A Family Affair

Hey everyone,

Sorry I've been totes slacking on this blog thing. The past week has flown by and there has been little time to sit down and write.

Right now I'm in a small town called Frankston South, which is about an hours drive south of Melbourne. The best part about being here has been meeting new family! My dad's cousin has lived here for the past 20-odd years and it has been fantastic meeting her and her family. Melbourne is an awesome city that suits me better than Sydney. There were many similarities to Wellington, minus the hills of course. A plethora of cafes and bars dot the city and I was lucky enough to visit a few with my new found cousins.

Since Canberra, we have driven down to Melbourne through the Great Dividing Range and along the coast of the Southern Ocean. Our first stop was Jindabyne which is a ski town. However, when its warm and sunny out it's hard to believe that snow ever falls here. But the signs for ski shops and snow chains assured us that it was indeed a ski resort town. Our main reason for stopping here was to climb Mt. Kosciusko which is the tallest mountain in Australia. At 7310 feet, its the tallest mountain that I have climbed. The hike itself was pretty easy, but started out with

a cloud surrounding us, cold weather and 30 mph winds.

Uncle Bobby and I were a little hesitant but we knew that the hike was #1 on Dad's list for the trip so we stuck through it. Luckily for us, just as we arrived at the summit, the sun broke through the clouds and we were able to see everything.

In the end, the tramp was pretty awesome and it's pretty cool to be able to say that I climbed the tallest peak in Australia. (These two pictures are of the same stream. One was taken when we were climbing up the mountain and the other on the way down. The difference is awesome).

After that it was two days of small towns and the coastline. The small towns absolutely reminded me of New Zealand. I love the small town vibe over here and it was great to be able to stop in some more, just to meet the locals, get a coffee and see what strange thing each one is proud of. The coast is also really pretty. Australia may have some of the most desolate landscape that I've seen on this trip, but they also have some of the most beautiful beaches.

And now I'm in Melbourne. The last two days have been great here and I'll be sad to leave my newly found cousins (and Australia) in the AM. But now its on to Fiji and then the USA. These past few weeks, and past few months have flown by and I have a new respect for time. It never stands still, so take full advantage of every minute.

More from the South Pacific soon,

Liam