Australia

As I start this very long and much overdue blog/diary, I must apologise and explain why. Leaving England I knew my mum was struggling with her mental health, Alzheimers is a slow cruel illness. Little was I to know that the call I made to her from that laundry in New Zealand would be the last time I would hear her voice. My lovely mum was to pass whilst I was in Australia, and my heart lost the will to write this blog. However, I shall continue now (however late) in her memory, with her and my dads great love of travel forever in our minds. To Travel is to Live.

My Mum 3/6/43 -3/12/24

Uluru

Our journey through Australia would start in the Red Centre. Uluru, how I have longed to stand before that Red Rock and gaze upon its wonder with my own eyes. I hadn`t quite realised that I would get to see it the moment we landed, and I assure you I was one exceptionally speechless and utterly confused Bunny. We were supposed to land, drive for 3 hours, then drive a further 3 hours to see the great rock, but there it was, right there!! Next to the airport, who moved it ??!!! My mind was working overtime. Long story short, Uluru really does have an airport of its own, whereas I had assumed Alice springs some 5 hours away was the Airport for Uluru, hence big red rock being exactly in the right place. This also placed our hotel several hours drive away, with a very bewildered car hire lady telling us, you can`t drive there at night, (told her where it was and our plans to return to both sunrise and sunset) it would take hours. You have to drive very very slowly to avoid the kangaroos, emus and camels (?) say what..... We had one full day to see Uluru and our plans were scuppered at the first hurdle...until she suggested we stay at the Outback lodge. A very kind booking.com transferred our accommodation to the Outback, and suddenly there we were in the heart of the red centre, with the rock actually visible to us from outside our little cabin.

For a flying visit, we saw one distant sunset, one up close sunrise, one up close sunset, and a further close sunrise. The photos speak a thousand words.

Staying near Uluru is easy for somewhere so remote. Airport, car hire, short drive to the resorts, with its varying accommodation options, tours, well signposted directions, walking paths, walking platforms, cute places to eat, drink or shop, it really is all there on hand with little effort. You cannot wander freely around the rock, and you certainly cannot climb upon it, but you can get up close and personal when you purchase the compulsory park ticket.

Melbourne.

With one previous memory of a whirlwind tour of Melbourne some 21 years ago, my list of places to visit were very much guided by my wish to recreate old memories with Mr Bunny, visiting the places I had previously, and to create new memories for me and brand new ones for him. I did have a whole list of places to see, and we did our best to see them all. We went to the Melbourne Gaol, a fascinating jail with such history, to see the death mask of Ned Kelly, Australia`s most infamous bandit. Aged only 27 when he was hung at the jail, his weird homemade armour was also on view nearby at the local library. A sad tale, and maybe he wasn`t quite the bad guy that he was made out to be. Certainly seems to have been made to go rogue by the appalling treatment of his family. From Gaol to Yarra River. We walked to wonderful riverside with its many Christmas decoration (yeah, we have found Christmas at last) and sat and watched the new evening Christmas lights show, passable but personally worthy of 4/10. The Gas Brigades outside the Crown Plaza were our main reaon for being on the waterside, and I was happy to see that their shooting flames were every bit as good as I recalled. Sovereign Hill was next on the list. A place like Beamish (for all you brits) an old recreated gold mining town with shops and character actors and actresses. I had such fun memories here, listening to two shop women discussing my mums frightful (yes, the were quite bad, but made by a friend, she was determined to wear them, kangaroo patterned cullottes...) the in character actors all had something to say, and it truly made for an authentic experience. Now?? it would appear that the `characters` are no longer allowed to interact in such manner such is the modern wussy attitude to political correctness and appalling soppy over protected children whom cry at any person daring to say anything even remotely firm to them. Sovereign Hill was still a wonderful place to be, and panning for gold is definitely a highlight, but such a shame to be blighted by present day stupidity.

