23/10/05- Lake Hawea- This country is sooooo beautiful, everywhere you go its like this!!!
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
Moto GP (Steve)
Not more than one day back in Melbourne and we were off to Phillip Island with Wei and Jamie to watch some loonies racing motorbikes at stupidly high speeds, of course the weather was perfect and we got to see some close racing and not too many accidents. Oh, and an F-18 jet barely 500 metres above our heads travelling at the speed of sound, making the ground shake like a small 'quake was starting under our feet.
Television really doesnt give the full impression of how fast the bikes go, Valentino Rossi was flying past us at about 320kph, even the junior class on smaller bikes hit 250 on the end of the straight where we were standing. Scarry stuff. The noise is something else, we couldnt even hear the helicopter above our heads!! Didnt get too many picies but there are some below.
It was in stark contrast to the beauty and peacefulness of Tasmania, and we're flying to New Zealand tomorrow for two weeks of mountains and, well other stuff, will let you know what we find there.
Television really doesnt give the full impression of how fast the bikes go, Valentino Rossi was flying past us at about 320kph, even the junior class on smaller bikes hit 250 on the end of the straight where we were standing. Scarry stuff. The noise is something else, we couldnt even hear the helicopter above our heads!! Didnt get too many picies but there are some below.
It was in stark contrast to the beauty and peacefulness of Tasmania, and we're flying to New Zealand tomorrow for two weeks of mountains and, well other stuff, will let you know what we find there.
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
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