Kangaroos, Koalas, snakes - oh my

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Hi Everyone;

We are having a lazy day today after many full on days. We had a great time in Aussie. Last blogged we were in Sydney getting soaked. After

leaving there we went to Tassie. What a great place. Everyone is so laid back and genuine. We started off in Hobart - cute little town -old

buildings - used to be a town for criminals. If you misbehaved there then you were off to Port Arthur which was where all the real bad guys

were. We visited Port Arthur = quite the place. Tassie was an island of criminals which I'm sure you have heard about. It was very interesting

hearing about all the antics that went on. There is also the Isle of the Dead at Port Arthur which is the cemetary for the criminals and the

workers there.

We took a 3 day tour from Hobart to Strahn to Devonport. We met a great group of people from all over. (England, Ireland, Germany,

Netherlands to name a few) We went on a few hikes, the highlight being cradle mountain. Absolutely sensational as our guide "Kani" would

say. Kani had so much knowledge about the area and the aboriginals story - heartbreaking. We got to see a tiger snake (one of the top

ten poisonous snakes) Eric, from Ireland will probably never forget that snake. He had almost picked it up and was having heart

palpitations when I showed him the brochure detailing the all the poisonous species of Aussie.

Anyway that turned out to be a SENSATIONAL tour.

From there we toured around Devonport for a few days and then off to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Rd. Absolutely gorgeous!! We saw

golfing Kangaroos - in Anglesea there are so many kangaroos at the golf course they get in the way of the golfers - I don't think they like

that too much (the golfers I mean - the kangaroos couldn't care less - lots of green grass on the fairways) or

the influx of tourists that hang around the golf course.

We saw koalas at Kennett river. They are so cute. You just want to take one home with you.

Lighthouses and beautiful beaches and wildlife and of course the 12Apostles. We even got to meet a real lighthouse keeper - had a picture of him but lost it on my

camera. "Pat" was exactly what you would envision a lighthouse keeper. Rugged, weathered features, big gray bushy beard and and short.

(you have to be short to fit in some of those tight spaces)

We made it all the way to Adelaide which hosts the best South Pacific Exhibition in Aussie - artifacts from Fiji, PNG, Samoan Islands, Venatu, NZ

and of course Aussie. The medicinal portion totally intrigued me - the plants and herbs they had and used was amazing. And you should

have seen the bark the women had to use during her cycle - believe me there were no wings on those.

We made our way through the Barossa Valley - wine region - got to see Penfolds winery and of course Wolf Blas - very nice landscape -

vineyards as far as the eye could see (we thought) until we got to the Coonawara region - now that is serious vineyards. You couldn't see

the end of it. Awesome. Similar to Napa but not so commercialized. Beautiful country.

Well we got very lost in Melbourne trying to return the car so we got to see more of it than we thought. We only had one night in

Melbourne as we flew out just after midight on the 25th.

We had dinner with friends that we met in Fiji - Molly, Hy, Ilsa and Paul - great time. This is what this trip is all about - seeing the countries

is one thing but for us it's all about the people that we meet.

So now we are in Bangkok - I was terrified to come here but it isn't as bad as my imagination could make it. You always hear how crazy it is.

Anyway we are off to Ko Samui, where we are going to relax and get some special treatment at a spa. Can't wait. We'll fill you in on the

details later. Pictures to follow once we hit a computer from 2000.

Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

Love Joanne and Bill

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Comments

[Chris Ralph]

Notes from a criminal...
Hey folks, glad you had fun in Tassie, that was my home town for about 10 years. So glad you went all around and got to walk in Cradle Mountain - lots of folk skip Tassie and miss so much. The Great Ocean Road and South Australian vineyards are two more great choices, sounds like you're hitting the highlights for sure! Have fun in Bangkok... Cheers Chris

[Jill]

So great to keep getting your updates! Bangkok already!! wow - you guys are putting on some serious miles. Sounds like the sites, people and each others company is awesome. Take care of yourselves - stay safe and enjoy - Jill

[Val McIntosh]

hello
Hi guys - so glad you are having a great time. You are doing what all of us wish but just never get around to doing. Keep well and take care. love and all the best -- Ron and Val McIntosh

[Joanne]

MORE
I keep entering various contests to win a trip to Australia, as your blog made it all sound so interesting. Getting anxious for more photos, tho. Don't want U to be stress free, or you may never want to come back to work. Ha! Ha! Thanks for keeping us updated.