Saturday Jan 23rd ~ Sunday 24th...

Firstly, Happy Birthday Dean...have a good’un

Oh well here we go, the long haul home. This has been a fantastic adventure, worth the flight money alone just to see a Koala never mind all the other fantastic sights. Our 2 months have been busy yet relaxing, packed with sights yet unhurried. We are so impressed with Australia, the land, the nature, the fauna but most of all the people. The people are what make any country & you will not find better than Australians. We envy their lack of inhibitions & freedom from class & traditions. They are proud (quite rightly) to be Australian yet not jingoistic; they are friendly & welcoming & enjoy sharing their paradise with both the short term visitor and the permanent. They seem to have taken the best from the ‘motherland’ & discarded the worst.

Above all else it is their happy attitudes that will keep us warm long after the sun has set. Thank you Australia, a land of “cobber’s” & thank you AVEVA for making this trip financially possible.

We hope you have in some way enjoyed following our adventure. We look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Till the next time, love & hugs,
Jeff & Janet

Friday Jan 22nd...

We decide to spend our last day in the city & explore. There is plenty to see here in Adelaide & lots of evening entertainment with restaurants & bars & clubs. It is hugely enjoyable kicking around a city with no appointments & plenty of people to watch. I could do this for a living. We visit the Art gallery for some culture, walk along the river & see Adelaide’s highlights. I won’t list them here; if you have visited you are aware of them, if not then when you do visit you will find them for yourself. Adelaide city is on a plain, nice & flat, easy walking with hills on the east & sea on the west, a perfect location. But then again i could say that last sentiment of Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney Melbourne or Perth.

love & nearly done hugs,

jeff janet

Thursday 21st Jan...

We return the Camper van & head into Adelaide. First impressions are often permanent & first impressions of Adelaide are very good.

Adelaide for us, is the most European of Australian cities, a cafe culture & tree lined streets. It is clearly populated by many nationalities yet feels sound & not fractured. It is an easily navigated city with a rigid grid layout of roads at its centre. Around the city centre are numerous green areas including the compulsory botanical garden, zoo & yet more trams. Is there a more pleasant way of travelling & for the tourist of seeing a city than on a tram? The city is completed as all Australian cities appear to be with a port & a river, the river Torrens.

We have been very impressed with the cities we have visited; they are clean, friendly & warm like an old friend. I guess part of the familiarity is the abundance of English place & street names. We ride the free bus, such a good idea & see as much as we can.

In the evening we manage to get into a small comedy venue & see 10 local comedians compete for a slot at the Edinburgh fringe. It is good entertainment, very funny & inspiring to watch the performers struggle with their nerves yet still be funny.

It has been very warm today & it is a lovely walk back to our apartment with the temperature still around 30. We are both comfortable with this range of temperature now, how will we feel when we get home we wonder? Cold we suspect.

love & warm hugs

jeff & janet

Wednesday 20th Jan...

After a short stay on its beach, we depart Robe & head north to Adelaide. We drive along South Australia’s coastal road past Meningie & through the Coorong National Park. A beautiful coastal park with sand dunes & scrub & lakes & wild birds.

Later the route takes us through some of South Australia’s wine region & we pass vineyard after vineyard with very enticing tasting opportunities. The countryside reminds us of home, rolling hills & orchards & farms & woods & green fields. We eventually set camp at Christies Beach, a convenient camp for returning the van tomorrow, just 25 kms south of Adelaide & a west facing beach with a delightful sunset for the end of this road trip, how poetic.

For the second time we clean the van ready for its return, for the second time its cleaner than when we got it!

love & nearly done hugs,

jeff & janet

Jeff and Janet’s last blog entry from Oz...

Well, we are nearly at the end of our redundancy road trip. Our internet contract runs out today and we will not bother renewing it for the last two days so this will be our last entry from Aus.

Without doubt this has been the best trip we have ever experienced; we have only touched a tiny bit of this enormous country and every bit has impressed us in some way and some bits to the point where we have promised to return.

The friendliness of the Aussies has made our trip so much more enjoyable, their enthusiasm for life and their happy attitude has been refreshing and we can fully understand why they call us whingeing poms!

