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Published: December 28th 2007
Devonport
The 'Spirit of Tasmania', what a beauty!As we boarded the 'Spirit of Tasmania' night ferry on Nov. 21st, all sorts of thoughts were crossing our minds. 'Would we have a rough crossing?' and 'Would we throw up?' were the main concerns. Ten hours on the ferry would soon tell. Bass Strait is notoriously rough, and we had been warned by several previously ill travellers. For our crossing we made sure to get a cabin for the night, so that if we were to get sea sick, we could at least do it in private.
We stood out on the deck as the ship set sail; all along the shore there were families come to wave off their loved ones, so we waved too. As we headed out to sea, we were treated with an incredibly beautiful sunset. We enjoyed dinner and drinks, then finally headed off to bed in our wee little cabin.
Some time in the middle of the night, Christine woke up to the ship rolling and plunging along; she almost fell out of her bunk at one point. Lying awake while the ship rocked and groaned, she could only laugh to herself since somehow, incredibly, Andy slept the whole night through! It
'Spirit of Tasmania'
Our wee little room! was a proud moment, no barfing! The next morning she could only try to describe the waves as Andy looked at her in disbelief.
After a quick shower in the mini bathroom, and a quick coffee as the ship cruised into the Melbourne harbour, we grabbed our backpacks and headed off the giant ferry. As usual we had no idea where we were staying or how we were getting there, so we relaxed for a moment, gathered our thoughts, and then made our move. We took a short taxi ride to a hostel, crossed our fingers and asked for a room. As it was 7 in the morning, we managed to secure the last available room in the place.
Hostels aren't our usual choice of stay, we prefer cheap hotels since they are usually a bit more mellow, but being in the big city of Melbourne, with hotel prices through the roof, the idea seemed pretty good. We ended up in a small but conveniently located room, with free breakfast (toast + coffee) and other amenities. We were there and we were settled, a good combo to aim for when travelling.
First things first, we walked around
'Spirit of Tasmania'
Sunset at departure time and saw the main sights of Melbourne, such as the beautiful Botanical Gardens, a relaxing place filled with birds, trees and plants from all over the world, and people as well. Then we saw the 'Shrine of Remembrance' a monument to those who served in the Great War. There were detailed descriptions of the lives of Aussies who were prisoners under the Japanese after Japan attacked the British in Malaya (Malaysia). It was quite a moving place.
We watched the trams go by in the streets, and were surprised to see a pair of decked out camels on one corner, waiting to be photographed with the next curious tourist. The streets were packed with people from all over the globe, as well as locals enjoying the same great city that we were. I guess millions of people can't be wrong, Melbourne is a happening place.
For four days we wandered the streets; eating, shopping, visiting a great art gallery, and even seeing a movie, an Imax film in 3D on deep sea creatures and their habitats. The highlight though was the Queen Victoria Market, which was only a block away from our hostel. An immense market full of
Melbourne
Cruising the streets jewelry, food, booze, clothing, crafts, electronics and more; you name it and it was somewhere at the QV Market.
It was great, we loved this city, but it was time to get moving. We missed our little tent, the great outdoors, and the beautiful rugged landscape. It was time to enjoy the open road in another sweet Aussie ride, so again we rented a car and set off to drive our way up the coast, from Melbourne to Sydney.
Getting out of Melbourne was a little complicated since it was much busier than Tasmania, but once we were out of the city, it was smooth sailing. On to our next stop, Wilson's Promontory National Park, known by the locals as Wilson's Prom. Everyone that we spoke to told us they loved it here and it was easy to see why. There was wildlife everywhere, beautiful beaches, and lots of trails with hiking times of five minutes to five days. For those who want civilization while they camp, a small store and cafe were located on sight in case you want a coffee, burger or souvenir.
There were rosellas (red parrots) everywhere, kookaburras in the trees, sea gulls,
and many more that we didn't know the names of. We went out one night looking for wombats (actually we stalked them with a flashlight). They were very funny, about the size of a pot bellied pig, a similar shape, and they were happily munching along the side of the highway. The wind blew crazily where our tent was; we thought it was seriously going to blow away, with us in it!
