Surfs Up

Earlier this month we spent a day over Easter weekend with some friends on the southern coast of Victoria near world class surf beaches. In fact, surfing in Australia got its start here.

Easter weekend is the last official weekend of summer and a school holiday so the beach was packed with kids as young as five dragging their boards into the surf hoping to catch the next big wave.



Zach was a little too young for this just yet, but he had a great time watching the older kids.

He also enjoyed watching Mom and Dad try to catch a few waves on boogie boards.

That's Dad engulfed in a wave.

Mom had a little better luck catching a ride on the waves.



Ahhh, that was fun!

Seasons Change

This weekend the rains finally set in for good, dumping almost two inches in as many days. With it, the temperatures have gotten downright cold. We promise not to complain about the cold weather, though. Not after the summer we had. The weather just gives Mom more of an excuse to knit. Maybe she'll have to make one last trip to the woollen mill in Bendigo (didn't she do that last weekend?) before our time here is up. Dad says Zach has plenty of handknit sweaters already.



Checking out the cows in the park.

Riding the Autumn cow.

Pointing out the Michelangelo cow.

Quiet Weekend

After so much travel this month, we decided to stay a little closer to home these last few weeks.



Last weekend we took a quick trip to Bendigo so Mom could pick up one last haul of her favorite yarn from the woollen mill there. How will she ever live so far away from her favorite yarn outlet? (Sniff, sniff).

With the scorching temperatures of summer behind us, the botanical gardens in Bendigo were full of color. Hard believe it was eight months ago that we were taking pictures in this exact spot when Grandma and Grandpa Maki were visiting.

Same spot, September 2008



We also took an evening drive up to Ulupna Island last weekend in search of koalas. As usual, there were plenty cute little critters to be seen.

Zach got very good at spotting koalas and kangaroos and seemed to understand what they were (just like his stuffed animals of course!).

The sunset that night was classic Australian bush.

Something fishy

Zach loves aquariums. Maui's aquarium was no exception.



Since he is not old enough to snorkel yet, he had to settle for the fish and turtles in the tanks. Mom and Dad, on the otherhand, managed to swim right past an ENORMOUS green sea turtle while snorkeling on our last day in Maui.



Watch out Grandma and Grandpa! There's a shark with scary eyes behind you!! (We think they were excited to be at the aquarium but we just couldn't tell by this picture.)

We didn't tell them there were sharks in the water until after they took a swim. They look like naturals in the water. Not bad for their first dip in the ocean!!

Grandpa even gave snorkeling a try. He was surprised at how easy it is to float in salt water.

We think he spotted a shark which explains the head out of water.

It took all week, but Zach and Uncle Denley finally became friends while reading Zach's favorite book. No fish in that story, but a great end to a great week.

Whale of a tale

One of the things Grandma and Grandpa wanted to do was go whale watching. Zach couldn't wait to get going once we were on the boat so he had to pop his head in the window and let the Caption know it was time to go.



The intrepid whale watching crew.



Thar she blows!

For it being the end of whale season we still came across a large pod of eight or nine humpback whales.

They put on a great show for us. At the end of the day the whales gave us one final wave goodbye with their tales.



Zach thought the whole thing was great and left the trip with a whale sized smile.

Road to Hana

More Hawaiian adventures....



We liked the windy roads of the previous day's drive so much we decided to drive to Hana. As usual, Zach was the navigator.



Magnificent painted gum trees made us feel like we were back home in Shepparton, except the ground was damp from rain. The mozzies (Australian for mosquito) were biting!



We stopped at a black sand beach for a picnic lunch.



With Grandpa around we finally had one of those elusive family pics.

Zach and mom decided to get their feet wet.

Unfortunately we got caught in a passing rain shower and had to take cover in this lava tube for a few minutes. If you look carefully, you'll notice Grandpa's jeans are soaking wet. He was too busy snapping photos to notice the big wave crashing on the beach!

Aloha

Poor us, we had to go to Maui earlier this month so Anna could go to a medical conference. Grandma and Grandpa Maki joined us there for the week but arrived a day late due to snow. While waiting for the grandparents to arrive, we had breakfast at our favorite spot overlooking the ocean.



Zach is a big fan of the pineapple/banana/macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup just like his mom. Yum!



Post pancake smile.



18 months ago Zach and Mom had their picture taken at this very spot. Only Zach was a little squirmy baby inside is Mom's belly. How time flies!



We then took the long way to the airport. Half way through the drive we realized it might be the wrong way to the airport.



The sign does not exaggerate.

Eventually we made it to the airport and Zach greeted Grandma and Grandpa with a true Hawaiian aloha.



The Grandparents arrived just in time for Grandpa to enjoy his 70th birthday in style. No, that's not Zach in the picture. It's Flat Stanley. Apparently they are everywhere. This one belongs to our niece Alexis and he is currently enjoying the Australian country side.

To-may-to, To-mah-to

Zach helped Mom pick tomatoes.

Let me rephrase that: Zach helped eat the tomatoes Mom picked.

The next day he didn't even bother with Mom.

He knows tomatoes are best right off the vine!

Walk About

Zach decided to take a walk all over the house tonight. There is something about pushing objects with wheels that is very appealing to little boys his age.

He entertained himself (and his parents) for almost half an hour this way.