Of course, we saw lots of kangaroo...

as well as a young wombat.

And we were fortunate to pass a dingo on his daily walk of the grounds.

We came across the cutest koala, fast asleep between the branches of a manna gum. Other koalas were awake and scratching or stretching in the surrounding trees. Incidentally, a guide informed us that koala do not get stoned off of the eucaluptus leaves; they are immune to the toxins. Bummer.

Seeking refuge and food within the sanctuary were many types of birdlife. Here is the bird Australia is most famous for: the laughing kookaburra! We have seen him many times in the wild as well. Last but certainly not least, we drove through the Yarra Ranges. Pictured here is Maroondah Highway, a major highway in Victoria. It's rather narrow, but it cuts right through rainforest greenery and magnificent manna trees.

We spent the night at a cozy bed and breakfast in Healesville, and hiked the Toolangi forest the following day. Along our hike, we saw this echidna, which crawled under a dead tree just off the path as we passed. We wouldn't have known what it was had we not seen its siblings at Healesville Sanctuary the day before.

After driving on the absolutely gorgeous Great Ocean Road (sorry, it was evening, and unfortunately we did not get any good video footage), we finally found the obscure camping area known as Johanna Beach. Unsure how to go about camping here (there was no-one to collect any money, and no well delineated camping sites), we pitched our tent within a sand-dune and slept to the surprisingly very loud roar of the ocean. Here is the view to which we awoke.

We then drove to Maits Rainforest walk--an easy but BEAUTIFUL walk through official rainforest scenery. Here is the last view before re-entering the parking lot.

Then we stopped at a not-so-impressive wildlife park, mainly because they had a public barbeque area where we could grill our lunch (needless to say, Johanna Beach had not afforded us that luxury). While there, we were able to get intimate with a few wallabies (although we still aren't sure that we were allowed to enter the fence where they lived).

The zoom on our video camera allowed for this awesome picture of a developing joey in its mother's pouch.

This joey is a bit more mature, just a little worried about entering "the real world." We all know the feeling...

And here is a grown wallaby. After about 30 minutes of patient flirting, Mike was able to get this guy to eat from his hand.

The host at the wildlife park informed us that we were just 10 kilometers away from the Twelve Apostles (geological rock formations along the southernmost coast of Australia). It being a gorgeous, sunny day, we decided to drive a little further. He assured us that we would not ruin our Christmas trip to this spot, since there are many shades to the Apostles and they change with each passing cloud.

Next, we searched for the Aire River campsite (which we had unknowingly driven past the night before). We stopped at a gas station for directions, and were surprised at how far off the "beaten path" it was. Along the dirt road which led to Aire River, we confronted a bull that had escaped its boundaries before letting ourselves through the gate of a cow pasture and setting up camp along the Aire River. Incidentally this dirt road/ cow pasture was an official Victoria road. Again we did not see any officials to collect our money. We have now realized that you can camp anywhere in Australia (usually for free) as long as there are no "No Camping" signs.

On the way back to Melbourne, we stopped at a reservoir for lunch. Here we saw giant cockatiels flying free in the surrounding trees. We'd only seen these birds in cages in the states. Even in the wild, they are truly friendly and communicative birds.