River Deep Mountain High

Wow, what an amazing place Tasmania is. We have spent a wonderful week travelling around the West side of Tasmania, Hobart, Port Arthur & the Huon Valley. From Wynyard on Monday morning we drove on to Cradle Mountain & Dove Lake. Such spectacular scenery and a great day weatherwise as well. We spent a few hours wandering around walk trails, taking photo's & just taking in the views. From there we drove on towards Strahan via Rosebery & Zeehan, where we stayed the night.

Tuesday we had an early start in order to drive to Strahan and catch the boat for a day trip up the Gordon River. That day was grey with a light drizzle on and off but as we were heading into rainforest it didn't seem to matter. The river crusie and the places we stopped were just as spectactular as the day before, though different. The water in the Gordon River is black (like tea) and the ferns and Houn Pines in the forest were just magnificent. And lunch - smoked salmon to die for, just one of the yummy choices available. After the cruise and a look around Strahan we headed out to Lake St Claire via Queenstown, the only way across the National Park. The views from the road out of Queenstown were just awesome. The town and the mine site, with mountains all around them sure make for some amazing photo's. We stopped a couple of times checking out Nelson Falls and the Franklin River Nature trail. We arrived at Lake St Claire and were suitably impressed, another beautiful natural wonder. We had dinner there and as all the accomodation was booked we kept going to New Norfolk where we spent the night in a great little (well big) B & B called All Saints & Sinners.

A reasonably early start on Wednesday saw us on our way to Mt Field National Park to see Russell Falls. We wandered around there for a couple of hours on different walk trails through the forests filled with giant ferns and lots of little wallably like creatures. We spent the afternoon driving on to Hobart and once there just wandering around checking out the highlights. We had a yummy dinner at the Oldest Pub in Hobart that night, then went on to Wrest Point Casino, just to say we had been there. Not quiet the same as Crown but good to have a look anyway. I still remeber when it opened and it was the first Casino in Australia. Not that I'm old or anything.

Thursday morning saw us off to Port Arthur for the day. I can't think of any other words to say, amazing, spectacular, awesome all seem to be overused here but what else can we say. We had a great day wandering around Port Arthur, managed to see most of it and the ferry trip as well. We headed back late afternoon to go back through Hobart to Huonville. We stayed in another beautiful B & B, Walton House.

Friday morning saw us on the road again heading to the Tahune Airwalk. Similar to the one at Walpole, but different. The cantilever at the end of this one is a bit (very) scary, but of course you have to go right to the end seeing you have come that far. Yes, even Bill, and I have the photo to show you all. We wandered again through a couple of bush trails and then after a stop at the big tree, yes, it was big, we headed off on our way back up to Devonport where we were going to spend the night as we had to catch the ferry back the next morning. We made two detours on the way back, one to the top of Mt Wellington, what can I say. What a view. Especially as it was great weather again that day. The other was a quick look at Ross. Quaint. We will look properly next time.

The trip home was pleasant. A nice chance to sit back and relax after a fairly full on week. We loved all that we saw and now plan to return next year to travel the East Coast and the Tamar region which we were unable to get to this time.

On that note I must say farewell to you all for this week. I will be back again next week with the next exciting sculpture (when I find it). I know you can't wait.

Until next time........

Over The Sea

Hello again. A short diversion from our Sculpture Trail in Melbourne this week. Why, you ask. Bill & I are on holiday in Tasmania so I thought I would bring you ball up to date with our adventures as they happen.

We caught the Spirit of Tasmania last night and decided on the better seats so we could get a good nights sleep and be ready to go once we disembarked this morning. The seats were good, the trip was smooth and everything about the ship very good. The downside was ONE very large man who decided to put himself to sleep fairly early and, yep, I'm sure you're all onto it. He snored all night. It sounded like an entire army of snorers. Most people in the area, including us spent the night wandering the ship, Red Wine & Coffee helping to while away the hours. We even tried blocking out the noise with music but to no avail. So as you can imagine on leaving the ship this morning we were 2 very tired people.

We thought that we would not get very far today, but instead have had a great day just slowing meandering along the North West Coast. We drove from Devonport through Ulverstone, Penguin, Burnie, Wynyard, Stanley on to Dismal Swamp. Along the way we loved the Penguins at Pengiun (your treat for the day), Table Cape at Wynyard was pretty spectacular as was the Nut at Stanley. The most amazing place was Dismal Swamp just inland from Stanley. It is a Blackwood forrest in a swamp sinkhole. So that people can come and visit they have put a whole boardwalk maze in and in order to get from the top to the bottom they have installed a huge covered slide. It takes approx 11 secs going down 110 feet at speeds up to 45-50kms, Unbelievable! Also heaps of fun. Though I am sure that if I had not been sleep deprived, I don't think I would have gone anywhere near it. We have come back to Wynyard for the night and after some yummy Fish & Chips at the docks, we are going to have an early night and catch up on the missed zzzz's from last night.

Tomorrow we are off to Cradle Mountain, then on to the Franklin River area.

So until next time.......

The Journey Continues

Hello again and welcome to our next exciting find on the Sculpture trail in Melbourne. Well my Sculpture trail anyway. This weeks sculpture is called 'The Echo' and can be found at the corner of Little Bourke & Swanston St's. It is said to depict the rich diversity of cultures, particularly Asian. We found it on the way to dinner in Chinatown last week so I decided on this peice as it fits in with last weeks Chinese New Year flavour as it is just opposite the entrance to Chinatown, and it's Red. Debs & JT will no doubt see this often during their stay in Melbourne next month.

As for what else we have been up to over the past couple of weeks, we have continued to get and about and sample a little bit of what is happening around the place. Last week we went and saw Dusty, the musical story of her life. It was very good and well worth seeing when it gets to your part of the world.On Sunday we went to the Upper Yarra Valley with a friend and found a nice winery called Lilydale Estate where we had lunch. Also found anohter nice one called Morgans, run by a Welshman. We will be going back to both of them.

Well Guys & Gals, I'd better be off again, have to find another subject for next week.

So until next time ..........

Year of the Dog - Chinese New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy ! Happy New Year, Chinese style to you all.

Celebrations are in full swing here in Melbourne with the Yarra River & the Crown complex being turned into a huge Hawkers Market. We went along on Friday night and had a great time wandering through the whole area. It was just like being back in the markets of Hong Kong. Inside the foyer of Crown there is a Lantern Show every 30 mins complete with a large golden dragon that breathes smoke. Also regular Lion Dancers wander through the Casino itself, a bit noisy as you can imagine, along with all the normal bells & whistles of the Casino, but an amazing spectacle none the less. The Hawkers Market runs over 2 weekends and has lots of food and heaps of entertainment, including Karoke, yep all night We also saw the release of many Lotus candles on the Yarra on Friday night. They were really pretty to watch though the wind kept pushing them to the edge instead of out in the middle where they would have been easier to see. The weekend finished with fireworks tonight.

Last night we went to the final night of the Swimming trials for the Commonwealth Games. This National meet is the first time the new pool has been used & it is a great venue. Not a bad seat in the house so I'm sure everyone with swimming tickets will be thrilled. From there we jumped on a tram and continued with the weekends theme and went to China Town to have dinner. Yum!

While I have tracked down my next exciting sculpture, for those of you who can't wait to see what is next, I have decided to stick with this theme and show you a little bit of the Hawkers Market on Friday night.

Well Guys & Girls, time to be off now, have a great week everyone

Until next time..........