A Very Happy Easter

We had a wonderful Easter with the Dales... slept in, went on a little jog, then came home to find that the easter bunny had visited us all the way in Melbourne (I think Rosemary tipped off the easter bunny as to our whereabouts). We had a stack of yummies waiting for us in our rooms, including a chocolate Easter Bilby, a native Australian critter, similar to a bunny (the chocolate bilby actually tastes very similar to the chocolate bunny).

Rosemary's mom came over along with a few of Nick's friends and we had a delicious Easter lunch with quite a crowd (the Dale's are very welcoming of everyone). Afterwards, Geoff offered to take us on another ride in Melbourne! He took us along the Yarra river on a scenic bike path that led into the heart of the city. It was a beautiful ride and Mally and I enjoyed seeing more of Melbourne on our bikes. As we pedalled closer to the city center, the bike path angled right into the river so that we were pedalling with water on both sides - it was quite a fun route. When we got to town, we hopped on the city streets and one of the tram tracks grabbed onto my wheel and wouldn't let go (bad track). As I tried to break loose, I slowly got closer and closer to the pavement and went splat... Geoff was kind enough to warn me about the tram tracks after I got back to my feet - thanks Geoff!

We then pedalled our way back home down some quiet side streets and arrived back at the Dales just before dark. The Dales then took us back into the city (only not by bike this time) for a scrumptious dinner right on the river. As we were enjoying our delicious meals, the sky outside began to glow... the Dales told us to head outside and check it out... to our surprise, the river was lined with giant sculptures that emitted plumes of fire with a whoosh! The fire puffs became bigger and bigger until we could feel the heat from above and then they soon became quiet once again. When Mally and I returned to dinner we learned that this spectacular show was an hourly nighttime event - so an hour later we got an encore! After a ery yummy meal, we returned home and back to our comfy beds for one last night.

Yesterday, we headed off from Melbourne by train and west to Warrnambol for the start of our next cycling adventure - The Great Ocean Road. Although it was sad to leave the Dales, it was not our final goodbye as Geoff offered to take us back in and show us another ride when we came back through town on our way to Sydney (yay!).