A fine way to finish in Tasmania

Day 3 of the tour was mainly a beach day, spent at St Helens and the Bay of Fires, idyllic beaches and a very relaxing day. In the evening we visited an Irish bar (why do tour companies assume this is where we want to go??) for a few beers and some good pizza.

An early night was in order though as day 4 was to be spent at the Cradle Mountain National Park.

I was picked up early at 0630 in a smaller group of 7 to make the 90 minute drive to Cradle Mountain. I was the only one in the group keen/stupid enough to want to make the 3 hour hike to Marion’s lookout to view Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake. The rest of the group would take a leisurely stroll around Dove Lake.

So I set off alone on a beautifully sunny day to hike up the side of a fairly steep mountain! I passed Lilly Lake and Wombat Pools before the steep hike started, so steep that there were chains to pull yourself up on! There were a few stops on the way up to appreciate the views which were getting better and better.

I finally reached Marion’s Lookout and yes it was worth the effort! The views of the park were incredible and it put you in line with the top of Cradle Mountain. I took the necessary photos before starting my way back down, which turned out to be as tough as going up, I had visions of A&E flashing before me!!

I arrived safely at the bottom in time to enjoy my lunch whilst sat at Dove Lake surrounded by the mountains, incredible!

We were driven back to Launceston in time to catch a film at the cinema, Juno-very funny!!

My last day in Tas was spent relaxing in Launceston with a trip to Cataract Gorge before heading to the airport to fly to Melbourne.

The highlight of my trip to Tasmania will always be that hike through Cradle Mountain!

Freycinet National Park

Day 2 was to be spent at the Freycinet National Park famous for an area called Wineglass Bay. Its a scene that I had come to know through the hundreds of postcards and books with the photograph from the lookout, these photos always came complete with clear blue skies and turquoise waters so I was trying not to be too optimistic! However, today did come complete with stunning weather and yes the views were incredible. Again we were left to our own devices to make the 2 hour hike to the lookout and then down onto Wineglass Bay where we had a couple of hours of free time to enjoy the beach. I foolishly braved the freezing cold waters to go for a swim, hey its not like Hawaii!!!!

We had all assumed that the tough hike was over until we were informed we had to take the same route to get back, needless to say we all slept on the way to our over-night accommodation in Bicheno!

The day was not over, at 10pm we were treated to a visit to the Fairy Penguins!!! We were taken down to the beach where these nocturnal creatures came out of the sea in their masses and waddled around our feet, very cute!!!

Port Arthur and the Tasman Peninsular

So it was day one of my 4 day Tasmania tour and to be honest I was dreading it. I really had had enough of being shoved from one bus to another and following the tourist footprints. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. We were collected and driven to Port Arthur, a historic site with the ruins of the convict prison where England sent all it’s criminals in the 1800’s. We were basically given free time to explore the site, take a guided tour and a cruise of the harbour. Although it was obviously a tourist attraction I didn’t feel like I was tied to my tour guide. It was fascinating to see how the prison was run. It was also interesting although very sad to learn of a massacre that happened as recently as 1996 when a crazed gunman shot dead 35 innocent locals and tourists.

In the afternoon we re-grouped and drove through the Tasman Peninsular seeing the rugged coastline and taking a walk through popular spots such as Tasman Arch, the Devil’s Kitchen, Eaglehawk Neck and some of the small towns around the area.

We drove back into Hobart where we spent the night.

Hobart

So having had an extremely early start, I got the shuttle bus to Melbourne Tullamarine Airport to catch my flight to Hobart with Jetstar, I would tell you how good/bad the flight was but I was asleep before takeoff and woke up as we hit the tarmac!!!

I got the bus to the city centre where I found my accommodation and set off to explore the city. I walked around the waterfront to Salamanca place, an area full of art shops and small independent shops selling locally produced goods from fruit and veg to jewellery and everything in between, it was a lovely area to explore and before I know it, it was lunchtime and I’d had a fair bit of retail therapy!!

A walk up the Kelly Steps took me to Battery Point and stunning views around the city.  Elizabeth  Street took me to more quaint and interesting shops and feeling on a bit of a high I treated myself to a nice lunch, bang goes that budget!

I then jumped on a bus which took me to Sandy Bay, home of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and a pretty impressive Marina.

Finally arriving back in the city in the early evening somewhat exhausted but happy I retired early to bed!

The Great Ocean Road

Sadly it was time to leave Glenelg and Adelaide, I was picked up at some ridiculously early hour to start a 3 day trip along the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne.The first day was spent mainly travelling from Adelaide to the Grampians National Park where we walked to the Mackenzie Falls and up to the lookout over the park before finding our cabins in the park. We had a slap-up bbq for dinner including Kangaroo meat, yes it just tastes of beef, and no Australians don’t eat it, its just for dumb tourists!!!

Day 2 began early with a hike up to the Pinnacles seeing lots of wildlife on the way including wallabies. It was Austalian Sorry Day, a day when the government made an apology to the generations of Aboriginals who have been mistreated, so a trip to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre was quite a somber affair.

After lunch we arrived at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road, stopping along the Shipwreck coast at the Bay of Islands and the Bay of Martyrs. We finished the day in Port Campbell National Park where we saw the Grotto and London Bridge.

Our accommodation was a cabin right on the beach at Port Campbell and seeing as it was quite a cool night we lit the open fire and enjoyed a relaxing evening watching the sun go down.

Our final day started at Loch Ard Gorge, the Blowhole and Thunder Cave and finally the 12 Apostles. We then went inland to the Otway Rainforest for a short walk and then back to the coast to Apollo Bay for lunch. We drove the final strech of the Great Ocean Road to Torquay before heading along the freeway to Melbourne.

I arrived in Melbourne feeling very tired and grateful to be off a bus at last! Sadly I have to be up at 0400 in the morning to catch my flight to Hobart, Tasmania!!

Alice to Adelaide

So I was picked up at 0630 to start the 2 day journey from Alice Springs to Adelaide. Basically a very long drive through 1400kms of flat desert with the exception of Coober Pedy. This is roughly half way and therefore our overnight stop. Its famous for 2 things, Opal mining and the fact that everyone lives underground! The latter due to the fact that its too hot to live anywhere else! We arrived here at about 1800 and had a tour of the Opal mines before finding our underground accommodation! Its not as bad as it sounds……well maybe it is, unless you like living in a cave! We then had an evening of pizza and beer! A nice bunch of people including one girl from Chelmsford!

The next day had an early start, 0400!! Another day of driving broken up by Lake Hart, a huge salt lake. At about midday the landscape suddenly changed from desert to a small town on the coast, Port Augusta. A pleasant spot for lunch before the final 4 hours drive into Adelaide.

I was dropped at the Tram Station as I had to get the tram to Glenelg, a town about 20 minutes outside the city in which I was staying. I got off the tram to find the most beautiful town I’ve stayed in so far, my hostel was a 2 minute walk and is a heritage building built in 1876 and is the best so far. I dumped my bags and walked the 2 minutes to the beach which reminded me of Santa Monica/Venice Beach in LA. Some fish and chips on the beach whilst watching the sunset made for a perfect evening!

This morning I woke early to have a couple of hours investigating Glenelg before heading into the city. I got the tram in and walked along North Terrace past Parliament House, Adelaide Art Gallery, Museum of South Australia, Royal Adelaide Hospital and the University of Adelaide before reaching the Botanical Gardens which were stunning.

The city has quite an English feel about it reminding me of Oxford or Cambridge. After a couple of hours exploring the city I retired back to Glenelg for an afternoon on the beach with a good book. A lovely day and its a shame I have to move on in the morning!

Catch Up!!

I haven’t updated the blog for quite sometime now, mainly because I’ve been without internet access for the past week whilst in the outback, even more distressing than not having a mobile phone!!

So my last few days in Cairns included a day scuba diving on the great barrier reef with TUSA dive, an incredible day! The motor cruiser was 4 months old, could take 120 people but there were only 26 of us so loads of room. 3 dives during the day and because I’d booked guided dives I went with an Instructor who took me down to 30 metres which is a whole new experience enhanced even more by encountering 2 reef sharks!! It was amazing, they just swam around us completely unfazed. Don’t worry mum they’re completely harmless!! Just when I thought it couldn’t get better a turtle swam in front of me!

Another day was spent watching Lindsay throw herself out of a plane at 14000 ft, well done her!

The last day with Lindsay and Debbie was spent driving in their Wicked Van (trade name, its not that wicked!!) to Mossman Gorge, the Daintree National Park and Port Douglas. A lovely day, finished in style when the girls treated me to a slap-up seafood dinner at Barnacle Bill’s complete with copious amounts of wine! Thanks girls, hope the UK isn’t too cold!!

On February 2nd I was picked up at 0600 by Desert Venturer to spend 3 days driving through the outback to Alice Springs. The first day was spent driving through the Tablelands, visiting Millstream Falls before driving to Croydon to stay overnight. The next day started at 0500 driving through Mount Isa to Wirrelyna Cattle Station for the 2nd night. That night there was a massive thunder storm which flooded the unsealed road we were due to take the next day. This meant having to go back to Mount Isa to take the sealed highway through the Northern Territory, down to Alice Springs not arriving until 0300! A great way to see the country but very tiring especially when it doesn’t go to plan!

I was made even more tired when, having got in a 0300, I had to get up at 0500 to start a 3 day trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock!).

The first day of this trip was spent driving to Kings Canyon where we hiked through to the Canyon and climbed ‘Heart Attack’ Hill for some great views! We camped overnight sleeping in Swag bags under the stars, pretty cool!

The second day took us to Kata Tjuta National Park and a 3 hour hike up and over Kata Tjuta, probably my favourite day out of the 3. The evening was spent watching sunset over Uluru and several beers!

The following day started at 0400 so that we could see sunrise at Uluru, sadly it was cloudy and I’d much rather have had a lie-in!! The plan was then to climb Ayers Rock but due to forecast rain the climb was closed for safety reasons, leaving us to do the 7.5km base walk.

We then returned to Alice Springs where I got a much needed long nights sleep and am now here catching up with email, facebook, blog etc etc!!!!