Melbourne Zoo

Ah... visas. The US consulate wasn't so hot on our application without a certain document... so we were stranded in Australia while waiting for a friend to raid our house to locate said document, send it to our attorney to send to the consulate to process the application and send it to us in their sweet time. There's nothing like a visa complication to get you in the mood for some distracting fun while stranded outside the country you need to get to! Melbourne is an excellent place to be stranded - lots of fun things to do and lots of fantastic family and friends around! We were there two weeks longer than anticipated - frustrating and wonderful all at once. To cut a long story short, we went to the Melbourne Zoo with our sister-in-law, Gin, and niece, Amelda. It was time for Max to meet some Aussie animals... and a few exotic ones, too. We saw kanagroos, koala and echidna as well as giraffes, zebra and merekats, to name a few.

Perhaps Max's favourite attraction was the butterfly santuary. They fluttered around us beautifully and Gin even managed to have one settle on her finger.

Max and Mellie with the elephants (real and fake) and their new stuffed toys.

Gin, Mellie and Brooke visit an orangutan family.

Gin and Mellie chill out after a fantastic day at the zoo!