Tassie

So after the excitement of the tennis and spending a day wandering around Melbourne, we got a flight across to Hobart to see what Tasmania is all about and to see if it's really any different from the mainland.  In short, it is (a bit).  It turns out Tasmania does have a slightly English feel to it, with some slightly greener rolling hills and roads that are quite narrow in the rural areas.  The people here also seem a tad friendlier that some of the places we've experienced in Australia.

We spent the first few days on the outskirts of Hobart and went for a few drives in the local area.  We popped to Mount Field National Park and looked at a couple of nice waterfalls, took a drive around the Tasman Peninsula which was OK, but probably the most interesting thing was seeing the towns that had been hit hard by bush fires a few weeks earlier.  Sounds a bit weird calling it interesting, but it really was.  The devastation was quite incredible - charred remains of hundreds of acres of forest and peoples houses just gone with only a pile of ash, twisted tin and the odd brick chimney breast left of many homes. Some people are now living in tents or caravans on their land - it was really sad to see.  It was quite odd though that only certain houses were affected - you could get 3 houses in a row and one was completely burnt down but the neighbours untouched.

Mount Field National Park

Part of a fence destroyed in the bush fire

Remains of a home

On a lighter note, we spent an evening on a private nocturnal tour of the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary where they have some permanent residents and some which are being
rehabilitated for release back into the wild.  We got to hand feed a number of different Australian animals including Kangaroos, Fidget the albino possum, tawny frog-mouthed owls (Rob was most impressed with their camouflage) and one we'll never forget was the Tasmanian devil.  These little critters have a seriously strong jaw and really won't give up on food once they've got hold - it was a right tug of war!  Lisa got to hold a young wombat in his blanket and she really didn't want to give Trooper back!   We absolutely loved the whole experience.

Us with Bert!

Just fed the kangaroos

Fidget, the albino possum

Trooper

Feeding the tassie devils!

Tawny frog-mouthed owls

Next was onto the east coast stopping at Freycinet National Park where we went on a steep hike to get an elevated view of Wineglass Bay which is one of the bigger tourist attractions in Tasmania.  It was a good view when we got to the top but Rob was disappointed that the view was not what 90% of what the publicity photos portray.  The photos don't mention that they are taken from a completely different viewpoint in order to see the "wineglass" shape and frankly we didn't have time or energy to climb a mountain just to get that view!

Wineglass bay

Bay of fires

Pyengana falls was a good little trip out and the main attraction was OK, but there was actually a nicer forest cascade earlier in the walk.  We did get to see our first snake though curled up on the rocks near the falls - have no idea what kind of snake it was, but we didn't go all Steve Irwin (you know how he finished up!) and left it well alone.

Cascades leading to Pyengana falls

We think maybe a tiger snake?

We then basically followed the main loop road round Tassie popping in to a few places along the way like Launceston, Strahan and Cradle Mountain National Park.  Sadly for much of the last few days on the west coast, the weather really wasn't playing ball and turned out to be a bit bleak really, meaning that many of the things to see were a bit of an anti-climax (like Cradle Mountain that you couldn't actually see on the day).

Dip falls

Our last few days in Australia were spent near Hobart again.  There wasn't too much to rave about in Hobart really - seemed OK, but nothing special.  There was a good lookout up Mount Wellington that gave a good view over the general area, but that was about it.  On the penultimate day we visited a nice little village called Richmond which was pretty much as English as a village could be.  The weather was good, it was very picturesque with its nice brick bridge and river and it also gave Lisa a chance to buy some souvenirs to help add to our already burgeoning luggage!

Richmond - could be in England

So that was Australia.  We were here a few weeks longer than we expected - to be honest, it was probably too long.  For us it didn't have the cliched "wow factor" that we got when we first visited in 2009 and this time we actually found a lot of the Australians a bit rude and somewhat arrogant - not sure why, but we found that happening more often than not.  That said, there have been quite a few highlights and wonderful memories that we'll take with us like our time in the camper van in the outback, the slower pace of life on Kangaroo Island, New Years Eve in Sydney and the tennis to name a few.

I guess the main issue for us is that Australia is just too big.  We have covered thousands and thousands of miles (10,476 to be precise) over about 10 weeks and the reality is, if the main sights and places to visit were in a much smaller area, you could probably do it all in under half the time.  Maybe we're just being a bit picky, but we feel we've now "done" Australia and its not a place we'll be rushing back to in the near future.

Moving on, we're excited to be heading to Hawaii (I know we've been so slack that by the time this is published we'll already be there).  Not exactly sure what to expect, but we're hoping for good things.  Until the next time...

Anyone for tennis?

As you know, the main reason for going to Melbourne was the tennis and we were really looking forward to our two full days watching the quarter finals (daytime and evening sessions) at the Rod Laver arena.

Our schedule was:

Day One
Agnieszka Radwanska vs Li Na
David Ferrer vs Nicholas Almagro
Maria Sharapova vs Ekaterina Makarova
Novak Djokovic vs Tomas Berdych

Day Two
Victoria Azarenka vs Svetlana Kuznetsova
Sloane Stephens vs Serena Williams
Andy Murray vs Jeremy Chardy
Roger Federer vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

As neither of us had been to any live tennis matches before, this was a completely new experience and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's fair to say that some of the matches were better than others - and a couple of them were a bit dull (and guess what, one of the those involved Andy Murray!).  That said, the dullest was Sharapova vs Makarova, where Lisa became more obsessed with clocking Sharapova's OCDs - there are so many it's ridiculous and it seems to take her forever to serve.

The best match by far was Federer verses Tsonga.  Not only because the great man was playing, but it was a real 5 set rollercoaster as the match swung one way, then the other. 

The atmosphere in the stadium was also brilliant and it was doubly entertaining as we had a family of Indians sitting behind us giving us their take on almost every point about what was going to happen next!  The match went on for quite a while and Rob was so pleased he got to see Roger for such a long time!  

All in all we we had a couple of really good days and apart from frying nicely in the sun a bit too much, we'd definitely do it again.

Welcome to the Rod Laver Arena

Start of the Williams vs Stephens match

Williams action shot!

Stephens winning the match

The arena at night

Djokovic vs Berdych

Ouch, looks painful - trademark Novak slide... 

And Novak wins!

Federer and Tsonga pose for the press

Tsonga talks to the crowd - not sure what about!

The Greatest in action

Federer applauding Rob's support during the match!

Mrs Federer making a sharp exit as she walked towards us

Rob showing his support for Roj

Cooling down after a day in the sunny seats

Melbourne Southbank at twilight

A bit more from the merry old land of Oz!

So the first stop in 2013 was to the mountains of New South Wales - but to be frank, they were more like hills!  Although they are called the Snowy Mountains any snow is pretty much non-existent (not like you guys in the UK at the mo!).  We took in some of the views, had a few scenic drives and got to see Australia's highest mountain (although at 7310 ft its a bit weedy really).  It was a nice relaxing way to spend a couple of days but there was nothing too memorable.

The not so snowy mountains

On the way back to Sydney (yep, we went back - bit weird you may think, but it kinda made sense honest!), we stopped off in the nations capital for a couple of days.  As a capital city we were expecting some good things from Canberra, but it was a little underwhelming really and there's no real notable landmarks.  That said, we visited the modern parliament building, checked out the Captain Cook memorial fountain and the war memorial which was nicely done.  The whole city was weirdly quiet though - felt more like a large town than a major city and had none of the hustle and bustle you'd expect.  On the upside, you can drive absolutely everywhere and park for free!

Canberra parliament building

War memorial

Captain Cook memorial

Back in Sydney we spent a couple of days chilling out a bit and doing a few tourist things.  As we'd spent quite a few days there back on 2009, we used the time to go to some of the spots we hadn't been before and have a good look around the harbour.  All in all, a nice city to spend some time.

After picking up yet another car we carried on following the coast and headed towards Victoria (and in particular Phillip Island), and trying not to get fried in any of the terrible bush-fires that were kicking off everywhere it seemed!  Not much to report on the way around the coast to be honest - more of the same in many ways.  Phillip Island was good - we didn't spend as long there are was thought we might, but stopped by the Koala Conservation Centre which was as good as remembered, this time we got to see a mum with a joey climbing around the trees.  We also stopped at The Nobbies (*snigger* - basically big rocks and islands off the most windy coastline ever!) and watched a few wallabies and geese along the roadside.  Also had some of the nicest crispy chips ever on the beach, so can't complain!

