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Published: November 14th 2012
Wine Glass bay
Wine Glass BayKate saw the penguins last night and so that just leaves the Wine Glass Bay on the to-do list, and possibly Kate's Berry Farm. Having ordered an 8.30am breakfast we awoke @ 8.31am - so the day started with a panic!! We drove to Freycinet National Park at a leisurely pace a photo opportunity and a coffee (fairly naff) chucked in for good measure.
The ladies at the Freycinet National Park Visitors Centre shook their heads pessimistically - "it's a difficult walk upto the Wine Glass Bay lookout point and you'll need proper boots, an artic kagool, etc, etc". Looking at the ascent it seemed far less daunting than walking from Great Malvern up to The Beacon - so we decided to give it a stab. We took our time and 45 minutes later we arrived to find breathtaking views and other folk without professional walking gear!!
On the way back we popped into Richardson's Bay which had another glorious, deserted and long beach. This left time for us to finish off the afternoon by popping into Kate's Berry Farm for scones with boysenberry jam. Evening food was fish & chips taken out of paper on the
Richardsons Bay
Richardson's Bay sea front (a la Megan), although you don't generally get battered shark & chips in Barmouth!!
Tuesday A 7am wake-up call and an early breakfast and we we were on our way - this seems like the start of a 6 day journey home!! Hertz now gets my vote as the top car-hire firm in the world - we left a mobile phone in the hire car and their representative hunted us down in the airport terminal to return this. This is typical of the impressive Australian service that we have experienced - grumpy 'I'm doing you a favour' english service is going to be a disappointment. The 'nice' Hertz man also confirmed that JC's lingering Aussie cold could well last two weeks.
Our overnight 'budget' hotel at Melbourne Airport was adjacent to the £200/night (room only) Park Royal and so we took the advice of our receptionist and went over there for a bite to eat in the evening. Clutching our last $50 note we enjoyed a lavish burger & chips (JC), club sandwich & chips (Kate) followed by a pint of beer and a glass of wine. Food was well upto the mark, alcohol was
Kates Farm Shop
Kate's Farm Shop mediocre - a sign of our being acclimatised to the cost of living here is that we didn't blink at spending £6.50 for a pint of beer!! Replete, we left the high rollers and meandered back to our hotel to watch an hour unusually interesting Aussie TV.
Tomorrow, Brunei!!
Kate's thoughts Very many thanks to Terry for suggesting Redcliffe - it was idyllic- comfortable, welcoming and peaceful!!!!
We slept like logs and really enjoyed the garden, Molly the sheepdog and Bobby the Merino sheep. Gail and Nigel were extremely welcoming and breakfast which included home made bread and eggs from their own chickens was served in a beautiful dining room laid out with fresh flowers - it was super
I can see why Tasmania would appeal to expats. It is like Wales with sun but like the rest of rural Australia has miles of empty beaches and roads.
We are on the return leg now- with as John says" mixed feelings"- wonder what Brunei will be like??
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