After ten days in New Zealand, we spent three weeks touring parts of Australia. It is the world's smallest continent, the only island continent, and the world's sixth largest country by area. It is nearly the size of the USA and is divided into eight states and territories, which seems to be enough for its 25 million people With only three weeks, we decided to focus our time on the eastern half, including Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital District and Queensland. Two-thirds of its population live in the eight capital cities.

This B&B was home for five days. It has nine rooms and sits in the heart of downtown Hobart. It was nice to be able to stretch out after living in a campervan for ten days. We started our tour in Tasmania, an island state in the Southern Ocean about 150 miles south of the mainland. It has a population of 550,000, half of whom live in the capital city of Hobart, where we stayed.	Tasmania gets its name from Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer who is credited as the first European to reach this island in the early 1640s. He also "discovered" New Zealand and Fiji.
On our first walk about in Hobart, we saw this cool car with a strange emblem. It is called a Holden and has been manufactured in Australia by General Motors since 1948. Ford and Toyota also make cars here, but GM and Toyota will soon be closing their plants.	Right in the heart of downtown Hobart is a large shopping mall. It is really nothing to write home about if you are not from Hobart. However, every hour, on the hour, this clock tower plays "Hey Diddle Diddle", and the cow really does jump over the moon!
This view is from the top of Mount Wellington, on the southern edge of Hobart. About half of Tasmania is reserved as a national parks.	Weekends in Tasmania means Salamanca Market Day, local artisans and vendors have been sporting their stuff for nearly 50 years.
We ran across this 1959 Goggomobil Dart built in Australia. Only 700 made, of which about 100 are still on the road. It is made of fiberglass and has a rear mounted two cylinder engine.	During our Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour of the city, the guide pointed out these old concrete grain elevators that have been converted into condos with stunning views overlooking the harbor.
In addition to the Hop On Bus, we took a "hold on for your life" tour of Hobart on this three wheeler. We took Flat Sierra along for the ride. Our driver and tour guide got us into places the bus couldn't imagine going.	We were in Hobart on the final day of the 25th running of the Targa Tasmania, a six-day auto race where 300 cars race 2,000 kilometers on closed roads in Tasmania. Here is one of the winners.
It's April, and fall is in the air.	This is one of the many breadth taking views we experienced as we drove our rental car along the Tasman Sea.
We stopped at the Unzoo, where we met this parrot called Green Rosella and it is native to Tasmania. It freely flies into and out of the zoo.	These kangaroos are called Foresters. They have large ears, are light brown and are Australia's only true kangaroo. They love to hang out together.
Thanks to the vision of American's John Coe and Ray Mendez cofounders of the Unzoo, we came face to face with this Tasmanian Devil. Once endangered, thanks to groups like the Unzoo they are making a come back.	Australia was once used by Britain as a penal colony and Port Arthur housed the worst of the worst. It is now an open air museum, listed as a World Heritage Site and Tasmania's largest tourist attraction.
We met Darwin and his daughter Isobel, at our B&B and as we toured Tasmania, we ran into them at three different attractions. They were fun.	On our final day in Tasmania, we took in its natural beauty like the Tasman Arch along its rugged coast line. Tasmania was worth the effort.
We flew from the state of Tasmania to Victoria and took a train from the airport to pick up our campervan. Victoria has 5.5 million people and its capital Melbourne has four million of them.	The train we rode is part of the Public Transport Victoria, a system of street cars, buses and trains. This station, built in 1909, is one of the iconic spots of Melbourne.
Captain James Cook, a British explorer and navigator, sailed his famed ship, Endeavour around the world and became the first European to travel along the eastern coastline of Australia.	This was the home of James Cook's parents and was built in England. When Australians learned that it was going to be sold, they bought it and moved it to Melbourne.
On a walk about in Melbourne, we stumbled onto this two block long alleyway that was given to artists to display their graffiti artwork. It smelt of aerosol spray.	We spent two days traveling along the Great Ocean Road--a must see in Australia. Like many of the public works projects in the USA, this road was a byproduct of the Great Depression.
Driving on the left side of the road made this trip very enjoyable.	The road provided just enough turnouts to take in the view.
This would be the last ocean view for a while, as the road went inland ten miles or so.	Thank goodness it did, because we got to see our first Kuala in the wild. They sleep 20 hours a day.
While New Zealand has more sheep per capita, Australia is the second largest sheep producer in the world.	This spectacular formation of limestone stacks along the Great Ocean Road is called The Twelve Apostles. Currently there are eight apostles left, the ninth collapsed in 2005.
We toured the Queen Victoria Market billed as the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere.	This is one of dozens of cages of exotic birds for sale. We opted not to buy.
The museums we toured left us depressed at the horrid treatment of the Aborigines. But then again our Natives in America did not fare that well either.	We spent three days traveling from Melbourne to Sydney. Our first stop was Phillips Island, where we saw these rock formations with caves in them. Too bad it was high tide.