We walked several smaller trails, then hiked up the star attraction of the mountains, Mount Oberon. Just yet another great Australian view for us to enjoy. We could see everything clearly down below in miniature as the winds blew the clouds right over our heads. It was an awe inspiring place so we sat down on the top of the cliffs to enjoy it. It was a hard place to leave; we could feel that our excitement for the great Australian outdoors had once again returned.
Next stop, Lakes Entrance, which was a few hours drive up the coast. Strangely, the whole time we had been camping in Australia, we had seen very few bugs. Nothing much to comment on, a few huge but harmless Huntsmen
Wilson's Prom
Here's the Kookaburra, but where's the Gum tree? spiders, some ants, and a few mosquitoes. We found it pretty strange seeing that Australia has such a reputation for its insects. Well, all that was soon to change.
As we drove into town, we spotted a couple people wearing full mesh head covers! 'Tourists', we thought, as we pulled up to our campsite. The instant that we stepped out of the car, we knew the purpose of the silly headgear. As we set up our tent, hundreds (seriously!) of annoying flies began landing on us, not biting, but walking all over our faces, hair and bodies. We retreated to the inside of the car, flailing about like mad, but they followed us in as we closed the door. It was insane; we've never had a bug experience like it before. Later, as we took a walk, we noticed that everyone had a branch in their hand, and used it as a fly swatter.
Other than that, it was a pretty nice place. Little cafes dotted the main road, pelicans and graceful black swans drifted along the shoreline, and we were treated with the most gorgeous sunset as we walked along the waterfront. Still, it was time to
Wilson's Prom
A cheesy moment head off, since our flight to Malaysia was less than a week away.
We haven't mentioned it yet, but driving again in Australia was gorgeous. We were treated with incredible scenery. We drove along the Princes highway, passing acres of cows, sheep and crops. Just beautiful, rolling, green remote pieces of land that anyone could only dream of living on. The only down side was the massive amount of road kill that we saw, and we still hadn't seen any living kangaroos.
We figured that we would go to another park, since they were treating us pretty well so far. Our next stop, Eurobodalla National Park, was much smaller than we had imagined. However, we soon discovered that around the corner from where we set up our tent was a huge expanse of beach. We walked along the sand for a couple hours, then to our surprise, discovered that we were allowed to have a small campfire. Most places that we had stayed at so far had banned fires, due to drought, so it was something we hadn't had the pleasure of doing so far. A little red wine, a couple beers, and some camp food sounded like
Wilson's Prom
So big, no wonder they call it a 'Man Fern'! a plan, so we headed into town to get our supplies.
As we drove along the narrow dirt road into town, Christine slammed on her brakes and skidded to a dusty halt along the side of a grassy field. Finally, the one sight that had so far eluded us, live kangaroos! They pricked up their ears and hopped away so fast that we just had time to snap a quick picture. We stood there in amazement and watched them hop into the distance before vanishing into the woods.
Returning to our camp site, we happily lit a fire, enjoyed dinner and some wine, looked at the amazing stars overhead, and crawled into our little tent. Morning soon rolled around and we woke up just like any other morning in the tent. Well almost, except this time we had a little visitor (well, Christine certainly did). It happened that a tick had decided her back looked like a warm, happy and tasty little home. Andy thought that this was really cool, and wanted to take a photo. Christine insisted that this was no Kodak moment, and to grab the damn tweezers. Out they came, but the tick had decided
Mount Bishop, Wilson's Prom
Smile pretty for the camera! to fight back, using all it's might to stay in its new home. But the third try was lucky, the tick finally gave up. Andy decided that the remaining red lump was nothing a little anti-bacterial ointment wouldn't cure. Then we looked at our travel guide, which indicated ticks could carry and pass on Tick Typhus. Aaahhh!! But so far so good...
We packed up our gear after all the excitement, and drove again for a few hours until we reached Jervis Bay National Park. It seemed a nice enough little campground nestled in the bush, but was packed full of families and couples. A bit overwhelming, that is until we left the campground, walked down a little trail, and to our surprise found an amazingly long stretch of white sand, clear turquoise water and ocean birds flying all around. It was the perfect opportunity to take a refreshing swim and then finish off the remaining red wine and snacks left from the night before. We watched the sun set and it was hard, but we finally left the beach after a relaxing afternoon.
