Author Archives: brylandaustraliatrip

I am posting this a bit late after resting from jet lag back in South Portland. I left Melbourne the morning of January 7 after many hugs and kisses for Sammy, Leah, and Dave. I will miss them so much! The good news is that they all will be here in August, including Leah’s parents,Continue reading “Addendum: Day of Departure”

Today we woke up to a strong smell of smoke from the fires and poor air quality as rated by the meteorological services here. Outside it was hard for me to breathe deeply without coughing. We walked to a nearby coffee shop where we had a late breakfast. The big event of the day wasContinue reading “Last day in Melbourne January 6”

My daughter-in-law, Leah, had purchased tickets for Dave and me to attend Harp in the Gardens on January 5. I was unsure what to expect-a full solo harp performance perhaps? It was to be from 1:00PM-3:00PM. Much to our surprise and delight, the harpist, Michael Johnson, is the resident harpist of the Gardens- he actuallyContinue reading “Harp in the Royal Botanical Gardens”

Since Leah’s parents and nephew, Ollie, were returning to Adelaide and we to Melbourne, we took some pictures of this family before departure and look forward to seeing all in Maine in August. Leah’s brother, Tom, Ollie’s father did not come on this part of the trip with us. As we rode into Melbourne, smokeContinue reading “Pictures January 4 before leaving our B&B for Melbourne”

This morning Dave and I took a side trip to the famous geological site, The 12 Apostles, located on the Great Ocean Road just outside Port Campbell. The formations in the ocean are of sandstone and limestone and have been created by the ocean waves against the cliffs. These were thought at one time toContinue reading “January 3-side trip to the 12 Apostles”

The day after New Year’s we began the trip back to Melbourne from Adelaide, stopping at an air b&b we had rented in Warrnambool for 2 nights. The trip was longer than we had expected -around 9 hours!! Sammy was very uncomfortable sitting so long in the car seat, and we stopped frequently to stretchContinue reading “Starting back to Melbourne from Adelaide-January 2, 2020”

Dave and I started the day by going for a walk on the beautiful beach in Adelaide.

Back in Adelaide, we reunited with the Leah’s family and Sammy. He seemed to have grown during the days we were gone. I was so delighted to hold him again!

Because it was to be so hot today, (temperature of 97degrees F) we decided to spend the day at MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art just outside Hobart. The museum is totally underground and is meant to be an experience-quite different from the usual museums. Lighting is very low, and to get toContinue reading “Tasmania, Day 4”

We decided to go today to Port Arthur where the English sent criminals from Great Britain to be incarcerated and to build ships, mill flour, cut timber and learn trades as part of their imprisonment. This penal colony was established in the 1800’s and at its height housed 1100 inmates. The philosophy of the BritishContinue reading “Tasmania, Day 3”