Melbourne Mania

Aaaaand, we're back. Photos retrieved and accessible. Catch up time...

Green, green Australia

While my sister and her family were in town (4 months ago!) we decided to fly off to Melbourne for the weekend sans kids. This never happens, not even for Darren and myself, so it felt extravagant to be traveling with Steve and Mer as well. We cashed in on some favors and thanks to three incredible neighbor/friends who bravely agreed to take all our kids (8 of 'em) we had the most delightful weekend together.

A short trip, but impressively productive (it's astounding how much mileage you can cover without those cute kids hanging onto ya!) We finagled some tix to one of the biggest footy games of the year, enjoyed amazing asian food, sampled from the best chocolatier I've ever visited, hit some museums and took in the awesomely ecclectic architecture, art, and design that Melbourne is famous for.

I reeeeeeally like that city.

 Graffiti Alley was crazy cool. The artists wear gas masks due to the constant stream of everychanging art on every wall.

 Queen Victoria Markets: block upon block of endless boutiques, stalls and market goods. Mind-blowing. A shopper's paradise. (Or, my personal hell.) But it was all so pretty.

 Elder and Sister Maxwell's son, Cory & his wife Karen had arrived two days previous as the new Mission Presidents in Melbourne. If they hadn't been settling in, we would've tried to meet up with our former neighbors. Next time!

(But the offer still stands to all you Maxwell kids for a place to stay if your visit extends to Canberra before May of 2014!)

 We even snuck in a day's drive on the famous Great Ocean Road. A-mazing scenery. With rainbows to boot. But the highlight of the trip for me was finally checking off the #1 on my Australian Bucket List - finding koalas in the wild.

There really aren't many places in Australia that you can just come across wild koalas, but with a little research, we found a spot. We stopped counting at around 30, but as the others will tell you, I was beside myself excited. They were so incredibly cute and active and endearing and awesome. I can't tell you how cool it was to keep spotting so many right above our heads.

To spend such quality time with family after so long being a part was priceless. I cherished the indulgences of uninterrupted adult conversation, constant new explorations, eating out almost every meal... 'Twas a special trip to be remembered. Thanks for making it happen, guys!

 Can you believe these floors and tea rooms!? Some serious shopping experiences to be had here.

I found this $10 note unclaimed at Haigh's and the owner let me use it for my chocolate splurge :)