In short:
60 days, Thousands of klms &
Brisbane
Byron Bay
Binna Burra
Surfer’s Paradise
KingsCliffe
Moreton Bay
Redcliffe
Bribbie Island
Glasshouse Mountains
Maleny
Mooloolaba
Noosa Heads
Rainbow Beach
Tin Can Bay
Fraser Island
Tannum Sands
Airlie Beach
Hook Island
Whitsunday Island
Daydream Island
Townsville
Magnetic Island
Mission Beach
Dunk Island
Muggy Muggy Beach
Ellis Beach
Great Barrier Reef – Michaelmas Cay
Daintree National Park
Cape Tribulation
Port Douglas
Kurrunda
Cairns
Uluru
Sydney
The Blue Mountains
Tasmania
Hobart
Freycinet Natinal Park
Bicheno
Low Head
Launceston
Gowrie Park
Cradle Mountain National Park
Hamilton
Bruny Island
Melbourne
Philip Island
Jan Juc
Torquay
Great Ocean Road
Bells Beach
Anglesey
Kennett River
Princetown
12 Apostles
Port Campbell
Port Fairy
The Grampians – Hall Gap
Mackenzie Falls
Robe
Christies Beach
Adelaide

And numerous other places, too many to mention, too many people, too many wonderful sites and not enough time.

Just one piece of advice to you all – do it!

see you all soon, love & homecoming hugs,

jeff & janet

Adams hat sighted...

Local fisherman reports that he saw a hat like object floating back towards the coast on the morning tide.

Sadly for Adam, it was a false alarm. The object turned out to be 2 soiled disposable nappies in a canvas bag.

Adam maintains his hat vigil....

Tues 19th Jan - Adam Kennett...

So we decide to leave Halls Gap & head back to the coast. An attempt at some sunshine, Halls Gap is cloudy today & a preference to drive along the coast for the final part of our road trip as opposed to driving back to Adelaide inland. It is a good decision; the drive gets warmer & sunnier the closer we get to the coast. Beachport is definitely worth a revisit, a lovely small coastal town with gorgeous beaches & turquoise seas. After a brief stop we drive onto Robe. We will stay here tonight. Another lovely location, wonderful setting & beautiful beaches & more importantly, SUN!

On one of Robe’s beaches we meet Adam Kennett, a lonely figure, staring out to sea. His tale is evidence, if needed, that life can sometimes be so cruel. His tale begins at 18, he starts work as a sheep shearer & before his first day his parents gift him a John Day “Akubra” hat. John Day are the Rolls Royce of hats & Adam is very proud of his. A John Day hat will easily last a man his lifetime & probably his sons lifetime as well. He tells us from this day forth he kept that hat on his head only removing it for haircuts, to scratch his head & for sleeping, even for sleeping only moving it from the top of his head to cover his face. Life is good for Adam, he works & becomes a top sheep shearer, he fishes (his other love before his wife came along) & he wears his hat, day & night. Locals refer to him as Adam The Hat. He marries at 22 years of age & his new wife, after 7 years of marriage, has never seen Adam without his hat on & they have 6 children.

Then at age 29 his life changes. Adam goes fishing at his favourite location, Robe west beach. A strong wind whips his beloved hat off his head into the sea. He breaks both of his fishing rods trying to recover his hat, in vain. The hat is taken out to sea & from that day till now, 27 months 18 days, Adam gives vigil every day at the same beach in the desperate hope that the hat will be returned by the sea & his life will continue. For Adam the hat is all that is good about his life, he is obsessed by the hat & its loss. Adam lost his job sheep shearing as the wool industry takes a massive down turn although he denies that his continued absence had anything to do with it. Adams young wife leaves him, he believes because she could not stand his appearance without his hat denying that his hat loss depression had anything to do with it.

All that Adam has is hope, hope that the sea will return his hat, locals now call him Adam Beach, & hope that the hats return will also return his fortunes. Poor Adam, the hat is just a hat & it’s gone, he has handed responsibility for his life over to the hat, not realising that it is he that controls his life not a lost hat.

We leave Adam staring out to sea, tired eyes scanning a distant horizon with desperate hope & the rock koalas gently mocking him from the cliffs above.

Love & hatless hugs,
Jeff & Janet.

Monday 18th Jan

Today we visit McKenzie falls & some other waterfalls. Then after lunch we set off to walk & scramble up to Chatauqua peak an ascent of 200 metres. Janet is a natural, scrambling up the rock like an experienced mountain goat, i struggle to keep up with her.

We are rewarded with magnificent views once at the top, well worth the effort & we have the place to ourselves.

Before dinner we walk along Lake Bellfield dam.

love & tired legs hugs

jeff & janet

Janet says she'll get dinner tonight...

Sunday 17th Jan...

Up early & we drive to The Grampians, a national park with forests & mountains inland about 300 klms from the coast. We find a campsite then walk to The Pinnacle via The Grand Canyon & Silent Street. After our walk we explore Halls Gap.

