Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Whitsundays - Sailing & Snorkelling Adventure
For the ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Core)long weekend, we spent a beautiful "sunny" weekend aboard the Mandrake sail boat. We met new friends from Germany, Poland and France.
We sailed the Whitsunday Islands and stopped at a few locations to snorkle the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, the sun was hidding on our second day, which made it a little more difficult to see all the beautiful fish.
We encountered dolphins, sea turtles and dugongs along the way. Melissa spent some time hanging off the side of the sail boat, poor thing was sea sick and was happy to be back on solid ground.
Whitehaven beach has to be one of the most beautiful places in Australia, in fact it is the 2nd most photographed place in Ozland!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Tazzie!!!
Term 1 Vacation-April 2-11th, 2010
Our first big trip has come to an end. Now, the details, where to begin.
Our first few days were in Sydney. We did the major attractions, Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour and shopping on George Street. We stayed in a cheap, sketchy hostel and I mean sketchy.
Saturday night we arrived in Hobart. We had time to check into our hotel and have dinner. We were tired already.
Sunday morning we had breakfast and off we went to pick up our caravan. The road trip around the island begins. The driving distances are short but the roads are very windy making travel times longer than anticipated. Lots of road kill along the way too. At some points we were so high up on the mountain that I was terrified.
We drove from West to East beginning in Mount Fields National Park; we went for hike and saw Russell Falls. It is also acclaimed to have the world’s tallest trees. Our next stop was Strahan. We went for a boat cruise on the Gordon River. It has beautiful mountain ranges of the South West Wilderness Park, a World Heritage site. We had a great “tea” or lunch on board. We had the best smoked salmon.
Cradle Mountain was our next destination. It was cold in the morning so we had to layer up for our hike. We hiked around a beautiful lake called “Dove Lake.” They are so many different hikes and adventures to do on the mountain, we were had only a day here but could have spent at least 2.
We then drove to Launceston, a major city. Our intent was to do the Boag’s Brewery but they had no more room on the tour. We went for lunch in the Cataract Gorge and walked around. A beautiful spot in the middle of the city with a crazy suspension bridge. I was having a fit on it. We got back into our caravan and our drove to Bridport. A beautiful little town, we had a campsite on the ocean.
Next stop was the best, The Bay of Fires. This was rated number one things to see by the Lonely Planet in the world. See the pictures for the best description.
Our last stop was Coles Bay and Freycinet National Park. We went for a delicious dinner in Coles Bay; it was JC’s birthday dinner. The small unique restaurant is owned by a couple. He is the fisherman and chef. The seafood was delicious.
The next morning we hiked Freycinet. We hiked to a lookout, Wineglass Bay then hiked down to Wineglass Bay, again, Beautiful.
Back on the road to Hobart and we took off for Sydney the next morning.
Tasmania is gorgeous. We can’t compare it to anywhere.
We loved camping and driving in our caravan. There are campgrounds everywhere along the way.
After a week of camping and a sketchy first stay in a hostel we decided to stay in a hotel in Sydney, call us city slickers. We enjoyed Manly Beach in Sydney, the great shopping and lots of walking.
We made it back to Ingham. Work tomorrow!!!
Next Trip, the Whitsunday April 23rd-26th.
Pictures to Come this week!!!
Mel & JC=
Our first big trip has come to an end. Now, the details, where to begin.
Our first few days were in Sydney. We did the major attractions, Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour and shopping on George Street. We stayed in a cheap, sketchy hostel and I mean sketchy.
Saturday night we arrived in Hobart. We had time to check into our hotel and have dinner. We were tired already.
Sunday morning we had breakfast and off we went to pick up our caravan. The road trip around the island begins. The driving distances are short but the roads are very windy making travel times longer than anticipated. Lots of road kill along the way too. At some points we were so high up on the mountain that I was terrified.
We drove from West to East beginning in Mount Fields National Park; we went for hike and saw Russell Falls. It is also acclaimed to have the world’s tallest trees. Our next stop was Strahan. We went for a boat cruise on the Gordon River. It has beautiful mountain ranges of the South West Wilderness Park, a World Heritage site. We had a great “tea” or lunch on board. We had the best smoked salmon.
Cradle Mountain was our next destination. It was cold in the morning so we had to layer up for our hike. We hiked around a beautiful lake called “Dove Lake.” They are so many different hikes and adventures to do on the mountain, we were had only a day here but could have spent at least 2.
We then drove to Launceston, a major city. Our intent was to do the Boag’s Brewery but they had no more room on the tour. We went for lunch in the Cataract Gorge and walked around. A beautiful spot in the middle of the city with a crazy suspension bridge. I was having a fit on it. We got back into our caravan and our drove to Bridport. A beautiful little town, we had a campsite on the ocean.
Next stop was the best, The Bay of Fires. This was rated number one things to see by the Lonely Planet in the world. See the pictures for the best description.
Our last stop was Coles Bay and Freycinet National Park. We went for a delicious dinner in Coles Bay; it was JC’s birthday dinner. The small unique restaurant is owned by a couple. He is the fisherman and chef. The seafood was delicious.
The next morning we hiked Freycinet. We hiked to a lookout, Wineglass Bay then hiked down to Wineglass Bay, again, Beautiful.
Back on the road to Hobart and we took off for Sydney the next morning.
Tasmania is gorgeous. We can’t compare it to anywhere.
We loved camping and driving in our caravan. There are campgrounds everywhere along the way.
After a week of camping and a sketchy first stay in a hostel we decided to stay in a hotel in Sydney, call us city slickers. We enjoyed Manly Beach in Sydney, the great shopping and lots of walking.
We made it back to Ingham. Work tomorrow!!!
Next Trip, the Whitsunday April 23rd-26th.
Pictures to Come this week!!!
Mel & JC=
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