty-Three (11 December)

Here is a Kookaburra which we saw when driving near Emerald Beach. It is probably the best known bird in Australia and has a very distinctive call.

Morris

Brisbane: Day Fifty (8 December)

Here I am exploring Brisbane on our last day.


We loved this walk covered with flowers and I thought the statues on Koala House were really cute.

Morris

Australia Zoo: Day Forty-Nine (7 December)

In Kangaroo Heaven we also saw echidnas, which are sort of the Australian equivalent of a hedgehog.

Morris

Byron Bay: Day Forty-Seven (5 December)

Here we are having lunch in the Hogs Breath cafe in Byron Bay. Believe it or not there is a whole chain of restaurants across Australia with this unusual name. The food they serve is very good too.

Morris

Brisbane: Day Forty-Six (4 December)

You wouldn't be able to sit out like this in England on 4 December! The creature on this unusual chair is a platypus, another animal unique to Australia.

Morris

Brisbane: Day Forty-Five (3 December)

This is Barnaby and me in Brisbane's Chinatown. I wouldn't have wanted to be this close if it was a real lion (not that it looked very like the ones we saw in South Africa).

Morris

South Molle Island: Day Forty-Three (1 December)

Here I am on the balcony of our chalet at the South Molle Island resort.

There were coconuts growing in the trees overhead but fortunately none of them fell on my head.

Morris