Melbourne / apostles / penguins

Melbourne (The initial days of our Ozzie trip)  Melbourne city was nice, but probably remarkable only to those who've never seen a city in a developed country. Day 1 : Only time to visit the crown casino after dinner. Its the biggest casino in Australia, but its just filled with slot machines/gambling tables with no sense of beauty. Surely don't expect Las Vegas when you enter here. Though they don't allow kids into the casino, there's a different kids area with lots of video games and other activities in the building. Your guide may not know about it.. but just ask the guys at the door. Day 2 : Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was the highlight of the day apart from the city tour. The city tour was lame, but MCG was something else. Did you know that they use a mix of two kinds of grass on the ground ? Cooch & Rye, the guide said. One is better for summer, and the other for winter.  Phillip island was awesome. You wait for a while, everybody gets a little restless with the nippy air... and then you see the penguins. Just the sight of those things changes the entire atmosphere. :) They keep trying to build up the courage to cross the beach into the hills. They come on to the beach, waddle a few steps, and then go back into the water with the next wave. They also swim to different points in the beach picking the right point. You'd think they're at Dunkirk. As more join the group, their courage grows. Finally they waddle across in a big hurry. They probably think they're doing the 100m sprint, but you get plenty of time to watch them. Next, they climb the hill slowly in a line. Often in pairs/twosomes or more. Then you have the bunch of them yelling at each other, claiming territory and generally being very busy. :) Too bad we couldn't take some pictures and scare them with our camera flashes. :)	Painted glass in St. Patricks Cathedral :From Australia-Sep-2008 Melbourne war memorial: From Australia-Sep-2008
Day 3: This was a long & well worth drive to see the 12 Apostles ( 8.5, really ). The helicopter ride is a must. On our own, we'd probably have skimped on the helicopter ride seeing the 100+ dollars/ person tag; glad it was already paid for. Next: Brisbane/Gold coast	From Australia-Sep-2008