A trip out to the countryside! Today we were heading out to explore the bamboo forest in the Ningbo area. The drive proved just how vast China is, we drove for two hours (we did get lost a bit) and when we reached our destination we were still in Ningbo, I think maybe even the same county. The drive wasn't too bad we left the highway and the scenery got more and more rural the further we drove. It was so nice to be out of the city and see a different side to Ningbo. We finally found the village where we were meeting the others and the bamboo farmer's house. We had drove past it several times. The family had prepared some snacks for us and I got stuck in as I was feeling pretty ... read more

8th Feb: We arrived at Sydney airport in the afternoon after a short but turbulent flight from Hobart. There were a couple of highlights on the flight. First, the two blokes sitting behind us were slagging off Tasmania for being backward, I loved their comment as the pilot announced we were flying over Launnie that they were still surprised that it had an airport and that Hobart wasn't much better. They had me in stitches. Second was a child reacting badly to the turbulence. He was shouting, "Mummy, we are going to die!" Not being a fan of flying myself, I hear you kid, he was definitely voicing my own thoughts. We took the metro into the city. That was quick, but expensive $16 for a 16 minute journey, thieves! Our hostel was a short walk ... read more

Today was going to be a longer day as the route would take us down the prong of the peninsula near to The Blade, near Cape Pillar before retracing our steps back to Munro and then on to Retakunna to spend our final night on the trail. It felt like the past two days had gone by so fast and hard to believe that this would be our final evening in the cabins. Since we would pass Munro on the way back, we didn't have to carry all our crap. Score! We could just take water, snacks, lunch and cameras. We prepared all our stuff after breakfast. The hike today was 17 kilometres, so it the longest day so far and would be the longest day on the track. We headed out on a path near ... read more

When researching our Tasmania trip, my friend came across the Three Capes Track and after looking into it, it sounded perfect for us. It is a fairly easy hike with accommodation provided, so all you have to bring is your sleeping bag and food. I love being outdoors, but am definitely not a camper, so this sounded like a good compromise to me. No having to lug and tent and pitch it or carry cooking pots and a stove, perfect! There are also only a limited amount of hikers allowed on the trail each day, so we wouldn't be overrun with other people. The hike wasn't cheap to book, but it does cover quite a bit and seeing the pictures of the area, it just looked amazingly beautiful, so sod the cost. The Three Capes Track ... read more

1st Feb: It was time to leave Cradle Mountain. Since our bus wasn't leaving until around lunchtime and we had to check out of the hostel, we headed over to the café in the information centre. I bought an extremely expensive coffee and sipped it to keep warm as it was still rather cold. Our bus left on time and we were soon making our way to Strahan, where we would be staying for the night. I can't remember the reasoning we had for staying in Strahan for one night but it was probably to do with the bus timetable. Tassie Link definitely ruled our itinerary on this trip. Anyway, the journey took a few hours and nothing really stuck out as memorable during the ride. The bus driver dropped us near to our hostel instead ... read more