A month in Melbourne

Healesville Sanctuary water tower, complete with Platypus

Hi readers!

So I've been in Australia for just over a month now; I can't believe it! The time has gone so quickly, and Christmas is on its way in.

I decided to wait until now to post a blog because although I've been keeping busy, we haven't been up to a whole lot out here. My auntie, who's putting me up while I'm out here, works at a school, and her summer holidays start at the end of next week. We decided to put things on hold until then, because we'll have much more time to do everything we've planned to do.

That doesn't mean I've been sitting around doing nothing, of course.

I love Australia. The first thing I thought as we were driving into the city early in my visit was how big everything is. It's so flat here that you can see so much sky and land. Even though the weather has been a bit up and down, everything is so beautiful. Gisborne is out in the country side, about an hour's drive from the city, and the views are amazing. This place makes England seem so small.

I've been doing some riding over in Melton, the next town over, and the equestrian centre is in such a beautiful location. 

There are fields full of kangaroos all over the place and the sun setting behind the school lights everything up like gold dust, even when it's been raining all day. It's been great to get back to riding, now that  I have the time and some money to spare.

 

Outside of that, we've been doing a lot of shopping. Melbourne seems to be the shopping centre capital of Australia and I've been indulging myself a little in some new favourite shops. Mostly, though, I've been Christmas shopping. Auntie Kim and I discovered valet parking at Westfield shopping centre - what a brilliant idea! I've just about finished, now, and we've vowed to stay away from the shops for a while.

In more exciting news, I got my working with children pass, which means I've been helping out a lot at the school. I love it; the kids are so creative and enthusiastic, and the teachers are great. Templestowe college is like no school I've ever been to. 

As a result of helping out there, I've been able to tag along for a couple of field trips. As mentioned in my last blog, a few days after I arrived, we visited Healesville wildlife sanctuary, which focuses on preservation and rehabilitation of Australian wildlife, and we had a lovely day. The weather was great and the kids were so well behaved. The only downside was that the dingoes were all sleeping in the shade to stay out of the heat!

 

Sunbathing 'roo

Goanna... showing his good side

Wedgetail Eagle

 On Thursday, we joined another excursion, this time to Werribee open range zoo, which is an African safari themed park. Another great day with amazing kids and fantastic talks from the zoo keepers. We met three lovely lions, who put on a good show for us, just by sunbathing and yawning.

 

Brothers

 We also got to see Nunki the Serval; the most well behaved cat I've ever seen! She was so beautiful and it was great to see her up close, and learn about these beautiful animals in the wild.

 



Nunki the Serval



Showing off her moves

At home, we've been cooking, baking, wrapping presents and watching the cricket. As an Aussie supporter, it's been smiles all round. As you can probably tell, I've been keeping busy and I'm really looking forward to things kicking off next week. Christmas will start off the summer, and I'll keep you updated on things after that!

 

 

Stay tuned,

Em