Hey blog readers. I realise I've not posted much since I got to Australia. There's not been much internet lately. But apparently people have been reading this, so I will attempt to get my phone to make some sense. It's a frustrating process because it makes up all these words that aren't the ones I want. It also cleverly picks up the names of everyone on facebook and everything I read online and replaces real words with the nonsense it has picked up. So I adm gettinng my woura replaces and I have rui do lots pos citations.

So we are currently en route to Canberra, where I should be when I post this. We spent a few days in Melbourne, which I really liked, apart from the noise of our hostel in St Kilda. I liked St Kilda, it has some European bakeries with windows full of really amazing cakes and patisseries. Found an amazing falafel salad bar place as well. The beach front is really nice. I went for a walk on the pier and saw penguins coming in from the harbour for the night. We also went to the aquarium where they have king and gentoo penguins. They were really cool. I like the botanic gardens too, saw some tiny ducklings there which seems quite late in the year. I'm missing duckling season in the UK so it's nice to see some here. On the subject of birds, I saw parrots in the trees by the beach. I've got used to seeing really colourful birds everywhere now after 2 weeks here. We also met up with my mum's friend Lucy, who showed us some of the nice cafes and took us to the State Library of Victoria, where they have some interesting displays on Aussie history, which I knew very little about.

Melbourne has more trams than I've ever seen in one city. It's also got a lot of heritage buildings, something I hadn't really realised that I'd missed while in New Zealand. I guess because I've grown up with grand old buildings in the centre of European cities, it was a culture shock in NZ where a heritage building is anything built more than 50 years ago! So the combination of old grand stone buildings and brand new skyscrapers made me feel more at home. I liked the sculpture of a cow in a tree at the docklands too. In Melbourne, they have a free city centre loop tram and bus service for tourists, complete with commentary, which is different to most cities where private companies rake in millions from those kind of buses. I think I could live in Melbourne. It's got plenty of services and transport and the climate isn't too different to what I'm used to, and the people I met there are a cosmopolitan bunch, and friendly, which makes it interesting. Plus there are actual jobs! Oh and lots of penguins - you see my priorities.

So on Sunday 1st May, we left Melbourne with Simon's friend Karina and she drove us to Phillip Island. Then we went to Phillip Island and saw koalas hugging trees and saw some wallabies. Then we went to this farm which had ducklings and lots of sheep and horses. They had peacocks wandering around and I milked a cow again. Then we went to the penguin parade. It's quite surreal - there are hundreds of people sitting on tiered seating at the edge of the beach and you could buy tubs of popcorn from a snack stall like at the cinema. Then we found seats and sat and waited. The penguins come in around sunset but they are very nervous. They hang about in groups at the edge of the water then when they've got up the courage, a group of 6 to 10 of them will set off up the beach. They kind of look like a squad of soldiers creeping cautiously into enemy territory. If one of them stops and turns back, they all run back into the sea and regroup. It's very funny to watch. They creep up most of the beach, then when they're close to the rocks, that break into a run. They reckoned over 900 penguins had come in the previous night and there were a lot came in when we were there. Then you could walk up from the beach and watch the penguins hanging out around their burrows. They are incredibly noisy and cute and funny. We saw two of them having a fight and one of them got kicked out of the burrow. As we walked back out, there were a couple of groups of latecomers who were waddling up alongside the path. One of them had lost a foot and was hobbling and slower than the others. Apparently she's called Stumpy. The staff said she copes ok without a foot because she can swim ok without it and catch fish. The penguins were kind of like rush hour commuters once they were on land, all hurrying back to their burrows even though some of them apparently get so excited to be back on land that they forget where they live. The penguin parade is very commercialised but definitely worth doing.

After Phillip Island, we explored some of the coastal areas and National Parks around Philip Bay and then headed to the Great Ocean Road. We stayed in a town called Sorrento on the Mornington then got a ferry across and stayed in a town called Apollo Bay. I saw a seal swimming in the harbour, it was awesome. We saw more koalas in the wild along the Kennett River road and these really cheeky parrots which landed on people's hands and even heads with no encouragement! Also saw some cockatoos, which are huge. I got neck ache from trying to spot koalas high up in the trees. We saw a few kangaroos.

