Destination: East Coast

Time for a Road Trip!

On a sunny, Autumn day last week I decided to take Rachael & Hannah on a road trip to the amazing north-east coast of Tassie to soak up some sun on some of our best beaches. This area is known as the Bay of Fires and the entire coast is covered in pure white, sandy beaches and beautiful granite outcrops! We arrived at Binalong Bay just after lunch and spent some time taking photos.

Rachael spent some time playing with the settings on her new camera.

Two different views of Binalong Bay.

After spending some time on the beach at Binalong Bay we headed a few kilometres north to a place called Cosy Corner. I could see immediately why so many people love camping in this area!
What a stunning location!

There's nothing like walking on sand that squeaks! The sand all along this coastline is pristine - pure white, powdered quartz crystals.




We walked along the beach and climbed (very carefully, in my case) up over the granite boulders to get a better view of the coastline.

Hannah took some time to enjoy the views.








I enjoyed the opportunity to take photos of the girls with my camera.

I even found a seagull that was happy to pose for me...

After spending time at Cosy Corner it was time to head back to the car for the drive home.

We headed north away from the coast and into the heart of the north-east where we stopped at the famous Pyengana Cheese factory before driving a further 7 km inland to the beautiful St. Columba Falls.

I was surprised to see that the Falls are now visible from the road!

We walked through the stunning myrtle forest to view the Falls from the viewing platform.

The forest was dark in the late afternoon, but still very beautiful. The girls were on the lookout for leeches so we didn't stand in one spot for too long.

We had a long drive ahead of us to get home. We drove through the historic tin mining towns of Weldborough (I'd forgotten about the very windy Welborough Pass), Derby & Branxholm heading for Scottsdale - the largest town in the north-east. By the time we arrived at the infamous "sidling" (14 km of mountainous hairpin bends) it was dark. The sidling lived up to its reputation when I had to stop for Hannah to lose her lunch on the side of the road.

It was a long day but worth the effort to see this stunning and untouched part of Tasmania.

Autumn Harvest

Fuji, Mutsu, Royal Gala, Red Delicious...

One of my favourite times of the year is early Autumn when the days become a bit cooler and the fruit on the trees is ready for picking. Due to all the rain we had during Spring and Summer we have a bumper crop of apples this year!

Don't these Royal Gala's and Mutsu's look great!!

This year there is more than enough to share, so we haven't minded the local parrots coming in to share some of the spoils. Just wish they'd eat one whole apple instead of taking a few bites out of lots of different apples!
These photos were taken by Robert.

Tropical Getaway

Ever wanted to cruise away to a deserted island?
Robert & I did just that on the 27th December, 2010 when we sailed out of Sydney onboard the stunning ship "Rhapsody of the Seas" headed for the South Pacific nations of New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu. 10 nights of discovery, rest and relaxation to look forward to...

The beautifully decorated "Centrum"

We left Sydney on a blustery, cold evening with 2 "sea" days ahead of us before arriving at our first port-of-call, Noumea, New Caledonia. The first sea day was a bit rough with 5-7 metre seas & high winds, so I experienced some mild sea-sickness for a few hours that afternoon. On our first sea day we passed another cruise ship headed for Sydney.

The seas had calmed on our second day at sea and we joined in a special fundraising event called "Walk for Wishes", raising money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.


On Thursday morning we sailed into Noumea, New Caledonia for a day of fun activities. We chose to do 3 separate shore excursions - a glassbottom boat ride to view tropical fish & corals, a 2 hour tour of the city on a "Tchou Tchou" train and a visit to a forest bird sanctuary in the afternoon. The weather was a steamy 35 deg C - just perfect!










Swaying palms.............French Pastries............. Stunning colour

The beautiful Kagu, the national
bird of New Caledonia.









Tropical parrot fish swimming around the
glassbottom boat waiting for a feed of bread.






Views across Anse Vata
beach in Noumea.





We sailed out of Noumea in the evening headed for our next port of call, Port Vila, Vanuatu. What an experience it was to sail in to the port at 10 am in the morning past stunning tropical islands covered in dense, green vegetation against a backdrop of aqua blue waters.

I was really looking forward to our shore excursion - a ride on a
semi-submersible and a chance to snorkel amongst the corals and
tropical fish - I loved it!














I had fun playing with my new underwater
Olympus camera.
The fish were amazing!



















We sailed into the sunset away from Port Vila. I was amazed to see
this incredible kangaroo cloud appear on the horizon. We were treated to
a beautiful rainbow over the city of Vila in the late afternoon.