It is like the Lake District or Scottish highlands, beautiful & serene. Magnificent views with lots of hills to climb. You can do everything here, climb, canoe, fish, walk, cycle. It is an outdoor playground.

Tomorrow will be huge fun...

love & mountain hugs

jeff & janet

Good question...

Saturday 16th Jan

We explore Port Fairy, a very pretty & busy seaside village. Then we drive along coast to visit Portland, a very old & still active port. Further on we drive & visit Cape Nelson lighthouse & Cape Bridgewater. We have said this many times & yet again, the beaches are beautiful. You drive along then out of nowhere a stunning beach appears, almost empty & very inviting. This coast is not as warm as North Queensland & the sea is cooler but they are equal in beauty.

On the drive back to Port Fairy we are suddenly made very aware of how dangerous driving is here. Janet is driving, within the speed limit & from nowhere a kangaroo lopes across the road no more than 8 feet in front of the van. It is large & would clearly do a lot of damage. It seems totally oblivious to the proximity of the van & maintains a constant speed & course. Thankfully it all passed quickly & we did not hit it. Only after did we begin to imagine ‘what if.’

Sadly a day or two earlier we passed a mother & baby kangaroo dead in the road, that had only just been hit & the car that hit them & its bewildered driver & passengers. They really do come from nowhere & if you drive at speed anything can happen.

The kangaroo population are obviously unaware that Janet & I are driving here. Maybe the UK government should introduce kangaroos to British roads that might get rid of the idiots!

Love & safe hugs,
Jeff & Janet

Reuters News Flash 17-01-2010 18:17 Central Time

A previously believed extinct species of Koala has been reportedly spotted in The Grampians, Victoria.

Bruce Highway, the world renowned bushman & naturalist has allegedly captured an image of the Rock Koala while exploring the Pinnacles in the Grampians. The Rock Koala was believed to be extinct around the beginning of the 20th century. This sighting now opens up the possibility that a group of Rock Koala’s have managed to survive & remain unseen for over one hundred years.

Bruce Highway said “I was trekking & mapping a new route across the Pinnacle when I spied an overweight Koala sleeping on a rock. He looked sound asleep, so using my bush skills I got closer & took some photographs. I was gob smacked, we all thought the Rock Koala was lost forever & there was an elderly specimen right in front of me. He stayed asleep while I took photos & checked him over. He only woke when he heard me open my choc bar wrapper. At first he seemed a bit confused & had a dazed expression on his face. But as soon as he saw my chocolate bar he appeared more alert, in fact he got quite friendly & then aggressive when he’d eaten all the chocolate bar so that I had to shoo him off with the threat of employment. The little bugger stole my best hat. They can move quickly when they want to.”

Local authorities along with British benefit fraud officers, are checking Bruce Highways Rock Koala claim & late last night refused to comment.

Sunday 17th Jan...

Today we say goodbye to the coast & head inland to the Grampians national park, for some walking. Not sure if we will get internet connection it has been very sporadic along the Great Ocean Road. So if blogs stop don't worry we will update when in Adelaide.

be good all & have fun,

jeff & janet

Grey Nomads...

No not migrating Koala's, it is an Australian term for people who are late middle aged (ha ha) & travelling round Australia spending their children’s inheritance. They call them the Grey Nomads & we have just been officially accepted as honorary oversees Grey Nomads. There is only one rule; Grey Nomads must at all times seek to have fun. Our kind of club!

love & grey nomadic hugs,

jeff & janet

Janet tells Jeff to get down out of tree....

Stubi Tao...

Forgot to say that on Bruny island we met Stubi Tao (pronounced; Stubby Toe) a Japanese trainee bush guide. He has been studying Bruny Island for seven years & says he now knows the island like the underside of his feet. Before we can say anything his boots & socks are off & he is proving his knowledge of the underside of his feet to a small crowd. What is unusual about his feet is the length of his toes. His toes are no longer than 3mm. Apparently he knows all the protruding rocks & tree roots on this island. That’s how he got his name he tells us, you don’t say!

love & sore toe hugs

jeff & janet

Saturday 16th Jan...

We settle at Port Fairy & take a look around. It is a very pretty village on the coast with good amenities & beaches. Today is laundry day & later we visit Portland a little way up the coast.

Lunch at another light house & we drive back. Rain clouds coming in, temperature has dropped again, oh we wish we were back in Queensland, we are not used to this cool weather. What a shock it will be to come home to the UK & possibly snow!!

Janet likes Port Fairy, lots of shoe shops & it is flat.....

;-)

love & shivering hugs

jeff & janet

Friday 15th Jan...