The highlight on Phillips Island was the "Parade of the Penguins". At dusk, each evening, a thousand "Little Penguins" come ashore to rest up from a hard day at the ocean. We learned there are 14 variety of penguins--these are unique to Australia.	We have seen many campers over the years, but nothing quite like this one. It is four wheel drive, which means you can take it about anywhere. Most campers we saw were half the size of ours in the states.
Along our way to Sydney, we drove along the Great Alpine Road where we caught spectacular views like this one.	This is one of many solar farms we drove by. The unique thing is--they are all facing north. Something about being down under.
Canberra is the National Capital and located in Australia's Capital Territory located between Melbourne and Sydney. This building is on Capital Hill and used as the Parliament House.	We were shocked to learn that there are 50 million kangaroos in Australia--as many as cattle. About 10 percent are culled out, but not enough to limit the growing number of them being killed by cars.
The Sydney Opera House is the premier signature of the city and it has become a national icon for Australia since it was opened in 1973.	The structure was both a design and engineering challenge that took 14 years to complete. It is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The roof is made up of 1,056,000 glazed white granite tiles. They are currently on sale--an effort to raise money for its next phase. Interested!	Rather than take a tour of the building, we decided to do the next best thing and that was to experience it for its intended purpose. Awesome!
The Sydney Harbor Bridge, is another icon of the city. Built during the depression as the world's longest single span suspension bridge.	The bridge has six lanes for autos, two rail tracks and two pedestrian walkways. If you look close near the flags at the top, you can see climbers.
And that is what we did. We stripped down to our undies, put on these suits and took a 3-1/2 hour trek up 1,300 steps to get a 360 degree view of the city and harbor.	The tourist opportunities were limitless.  As we were walking along the Harbor, we heard this growling alligator trying to get our attention. It worked but we didn't bite.
The Hop On-Hop Off bus gave us the highlights of the city. The Sydney Tower was once its highest point--now dwarfed by all its skyscrapers.	This is the reason why!
Saint Mary's Cathedral was the first Catholic church to be built in Australia in the early 1800s.	Sydney is environmentally friendly, but this developer took green a bit too literal. You think!
This Aborigine was one of many musical treats that lined the sidewalks along the harbor. He is playing a Didgeridoo, a wind instrument they have been using for centuries.	Another view of downtown Sydney--this one from the Sydney Oprah House. The big cruise ship to the right had just come ashore while we were here.
With such an extensive harbor, Sydney boasts one of the largest private and public water taxi system in the world.	This is one of many public ferries used to get people around the city. We took it from downtown Sydney to Manny Beach, about a 30 minute ride.
Our ferry took us past a navy base, home to one of the Royal Australian Navy's two major naval bases.	Manny Beach is a sand beach and a paradise for surfers. There must have been a hundred surfers looking to catch that perfect wave.
This scenic train is taking us to a tropical rain forest near Cairns. Here we are going through a hair-pin turn, over a bridge and into a tunnel.	This breath taking view is one of many villages that grew out of the gold mine rush of the late 1800s and is why they built this railroad.
This is one of several waterfalls we saw along the way. The railroad runs 23 miles, has 37 bridges and 22 tunnels, all built by hand.	The train stop for us to enjoy spectacular views of the Barron Gorge, a deep chasm lined with granite and the dense rainforest.
They were kind enough to provide an elevated walkway for the first leg of our hike through the rain forest.	Larry decided to try a sampler plate of crocodile and kangaroo. They were both tough and a little bit bland.
Here we are on a two-day outing on the Great Barrier Reef. The pontoon ahead is used as a transfer station to other boats and for single day use.	We boarded our boat and as we were heading to our second dive stop, we watch a dozen dolphins playing as they guided us to our location.
This map lays out one of the three areas we explored. The red square is the anchor and the KE is the boat. The rest are reefs.	This is the third of five dives we took. We suited up as a precaution to stingers that hang out in these waters.
We were two of 20 passengers on the boat which is in the background. Four of us stuck to snorkeling, while the rest went scuba diving.	We bought an underwater camera just for this occasion and as good as this looks, it did not do justice to the awesome beauty we witnessed.
It was fun just floating and taking in all the diversity of coral along with the variety of tropical fish that get to call this place home.	It is easy to see why this area is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Our guide said it can be seen from outer space.
We got to snorkel at three different locations along the reefs. The reef ahead of us was one of the shallowest ones we experienced.	And to snorkel around it was spectacular--only a couple of feet deep, we swam around the edge and got some spectacular views.
Climate change was a continuous theme that came up as we explored the South Pacific and now we wonder if our grandkids will have a chance to see these beautiful reefs.  Click here and enjoy!	Wow! What a way to end our five week tour of the South Pacific. From here we are off to Singapore, to begin a six week trip through Southeast Asia.

Our impression of Australia:

• We found Australians to be friendly and helpful. If we looked like we were lost, someone would ask us if we needed help.
• Salary is awesome. A waitress could make $400.00 Australian dollars in a day.
• The cost of living is very high.
• We found Australia to be beautiful, but not as beautiful as New Zealand.
• The cities are very multi-cultural.

Fiji	New Zealand