Ballarat Wildlife Park. Kangaroos and Koalas. This fabulous little wildlife park has so many Koalas, at close quarters, and free roaming Kangaroos that you could feed. As with everything nowadays, we would have had to pay quite a decent amount of dollars to hold or even stroke the Koalas, whereas my visit all those years ago, the keepers were happy to let us hold the Koalas with supervision. Even Mr Bunny, enchanted by most animals, fell under the cuteness spell of these adorable little `drop bears`. Werribee Mansion. A stately home just outside of Hoppers Crossing. In terms of age this house is actually modern by UK standards, built 1877, but for a house built 150 ish years ago, it has required a lot of renovation. I remembered head phones and holographs, now it was just a voice recording as you enter each room. Vic Market an excellent busy market with everything to please a foodie from fruit, fish. meat, cakes to the vast arrays of nicer end TS. (thats tourist sh.t to you) Paddys Market this was where we found the mass produced ts, but also a lot of closed stalls? I have memories of a never ending market. I guess time changes everything. A change of accommodation to Geelong gave us chance to drive The Great Ocean Road to see the 12 apostles. This was another destination that has changed massively since I was last there. From a little patch of gravel to park up, take a few pics and move on, this whole area is now a vast purpose built car park, toilet blocks, information centre, and vast walkways. Everything changes over time, and I`m not convinced for the better. For better or worse, the explosion of massive tourism is definitely having an impact on our most special places. As is the dislike of possums. We tried to feed the cute possums, as we had done all those years previously at Fitzroy park, after the constant unsettling sights of the numerous flat ones in New Zealand " damn pests, we don`t try to avoid them on the roads " we failed miserably as they are now considered city pests, and feeding is an absolute no no. We also visited Warnambool and Flagstaff, but I shall breeze over these places. Our last place to visit was Straws Lane and Hanging Rock. At Straws Lane you experience the very bizarre optical illusion that despite parking your car on a downhill, it rolls backwards, uphill. We managed a very credible 15km per hour rolling uphill.

It was at Hanging Rock, where fictitiously 3 school girls and their teacher disappeared, that I learned that my mum had also vanished, from my life. 3rd December 2024. sleep peacefully mum x

Our last visit in Melbourne was to visit our oldest friends. This was such a lovely day. We first met in 1977, and my mum remained firm friends with Gay until her passing in 2007. From then on, we have kept in touch with her family, and to see them again was wonderful. The children have grown up, and the next generation were a delight. To be able to talk about my mum was brilliant (apologies for the out of order blog, this day was obviously just prior to learning about my mums passing)

Philip Island Penguin Parade

One of our favourite and much enjoyed evening past time. At last, after being thwarted at so many previous places, both in South America and New Zealand, we were finally going to see Penguins. Little Fairy Penguins. Every single evening, 365 days per year, these beautiful little penguins make their nightly appearance. Emerging from the sea to run to their burrows is one of the funniest sights we have seen.

We arrived at the Penguin Sanctuary, a huge brand new purpose built building, not quite the little box hut that I last remember, and waited for the moment we would be allowed to take our seats for the Penguin Parade. Wandering about the auditorium I was to learn that not only are these the smallest penguins in the world, they are also not called Fairy Penguins anymore, they are now known as Little Penguins, or to give them another name Blue Penguins !!!! Hurrah !!! I did not know prior to arriving that the cute blue penguins that I so desperately wanted to see in New Zealand, were these little guys. More excited now. There are around 5 sets of bench seating on the beach, separated by strips of sand, which face the sea. And then you wait. Once the sun sets and all cameras are put away, NO filming or photos please (unless of course you are that instagram twit who cares not for penguin safety and films anyway) Losing that battle, as every person alive seems to carry a phone, you are offered the chance to download professional photos, taken without flash...foc. I would truly say 95% of all people present, took photos. I did not. Personally I think they just need to emphasise that its the flash element which upsets the birds, and let people film away, as they clearly already do that anyway..Back to the penguin cuties. As the sun sets and darkness sets in, you start to see little black dots on the waves. The penguins have arrived. They arrived in little groups called rafts, and huddle to gather at the waters edge. FOREVER. I could hear the voice of Marlin from Finding Nemo so clearly as we watched these adorable little birds decide who would be the brave one to be the first up the beach. ......First we go out, then we go back, the we go out....then we go back....and just to be certain we go out again.. They stood and dithered, walked forward, ran back, four run forward two follow, and 6 run back to the sea. You sit there willing them on, to be brave and waddle their little butts up the beach. Up and down the beach you can see the little huddles of penguins at the waters edge, all vying with each other as to who would be the brave little penguin to start the beach dash. Once the beach dash starts, the soft hurrahs from the audience seems to give them encouragement to keep going until they reach the safety of the sand dunes and their burrows. Once the main bulk of the penguins have waddled up the beach you are allowed to leave your seats and watch these little dark blue cuties as they wend their way amongst the dunes. You also see a vast amount of possums, but all of a sudden, possum or penguin? Penguin usually wins.