One more National Park to go, the Blue Mountains. The famous park about 1.5
Wilson's Prom
Alright, you can have some of my lunch! hours outside of Sydney, where everyone loves to go and get away from the daily hustle and bustle of the city. There they get to hike, bike, enjoy the peace, and so we had heard, see some fantastic views. However, when we got there we realized that the weather was the worst we've seen since our travels had begun. The rain was torrential; in fact it was so bad that many of the local camp sites had been closed due to flash flooding. We checked out a caravan park in Katoomba, saw the marsh where tenting was allowed, and decided that camping was out of the question, even for us seasoned tenters. We ended up just drying off and staying in a hundred year old guest house, also a neat experience. We would wait until morning to see if the weather improved.
It didn't. The next morning, the fog was so thick that we couldn't see where we had parked our car, let alone see down into the canyons below. Just to be sure, we drove out to a view point; sure enough there were half a dozen tourist buses with their passengers wandering around looking more than slightly
Wilson's Prom
Typical Aussie signage put out! That decided it, we would drive back to Sydney, hope that Jen and Nick wouldn't mind us returning early, and just let go of our plan to see the Blue Mountains. We got out of the area as quick as we could, and within half an hour, the weather had changed from fog and rain to blue skies and sunshine! We were soon back in Sydney, happy to be warm and dry.
Our change of plans meant that we now had time to visit the Sydney Zoo. The following morning we dropped off our car and made our way down to the harbour, where we took a cruise out to the zoo, a tram up a hill, and we were there. It is apparently a world famous zoo, especially since the animal habitats are quite large, and well maintained, not to mention a photographer's dream. It was divided into sections; an Australian, African, and Asian part, as well as reptiles, insects, birds, you name it. We were told not to miss the bird show, but out of nowhere the craziest storm appeared and everyone fled to covered areas. The rain pelted down for close to an hour.
Lakes Entrance
Only in Australia...if you can't make out the sign, it says 'Only a little bit over? You bloody idiot' Then we missed our tram ride down to the bottom (it was closed due to the weather) and had to sprint down the hill to catch the last ferry. As tired as we were, it hadn't stopped us from having a great afternoon at the reputable Sydney Zoo.
The following day was the big day we had all been waiting for, the day that Tim, Jacqueline and Mike arrived to spend the night at Jen and Nick's place as well. It was a real reunion; Tim and Jen knew each other from Maple Ridge, and the rest had never met, so there were lots of introductions, excitement, and many stories to be told. It was also our last day in Australia, Dec. 4th.
Jen and Nick surprised us all by hosting a 'Christmas Dinner', since most of us wouldn't be home for the holidays this year. We all thought that this was a fantastic idea! It turned out to be an amazing feast. The table was filled with roast leg of lamb, yams, beets, olives, local cheeses, many wines and beer, ciders, fresh bread, you name it. We even had Christmas crackers to pull and the paper crowns
Lakes Entrance
Those damn pesky flies! to wear at dinner, not to mention the jokes and cool prizes. We all toasted, to old and new friends, to hosts and guests, to Canadians and Australians, to travel and to Christmas at home. To top off the meal, just when we thought it couldn't get any better, Nick made his famous Pavlova dessert. A baked meringue with whipped cream and local fruit on top. After dinner, things got very silly, with costumes coming out of nowhere, and an impromptu 15 year anniversary Scottish Dancing performance. It's a wonder we all got up in the morning.
The reunion dinner was the perfect way to end our amazing trip Down Under. Our flights were staggered throughout the day, Mike left first, back to Vancouver, then us to Malaysia, followed by Tim and Jacq back to Hobart. The time had flown, but with lots of great memories and a lot more laughs, we said our good-byes to Australia and our friends, and headed off. Malaysia here we come!
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sarah
non-member comment
where in the world....
will you be for new years? Loving your blogs guys. Glad you took the step to share your experiences with everyone. Sounds like you are having a great time and I cant wait to read more. Have a great New Years Eve and all the best for 2008.