New Year

To prove we didn't overdo it on NYE, we started the new year with the 1000-step hike about 50km east of Melbourne.

We fended off fierce wildlife.

And fierce weather (unseasonably cold). You can see the Melboune skyline (barely) through the haze.

Last, a waterfall hike. I think 90% of the waterfall hikes in my life have been disappointing. Yes, it's little more than a tumbling creek, despite the advertising... Ladies and gentlemen: Olinda Falls.

New Year's Eve

Aussie wine is almost entirely screw cap -- a fine thing in my opinion. Easy to open, and no chance of the cork failing and ruining the wine. Anyone who's carefully cellared a bottle for 5+ years only to open it and have it spoiled by a bad cork knows why screw caps rule.
That said, bubbly deserves a cork. Sometimes they're a bit tight. One man's struggle...

The bottle was Black Shiraz bubbly. We then hopped the tram and headed to downtown Melbourne for the festivities. A bit like 4th of July in the States -- fireworks and fun, only NYE.

That's t-minus ~10 minutes. Then the camera battery died while taking video of the fireworks. But you can guess the rest.

Aussie kitsch

Who wouldn't stop to see giant toy horses and koalas?

Barossa Valley

We visited the most famous of the Aussie wine valleys (at least to me) on the 29th. With too many wineries for a day (by just a bit!), Lonely Planet steered us to four great ones. Rockford was first up. Great wine, and the pioneer of sparkling Black Shiraz. Champagne-style wine done with the Shiraz varietal. Very cool, different, tasty. We also learned that shipping a case of wine to the US would be... AU $351! Even with the 30% currency exchange discount, and another 30% off for GST (tax), it still adds $200 to the case. Bummer, we have to drink pretty much everything we buy here... while here.
We also visited Bethany, Two Hands and Penny's Hill.

Scenery reminiscent of Napa and Sonoma...

Beach at Glenelg (Adelaide)

Adelaide Hills

View from Nepenthe Wines
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Adelaide from Mt Lofty

A smile from my coffee is good, right?

Enjoying wine country!

Leena wishing we'd commuted in our heli

All is well... except wireless

Greetings and apologies to our legions of loyal followers for such sporadic updates of our travels Down Under. My laptop is having a heckuva a time holding wireless connections when we get them, and they can get pretty pricey (last place was $.50 a minute!). We should have brought a thumb drive to transfer pics from the laptop to whatever machines we get access too. Trust me, I have half a dozen posts with tons of pictures just trapped on the laptop! We arrived in Cairns (pronouced cans) this morning -- beach town in the northeast with easy access to the Great Barrier Reef. It's hot as advertised -- above 30. Go ahead, do the conversion. I'll wait. (30 x 9/5 + 32). We sail and snorkel at the Reef tomorrow and I'll do my first scuba dive in 20 years. More soon! Maybe with pictures! Or...?