André Rieu Fans Traveling Down Under

Ineke and Ruud Traveling in Australia

G'day mates, how are ya?
We are still traveling around in our campervan, somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne. We are having a great time in the Land of Oz. We spent a few wonderful days at Vilma's and Tony's place in Sydney. They showed us Sydney and surroundings. We climbed the famous Harbor Bridge. We met Thomas (one of the tenors) near the Opera House. We attended Margaret's fan picnic in the Royal Botanical Gardens, where we met a lot of new fan friends. We attended two wonderful rainy concerts in the ANZ stadium, with an additional lightshow outside. We ate fish and chips on Manly Beach. I ordered dead horse on my chips (George, thank you for your Australian slang dictionary). We spotted dolphins at Palm Beach and we were on Botany Bay, too-rall, li-oo-rall, li-ad-di-ty.
Vilma and Tony, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your hospitality and friendship! Aussies, I'll tell you a secret! I like vegemite! Vilma gave me a small jar to take home. We also want to thank count Steve for a most enjoyable afternoon at Featherdales Wildlife Park. We cuddled wallabies, koalas and a wombat. Not the Tasmanian devil, he looked too devilish and we did not want to miss a few fingers. We tried Steve's Hungarian Palinka, which is not bad at all!
Next we went into the Blue Mountains. We did the scenic railway, cableway and flyway and we were knackered from the Furber Steps and a lot of bushwalking to see three ugly sisters.
After that it was a few days on Philip Island with the penguin parade, At dusk, about 1500 penguins return home to their burrows. They emerge from the waves and walk accross the beach. We did the "Ultimate" tour. This means away from the crowds and with no people, just a ranger to a 'private' beach. Sitting amoung the 12" high creatures (the smallest penguin spieces on the planet)
Then the next few days will be Puffing Billy and the Great Ocean Road and then we'll arrive at your place, Jann! Will we have kangaroo on the Barbie? How is my friend under your bed? ~ Hoo roo! Ruud and Ineke