One of the things we have really been looking forward to doing is a trip on a whale watching boat. We are so lucky to live in a bay where the whales pass by on their migration and we have seen them from the beach in nearby Anna Bay, but we wanted to get up close. The whales migrate from May to November each year, travelling to the Barrier Reef to calve and then back south again. At the moment they are on the northern part of their migration, the peak of which is the end of May to mid July and the whale watching trip operators are so confident whales will be spotted during this period, they offer a second trip free if yours is unsuccessful. The peak time for the return journey south is October so we will see if Zoe and Shaun can visit during that month to catch it. The whales do not eat during the migration period so follow currents to use less energy on the trip but, on the return journey they have their calves with them who are lively and curious, so jump out of the water (breach) more and get closer to the boats. 
The picture of the double breach was not taken by us, all we got were fins, backs, blank sky and handrail pictures as the boat lurched about, although Ian got a fairly good dolphin shot, but it was taken from our boat a few days before our trip.
We chose to go on the Imagine Cruises catamaran as this would get us closer to the water unlike some of the bigger boats on offer, and we were pleased with our choice. The weather has been a bit wet lately so we waited until we knew it was going to be a clear calm day and booked at the last minute. 
Morning saw us heading into Nelson Bay, which is about 10 minutes by boat and 30 minutes by road from us but much closer to the mouth of the bay than our little town, so all the cruises go from there, and we grabbed a quick breakfast before getting on board. Captain Crusty gave his safety talk and offered round the seasickness tablets, neither of us suffer but we did start to wonder about the wisdom of having the breakfast, and off we set out of the bay.
The conditions were ideal and it was good to look back at our bay from the sea to get the whereabouts of the towns into perspective, we learned some interesting facts too like Port Stephens is bigger than Sydney Harbour but has never attracted the development of large cities because the bay is too shallow for big ships. 
The catamaran headed out to sea for about 30 minutes before we were told to start scanning the horizon for whales. Because the whales follow the currents it is fairly straightforward for the boat to find them and the whale watching boats (there are 3 companies with a boat out each at the same time) all keep in touch by radio to let each other know of sightings. We saw plenty of breaching on the horizon but none really close, apparently whales sometimes breach because they have an itch and it dislodges a few barnacles, but then we spotted some Humpbacks up close and followed them along for some time. They are magnificent and it is hard to appreciate just how huge they are until they are seen up close, the boats have to keep a certain distance away from them but the whales don't know this so sometimes come closer.
We were joined by some Common Dolphins who bobbed alongside for a bit then Captain Crusty received a radio message from another boat saying they had spotted a pod of False Killer Whales, this was apparently very unusual so, without further ado, we were off. No time to retake seats or even get into a reasonably safe high speed position, I had been doing my best Admiral Nelson pose up front hoping to get some good photos and had to stay there, hanging on for dear life as we shot across the ocean at top speed (it probably wasn't top speed but it felt like it). The False Killer Whales were quicker than us though and had gone by the time we got there so we sauntered back, visiting some Bottlenose Dolphins on the way, many of these live inside the bay and are the same as the ones we see passing the beach at the end of our road.
All in all, a wonderful day out which I am sure we will repeat every time we have visitors but, back to reality today. It is raining and we have to get rid of a huge pile of branches we removed from our, very overgrown, trees. The free green waste drop off is only open once a month so it has to be today, I am sure you feel really sorry for us!

We were very excited to do our first stint as volunteers at the Tilligerry Habitat the other day. The Habitat is a wonderful place, it started out as an area that had been sandmined and has gradually been re planted with native plants and is now a beautiful habitat for wildlife. The visitor centre was built of straw bales and the woodland has paths and boardwalks so visitors can enjoy it without damaging any of the flora and fauna. There is also a nursery where plants are propagated for the habitat but also sold to the public. All this work and the running of the place is carried out entirely by volunteers so, now we have a bit more time, we put our names down - there are far worse things than spending a day at this gorgeous place every so often.
We managed to open up and set up without any trouble and looked forward to a day of showing koalas to visitors. We had a look round and couldn't see any but, when one of the people who run the place turned up to check we were OK, we were confident he would spot a couple we could show off. He went for a walk round and returned saying there were no koalas that day but plenty of whelks on the beach. That was a bit of a let down, I'm sure tourists don't travel to this place to see whelks!
There were plenty of birds, however, including black cockatoos and I saw an echidna - my first monotreme!
We didn't have many human visitors but that was no bad thing as the Habitat is a tourist information centre and we will be a bit better informed once we have worked there a few more times and it gets much busier in the summer.

Last Monday morning we set off at 6am for Melbourne with our trailer and the back of the car full of Zoe's furniture and possessions from England. It is about an 11 hour drive but with comfort breaks it ends up as just over 12. We wouldn't usually do it in one go and prefer to take the caravan and make a trip of it stopping overnight at various places on the way, but this time we had all the goodies on board so went for it. We drive a couple of hours each then swap so can pretty much keep going but it is a long day so we popped the tent in the back to enable us to stop on the way back. The city was all lit up as we drove in and looked fantastic.
It was our first visit to Zoe and Shaun's home and it was lovely. They live in Elsternwick, a very smart suburb just 8km from the city centre. The tram stops at the corner of their road and goes straight into the heart of the city, but they are also only a 20 minute walk from the nearest beach.
Zoe had booked for us to go to the World War 1 centenary exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, it is the one from the Imperial War Museum in London and was excellent.
 Melbourne is described as a very livable city and it is quite true, we hopped on the tram and were in the city in no time where it was very easy to find our way around. It is also a very beautiful place with a marvellous mix of old and new buildings which should not look good together but they do. 
Over the next couple of days Zoe impressed us with how well she has familiarised herself with the area in a relatively short period of time. She took us to visit Brighton, which is the suburb next to Elsternwick and has wonderful beach huts. She took us to  look at the beachside towns along the coast and then back into the city to the Queen Victoria Markets and Melbourne Gaol where Ned Kelly was hanged. The visit to the gaol was in three parts, a tour of the police cells, a look around the gaol and a re-enactment of the trial of Ned Kelly in the court house. While we were in the queue for the court, a guide came along asking for volunteers to take part in the re-enactment, Ian put his hand up along with nine other people and they were taken off inside. They were gone for some time before we were allowed in and when we entered the court, look who was the Crown Prosecutor!

We had a wonderful visit and left at 10.30 Friday morning agreeing that Melbourne was a very nice place indeed. We had had planned to stop off in Canberra on the way back and had the tent with us but it was pretty cold and Canberra really does get nippy this time of year, so we kept going again on the way back and pulled into Lemon Tree Passage at about 11pm.