newcastle.

since breakfasting in balina on pancakes while dolphin and whale watching, we left our little nook in lennox head. couchsurfed a night with the host of all hosts, ross, in coffs harbour. we cooked up a moroccan feast and enjoyed the company of his brother, sister-in-law, and two quebecians who were also surfing there before we continued south to newcastle. we are currently staying with melissa's aunt, [a newfoundlander] and her uncle and cousin.. they have been so fabulous.

went to a reptile park and saw wombats, platypi, a swamp full of alligators.. there were little shows put on by the staff to tell you about different reptiles and spiders, you could touch most things and get a really close look. they had a 5.5m crocodile which looked more like a dinosaur and was extremely intimidating, even behind the fence.. and an 8m long reticulated python, weighing 150 kilos, so about 340 pounds. [oh, and it's the only kind of snake known to eat humans(!)] kangaroos and wallabees hopped around freely or relaxed in the sun, you could pet them if you liked.. it was a pretty cool park, we quite enjoyed ourselves.

otherwise: more feasting, and great wine! it's sean's birthday today so we celebrated by going out this afternoon with maureen (auntie) and toured through a champagne house and three or four different vineyards.. ended up deciding on a bottle of 'dolce per tutti' for dessert in a glass! the wind had a chill with it, but the sun was shining. i can think of a few family members who would've had a great time with us today. tomorrow we're crashing mel's cousin david's 17th birthday party (he shares the date with my two sisters on the 23rd), and then stacy and i are off to sydney saturday morning.. it's that time already. having to say more goodbyes just hasn't quite sunk in yet.. one more day to cope/deny..