We visited Philip Island from the home of my mums friends. I had never met these people before, but trusting my mum and dads excellent judge of character we knew that they would be lovely people, and boy were we right. These two amazing people opened up their home to us, and we spent a wonderful 3 days with them, learning about what they did when my mum visited them on a Cruise a few years back, and other things that I didn`t know. New friends were made by all. After a farewell meal and a last sunset, we packed our bags to continue our journey.

Sydney (and that damn bridge)

These 3 crazy bunnies landed in Sydney with one day spare to prepare for the biggest adventure of at least two of our lives. Little bunny has climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge before, on her 13th Birthday, and this time all 3 daft bunnies would be doing the same thing. We had a walk out to see the bridge but I think nerves and a sense of dread and fear were a little at the forefront of our minds as it was clear that each of the older bunnies were wondering what the heck they had signed up for, and tempers, also induced by heat and being tired were a little frayed. Looking back I can quite clearly tell you which bridge photos were taken before the climb, and which ones after.!

A little back story. Little bunny and her grandpa did this climb together whilst my mum and I climbed the stairs of the Pylon tower to watch. We saw them climb the bridge. We could see the steps. We could see what they wore and how they were strapped to the bridge. What we couldn`t see was the amount of pre climbing they had done to get to said point where they were visible. I was told about the practise steps. That the bit (read that again bit) above the road was the worst. You could see the road below you through the mesh. Armed with that knowledge, Mr Bunny and Mrs Bunny have been walking Blackpool pier for around a year prior to the trip in order to try and desensitise their fear of heights . Oh how we laugh about that one now!

Friday 13th. Yes. I chose that date. Bridge Climb day. Quite probably for the first time ever Mr B was not allowed to calm his nerves with a drink. First thing they do when you get there is a breathalyser test. Zero alcohol tolerance. A pre climb questionnaire filled in had alerted them to my wonky knees, but they assured me that there would be a chance to test my physical climbing ability prior to the ascent. A superbly organised climbing structure and climbing apparatus/body rigs meant we felt safe enough. We each tested the clip on rigs and reassured ourselves we couldn`t fall. All was good. We tested the ladders, not too high, good, tested the mesh walkways, yep, that was doable. And then it was our turn. Everyone wears headphones to hear the guide, and only she can hear you, and trust me, that was. awesome news. We clipped on, Mrs B at the front behind the guide, oh bother, now I had no choice but to move fast and to not hold up the group. Not for anything was I going to be the reason the group moved slowly. And we were off. Through the door, into a room, and once clipped and no going back, the enormity of that sodding bridge, and what it entailed, slapped you firmly across the face. If I used the F word once, i used it several times. Frogs were everywhere. There was a frog on the bridge, the handrail, the ground below us, on the cars, the low sided handrails, even the wind was froggy !! ` The first bit is the worst `my bunny butt !!! From the offset, the path is narrow, mostly open sided, mesh floor, hand rail on the left side only with your right hand guiding your life line alongst the narrow metal wire. Its also breezy. And did I mention that it is a long long long way!!? All my walking practise over Blackpool Pier ? absolute zero use. I have never been as utterly terrified in my entire life!! Its froggy high, froggy narrow, got frog all to hang on to and did i mention that it is froggy high!! That blissful bit of torture lasted around two weeks. Once my hand had secured itself into the grip of a thousand nations never to uncoil, the delightful guide yelled, that`s the easy bit over !! sorry, but wtf? easy bit ? Stairs next. Three flights worth. The sort of stairs that go in side tall hollow structures, that you look at and think nope, not for me! Nope, Up we go. Bunny balls and buttocks joined the party of frogs as once more I climbed. We reached the top and I breathed once more...until the guide says, we call this next bit the squeeze... I do hope you are kidding me? Nope, she wasn`t, between the rails, under the girders and along the frog laden path that joyously spanned more road. And just to add insult to injury, she then ever so kindly added " we are nearly at the ladders"... Well just look at those cute little ladders, exactly the same as the ones we practised on in the practise room, just 3 times higher, and 3 times as many, and over fresh air so that you can take in the lovely views. Chimps, chocolate, bananas and a whole other host of random objects now invade my thoughts and my mouth as I endeavour to give the frogs a rest. I solemnly declare that If I ever mention doing something so utterly stupid again, you may section me!! Finally, and not a moment too soon we stepped out onto the bridge itself. and this my bunny friends was the easy part. The steps are very wide, you cannot see over the edge, you cannot see the road below your feet. You can however see the whole of Sydney and the Opera House. The view is worth a million frogs. Cue music and fireworks, we`ve done it and I have the photo to prove it. I could tell you all about the numerous steps, ladders and other challenges that we met on the way down, but my favourite bit of the whole climb was the amazing ladder to nowhere, this gorgeous cute little ladder, connecting the lower path to the upper path. It really was the most beautiful steel mesh rung ladder you have ever seen and as the leader of the group, I, Mrs bunny, had the delight of standing at the bottom of this ladder for around 15 mins waiting for the rest of the group to slowly descend the ladders from hell behind me. The view below me through the wide mesh rungs was incredible. Absolutely nothing whatsoever obscured my view to the ground, and to my left I could see forever, such a shame my right hand view into infinity was partially obscured by train tracks. I forgot, must tell you, that ladder had special effects as well, every time the train and the numerous carriages went over, it shook like a jelly. It was a great feeling trying to hang on. 3 hours of hell later, and I am at last back on terrified firma. Having shared with both Mr B and little B the most incredible views of Sydney, I am

