Safe in Oz

Well, we made it to Melbourne, Australia, right at the beginning of the Easter holidays hoping that we'd be able to get into a campervan quick and easy as we had in New Zealand. We had semi-spaced that Easter was coming (we have been in places were Islam, Hindu, and Buddhism are the major religions) and were surprised to hear that a lot of bookings had already been made and that we couldn't find one available for the weekend. But, we had made contact with a very gracious Couchsurfing host who proved to be our savior over the next few days. We caught the bus out of Melbourne to his country home in Leongatha where we stayed for a few days and we happily ensconced in the bush, surrounded by kangaroos, wallabies and kookaburras. We headed back to Melbourne city, planning on picking up a van, when we ran into some silly paperwork problems and had to call on our same host at his city home in Melbourne to take us in. We enjoyed seeing all the sights around the city: the Zoo, the Docklands, and the various districts. It is a very beautiful city. We also met some new friends who were very welcoming in the classic Aussie way.
After a few days in the city, helping our host get his city house ready for renters, we got our campervan all sorted and blasted off South down the coast to Bell's Beach and Torquay, the center of South Australian surfing. Their was some kind of pro surfing competition going on, so there was definitely some electricity and excitement about it. Down here, these kinds of sporting events are big news. Back in the states, you never hear about who won some surf or skate competition, but here, its on the national news. It was especially exciting this year, because a local got first place in the Men's. We got to see a bit of the big league surfers doing their thing on some very large waves in the cold, wine-dark South Sea, not too far from Antarctica again. Very inspiring. So, inspiring in fact, that we picked up some cheap wetsuits and hired some boards and got out there on our own. The water is very clear and beautiful, but sooo cold. It had us wondering why we ever left Bali to go surfing here, and now we also know why there were so many Aussies in Bali! Haha.
So next is some more coast time as we head West on the Great Ocean Road, and then we'll head for the hills and see what the Grampians have for rocks that we can climb on.
We got tickets to head to Maui in early May, so be on the lookout: we're heading back across the Pacific before too long!! But this place is amazing, we definitely hope to return someday, maybe when its a little warmer...
Love from Down Under!