First of all – my apologies!
We arrived just over one week ago and it’s been a whirlwind ever since! I am very sorry not to have written anything in Australia until now! We have been extremely busy and the weather has been so hot! Last week we went to the Australian Open Tennis Championship, we spent a day in the National Gallery hiding from the heat (40 degrees!). Bobby has organised bikes for us for the whole of our stay here, and on Saturday we did a 60-kilometre bike ride to the other side of Melbourne with his neighbours. On Sunday we went to the beach and went swimming in a shark-proof pool, i.e. a fenced-off area in the sea of approximately 50×100 metres.
Today we have been packing most of the day in order to go camping tomorrow. We are hiring a car and driving to the Grampian Mountains for a 3-day camping and hiking trip. We shall then drive on to visit a friend in Adelaide where the temperature is expected to be over 40 degrees! I have been told to leave the computer at home as it would melt in the tent! We return next week and then I will dedicate more time to writing my blog!
From 10 February we shall be doing a 3-week tour of New Zealand, and then in March we have planned 2 more trips: a cycling tour near the Victorian Alps and a camping/hiking trip on Wilson Promontory, by the coast and south of Melbourne.
As you can see, we are having a great time and we have some exciting trips planned!
In the next few weeks I plan to give a regular description of our activities and some insights into the cultures of Australia and New Zealand.