Late yesterday we became seriously concerned about the time and destinations we have planned next week for New Zealand, particularly on the South Island. New Zealand is said to have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and it offers opportunities to do and see things found nowhere else. Since we only have four nights in Christchurch (South Island) and five nights each in Wellington and Aukland (North Island), we realized we have may have shorted ourselves on this portion of our trip.

By the time morning came, we were in a bit of a panic. After our morning fast-walk along the beach and through beautiful nearby neighborhoods (I'm sorry I haven't taken my camera on our exercise jaunts to capture these lovely old homes), we both jumped on computers and spent the next three hours researching options. Yes! We found a creative way to squeeze in a 2-day trip from Christchurch to Aoraki/Mt. Cook in the Southern NZ Alps. Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, and it also is home to the Tasman Glacier. I am so excited!! We are going to get to see and touch a glacier! But that won't be until Monday. And yes, there are many, many wonderful things we will miss in New Zealand this trip, but we are happy to have locked this in.

In the meantime, we made good use of our last bit of time in Melbourne and boarded the free, yes, free, tourist bus that does a drive-by with stops at the top destinations in the city. I wish all major cities had such a facility. We went by some of the places we had already visited such as the Arts Precinct, Federation Square, Victoria Market and the Shrine of Remembrance (Victoria's memorial to the service and sacrifice of its men and women in times of conflict), the Yarra River, and the Royal Botanic Gardens. We also saw new territory such as Etihad Stadium, Waterfront Marina and Docklands, MCG (Melbourne Cricket Grounds), University of Melbourne, Chinatown, Lygon Street (Little Italy), Melbourne Museum and Carlton Gardens. We were fortunate in that we got the first seat at the front of the bus and had a friendly bus driver who gave us a personal narrative of the tour as well as stories about his great experiences in the US - Aussies love our country! I took a bunch of drive-by pictures, but I'm afraid they will reflect just that. As with most truly grand cities, I think it takes several weeks of exploring to honestly say you've been there.

At sunset the Little Penguins come in from feeding at sea to roost among the rocks behind the Kiosk at St. Kilda Jetty. They are only 13 inches tall and are found primarily only on the southern coast of Australia and New Zealand. We made it to the jetty in time. They pop right out of the water and hide so discretely among the big rocks, but we found a few of the cute, shy little creatures. It was so much fun! We saw them; we really saw them!

Tomorrow we say farewell to Melbourne and its beautiful setting, wonderfully planned streets and transportation and good-bye to its friendly, proud people. We begin our journey northward to Rutherglen and ultimately to Sydney by March 2.