[209/365] Happy Birthday Cupcakes Display, The Cupcake Bakery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Cute cupcakes display at a bakery in Melbourne! It's September, and there always seems to be a ton of friend's birthdays in the coming months. Birthday time, let's begin!

[195/365] Light Drawings, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Light drawing of hearts in Melbourne! These lights are from the buildings across the water (see previous photo to get an idea of where the lights came from).

[194/365] Waterfront City, Melbourne Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

We took the last trolley going around the city centre, which took a slightly different route than I expected. We ended up getting off here and walking around. It was really cold, but there were great views of the city over the water.

[193/365] "Maxims of Behaviour", Royal Mail House, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A kinetic light show by Alexander Knox, "Maxims of Behaviour" is on the canvas of the building called the Royal Mail House. Throughout winter months, the show goes on with constantly changing patterns in vibrant colors to mimic the heart and life of the city of Melbourne. We passed this as we were walking down the street towards a large intersection, and I waited until I could get a snapshot with several different colors.

[192/365] Melbourne Ad, Melbourne Airport, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

We flew out of Auckland in the evening and arrived in Melbourne in the evening, benefiting from a 2 hour time difference. I was a fan of the graphics of the city ads displayed on billboards in the airports. This one is of the free trolley that goes around the city centre of Melbourne. My name was everywhere here too since Melbourne is in the state of Victoria.

[185/365] Palm Cove Beach, Queensland, Australia

What a fitting last day in Cairns! We were headed next to Auckland, New Zealand where the forecast was cold and rainy, so we had to make a trip to the beach for the day! Perfect weather to lie out, tan, read, nap and enjoy the surrounding views of islands, palm trees and waves. The town of Palm Cove was about a 40 minute bus ride north of Cairns.

[184/365] Koala & Baby, Koala & Wildlife Park, Rainforestation Nature Park, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia

Finally got to see a koala up close (and even carry one)! If you look carefully, this koala is carrying a baby koala! You can see the arm and the little nose. Soooo cute. Cute animal overload haha. They're such relaxed little animals. After we saw all the koalas here, we paid to get a picture holding a koala. The person that worked there just grabbed their arms up and put it around my shoulder. It smelled of eucalyptus leaves appropriately enough.

[183/365] Kangaroo Feeding, Koala & Wildlife Park, Rainforestation Nature Park, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia

The kangaroos and wallabies are so cute! Before we stepped into the Koala & Wildlife Park, we bought some "Roo food" before actually seeing them. Just as we stepped inside, we realized that they were all over the place, just lying around and jumping around the grassy area. No fences or anything! They are so friendly. This one in particular was eating from Julie's hand, and even put one hand up on her hand. How adorable!

This park was located in the town of Kuranda, a 45 minute public van ride from Cairns.

[181/365] Turtles, Great Barrier Reef, Green Island, Queensland, Australia

We were already walking towards the ferry to leave Green Island when we spotted these big turtles in the waters just below us. There's 2 of them - one was swimming over the other one. I was so excited!! Yes, I know this isn't the greatest picture but they were swimming up and down in the water, in and out of visibility. Sad, I could have been snorkeling in that area too if we had gone on the other side of the walkway - and potentially swimming WITH the turtles. One day I'll make it happen somewhere in the world...

[180/365] Cairns Lagoon, Cairns, Queensland, Australia

We left Sydney in the evening and took a few hour flight to far north Australia, to the city of Cairns in the state of Queensland. What a weather change! Nice cool weather at night and warm temperatures during the day. Back to shorts and tank tops!We came here as a jumping point to explore the Great Barrier Reef. This photo is of the lagoon (large public swimming pool) that was just a few blocks away from our hotel. During the day and into the evening you can actually go here and swim! From one end to the other, the water gradually gets deeper. So pretty at night!

[179/365] Pocket Watch Necklace, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

This was my new purchase at Paddy's Market and it was so useful throughout the trip. Time was crucial to our travels and I always had this handy around my neck. In the background is a ferris wheel we saw as we walked to Darling Harbour. Last few hours in Sydney! Next stop: Cairns, Australia!

[178/365] Bondi Beach, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Our short trip to the beach makes me want to come back during an Australian summer. It was chilly because it was later in the day, but I still made sure I walked out on the sand and close to the water. Beautiful beach - next time I want to be in that water!

[177/365] Swimming Penguin, Taronga Zoo, Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, ustralia

Cute penguin swimming around in the water at the Taronga Zoo, just a short ferry ride from the Harbour. :)

[176/365] View from Atop the Sydney Tower, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

From atop the Sydney Tower in the downtown area, there are views of all the high rises, as well as the Harbour Bridge in the distance. I love looking at city skylines by night!

[175/365] Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

After leaving Espiritu Santo, I had a stopover in Vanuatu's capital city of Port Vila where I spent a couple of hours. After departing there, I headed back to Sydney. On our first full day in Sydney, we explored the areas around the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. We made our way to the Rocks area of the harbour where we got great views of both the bridge and Opera House. The Opera House was smaller than I imagined it to be.

[168/365] Rainbow over Sydney Airport, Sydney, Australia

Hello friends! I am finally back! I think this has been the longest period of blog inactivity because internet was minimal and I was always in a rush when I did have it. I am going to try to do make-up blogs in chronological order.

I have returned back to the states after a couple weeks of traveling to the countries of Vanuatu, Australia and New Zealand. I think I took about 9 flights - I was all over the place. To start off my trip, I flew into Sydney, Australia to catch my flight to Vanuatu. When I arrived at the Sydney Airport, I was greeted with a rainbow!