delighted to announce that I will never do anything that daft for as long as I live !

Our time is Sydney was brief, but once the fear of that bridge climb abated, and the celebrations of survival set in, we could at last appreciate the beauty of said bridge with the back drop of the Opera House. We wandered the parks, to the Anzac memorial, The Rocks, we found the Christmas market, not great but the pancakes were pretty decent. The Christmas tree was quite special, as are most Aussie decorations. We love seeing the decorated Koalas, red nosed Kangaroos pulling the sleigh, Santa in board shorts, we have seen them all. We ate at the Wahlburger restaurant, an excellent burger place partially owned by Mark wahlburg and his famous chef brother.

The East Coast beckons.

We enjoyed our time in the bunny bus so much around New Zealand, and hated the buses with equal passion in South America, Mr B arranged to hire another big bunny bus to take us up the east coast. Envisaging a road trip of endless beaches, easy camping stops, and parking with the ease of New Zealand, our hopes were quickly dashed at our very first port of call. We had a 15 day plan of short drives and long stops at a multitude of different destinations. Leave early. Park, See, Camp. that was the plan. Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Noosa Head ,Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Airlie Beach, Townsville, Cairns. All the places we hoped to see, along a road that skirted the coast. whales here, railway there, caves anyone? On paper the suggestions look fine, but our reality was so so different. First and foremost we needed a powered site every night. Without Air Con we wouldn`t have survived. The heat has been incredible, and its only going to get hotter the further north we go. No free camping for us. The main road, is not a multi lane highway. neither does it touch the coast except in the rarest of places. How rare? Twice. that`s your lot. Parking. Complete nightmare. There is zero allowance for a motorhome with almost every parking space saying 6 or 7 feet or under. The most popular places are chocka by the time we arrive at lunchtime, so even if we can park its quite busy. Took us 3 days of travelling to know that if we had had hindsight, the east coast requires either a huge 4x4 and caravan, or a really decent car and cheap hotel stays. Not that any hotel is a cheap stay. We could have driven a little off the beaten track, but if we thought the main roads were dodgy, bouncy and hard to drive, goodness knows what off road would be like in a big bunny bus. The answer to most of our problems would have been to arrive at each camp site, then Uber to town, but after a while this just gets expensive.

First stop Port Macquarie and the op shops. The op shops are the same as our charity shops but a million times better. These shops, our favourite, run by the Salvation Army and called Salvo, contains just about everything and anything you could possibly need, second hand, very cheap, and no tat. We had designs on everything Christmas. Bunny hopping from one salvo shop to another we Christmassed the bunny bus within an inch of its life. Lights and all. And 2 trees. Everything was stuck in place with either sellotape or blue tac, so we could drive at will knowing Santa was safe. With places difficult to access or park, we actually did very little sightseeing up the east coast. We did visit the Koala hospital and rehabilitation centre, a sad, but also inspiring place where they care for hurt or sick Koalas, placing the cured ones back into the wild, and loving and caring for the ones that can no longer care for themselves. Main cause of injuries? Humans. Loss of habitat, chopping down trees forcing the Koala to wander nearer and nearer to roads, we are their biggest cause for injury. The next injuries are by natural causes, mostly fire. One little koala, with the prettiest little face you have ever seen, was in the hospital for her own safety. She preferred one particular tree near a town, but would frequent the local court house on her way to said tree. After being rescued from `prison` several times, they decided the local hospital was the safest home for her.

