A day out in Melbourne

Melbourne airport, Australia

Today is our very, very last day of holiday - in four hours we'll be on the (very long, boring) flight home.
So we went into Melbourne city, and to the Sea Life centre.

We managed to work out the public transport system, and arrived in style at Melbourne's main station on Flinders street:

It was a VERY hot day (31 C), so we had a quick look at the river:

and then legged it  (by tram) to the nice cool Sea Life centre!  

There are penguins, a 5m crocodile, seahorses etc - all the usual stuff but more exotic (the tree frogs live in the mangrove swamps, not the sea)

This penguin is keeping its chick warm on it's feet!

Next time we see you it should be in the UK! We'll arrive at 11.30am Friday morning.

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

Possibly the world's best beach

Melbourne, Australia

We've left Tasmania, which is a shame because it's beautiful.  Twelve days wasn't enough!  Here's an update on what we did in Freycinet national park.

On Monday we walked two hours to get to Wineglass Bay, which is reputed to be the best beach in Tasmania.  It's only accessible by boat or on foot, although despite that there was a steady stream of people trekking through the bush to it.  This is the first view, from the hill that overlooks the bay:

The weather in Tasmania had turned quite a lot cooler, which was good as it was a steep walk up to this point! But then all downhill to the lovely white sand and turquoise water.

It really was pretty nice, and to make the most of it we had a quick swim at the far end (that's another 45 mins of walking along that sand, with your feet in the water - somebody has to do these jobs y'know)

At the far end we found this whale skeleton, fortunately all picked clean by now:

Eventually we had to leave and get back up over the hill.  On the way we had to prop up one of the massive pink granite boulders that were lying around, and stop it rolling onto the path!!

We also saw a big tiger snake on the path, which is very poisonous, but no-one got bitten.  They are mating at this time of year and can be a bit defensive - they don't normally attack.
The day after this was a bit more cloudy, but we had a look at another of the pink granite bays.

We found a new room for Kitty, and some stripy limpets too:

So it's a big TICK for Freycinet, we loved it!  Now we're back in Melbourne, and tomorrow we'll probably visit the zoo before the big long boring flight leaves in the evening.

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

More sunshine and more beaches

Freycinet, Tasmania

Back to beautiful sunshine and blue skies after the rainy north coast!  Tonight and tomorrow we're staying just outside the Freycinet ("fray-sea-nay") National Park.  Beaches on this (east) side of Tasmania are as beautiful as Abel Tasman, but without the people.

This morning we went to see an impressive gorge in Launceston - with apparently the world's longest chairlift span.  Very pretty, and a free outdoor pool for a swim.

On the east coast we first stopped at Scamander beach, where the sand squeaks when you walk on it ....

Then went on to Coles Bay, where we'll be for two nights.  Wish it was going to be longer...

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

Wombat special

Launceston, Tasmania

Today we drove out of Cradle Mountain national park, north and a bit east to Launceston.  On the way we visited Devonport, as Mike's from there (the one in the UK).

Before we left Cradle Mtn we did another 6km walk along the valley -weather wasn't nearly as good as yesterday, but lots of interesting things to see - 1,200 year old pencil pine trees, lots of small, flat lizards, views of the mountain with cloud on, etc.  Although these trees look completely dead, apparently they're alive.

Tonight's accommodation is much less spectacular than the last two days, so instead of talking about that, here are some more pictures of the cute wombats!!

Wombats are marsupial mammals, pretty big at about 1m long, not very interested in people (and not afraid of them).  They eat grass and roots, don't jump, hardly run and come out at dusk. They live in long underground burrows (which from the outside look like hobbit holes!)

So far, the wombats are probably the cutest animals we've seen!

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

Tasmania (so far)

Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

Hello again.  Apologies for the radio silence, it seems Tasmania is a bit behind New Zealand in Wifi access!  We are all fine, and absolutely love Tasmania, it's a really beautiful island.

Here is a run through what we've done since the last post.

5th March, Ballarat, Australia
The exciting news is that we got to Ballarat in time for the end of the 1850's gold rush, and managed to pan at least 0.005 micrograms of real, actual gold out of the creek there!  Ballarat is a bit like Killhope, only based on gold, not lead.  Although the gold we got is added to the creek for the benefit of the punters, and isn't alluvial gold as it was in the 1850s, it's still exciting seeing it sparkle in the bottom of your pan.

6th March
We left Melbourne and flew to Hobart, picked up a hire car and drove to the Tasman peninsula.

7th March
Spent the day sorting out a bit and decompressing after four weeks of non-stop travelling! Really nice to think we'll be in this house for five whole nights!

8th March
Visited Port Arthur, which was originally a penal colony.  Lots of old buildings still there, a rather strange place to be - the beautiful sunshine didn't really chime with the horrendous history.  Nice boat trip around the harbour to some of the islands.