We spent an afternoon exploring the Fort Nepean National Park, where we hired bikes and explored the old quarantine station and the fort. The wind was very strong up there and it felt quite remote at the forts on the end of the peninsula. We saw some rainbows.

We went along the Great Ocean Road, which was built by returned soldiers after WWI as a memorial. We saw the Twelve Apostles, which are a number of stacks and stumps. We also visited various caves and arches along the coastline.

Then we headed to the Grampians, a mountain area which was pretty badly damaged by flooding a few months ago. We stayed in the tiny town of Halls Gap, where most of the businesses seem to be for sale. There are an insane number of kangaroos in the town. At first I thought they were kind of cool but then some of the big ones stood up and fixed me in their gaze and then started ambling towards me. It's really scary as they're easily as tall as I am. I wasn't particularly close to them, I was just walking along next to the road. I didn't know what to do so I sort of ran a bit then hid behind a car, and the kangaroos left me alone. I felt pretty creeped out because they were emerging from the woodlands all over the place. They'd stand next to the road and wait until a car came along, when they'd suddenly decide to launch themselves kamikaze style in front of the car. The drivers luckily are used to the crazy kangaroo behaviour and go slow and can stop quickly. The next morning we left quite early and a kangaroo jumped in front of the car in front, which couldn't avoid hitting it. Luckily for the driver, it was a large 4x4 with bars on the front so not much damage was visible to it but a normal car can be written off by a roo collision. I get this feeling that the native wildlife of Oz is doing its best to exterminate the human population.
After dark in Halls Gap, the town centre is taken over by kangaroos. It feels like a ghost town.

Monday we headed back into civilisation, to the city of Ballarat. The city is central to the gold rush in Victoria in the 19th century. We visited Sovereign Hill, a large tourist attraction set out like an old gold town, complete with diggings, tents, shops, cafes, a bank and cottages and people in authentic costume populating it. They also had 4 schools on site, where children on school trips were dressed up in costume and given lessons and also taken around the site. There's gold panning, mine tours, a battery and a gold smelting and pouring demonstration. They have 2 pigs, at least 10 horses which pull a carriage around the site, a few sheep, about 4 goats, turkeys and a cow, as well as a lot of free range chickens all over the place. The main streets and buildings were quite busy but the cottages were pretty and quiet and I found a duck pond. I spent some time petting the sheep and goats too.

Mid afternoon I wandered into the actual city of Ballarat. It has some grand 19th century buildings, including a very grand railway station for a provincial city. I did some shopping and got a new hoody because my old one is falling apart and it's bloody cold here. The overhead gantries on the freeway advised us that there's been snow on the mountains near here. Definitely time to head north! I didn't come to Australia to do minus temperatures. Although apparently the snakes hibernate when it's this cold, so there are some benefits. Been here nearly 2 weeks and not been bitten or stung by anything so far... I have been struck down for nearly a week now with a stomach bug type virus though, which has limited how much I've been able to do. Simon and his friend Karina have been on some walks and to see some sights I missed but I don't feel I've missed out too much, apart from on the nice food they've been eating, while I've not had a proper meal in the past 6 days. But I should really stop complaining. I've watched quite a lot of TV and read magazines. I think I am finally getting better.

So, next after Canberra is Sydney, which I am looking forward to. I want to see the harbour, the beaches, the landmarks, the shops and Taronga Zoo. Then it's up to Brisbane and it should be warmer! I'll try to update this more often.

A month today we are leaving Australia. It seems it's gone pretty quickly. Oh and talking of home, we watched the Royal Wedding in the hostel in St Kilda. It was on at a good time of the evening and we got back from Coles with our dinner just in time to see Kate arrive at the church. The media here are also obsessed with the wedding and the Middleton family. It's interesting seeing external views about the British monarchy and hearing positive things about British culture, particularly from the republican Australians.

So now we're in Canberra and it's 6°C - definitely winter. And you're up to date, thanks for reading.