Byron Bay next Quite possibly one of the nicest beaches we visited, but in the most Aussie stereo typical vein you have ever seen. All three bunnies felt old, over dressed and out of place here. Young male surfer dudes in their board shorts, bare feet, shaggy blonde hair, bare feet and surf boards are followed everywhere by dizzy blondes in their 3 pieces of string bikinis, flip flops and endlessly sucking, but not depleting on the ubiquitous straws of iced latte drinks. With an average apparent age range of 21, we were clearly of the `mom and pop` generation. We loved Byron Bay, but wouldn`t chose to stay there.

We would however love to have stayed longer at Brisbane. That is one lovely city. So chilled, easy going, and very pretty. We all felt very comfortable here. They have a lovely city beach called Streets Beach. My boss of 42 years, chose to to send me a photo of himself whilst on that beach last year. I felt it appropriate to send him the same picture back with me in said photo. Adding the caption, yep, Its great here. I felt it was a fair trade for his total lack of correspondence and interest in our trip. His sister, from the same company emigrated to said place many years ago, but I felt it more appropriate to enjoy a leisurely breakfast with an ex work colleague. We all met up at the best Cafe E V E R, in the town of Redcliffe, and fell in love with both cafe and town. (Cafe 63) Redcliffe was around 80 mins outside of Brisbane and is without any shadow of doubt the nicest town we have ever visited. Easily comparable to many of the towns of New Zealand, even Queenstown which I didn`t think could ever be bettered. Cafe 63, if you get a moment, just google their menu for a laugh. You will clock what I mean about best cafe ever.

Australia Zoo. When little bunny added zoo to our to our What list, I had thought it was to pamper to Mr bunny's love of animals. What I hadn`t realised is that Australia Zoo is, or sadly, was, the home of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. This is not just a zoo, This is THE zoo. The most spectacularly beautiful and well kept zoo we have ever had the pleasure of exploring. This is the type of Zoo that every animal structure in the world should aspire to copy. Think endless acres of natural forest and open spaces, change nothing, just add a few strategic walkways, fences, and view points, and et Voila! The family still live and work at the zoo, and their legacy to animal conservation is second to none.

Noosa Head, Rainbow Beach, both beautiful and spectacular. Rainbow is the jumping on point for tours to Fraser Island, the biggest Sandbar Island in the world. You can drive there when the tide is low and your vehicle is a huge big tyred 4 x 4 , but for mere mortals in a bunny bus, the only option was a ridiculously expensive boat trip. We would have made the trip with bells on, but how do you justify £200 each to visit another beach? Another fun fact, no matter how utterly beautiful the beaches are, they are also deadly. This is Australia, land of salt water crocodiles, stingers and jellyfish. Beautiful beaches are to be laid on or admired from a distance. Swim if you like, stinger suits are available to hire. Sorry, but sandy beaches have never been a favourite of mine, and now you want to add crocodiles and stuff that`s likely to sting me?? No thanks.

Rockhampton. Christmas shopping time!! This was our only shopping town. We kept Christmas presents to a minimum spending very little. We kept to four categories , eat, drink, wear, read, with gifts to be practical, needed, liked and light. Who knew T bags would suddenly become a much appreciated Christmas present? We had intended purchasing food for a Christmas BBQ, free gas BBQs are to be found along most coastal towns. However, we chose to spend Christmas at Airlie Beach (awesome) at a gorgeous camp site, with a cute little swimming pool situated right behind our bunny bus. The pull of eating in an air conditioned bus, with a pool for dessert, was far greater than our desire for a hot BBQ. We have been to many English camp sites, and compared to the Aussie sites , we suck at it!. Never once have we encountered spoilt whinging brats, no crying babies, no barking dogs, no foul mouthed idiots or fish wives screeching. Every site has been so quiet, well behaved considerate people, superb cleanliness in the wash rooms and kitchens. Australia, you take camping to the next level. We stayed at Airlie Beach for 5 peaceful nights. We did go on a day trip to Hamilton Island, one of the many Whit Sundays, it was lovely, but to truly experience the magnificence of the Whit Sundays, you need to have cash to burn. Once again the trips are just so expensive. My mantra of ` a little bit of everything, but not a lot of something` is helping us find the places we would love to spend more time ( and money) at, whilst ticking off places that maybe we wouldn`t choose to go again. With 7 months of travel still ahead of us, and many many magnificent places, we have to be cautious and picky.