9th March
Went into Hobart, mostly to see the waterfront which was lovely.  Lots of little crafty shops in Salamanca Place, which is famous for its Saturday market (obviously we missed that).

In the afternoon we went to White Beach beach, nobody else was there.

10th March
We went to the unZoo, where we fed kangaroos and saw quolls and the infamous Tasmanian Devils.  The devils aren't really very scary, they just have a fearsome reputation because they make some horrible noises, and are carnivores which eat bones, skin, fur, etc (not at all picky).  They rarely attack anything, because usually they are eating carrion.

The kangaroos were the best, very soft and fluffy!  Then another afternoon on the beach...

11th March
We left the lovely beach house at White Beach, back on the road again! Visited some pretty incredible cliff formations at Eaglehawk Neck, then drove north to Derwent Bridge which is near Lake St Clair.

12th March
Mainly spent driving from Derwent Bridge to Cradle Mountain, with stops on the way for short walks, lunch etc.  A very rainy day, but did spot a dead wombat on the roadside.

13th March
We spent today in the Cradle Mountain National Park, which is almost pristine wilderness (although pretty busy) and absolutely stunningly beautiful.  So glad we didn't miss this bit of Tasmania.  Whereas yesterday was mostly rainy and misty, today we had sunshine all day and hardly a cloud in the sky.

We walked around Dove Lake, a 6km easy circuit with fabulous views of the spiky nunatak of Cradle Mountain (so called because some people think it looks like a baby asleep in a cradle - can't see it myself).

A good day for wildlife spotting - when I opened the door first thing a pademelon (small kangaroo thing) was sitting on the ramp outside.  This evening we had several excellent views of wombats close up, here at the cabins and back up near Dove Lake.  Got so close to one that we could pat it! On the walk we saw a quoll (another marsupial).  Yet to see a platypus, and hoping for penguins on the north coast tomorrow!

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

A flying visit to the Melbourne area

Ballarat, Australia

We have just about four days on "mainland" Australia.  We arrived late at night on Monday 2nd - it was about 11pm at night Australia-time, but because we flew west from New Zealand our clocks had to go back two hours from New Zealand time so it felt like about 1am - uggghhh!

A late start on Tuesday morning, and we went to have a look at downtown Melbourne.  It was busy and vibrant, with people, cars and trams, in a way that Christchurch must have been pre-earthquake.  Forgot to take any photos!!

On Tuesday afternoon we drove out of Melbourne, south down the coast to the surf-central town of .....Torquay.  Yes, it was named after the Torquay in England.  It has a lovely beach and good surf, but Thomas and Kitty declared the sea "too salty".  There you go.

Here's Thomas surfing like a pro!

...and Mike doing the man thing with a barbecue and some MEAT...

Followed by a little stroll along the sea front to see the surfers who were still out at dusk.

Today is Wednesday, 4th March.  Our main destination was the gold mining museum at Ballarat, but before we got there we called in at an Aboriginal culture centre - lots of really lovely Aboriginal art on posts and stones around the site - we may or may not have purchased a boomerang (you'll have to search the luggage when we get back).

This place also had emus, and baby emus, which were as tall as Kitty! These birds look so close to dinosaurs - bit spooky!  Surely the dinosaurs must have had feathers.  And, check out those dinosaur-like feet?

So far there are no sightings of koalas or kangaroos to report, although we have seen road signs warning about them.  Eyes peeled!

Reached Ballarat around lunchtime, where Mike went off to chat to the site director about museumy-type stuff and visitor numbers, and Vicky, Thomas and Kitty had a look around the site, which is huge and very well presented.

This evening we watched their sound and light show "Blood on the Southern Cross", which is the story of a dramatic battle between gold miners and (British) Government forces at Ballarat on 3 December, 1854.  There are no actors involved, just very very good sound and light, and a lot of pyrotechnics, in an open-air theatre.  It was like nothing we've ever seen before, an amazing production.

Tonight we're staying in the museum accommodation, which is 19th century mining style houses like this one!

So we've still having fun!  Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

PS leave us a comment if you've read this far, so we know you're still there!

Now departing Christchurch airport

Christchurch airport, South Island, New Zealand

Hot, hot, hot today.  We had a walk round Christchurch to see some of the earthquake damage and the temporary shops, and nearly melted!

This is the old cathedral, waiting for a decision on rebuilding:

And this is the temporary new one, made mostly out of enormous cardboard tubes:

Christchurch is gradually being rebuilt, but a lot of buildings are still waiting to be demolished and the whole central business district is cordoned off.  Temporary shops have been set up in a shopping mall made of containers, which looks very funky!

After that we went to the Botanic Gardens to cool down in the shade

Now we've dropped off our camper van and have three hours to fill in the airport, before our flight to Melbourne tonight.  So tomorrow, another country!  Apparently Melbourne is even hotter than here at the moment...

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx