We are in sunny (and hot) Melbourne right now and Australia is Awesome! Definitely what we needed after our crazy couple of weeks in India and Nepal.
have to wait for now. Trust us - we aren't that eager to reminisce about it yet, anyway!! So here goes:
After India, we went north to Nepal. First, we spent a night in Lumbini, the birtplace of Buddha (Siddhartha). We visited the temple of Maya Devi, named after his mother, located on the site where he was born, but didn't do much else because we had to get on the road. From there, we spent two nights at an eco-retreat in Royal Chitwan National park where we saw wild rhinos, rode elephants, and went on an early morning canoe ride down the river. It was very beautiful and peaceful.
Then we went to Pokhara, where our current memory card begins! (And thus so will the posted photos!) Pokhara is the base fro which most trekkers leave to explore the Annapurna Range in the Himalayas. The backdrop was stunning, and it really reminded us of home. The atmosphere of the town was very backpacker-friendly - lots of shops, cafes, etc - not as much pestering and nagging from the locals!! We hiked up to the world Peace Pagoda there, and took a boat ride back (in which we had to pay for two boats for seven people, but only got one boatman, so Rob had to paddle the other boat)!!
We finished our tour in Kathmandu, which was much more full-on than the rest of Nepal (but not as much so as India was). We went to Durbar Square, and took a small plane and flew past Everest. It was very cool!
That afternoon, we flew out of Kathmandu and arrived in Bangkok, where we spent one blissful night in a very (unexpectedly) posh hotel next to the airport. Then on November 25, we flew in to Perth, Western Australia. Here is a view of the beautiful Scarborough beach - in the city of Perth!
We picked up our sweet campervan and have been on the road ever since. We have driven over 5,500kms so far (in just 17 days), and now that we are on the east coast, we can take it a bit easier as we don't have too far to go in the next 3 weeks. 
From Perth, we went north to the Pinnacles Desert to see some cool rock formations in the desert.
On our way back to Perth, we stopped at a Koala conservation area and saw some stoned bears snoozing in the eucalyptus trees.
We visited some giant tingle trees south of Perth, and did a "Tree Top Walk with the Giants". The platforms were swaying like crazy in the wind, but provided a great perspective of the size of the trees.
Then we drove across the Nullarbor Plain - our first foray into the outback!! The drive was long, and we slept in the roadside pullouts, but it was very interesting scenery. Lots of kangaroo roadkill - I guess they don't remove it here! Here is an outback sunset from one of our roadside campsites (as well as an idea what we paid for gas on the Nullarbor):
After we reached the east side of the continent, we drove up to the Flinders Ranges. We took a hike up one of the ridges - it was sweltering!
From there, we headed south through Adelaide. Rob surfed alot, and Amanda got a tan (and some new running shoes, so she can get some exercise, too!).
We drove up the Great Ocean Road, where the angry Southern Ocean has created some funky rock formations along the coast.
Now we are in Melbourne (like we said), and we are heading further north towards Sydney this afternoon. Hope you enjoyed the post and barrage of photos!
Miss ya!
R&A
