Guess where I have been ...

The Indian Ocean. Cottesloe Beach, Perth. This is where we went for my brother-in-law's wedding. 

Freemantle. She looks pretty good in a bikini and I love her bathing cap!

Perth City. We stayed south of Perth City so visited on the train, and while we were there we went to the Perth Mint, where I saw a one tonne gold coin, and watched a gold bar being made. I want to make my fortune hunting for gold even more now. 

 Wild kangaroo at Mandurra - south of Perth. She had a joey in her pouch. I also saw lots of wee lizards and even a shark in the surf on the beach down from the lookout. Two of us saw it- so we were able to insist that we were not imagining the dorsal fin appearing.

 I stayed on the path even though it was Autumn in Perth. It was very warm.

 And where is this? Melbourne- the view from our hotel down to the Yarra River.

 Sharks and rays at the aquarium. Amazing.

 Melbourne at night- the beautiful lights.

 The butterfly house at the Melbourne Zoo. Fascinating.

 The best bit of the Melbourne Museum- the spider display. These are shed exoskeletons from the spider residents of the museum, which have been mounted in this incredible arrangement between sheets of glass. They are huge. The actual spiders are even better.

I

 Prowling around the shops in Melbourne. I have a pair of shoes in that bag.

 Self-portrait in our hotel room. We stayed at the Crown Promenade, which was beautiful and a real treat. No wonder we look so happy. We ate like gluttons, walked miles and miles, jumped on and off trams and held hands a lot.

And we are so happy to be home, our little family reunited. Mousie was so overjoyed to be picked up yesterday he has hardly left my side. He even burrowed under the covers overnight, which he has never done before. The news about Miss Dog is not so good. She was taken ill while we were away and needed to be hospitalised and put on fluids for two days. An ultrasound yesterday showed she may have two masses in her liver. We can't get a definitive diagnosis without invasive tests like a liver needle biopsy, and as we would not aggressively treat cancer anyway, we are not keen to poke her with needles any more than we need to. She is going to need more blood tests as time goes by, and that seems bad enough. We are making the most of each moment with her, and spoiling her with whatever she will eat. It isn't like a Labrador to be off her food, so we know she is unwell. She is waggy and happy with cuddles but very gentle and quiet- not her usual exuberant self. 

More about the holiday next time.