Our next stop....Mystery Island


























This cute little boy was posing for photos and making a
tidy profit at the same time!



Robert enjoyed wandering around the island taking many photos with his new camera. The children were getting ready to head home to the neighbouring island with their parents at the end of the day.

Lifou, Loyalty Islands was our next port-of-call.













I managed to climb to the top of the hill to the little church and the view from
the top was well worth the climb!! Doesn't the "Rhapsody" look gorgeous anchored
out in the bay?

Lifou was set aside as a chill out, beach day. I couldn't wait to get in the water. On
the back part of the island there was an amazing bay filled with coral outcrops.
I've never seen so many people snorkelling in one place before. Once again my new
camera captured some of the beauty...



























After lunch a storm started to approach in the distance and I managed to capture this image of "Rhapsody" as the sun broke through the clouds.





Robert and I "lost" each other on this island as we were both moving at different speeds. Robert enjoyed wandering around the island with his camera discovering all kinds of interesting and beautiful things to photograph while I enjoyed getting into the water and laying on the beach!
At lunch time there was a very long line of passengers waiting to board the tender craft back to the ship. The islanders were very friendly on Lifou and the kids welcomed everyone with hi 5s as we arrived and departed.



Our last stop - Isle of Pines
Unfortunately the weather deteriorated as the day wore on which was a shame as I could see that this island would be a stunning location in full sunshine. Instead I treated myself to a one hour spa session getting the full treatment - neck & shoulder massage, full facial, indian scalp massage followed by a hand and foot massage - did I say I was in heaven for an hour - you bet!!!
I'm glad I didn't get in the water here because we heard later that 2 people were bitten by sea snakes and needed medical assistance.











Everywhere we went we were treated to stunning flowers - these were two of my favourites!

After leaving Isle of Pines we spent our last 2 days at sea. Rhapsody is a fantastic ship. We were treated to 5 star meals every day, a large variety of activities to join in with, a chance to attend a show in the Broadway Melodies theatre each night before dinner, the opportunity to meet so many lovely people from different parts of Australia and around the world. The music on board was top class and, on many occasions, I felt like I had been transported back into the 1940's and 1950's - live bands playing a variety of music each evening in the dining room and throughout other locations on the ship.




Arriving home in Sydney...
Sydney Harbour is stunning at any time of the day. We sailed into the harbour at 5.30 am in the morning and it was well worth the early start to be up on deck as we approached the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before breakfast.



































After 10 days and nights of amazing food, new friends, incredible scenery and loads of pampering it was time to say goodbye to "Rhapsody of the Seas" as we left the ship for the last time. I hope its not too long before we get to have another unforgettable holiday like this again!!!

My Christmas present to us both!

Just two weeks after Oprah did it, we also climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge!!!




We flew in to Sydney on a sunny afternoon on Boxing Day (26th Dec 2010). I had booked a twilight climb thinking we'd get to see an amazing sunset from the top of the bridge. I should've known better!


We arrived at the Bridge Climb centre at 6 pm and went through the safety protocols - filling out medical forms, getting breath-tested, etc. before starting the lengthy process of getting kitted out in all the gear - special grey suit, belt with multiple clip attachments - safety belt with clip to keep us attached to a steel rod all the way, raincoat clipped on, cap clipped on and headset to hear the commentary from our guide along the way.

Its a long way to the top...

The climb starts out along level platforms under the roadway. Then a series of vertical ladders have to be scaled - with only one person at a time allowed on each ladder. Once you get past the ladders you find yourself at the bottom of the arch with an seemingly endless set of steps to be climbed. About half way up the bridge we could feel the southerly change blowing in from the Blue Mountains. The sky began to get darker and darker and we could hear thunder in the distance. We had our individual photo taken about 3/4 of the way through the climb. By this time it was blowing a gale and pouring buckets of rain!!! Thank goodness the wet weather gear they provide is top quality!!! What a great experience we were having - nothing like we expected!!!


We had 14 people in our climb group and after we made it to the top we had to wait for another set of climbers to have their group photo taken. By this time a message had come through to our guide to tell us we had to get down off the bridge immediately because the lightning storm was closing in on us fast!
We had to turn around and head back down the bridge the way we had come without getting the group photo taken or crossing from one side of the bridge to the other. It seemed to take forever to get back down off the arch, down all the ladders and back onto the platforms under the roadway. After arriving back at the bridge climb centre and removing all our gear we were told that due to the weather issues our climb was classed as incomplete. What fantastic news!!! This means we get to fly back to Sydney some time in the next 6 months and climb the bridge again - for free!!!