16/10/05 - ...and the bikes go round and round.....very noisely!
Monday, October 17, 2005
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Tasmania (sian)
Our time in Tasmania seemed to fly by far too quickly. What a wonderful place it is! Our first day on the island was a little bizarre, partly because both Steve and I still felt like we were on the ferry. The ferry from Sydney was fun but rough and far too long... The boat hit a storm at about midnight, I felt like I was going to fall out of my bunk bed!
After the land drive through the wonderful rolling countryside we settled in our cozy cabin near Hobart.
On our first complete day we explored Hobart taking in batter point and some rather funky shops. Hobart is a lovely city with a beautiful mountain back drop. It feels more like a town and the people are really friendly.
You can also never underestimate the size of Tasmania, it may look like a little Island but it is about the same size as England! We realised this when we decided to drive (Steve drove) to Freycinat Peninsular to see wonderful Wine Glass bay... It took us 3 hours to get there. Still we managed to take in a great walk and saw some wonderful sights. The walk to the bay was fun but tiring, all up hill for 30 minutes, all down hill for the same amount of time and the same in reverse. The view was breathtaking - turquoise seas and a white sand beach. From the viewing platform it looked good enough to swim in but was a tad too cold once we were on the beach!!
The following morning we managed to scale a mountain too!! Steve drove us to the top of Mount Wellington where we got very windswept.
Port Arthur was interesting, although a little new by English standards. It's an old convict settlement built in 1830. Unfortunately we couldn't go in as we were too late in the day and they were charging a huge fee to look around. We found the tessellated pavement a bizarre rock formation that makes the rocks look like paving slabs.
Our final day in Tas was wonderful, every twist in the road lead us to something new, copper mines, tin mines, farms, lambs, calves, bulls, cows, sheep goats, forests, lakes, waterfalls... It is such an amazing part of Australia and so under rated. I am really looking forward to going back. Unfortunately we didn't see any wild Devils, but will keep my eyes and ears peeled for them next time...
After the land drive through the wonderful rolling countryside we settled in our cozy cabin near Hobart.
On our first complete day we explored Hobart taking in batter point and some rather funky shops. Hobart is a lovely city with a beautiful mountain back drop. It feels more like a town and the people are really friendly.
You can also never underestimate the size of Tasmania, it may look like a little Island but it is about the same size as England! We realised this when we decided to drive (Steve drove) to Freycinat Peninsular to see wonderful Wine Glass bay... It took us 3 hours to get there. Still we managed to take in a great walk and saw some wonderful sights. The walk to the bay was fun but tiring, all up hill for 30 minutes, all down hill for the same amount of time and the same in reverse. The view was breathtaking - turquoise seas and a white sand beach. From the viewing platform it looked good enough to swim in but was a tad too cold once we were on the beach!!
The following morning we managed to scale a mountain too!! Steve drove us to the top of Mount Wellington where we got very windswept.
Port Arthur was interesting, although a little new by English standards. It's an old convict settlement built in 1830. Unfortunately we couldn't go in as we were too late in the day and they were charging a huge fee to look around. We found the tessellated pavement a bizarre rock formation that makes the rocks look like paving slabs.
Our final day in Tas was wonderful, every twist in the road lead us to something new, copper mines, tin mines, farms, lambs, calves, bulls, cows, sheep goats, forests, lakes, waterfalls... It is such an amazing part of Australia and so under rated. I am really looking forward to going back. Unfortunately we didn't see any wild Devils, but will keep my eyes and ears peeled for them next time...
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Sydney and the Blue Mountains (Sian)
My first impression of Sydney was the traffic, something we haven't experienced for a while! We stayed in Manly a cute seaside ish town, much like a rowdier St Kilda (Where we live).
First stop was the Opera House and taking the Ferry accross from Manly we managed to have an excellent veiw of the harbour, bridge and opera house. It was all a little smaller than I thought it would be, those postcards can be very deceiving! We strolled through the Botanical gardens and wandered through the art gallery of New South Wales, an urban mix of modern and aboriginal art.
We met Kate for dinner and managed to catch up on all her tales of Sydney.
Steve and I also managed to go and see 'The Merchants of Bollywood' a musical extravaganza that went through the history of Bollywood. We were dancing in the isles by the interval. It brought back some fond memories. THANKYOU - Jen for the tickets!!!
Bondi Beach was good fun, I am glad to say that I have been and could have stayed and watched the surfers all day!
Paddington was great for shopping and we managed to pick up some great bargains, Steve is more than chuffed with his new Diesel Jeans!
The Blue mountains were about 2 hours drive out of the city and they were actually blue!!! The Three Sisters are some old rock formations that have many tales attatched, but are impressive none the less. We caught the mountain train down in to the middle of the rainforest - it was funny but I was glad it was only a short ride as we went nearly verticle! We strolled through the forest before catching the cable car ride up to the top of the mountain. It was incredibly fresh air, and the smell of eycaliptus trees was wonderful. More strange is that although there are many tree covered mountains none of them look quite as blue as theese - many be the air is dyed!!
First stop was the Opera House and taking the Ferry accross from Manly we managed to have an excellent veiw of the harbour, bridge and opera house. It was all a little smaller than I thought it would be, those postcards can be very deceiving! We strolled through the Botanical gardens and wandered through the art gallery of New South Wales, an urban mix of modern and aboriginal art.
