Eric's Birthday

Eric had a great birthday.  We celebrated as a family on his birthday, which happens to be a holiday in New Zealand; The Queen's Birthday.  He then invited friends to come for a party on Saturday.  They were a rambunctious bunch of boys, but they sure had fun.

Australia: Sunday

 Our flight back to New Zealand did not depart until 10:30pm so we had an entire day, but not a place to stay.  Thank-goodness it was beautiful weather.  We started with being welcomed at church.  The gospel is true everywhere and saints are trying to follow Christs example.  We then visited the Meborne Botanical Gardens.  They were beautiful and large.  We got a little lost getting out but finally did.  We then walked along the river and played a short game of Duck Duck Goose in the park.  It was an enjoyable day!

 The city while we walked along the river.

Australia: Philip's Island

 We had a great time on Phillips Island.  We visited the very tip of the island where we learned about Penguins, saw beautiful scenery, and visited Antarctic Journey.  Above are pictures from our walks around the island.  Below is some from the museum.

 

Finally, we participated in a behind the scenes tour as part of the Parade of Penguins.  The littlest penguin in the world comes ashore every evening just after the sun sets and sleeps in their burrows on the island.  They were cute little animals, and we enjoyed learning about them, waiting to see them, getting rained on, and seeing them waddle across the sand in groups to safety.

Australia: Koala Conservation Centre

 It was fun to see the Koala's up close at the conservation centre.  They had walkways that were up in the trees so that we could see them better.  The first walkway the Koalas were still pretty high up, but one started coming down and eating which was a treat because they sleep the majority of the day.  The second walkway had a lot of sleeping Koalas at eye level.  They are cute animals.  

Australia: Bronte Cottage

 We stayed for the last 4 days at the Bronte Cottage.  A nice little home right on the beach and it fit our family wonderfully.  I did not get too many pictures at the beach because I only brought the camera one time, oops.  But we did have fun, playing in the sand and swimming in the shallow waters.  We also had fun climbing trees around the home.