Moving in Melbourne

So, as is often the case when the Traveler travels, schedules change. The plant in Melbourne requested an extra week’s work, so we stayed another week. It offered us an opportunity to visit a really wonderful little church- Grace Community Bible Church. It made us miss our church family back home even more. They had a sweet fellowship, a solid sermon and wonderful music. Hello folks at Grace.

Then we moved. Yep we left our wonderful apartment and moved closer to the bay and downtown. I’ll tell about our new apartment/hotel room soon. But first, our day...we went to the market.

 It is a little flea market type of set up, with crafts and wares. I found a local clay artist (hi, to my clay spinning friend!) who makes koalas, kookaburras, echidnas, platypuses. They are really beautiful.
And we saw some beautiful silk scarves.. which reminded us our scarf painting friend and her family- hello G fam!)

There is an amusement park in Melbourne called Luna Park, apparently they have these all over Australia- at least on the Eastern seaboard. We passed on the rides(maybe because the entrance looked to ‘creepy’, ‘scary’, ‘disturbing’) but we did notice that the roller coaster operator rode with the paying customers-and he rode STANDING UP! No kidding! Beej totally freaked out!

We passed Luna Park on our way to Acland Street. When we were at Philip’s Island penguin parade, sitting in the freezing cold, we met a family from Melbourne. (They had a French exchange student living with them- Hi guys!). They gave us some tips about things to do in Melbourne… high on the list was Acland street.

“They have the best cakes in Melbourne, you have to get cake from Acland Street.”  So we struggled with the decision and  finally decided to go- HA!  Here is what we saw.....

Evidentally these bakeries have been here for more than 50 years(not the cakes, but the bakeries).  They sell whole cakes or just samples of incredibly yummy looking yummy stuff.  We choose the later and here is what we got….

Hazelnut fudge, Lemon tart, chocolate covered waffle (which was filled with a hazelnutish/coffee cream stuff that was divine!), and chocolate mud cake. We couldn't choose a favorite, or even list them in an order of liked the most to the least because they were all so delicious!

It was crazy crowded and we were all concerned that Essie would get lost in the crowd. Someone had a hold of her the whole time. It became a joke as we stopped every few minutes for someone to ask 'Whose got 'Essie'? We saw some interesting sites....

We saw this and it reminded us of our Harley loving friend… (Hi. Mr. N and the N family!! We miss you!)

We also took a little stroll along the bay's beach. It was much less crowded and very relaxing! I guess everyone here can go to the beach when it is warm, so they don't go when it is cool! It was wonderful!!

Koala facts

By Essie – Thanks mom for helping me type.

Information came from Healesville sanctuary, their website and www.thekoala.com/koala/ Pictures came from http://carinbondar.com, australiangeographic.com.au, blog-city.info

Did you know that koalas are not bears?  They are marsupials. That means they have a pouch for their babies.

Did you know that Koalas live in gum trees-but only special kinds of eucalyptus and gum trees. They each have their own trees, but they also overlap with their neighbors. This where they play and meet each other. Neighbors are very important because koalas live in groups or societies. The  groups each have their own territory.

Did you know that koalas have 2 fingers on each hand that act like thumbs? We only have one thumb on each hand, but we don’t need so many thumbs.  They have great balance. That’s important so they don’t fall out of the trees. They also have strong arms and a good grip. God made them that way to live in trees. Look at those fingers!

Did you know that koalas don’t drink water? They only drink water when they are ill or it is very dry. Its name means ‘no drink’ in the ancient Aboriginal language. Sometimes they will eat wattle or tea tree leaves as well as their favorite eucalyptus. Did you know that eucalyptus leaves are very poisonous to other animals? But koalas can eat 200-500 kg a day. Their sensitive nose helps them pick which leaves are good.

Did you know that koalas are very lazy? They sleep 18 -20 hours a day, which is way more than we sleep. They are mainly nocturnal, which means they wake up more at night.

Did you know koalas have a cushy bottom? They have thicker hair on their bottom to make it more comfortable to sit on hard tree branches.

Did you know koalas sometimes leave their trees?  They come down bottom first, not feet first like we do. To climb back up, they bounce up as high as they can and catch the tree with their front claws.  They are on the ground to change trees, they are in the most danger because of dingos, and cars.

Did you know that whenever koala babies are born they are pink? They are the size of a jelly bean and have no ears. They move to the pouch on their own and grow there for about 6-7 months. They drink only mother’s milk at that time. They will leave the mom and live on their own when a new baby (called a joey) is born.  This could be after 1 year, or could be 2 or 3 years.

Thank you for reading my koala article.

Good bye, Essie