Melbourne.

With a send off by our local roo near the cottage on Cape Otway, we headed for Melbourne on the final stretch of the Great ocean Road.

We stopped at an area famous for Koala sightings  (it was rumored that they will pose for their picture) but had to settle for a flock of friendly parrots instead.

We made a short stop to check out the surfing mecca of Bell's beach and then continued on by ferry to the Mornington peninsula. 

We loved Melbourne.

It is about as cosmopolitan as a city can be. Sixty percent of Melbourn-ians are either immigrants or 1st generation of immigrants. And it shows in the residents' open and friendly attitudes as well as the many ethnic restaurants across the city.

Today was Australian Day (like our 4th of July) commemorating the day the first colonists arrived in Australia.  The Australia Day parade had the usual military bands, and the boy scouts.  But much more.  Melbourne has multiple ethnically oriented social groups (they do charitable work and keep ethnic traditions alive).  And they all marched.  When is the last time you saw a Korean group, a Sikh group, a Muslim group, or a Persian group in one of our parades in the US?  What a refreshing change from the incessant talk about immigration bans and "the wall".

The Australian Open is underway and has been another theme across the city.

And of course we did our usual "walk-abouts" as we enjoyed the city and its museums.