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Published: August 19th 2011
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After 3.5 years living in Sydney we have finally called it a day on our Aussie living experience. It was great while it lasted but the long journey from home and the difficult time difference finally persuaded us to take the leap and move on. Australia was originally meant to be a stepping stone to the Americas on our journey so we’re finally hitting the road again.
First leg - down to the bottom of the Land Down Under. After moving out of our flat in Balmain East we took up Carol and Brian’s kind offer to put us up for our final weekend in Sydney. This included regular feedings of Carol’s divine cooking and a lunch at Moo Burgers in Newtown. Yummo! Thanks for your hospitality guys, we had a fabulous time!!
First stop was Canberra to say goodbye to our friend Christina. We took a Murray’s coach from Central in Sydney to the bus depot in central Canberra and were driven by our self-labelled “Coach Captain”! There we took in the National Museum and perused through a display of the Irish in Australia entitled Not Just Ned. It featured the original iron armour from Mr. Kelly’s famous
stand-off with bullet dents and all. In the cafe we treated ourselves to a bar of Butlers Irish chocolate which they had for sale. Delightful! That night we hung out at Chrissie’s saying our goodbyes.
Thredbo Village was the next stop where we hoped to fine tune our snow skills, or as was actually the case, remember how to snow board. Oz is having a bumper year and Thredbo had plenty of the white stuff softened up by fine misty rain. Just how we like it, falling into pillows! We had a brilliant 2 days, free of the kids and crowds that make weekend trips down from Sydney so tiresome. We highly recommend staying at the YHA in Thredbo Village, the staff were very friendly, the dry room was excellent and rooms were warm. It’s a very short walk to bars and restaurants and most importantly, the ski lift. Our favourite restaurant was T Bar. It was nice and cosy, food, especially the pizza, was good and log fire a treat to toast our cold bodies.
From there we caught the Greyhound back to Canberra airport then flew to Melbourne to hang out with Joy for the weekend.
We met her in La Roche in St Kilda where we pigged out on cheap pizza and beer/cider before heading back to her place for an impromptu party with her flatmates and friends. The rest of the time we spent hanging out, recovering from the snow and taking in some cafes and bars in Melbourne’s city centre. We had such a lovely time relaxing, thanks for giving up your room for us Joy!!
Last Oz stop was Tasmania at the very bottom of the country! We camped out in the Edinburgh Gallery B&B in the state capital, Hobart. The building was old and heritage listed which although had character, in reality equals cold! The rooms were very kitsch, the manager was helpful and friendly, plus it was cheap so no complaints from us.
Tasmania is beautiful and we loved it. Twice we nipped down to the harbour front to indulge in fresh fish and chips from a floating stall called Flippers. There were more but we opted for the same place, chasing away greedy seagulls with one arm as we munched away from the other. While in town we took in the Cascade Brewery for yummy beer and cider,
a drive up to the top of Mount Wellington for spectacular views all around the south of the island and a pre-arranged tour of the hyperbaric chambers at the local hospital which is used to treat divers suffering from “the bends”.
Outside of Hobart we visited the Port Arthur historic convict site which was massive, very beautiful and excellently run and maintained. En route we stopped off at the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Centre and came face to face with the little critters as well as Quolls, a Peregrine Falcon and other indigenous wildlife like kangaroos. We decided to stay for the ghost tour at Port Arthur so we grabbed a bite to eat at the old Tudor style Fox and Hound pub and restaurant which was a treat. Our wine trip of the south on the last day was scuppered by bad weather and the winter season, rainy and many wineries were closed. We did get some nice wine from Hartzview Winery and tried something new - sheep’s cheese at the GrandvEWE Cheesery. Surprisingly tasty! Ade climbed an old 50m+ shot tower just outside of Hobart for views all around the area but Ash chickened out. The old creaky
floorboards didn’t inspire any confidence!
From Hobart we flew back to Melbourne for the night before catching a flight to Queenstown, New Zealand. Goodbye Australia !!
(More photos!! - scroll to the bottom / click to page 2)
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