Blogs from Tasmania, Australia, Oceania - page 4

It was sad to leave Helen behind in Sydney but we had had a lovely holiday with her and a lovely last night in Sydney with her and Wildy in Mr Wong's. It was also a relief to be able to board the ship, the Silver Muse, but it took a long time as everyone had to fill in long questionnaire and be temperature checked. As we had been through Singapore we had to have ours checked every day for 14 days after leaving Singapore. We have got through that and passed the test- we are normal! The first stop was 2 days in Melbourne. On the first we met two friends who were on our Trivia team on the last cruise. They took us to the Stokehouse in St.Kilda's and we had a lovely afternoon ... read more

Cradle Mountain is situated in a National Park and is a very popular area for hikers and campers. We stayed in the Lemon-thyme Wilderness Resort which is reached by a long winding narrow road and is about a 40 minute drive from Cradle Mountain. All the cabins are surrounded by trees and beautiful large tree ferns and feels sometimes quite primitive, but the cabins are cosy and the staff in the bar/restaurant are very helpful. You have to drive to the Cradle Mountain Carpark from where you take a shuttle bus to whichever walk you decide to do. It was so cold we had to buy hats and gloves before we set off! The most popular walk is around Dove Lake, but for some reason we decided to do the more arduous Crater Lake walk. The ... read more

It is only 1and half hour flight from Sydney to Hobart via JetStar an economy airline therefore restrictions on baggage etc. We left unwanted stuff in Helen's car at a secure car park. We stayed in a two bedroomed apartment in The Old Woolstore Hotel, which is close to the centre and harbour and is well appointed. It is a short stroll down to the Harbour, where we had a pleasant light lunch at Pearl & Co. A special Mona Rova ferry takes you on a short ride to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. The ferry ride includes tickets for the Gallery, which is very new and very weird. We were given devices which you point at the art work when you are close and it says what it is. There were one ... read more

'So where are you off to?' Asks George, or is it Dave From George and Dave's cafe in Shearwater? We had just driven straight from Devonport after our overnight crossing from Melbourne. I had been in fear and trepidation of sea sickness but slept like a baby lightly rocked in the cabin. Or of course it could have been the sea sickness pill I took which just knocked me out! So, where were we going? I couldn't blame jetlag but I was stumbling on the pronunciation of Narawntapu. 'I don't know how to pronounce it...the one that used to be called Asbestos Ranges.' 'Ah, Narawntapu,' he grins. I try again. 'It's easy,' says Dave or George,'you just say Now-I-want-a-poo and sort of run it all together.' We both try with limited success but enough to make ... read more

Ab jetzt geht es für mich alleine weiter und das nächste Ziel stand an: Tasmanien… oder besser gesagt: Die europäische Variante von Australien. Zunächst mal wurde es kühler und obwohl es Sommer war und die Sonne schien, ging ein kühler Wind in Hobart, der größten Stadt in Tasmanien. Schuhe und Socken waren plötzlich notwendig. Glücklicherweise kam ich in ein ganz herzliches Hostel mit sehr viel Socialising, d.h. mit vielen Langzeitgästen, die Work&Travel machten oder in Hobart arbeiteten und dadurch dieses Hostel zu ihrem zweiten Zuhause gemacht haben. In Hobart musste ich mich erst einmal ein bisschen zurecht finden. Es ist eine unheimlich süße Hafenstadt, die ganz im Zeichen des Segelns steht. Das Klima hier ist rauer und es erinnert alles an den Norden Englands, Schottland oder Irland. So unternahm ich in den ersten Tagen erst einmal ... read more