The Nobbies

Wallaby at The Nobbies

Off to the Great Ocean Road next and heading in the direction of South Australia.  The Great Ocean Road for part of it is as the name suggests however, around half of the road is actually inland which is a bit misleading!.   We took in the usual tourist spots and stopped to watch the sunset at the 12 apostles.  Just after sunset we got see a load of fairy penguins jump out of the ocean, huddle together and run up the beach to their beds - we were quite a distance away from them but it was still very entertaining to watch.

12 Apostles

After driving a fair few miles we took a break in a place called Mount Gambier where we saw the bluest lake we have ever seen, so blue it looks almost fake.  We also wandered around a wildlife conservation area and stalked a couple of echidna's for a while foraging for food. Continuing the drive we passed through the very arid and somewhat dull landscape of South Australia before arriving in Adelaide.  Adelaide was again more of a large town than a city.  It had a very good shopping centre, pretty river and a couple of new 'historic' buildings to look at, but apart from that for us there wasn't really too much to hang around for so we headed back south to get the ferry across to Kangaroo Island.

Almost fake looking blue lake

One of the echidna's we stalked!

We were much busier on Kangaroo Island (or KI as the locals call it), with plenty to see and do.  We stayed in a rural B&B which was so peaceful and the people here seemed really friendly, even giving a one figured wave as you passed them by in the car (not the middle finger either!). The island has a different feel to the mainland and it was really relaxing.  We visited Flinders Chase National Park where we saw some pretty sights such as Admirals Arch (where a load of New Zealand fur seals were relaxing), Remarkable Rocks and Weir Cove.

Admirals Arch

Remarkable Rocks

Weir Cove

One of the highlights of the trip to KI was a guided tour to see some Australian Sea Lions in their natural habitat - apparently the only place in the world you can do this.  It was a very cool experience and really interesting as we were walking along the beach alongside the sea lions. You really appreciate the sheer size of these animals when you are so close to them, but they are pretty lazy though - all they seemed to do whilst we were there was sleep or sun themselves whilst trying to avoid the water!!

In the evening we booked a tour to see the little penguins.  Sadly there are not too many around in Penneshaw nowadays mainly due to man made changes to the island, but we did get to see a few moulting penguins and youngsters waiting for their parents to come home so the trip was worth it.

After 3 days of really enjoying Kangaroo Island it was time to get the ferry back to the mainland and take the inland route back to Melbourne.  The day we left was the hottest we have experienced on the trip so far as the mercury tipped a massive 45 degrees - thankfully we were driving for much of the day, so the air con was working overtime!!  I think I (Lisa) would have died being outside that day - even the breeze was scorching hot.  Thankfully it has cooled down now (slightly) but that doesn't seem to have stopped the bush fires as they do actually have loads to contend with.

So now, we are on our way to Melbourne and for those of you who don't know, we have tickets to see the Australian Open tennis quarter finals on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Rob has everything crossed that Federer will be making an appearance (he only needs to win one more match) and Lisa sadly won't get to see Nadal.

Anyhoo, that's about if from us for now.  After Melbourne we will be heading to Tasmania for about 10 days but we are starting to get a bit Australia'd out - we have been here over 7 weeks after all.  We've also decided that we are not going to go to New Zealand this trip as it may be a bit too soon since we last visited.  Therefore, after Tasmania we'll be heading in the direction of Hawaii - aloha!

Happy New Year and all that....

Now I know we're not the Queen, but here's our very late Christmas message ;-)

So, after flying from coast to coast we arrived in Cairns mid December and started off in some familiar territory in Port Douglas (we were here in 2009). Have to be honest - not much had changed, although this time round we had much better weather (nice & sunny, around 30 degrees every day and not too humid). We spent some time visiting the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation "where the mangroves meet the ocean" so they say, and took in the first of many nice coastal drives.

