Final day in Melbourne

We flew out the evening of Dec. 31st back home to Sydney. We had most of the day to hang out in Melbourne, so we decided to go check out the Melbourne Museum. It was so much fun and highly recommended! They had an Aboriginal section where we learned more about that culture, and they even had a craft for the kids to make their own masks! They also had a "rainforest" you could walk through from below the ground up and learn all about the layers of the earth, insects, bush fires, etc. in Australia. There was a children's section with LOTS to do and all of the other parts a museum usually includes: dinosaurs, animals, ocean life, culture from when Australia was founded up through today, science, history, and so many other things. I found it very fascinating to learn about what life was like in the "1950's" for example. It's always in American terms, so it was fun to see it from the Australian perspective. Anyway, we had a great day before heading off to the airport. Our original plan was to stay and watch the amazing fireworks display after we landed in Sydney by the Opera House, but it was just WAY too late and we had all had a very long, fun filled week! We had also heard that after the fireworks were over (midnight), it could take hours to get home from the city with all the traffic. We couldn't imagine getting home at 3 AM after the trip we had just had, so we decided that's what we would do next year! We have two more to look forward to! Welcome in the new year - 2012!!Being a shark and a mermaid in the children's section
Lance made a kangaroo puzzle
Australian coat of arms

Showing off the masks they painted