From Aussie to Tassie

Our trip concluded with a short three days with Jeff and Sam in Tasmania -- an hour flight south of Melbourne.  In this laid back area of Australia we rented a car and drove around the island -- including visiting beautiful Launceston Gorge and Wineglass Bay (three pictures on the right side). One of the famous stops in Tasmania is the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). Lots of really unique pieces.  One of Mel's favorite was the "Fat Car" which was a sort of artistic statement about modern materialism. Or maybe it was just a car with bulges (left).  Other MONA highlights for us included a robotic digestive system (second from left) and the "White Library".

One of the highlights for us was attending an evening feeding at Bonorong wildlife sanctuary where we were greeted by many friendly (and hungry) kangaroos, fed raw meat to a Tasmanian Devil (they look nothing like the cartoons), hold a baby wombat named Max, and observe other unique Australian animals!

We were super-grateful for our hosts/travel companions Jeff and Sam and for the chance to visit this amazing part of the world.  

(From Mel):  An extra special aspect to our trip was that Sam and I are both expecting additions to the family in May!  Traveling with a fellow preggers was super helpful as we had to eat every 3 hours and definitely had to take an easier pace than our previous vacation together hiking in Peru. 

Belated post on the first part of our trip to Hong Kong/Macau coming soon.