Daintree Rainforest

4 mile beach

We then started the very long (about 2800km) drive south in the direction of Sydney. Most of the drive was coastal, so unsurprisingly a huge amount of the trip has been all about seeing beaches and water - neither of which we are massive fans of, so probably a bit wasted on us! That said we made plenty of stops along the way which were all very nice and pleasing to the eye, but ultimately all a bit samey at times.

We did venture inland a few times for a few things. A couple of the highlights being Wallaman Falls where a steep and winding road took us to the highest waterfall in Australia (sadly slightly obscured by a bush fire on the day) and then to Eungella National Park where we got to see a few duck billed platypus in their natural habitat for the first time. We also took a look at the Glass House Mountains just west of Brisbane which were pretty good - but we're more like hills really :-)

Our first duck billed platypus

Glasshouse Mountains

That saw us through to Christmas, when we had a couple of nights in an excellent 2 bedroom apartment in Burleigh Heads. This was a lovely place to spend Christmas - just over the road from a very pretty beach and the balcony of our apartment overlooked the pool and tennis courts. All in all, a little bit different to our traditional UK Christmas - and not a sprout in sight!

To be honest though it didn't feel too much like Christmas as there was nothing really traditional about it - well for us anyway. I'm sure for the countless Aussies crammed on the beach on Christmas Day it was perfectly normal! Its certainly a Christmas we'll never forget though as wandering on the beach in the blazing sunshine on Christmas afternoon doesn't happen every year!

After leaving Queensland we moved into New South Wales, creeping ever closer to Sydney for New Years Eve. On the way we popped into the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie where we saw some of the very cute little critters as they rehabilitated from various injuries - more often than not caused by someone hitting them with a car. They do really good work there and all on a volunteer basis. We had a really good time and Lisa loved it - and guess what, she adopted one, his name is Buraneer Henry, wonder why she chose that one!

This is Barry having a snooze!

One final stop before the madness of Sydney was the Blue Mountains just on the outskirts where we had a relaxing day just looking around and checking out the scenery.

After finally managing to find a hotel room (on the outskirts) that wasn't absolutely extortionate, we got the train and headed into Sydney for one of the busiest things we've ever been to - to celebrate the start of 2013 near the harbour bridge, along with about a million or so other people!

Now we always knew it was going to to be mega busy, but it was more rammed than we had expected. It turns out they do pretty much close down the entire harbour side and only the designated vantage points are accessible in order to see the celebrations. A couple of the preferred ones near the Opera House and on Circular Quay had already closed by the time we got there, so we headed to Mrs Macquarie's Chair which was still open.

As we got there just after 3pm we thought we may have a chance of grabbing a reasonable spot. Wrong. It was insane - pretty much any half decent inch of grass, dirt, rock or anything else had gone - apparently some people had been there overnight (a bit tragic if you ask me). So we found ourselves perched on fairly steep and uncomfortable slope for quite a few hours waiting for the sun to go down.

Have to say that the organisation was pretty awful. We had managed to grab ourselves a really good vantage point right near a fence and we could see most of the bridge and the Opera House - good for photos as well!. It wasn't to be however as even though one of the "security gorillas" had told us we (and a load of other people) could stay there, a couple of his Neanderthal mates turned up about an hour later and unfairly moved us on, leaving us to find another spot - thanks.

Anyway, as luck would have it, we did managed to shoehorn ourselves into a spot where we got a half reasonable view of the 9 o'clock fireworks before moving on once again (there's another story there, but that's probably for another time). Ironically, just before the main thing kicked off at midnight, we ended up back pretty much where we started quite a few hours before and the security guy was a lot more reasonable and we actually managed to stay there this time!

Anyway, after all of the hassle and hanging around, we both got to see the main event. It was pretty spectacular (the bridge and the Opera House make it special really) and we managed to get a few snaps to share. It didn't go on for as long as we were expecting and to be honest the fireworks seemed to be over far quicker than the 13 minutes they apparently lasted. That said, it was certainly a New Year we'll remember.

Would we do it again? No, probably not. Unless you paid a few hundred dollars for a ticket and got to see it from a more organised and civilised vantage point, then I doubt we'd bother. However, we have said that one year we would maybe go to London to see what they can do...

Anyway, that just leaves us to say Happy New Year to all our friends and family - and anyone else that may be reading this blog. Here's hoping that 2013 is a good one.