Happy New Year and on to part two..

Since last write, we've had a lot of time and not a lot of stops. We spent a few days in the Hunter Valley wine region, and had fun biking between wineries for tours and tastings. Only trouble was that neither of us was used to uphills on bicycles, and the generous servings of wine didn't make it any easier.
Spent 8 nights in Sydney, shared between Jodi's cousin in central Sydney on the harbour, and her parent's friends' beachhouse just north of Manly Beach. Days were spent wandering around in the sun, buying last minute Christmas presents, snorkelling with schools of squid, eating delicious kebabs, getting some serious haircuts, and exiting beach waters at the announcement of a shark sighting.
With a few days to spare, we headed down to Canberra, the nation's capital. Most memorable was the showcase at the art gallery of French Impressionists work on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in France. Saw Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, and many other works by amazing artists. They certainly look more incredible in person. Also toured the city, parliament house, national museum, and the war memorial.
Finally back down to Merimbula to spend Christmas with Jodi's family. It was very relaxing to sit and talk with relatives, eat more than our share of delicious food, take the kids to the wildlife park, and not be constantly re-setting up the tent. Did more snorkelling, played cricket, lots of swimming - even on cloudy Christmas Day - and some hiking. It was certainly a change from the past months on the road.
We're now on our way down to Melbourne to take a holiday from our vacation, and go to New Zealand for three weeks. Have finally worked out plan for rest of our trip. Will go across Victoria via Great Ocean Road, then out to Perth. From there, we fly to Thailand for ten days, then back across the miles of nothingness, and down to Tasmania for two weeks. That should put us at the beginning of April, and we'll have to face the reality of eventually going home.