We met Kate for dinner and managed to catch up on all her tales of Sydney.
Steve and I also managed to go and see 'The Merchants of Bollywood' a musical extravaganza that went through the history of Bollywood. We were dancing in the isles by the interval. It brought back some fond memories. THANKYOU - Jen for the tickets!!!
Bondi Beach was good fun, I am glad to say that I have been and could have stayed and watched the surfers all day!
Paddington was great for shopping and we managed to pick up some great bargains, Steve is more than chuffed with his new Diesel Jeans!
The Blue mountains were about 2 hours drive out of the city and they were actually blue!!! The Three Sisters are some old rock formations that have many tales attatched, but are impressive none the less. We caught the mountain train down in to the middle of the rainforest - it was funny but I was glad it was only a short ride as we went nearly verticle! We strolled through the forest before catching the cable car ride up to the top of the mountain. It was incredibly fresh air, and the smell of eycaliptus trees was wonderful. More strange is that although there are many tree covered mountains none of them look quite as blue as theese - many be the air is dyed!!
Eden (Sian)
The drive to Eden was long but we managed to stop at Lakes entrace for lunch so broke the journey up slightly.
Our accomodation in Eden was first class a wonderful appartment with veiws of Two Fold bay. We could see Whales and Dolphins splashing about in the water, but nothing could prepare us for the magical sights we saw the following day...
We arose at 6.30 and made the walk down the hill to the nearby harbour where we boarded the Catabaloo for 4 hours Whale Watching. I didn't expect that we would get nearly as close to the Whales as we did, I thought it would be much like our Dolphin watching excersion in Bali. The Whales were jumping and feeding right by the boat and took me by suprise many times. It was one of the most magical experiences that I have had, I honestly didn't think that Hump back Whales which are 15ft long and weigh 30 tonnes would get so close to us, I thought that I could reach out and touch them at times. The 4 hours went really fast and too quickly we were back on land in the Killer Whale museum reading up on past Nauticle tales. Eden used to be a whaling station, Hump Back Whales are spotted there almost every year feeding before heading to the antarctic. Also spotted in Eden are Killer whales and apparently the occasional Blue Whale.
Our accomodation in Eden was first class a wonderful appartment with veiws of Two Fold bay. We could see Whales and Dolphins splashing about in the water, but nothing could prepare us for the magical sights we saw the following day...
We arose at 6.30 and made the walk down the hill to the nearby harbour where we boarded the Catabaloo for 4 hours Whale Watching. I didn't expect that we would get nearly as close to the Whales as we did, I thought it would be much like our Dolphin watching excersion in Bali. The Whales were jumping and feeding right by the boat and took me by suprise many times. It was one of the most magical experiences that I have had, I honestly didn't think that Hump back Whales which are 15ft long and weigh 30 tonnes would get so close to us, I thought that I could reach out and touch them at times. The 4 hours went really fast and too quickly we were back on land in the Killer Whale museum reading up on past Nauticle tales. Eden used to be a whaling station, Hump Back Whales are spotted there almost every year feeding before heading to the antarctic. Also spotted in Eden are Killer whales and apparently the occasional Blue Whale.
Wilsons Prom (sian)
We arrived in Wilsons Promotory 2 and a half hours after leaving Melbourne. We stayed in Warratah Bay about 20 minutes away from the Prom its self. As our Hut was right by the beach what better way to start our Holiday than to take a walk along the beach? It was a glorious day after all... We had the beach almost to ourselves and it was glorious, It was great to be away!
To get our dinner we had the choice of either catching it or driving to the local 'Town Centre' a local place with 3 shops! Needles to say that in this sleepy village we had a good night sleep falling asleep to the sound of the sea.
Wilsons Prom itself was fantastic. Our frist stop was Squeaky Beach. A beach with sand so soft that it squeaked beneath our feet!
Next was a wonderful walk through burnt rainforests to Little Oberon Bay. It was an hour and a half each way to the bay but definately worth it! We had the beach all to ourselves except the sea gulls and a lone Wallaby! The view was breath taking with chrystal blue cold seas and crashing waves.
We also managed to walk along the banks of the Tidal River and saw Cookaburas hanging out in the trees.
On exiting the park we saw a wombat waddaling along eating grass he was so chilled out he let us take a few photo's!
To get our dinner we had the choice of either catching it or driving to the local 'Town Centre' a local place with 3 shops! Needles to say that in this sleepy village we had a good night sleep falling asleep to the sound of the sea.
Wilsons Prom itself was fantastic. Our frist stop was Squeaky Beach. A beach with sand so soft that it squeaked beneath our feet!
Next was a wonderful walk through burnt rainforests to Little Oberon Bay. It was an hour and a half each way to the bay but definately worth it! We had the beach all to ourselves except the sea gulls and a lone Wallaby! The view was breath taking with chrystal blue cold seas and crashing waves.
We also managed to walk along the banks of the Tidal River and saw Cookaburas hanging out in the trees.
On exiting the park we saw a wombat waddaling along eating grass he was so chilled out he let us take a few photo's!
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