My last day in Australia

So, it's about midnight on Saturday and I am in Brisbane.  It'd be nice to explore a little, but I am only here for the night and then I'll catch my plane back to the US in the morning.  I was so sad to say goodbye to everyone here, but it was REALLY great to see all the Stevensons and friends and I had a lot of fun.  Still, sad.

:(

See?

I spent this morning (technically, afternoon) with my aunt visiting the Queen Victoria Market and some other shops around Melbourne.  I didn't get any pictures because my hands were full, but it was a fun market.  A huge fruit and veggie section and then a whole separate souvenir-type section.  I got some good stuff :)  After a delicious lunch (artichokes with lemon butter!), I sadly packed up and headed out.  Overall, not a very exciting blog day.  I should have gotten fresh pics of everyone....

Other big news:  Today is Jack's birthday!  Happy Birthday, Jack!  Unfortunately, Jack has been in England and France for most of my trip here.  In honor of his birthday, I should put up the pics we took right before he left for his big cricket tour.  *Nevermind.  This hotel internet won't let me. I'll just have to do a separate post later.  Jack deserves his own post, anyway.

Yesterday was much more exciting.  Since it was my last full day in Melbourne, we snuck in one last fun outing and went to the Healesville Sanctuary, which is basically a zoo for native animals with an on-site animal hospital.  I was able to check off a bunch of other Australian animals and we saw a really cool presentation on the "Spirits of the Sky".  We got to see and hear about various Australian birds of prey and parrots.  I got some pics and video, but its not all great resolution.  Plus, the birds kept moving.  I think the best birds were probably....the Wedge-tailed Eagle, the Black-breasted Buzzard, and the Long-billed Corella, named Kevin.  The eagle was just HUGE and awesome.  The buzzard was like a dog in a bird's body.  He would run after the keeper and look up, begging for treats (or raw meat?  whatever he was eating...).  Plus, we got to see how he used a rock as a tool to break emu eggs.  And Kevin the talking cockatoo was just hilarious.  I'll stick some pics and vids up here ASAP.

This one speaks for itself.  But seriously: Use recycled toilet paper and save trees!

Turns out, pelicans are huge and scary

There was a whole squadron of pelicans.

This guy looked bored, but he was pretty cute.  By the way, did you know that all baby marsupials are known "joeys"?  Not just kangaroo babies, but koalas, possums, wombats, bilbies, etc.

A hungry koala!

And a wise koala

We spent the evening back at my aunt and uncle's, having a really nice dinner and watching more movies.  I can now add Strictly Ballroom to my list of Australian movie classics.  I also experienced Death At A Funeral, which I probably should have seen years ago.

Anyway, I should probably get to bed, since I have to get to the airport early tomorrow.  Not looking forward to the long flight, but it will be nice to see everyone back home.  PLUS -- I will have a new kitchen!  Maybe I will post some pics of that.  Either way, I'll have to keep blogging, because I still have lots of pictures and videos and stuff to share from this trip.

Good night!