28th January 2010 Like many ports we’ve previously visited in France, Devonport is kind of a non-descript transit location with some slightly weird people hanging around. We’re staying here tonight, right next to the ferry terminal and at first glance the hotel didn’t look like very much, but our room was very nice. From our window we could see the Spirit of Tasmania leave at 9pm (and feel it because the whole room shook!) and our boat arrive at 7am. ...
25th January 2010 One of the things on our ‘must-do’ list for Tasmania was to visit Cradle Mountain. Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, to give it its official name, is Tasmania’s best-known wilderness region. One of the most glaciated areas in Australia, with many lakes, the park covers some of Tasmania’s highest land, with craggy mountain peaks such as Cradle Mountain. We started our day early, arriving at the visitors’ centre at about 9am, then driving to Dove Lake carpark after paying our entry fee. There are many walks within the park itself, but we had chosen to do one to Marion’s Lookout, a point about halfway to the summit of Cradle Mountain. From the carpark, which was the start point for our walk, the sight of Dove Lake backed by the jagged outline of Cradle Mountain was a breathtaking sight. ...
18th & 19th January 2010 In preparation for our leaving the Gold Coast, yesterday was spent sorting out our clothes and relaxing in the pool. When we arrived in Australia it quickly became apparent that a lot of our clothes were too warm for the climate so we’ve been lucky enough to leave these at Aunty Mary’s while we continue on our travels round Oz. Bidding a fond farewell to the pool was easy as the temparatures topped 38 degrees, so it was the coolest place to be (at least outside). ...
21st January 2010 Port Arthur was chosen as the site for a prison settlement in September 1843, as a place for secondary punishment for convicts who had committed serious crimes in other settlements in Australia. Built by convict labour, gradually Port Arthur became a self-supporting industrial centre with convicts able to learn trades and contribute to this society. Our entrance fee included a guided walking tour and cruise around the inland harbour. We started our day with the walking tour where we learnt much more about the history of this impressive site. The regime was harsh, with convicts being subject to lashing with the cat’o nine tails for such things as insubordination. The belief was that work would grind the badness out of a man so there was a hard work routine also. However, convicts also had access to free education and all were taught to read and write and also taught trades so that they could make a contribution to society. For many of them, this was the first time they had had any sort of education. ...
9th & 10th January 2010 We had a wonderful relaxing weekend with blue skies and temparatures in the 30s while we heard about the freezing temps back home on the TV. Saturday morning was spent relaxing in the pool while we waited for Nathan and Anna and 2-year old Sofia. They soon arrived and we sat down to catch up while Aunty Mary and Sofia wandered around looking into everything and feeding the birds (best fed birds in Queensland!). Nathan loved his t-shirt from Wales which said ‘Cymru… probably the best country in the world’ and put it on straight away, while Sofia identified the Welsh dragon as a dinosaur, but she’ll learn. Unfortunately Anna’s gift of some Welsh soaps was the only casualty of the 4 months on the road, but I think she’ll enjoy the bath bombs we got her instead. ...
6th January 2010 After an absolutely freezing night on the train, where we did manage to sleep for a few hours, but that was all, we arrived tired and smelly in Brisbane. From here we got on a train to Nerang where we were met by Aunty Mary and Billy. We went for an eat all you want breakfast buffet at Jupiters Casino even though it felt more like lunchtime for us. A really lovely breakfast followed by a swift tour of Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise and the Spit with a good look at the beach and the sea which was a little rough. ...
8th January 2010 Since we’ve got to Queensland, it has become quite apparent that my wardrobe is a bit too full of thick clothes to be comfortable in this climate, and it’s only set to get hotter while we travel south and then into the centre. I needed a new wardrobe and after some advice from Billy and Aunty Mary we headed into Southport to take a look in the Op Shops (charity shops to those from the UK). ...
7th January 2010 We had a wonderful night’s sleep - well overdue after last night. This morning we headed into Surfers which is about a half hour walk from Aunty Mary’s. We sat on the beach for a while which was fairly busy but with small bluebottle jellyfish in the water, we decided to give the swimming a miss. Then we wandered around the mad, touristy place that is Surfers. ...
4th January 2010 This morning the weather was looking better, so our trip on the Ferry to Manly was back on. Sydney has a travel ticket which gives you unlimited use of ferries, trains and buses for a day so we bought one of these each from Central Station and set off for Circular Quay on the subway. The ferry terminal is right next door to the train station at Circular Quay, and the ferries to Manly are very frequent, so we didn’t have long to wait before we were on the boat, and being whisked across Sydney Harbour to Manly. It is about half an hour ferry ride to Manly and offers some excellent views of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Sydney skyline along the way. ...
3rd January 2010 Drizzle heralded the start to today, so we abandoned plans to go to Manly on the ferry and headed for the Opera House via Circular Quay instead. By the time we reached Circular Quay the weather had brightened a bit and some of the street performers were starting to get going, including an Aboriginal guy playing the digeridoo and posing for photos at the same time! ...
2nd January 2010 It was time to say goodbye to the Hilton today and downgrade ourselves back to reality and hostels. The hostel we’re staying at is a little further out of town than the Hilton, but only a couple of stops along on the underground. It is cerainly pretty basic and rough around the edges, but it will do us fine for 3 nights I should think. After checking in and off-loading our bags we walked back into town with the intention of getting to The Rocks in order to catch the Saturday market. Whilst en-route the heavens opened and we had torrential rain for a good 20 minutes! We abandoned our plan of walking to The Rocks, and instead headed back down into the subway to catch the train to Circular Quay. By the time we arrived the rain had eased off a bit, and The Rocks Saturday Market was only a 10 minute walk away. We had a look round the market for a while and then stopped off for a couple of delicious salads in a little cafe before resuming our browsing. ...
1st January 2010 A late start this morning, after not getting to bed until the early hours. Our first stop was a cafe not far from the hotel for a cooked breakfast, then the hunt began to find an internet cafe so we could Skype our friends at Neil and Yvonne’s who were just getting to New Year. It didn’t take long to find a cafe and we managed to get to speak to everyone shortly after it had ticked over to midnight for them. They seemed to be having a great night and it only took 3 attempts to get the Skype call going! It was great to be able to see everyone and have a chat, and especially amusing to see just how drunk they all were - more on that later… ...
30th & 31st December 2009 Yesterday we spent the day travelling, first from our lovely spot at Halfmoon Cottage back to Christchurch where we enjoyed our final Kiwi meal of fish and chips (what else!), then onto the airport to catch the plane to Sydney. We arrived at the Hilton on George Street in Sydney, arguably the best hotel we’ve stayed in so far with its modern room, comfy bed and great view over George Street. After checking in, the priority was to do a bit of a recce in preparation for the New Years Eve fireworks tomorrow so we wandered down to Circular Quay and around the Opera House where preparations for private parties and public areas were in full swing. ...