Cairns. This is our last destination in Australia. After a journey of almost 2,400km, our time in Australia is coming to a close. In 2018, whilst on a trip to China, we met the most wonderful older solo (solo, not solo) traveller, and with whom I have kept in touch. She lives here in Cairns, and I always promised myself, that if I made it to Australia we would visit. On the best night of the year, and incidentally the last night of the year, we spent a glorious 5 hours with Margaret and her lovely husband Peter, on their balcony overlooking the Esplanade watching the fireworks with a birds eye view. It was an absolute joy to stand on that balcony and see for ourselves, the wonderful views that Margaret regularly posts on her Facebook page. The Bunny bus has gone to bed, and we are spending our last few nights in the best hostel (as voted by Hostel world several years running) in Cairns. A proper home from home little palace, the Travellers Oasis, is just that. an Oasis.

One last trip in Australia and we saved the best until last. The Great Barrier Reef. Alas I have no photos, waterproof or not I wasn`t taking my phone into the sea. Or my go pro. A superb half day snorkelling trip, we, just the two older bunnies on this occasion, set off on a fast boat to the reef, with a lovely staff of 4. Everyone was given a floatation belt (or not if a competent swimmer) mask, snorkel, and fins. Being unable to wear and flap fins in the water, mrs b was given the opportunity to hang on to a life belt and be towed around the reef. We arrived at the reef after an hour of boating, we were prepped, the back of the deck was lowered, and we were off. We are also all wearing stinger suits, still in Australian waters after all. The water was the pleasant temperature of a warm bath, not a single cold shudder as you entered the water. My `tow lady` said to me after a brief swim, look down, we are over the reef. A little nervously at first and not using my snorkel, I stuck my head under the water and the beauty and size of the reef was incredible. Grabbing my snorkel knowing I was never going to take my eyes off the reef, I put my head down and watched the best underwater television. I have never been a big lover of open water, or snorkelling, but the reef and its huge variety of fish were just insane. I had such a mixed feeling about visiting the reef, we have heard about the bleaching, the sad state of parts of the reef, the ethics, but though we could see some effects of the bleaching, we could also see vast fields of very healthy coral, and a huge abundance of brightly coloured fish of all sizes. We also saw a clam shell. A living breathing clam shell, larger than any human! I missed half the commentary given by my `tow` guide, such was my desire to not miss anything below the water, but I did hear her say that this clam was very very old, probably over a hundred years, that he would have landed there as a small clam, dug in, and ate his way to this incredible size. Don`t misunderstand, the reef is far from the abundant day glo colours as perceived from fish tanks, but it definitely does have many different colours, shades of blues, greens and purples. The reef is incalculably huge. We were in the heart of the reef at the Whit Sundays, a 3 day drive away, and still that wasn`t the start of the reef.

As a world, we need to learn to protect the reef. It is suffering. The fish are stressed. I was deeply saddened when my tow guide told me about the rainbow fish I was seeing below me, saying that they come in all sorts of bright colours, but when stressed they tend to be blue. My fish were blue. They get stressed by the presence of divers and snorkellers. I was one of those people causing my fish to become blue. Seeing the reef is one thing, but knowing your presence is causing the fish to visibly change colours in fear, is not right. There are 100s of tours available to the reef. At what point do we cross the line? Saving the reef v stressing the reef...

To clarify, little bunny went to the reef the following day. She had a similar sort of day, but had the added pleasure of seeing a turtle up close.

Our time in Australia has come to an end. For a country that Mr Bunny had thought that he wasn`t entirely sure he wanted to visit, I think it is fair to say we all enjoyed our time here so very very much, with frequent mutterings of `when we come back` not If.

Good Bye Australia, you are truly awesome.