Heya,

Hope everyone is fine! I am good a little bit tired though.

I have been to see some tourist attractions. Last weekend I went to the Melbourne Aquarium. Which all in all i felt was pretty rubbish. The promise of sharks, penguins and other exotic fish was slightly inaccurate. The only good thing were the penguins and they were at the beginning. After walking around for 30 minutes, I thought id get a coffee and read some of the mogazines I had picked up as I collected my tickets from a Tour Office. I had no cash so expected to be able to pay on card. Unfortuantly not, by this point I was incredibly thirsty and left. Was not a great experience and not sure why it is listed as the top 5 things to do in Melbourne??!

Yesterday I booked a Penguin Tour through Bunyips. It was great. I got to see lots of wildlife and nature. After having a quiet night in on the Friday night (Not - ended up getting drunk and falling asleep on the couch we have out the front on the porch) I woke up early and got showered and dressed to go and meet the bus. Our first stop was the Monnlit Sanctuary, here I paid to have a Koala encounter. Sounds terrifying, but it just meant I could touch the Koala, and get some pictures with it. The Koala was well cute. They sleep for 20 hours a day. Sometimes I wish I was a Koala. Unfortuantly it fell from its tree, but it was fine and quickly resumed consuming the Ecalyptus leaves. It was really soft like a teddy bear, kind of wanted to steal it but apparantly they can be quite nasty, so probably best I didnt. I also so some Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Wombats, a Tasmania Devil that looks nothing like they do in the cartoon. I also held a Jungle Python around my neck. It was very heavy and i was petrified. Even though I was told it was not venomous, I was still shaking. So only held it long enough to get some pictures, to prove I did it.

After leaving here we went to a Koala Conservation Centre. Where they look after Koalas, as they are becoming endagered. They just sit in the trees, we learnt a bit about them too. After walking aroiund on boardwalks, which are positioned half way up the trees, so you can see them in there natural environment, we went to Churchhill Island.

Churchhill Island is like a English country farm, we watched a few presentations about how dogs group together the sheep. The dogs were particulary naughty and didnt seem to want to play ball. Funny that they respond to their owners voice and body language. If anyone else spoke the commands they didnt move. I also saw a sheep being sheared. I felt it was quite traumatic for the sheep it kept baring! But apparantly it does not hurt them. If they say so. Poor sheep must be a bit cold without any wool!!!

After this we stopped off at a chocolate factory to try some tasters and make some purchases. Chocolate was great but a bit too expensive. So I only brought a small amount! Followiing this we drove to the Nobby Centre. Here we were meant to be able to see seals, but I could not. It was a nice walk and the sunset was pretty amazing.

Then it was time for Penguins. Unfortuantly, you were not allowed to take pictures and it makes the penguins really sick and they become startled by the flash. They were so small and fat, was quite funny watching them run upthe beach, up a hill to the conservation park where they live at night. They wait until it is dark so they can not be seen by predators. They come up as a mob (a group of Penguins), and even though they are running they arent running far or fast. Well cute though. Well worth seeing. As i couldnt take any pictures, I brought a souvenir programme. Had fish and chips and started the Journey home. Took ages. All in all was a fun day and totally worth the money.

I will hopefully be going to the Melbourne Gaol next weekend, where Ned Kelly was hung.

Take Care

Lots of Love

Amy x x xx