After some rain overnight, this morning was fine and sunny albeit with a bit more cloud cover than we had yesterday. Since the weather was holding we decided to complete a couple more short walks on the Freycinet Peninsula. First we took a short stroll out to the Cape Toureville Lighthouse. From the tip of the cape we had a fantastic view back towards Wineglass Bay with Mount Graham and Mount Freycinet behind. And finally, before leaving the magnificent Freycinet National Park behind us, we walked in to Sleepy Bay which was looking very beautiful this morning with a couple of gulls bobbing around on its calm, turquoise waters. We drove back out to the Tasman Highway and turned north for Bicheno. Although the weather was deteriorating we had to stop at Bicheno to check out ... read more

Our run of outstandingly beautiful weather came to an end this morning! We packed our bags while looking out on a rather gloomy day from our room at the Fountainside Hotel. We packed the car in light drizzle and then headed off to the Frogmore Creek Winery at Cambridge. We have been enjoying a bottle (or two, or three!) of Storm Bay Merlot whilst eating out here in Tasmania. Frogmore Creek Winery sells its wines under the Frogmore Creek, Meadowbank, 42° South and Storm Bay labels. We tasted our way through most of their tasting list and left the winery with a Meadowbank sparkling, a Storm Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and a couple each of the Storm Bay Merlot and Cab/Merlot. OK, we've done the wine tasting now let's do the cheese tasting ... as you do ... read more

This morning we took the 11.00am Mona Roma (fast catamaran ferry) from the Brooke Street Ferry Terminal up the Derwent River to Berriedale. We booked the 'Posh Pit' tickets which gave us access to an exclusive lounge, bar and private deck. As soon as we were seated we were offered a glass of Moorilla sparkling wine. OMG, the decadence of it, we started drinking before midday today! It's only a 20 minute cruise to Berriedale, but the staff were buzzing around topping up our glasses just about as quickly as we were drinking. I had to decline the third top up in order to be sober enough to walk up the 99 steps from the dock to MONA!! From Berriedale we had a good view back towards the city centre and up to Mount Wellington. It ... read more

We survived the night without mobile coverage, access to the internet and heating!! The accommodation at Lake St Clair is true 'wilderness' accommodation with no wi-fi and no service on either the 3G or 4G networks. And we turned the heating off to sleep and we were plenty warm enough under the doona. This morning we completed three of the short Cradle Mountain walks. First we walked via Cynthia Bay on the Watersmeet Trail to the point where the Cuvier & Hugel Rivers converge before entering Lake St Clair. As we walked along this path we saw three yellow-tailed black cockatoos which was quite exciting - certainly the closest that we have been to yellow-tailed black cockatoos. Hopefully we managed to take at least one decent photo! From the bridge at Watersmeet we completed the Platypus ... read more

We had an early start this morning for our Gordon River Cruise because we were due at the cruise office down at Strahan Wharf at 8.00am for an 8.30am departure. The alarm was supposed to be set to go off at 6.30am, but didn't. Fortunately Bernie woke up at 6.31am anyway. He must have a Jack Reacher-like inbuilt alarm clock in his head? The weather was absolutely beautiful as we walked from Risby Cove around to the wharf. The sky was blue and the sun was rising into the sky behind Water Tower Hill. We could not have chosen a better day to be taking a Gordon River Cruise. As the Lady Jane Franklin II made her way out into Macquarie Habour the only blot on the horizon was a band of low cloud hanging over ... read more