We leave the bustling township of Princetown (3 houses & 2 sheds) early & hit the Great Ocean Road. First up, the 12 Apostles quickly followed by Loch Ard Gorge, Broken London Bridge & numerous other viewing sites, all stunning & amazing. Sadly after a succession of stunning views the tourist becomes a bit “oh yeah another view.” I know it’s bad but it is human nature, everything needs to be bigger, louder, taller, and shinier. Perhaps we need more of an Aboriginal view & accept things for what they are or to see things through the eyes of a child & always be impressed. Anyway the Great Ocean Road is for the most part stunning. It is not always on the coast with stretches inland through forests & meadows. This section around the 12 Apostles, has so many stopping & viewing places that it is probably best viewed by motorcycle or air by helicopter. The Great Ocean road is in fact a memorial to those Victorians that lost their lives during the First World War, being built, much by hand, by the returning soldiers. We continue driving & eventually we arrive at our destination for tonight, Port Fairy. In the evening we visit Tower Hill wild life reserve & Koroit.

love & hugs

Janet & jeff

Thursday 14th Jan...

Binoculars – check, camera – check, map – check. We are ready for our koala expedition and set off early to Kennet River – which isn’t a river at all but a nature reserve. As the road is gravel, we park the van at the bottom and start the steep walk up. The first part of the reserve is a bit scraggy but as we walk a bit higher the eucalypt trees are in abundance and we have our first koala spotting of the day. And then another, and another, oh and in that tree there are two together and before we know it we are seeing koala everywhere. Large, small, a couple with babies, most asleep, but some awake. One on the move up the tree, one eating and then wow right in front of me, at head height almost within touch is a koala, and its awake. Although it appears to be looking at us we have been told that they have extremely poor sight and can only see us as shapes but their sense of hearing and smell is acute and the koala definitely knows we are there. After a while it becomes nervy and starts to climb down, the last few feet going down with a thump and then it ambles off into the forest, hopefully to find a safer tree away from all those humans. On the way back we meet several people on their way up also on the hunt for koala and we are suddenly the experts pointing them out for everyone to enjoy.
Driving along the coast road we stop off at several viewing points to admire the beaches and cliffs. We find a campsite which for once is fairly quiet and has plenty of space. It is in a lovely location at the top of a hill overlooking the river.
An afternoon drive to Port Campbell, and a quick look at the 12 Apostles which we will spend more time at tomorrow.

Back at camp we sit and watch as a herd (is that the correct term) of kangaroos come out to graze.

Love and fluffy koala hugs
Janet and Jeff xx

Weds 13 Jan...

Visited Bell’s Beach, as the chap at the information centre told us this is where we would find koala. Wrong. But still worth a visit as its a good beach for watching the surfers and we enjoyed a lovely walk along the cliff tops. Drove through Anglesey and then on to Aireys Inlet where we walked up to the lighthouse and the viewing points which gave excellent views of beaches and rocks. Met a couple who said that they had seen a lot of koalas at Kennet River – guess where we are going tomorrow?

Drove on to Cumberland River campsite, no sites left but he allowed us to park up by the river for a small fee and it was quite lovely away from the main campsite crowd. That evening we took a walk up beside the river for a couple of hours and couldn’t believe our eyes – well our binoculars – yep finally we saw our first koalas in the wild – sooo excited. Also saw a snake – not so excited about that.

Love and koala hugs
Janet and Jeff xx

Split point lighthouse...

Our first lighthouse on the Great Ocean Road; Split Point. It is a good example of traditional lighthouses, white with a red roof & a bright light near the top. The second built along this coast i think? What is special for me is that this is the lighthouse from the children’s TV series ‘Round the Twist’. My children will remember it, they loved this programme & I must admit I liked it also. The stories always had a strange ‘twist’ to them & were written very imaginatively.

love & hugs

dad & janet xx

Tues 12 Jan...

Scorchio as Jeff says. Wow that was a hot night and already this morning the heat is on.

Today we headed off towards the Great Ocean Road, taking in Brighton, Chelsea, St Kilda, Geelong and Torquay. Again the first camp site was full but the second had a space left. A hot day’s driving but as we set out the picnic table, chairs and tea it started to rain, and the temp dropped by over 20 degrees and the wind got up and we were then cold. Its scary to believe how quickly you acclimatise so that 23 degrees feel chilly.

Love and chilly hugs
Janet and Jeff xx

Mon 11 Jan...

Today has not been the best. Started off with the taxi driver taking us from the hotel to Apollo campervan site and not having a clue where he was going and Jeff ended up map reading and directing. The campervan had not been properly prepared so we had to wait while they filled water tanks, disposed of waste water and repaired the glass door on the cooker. We eventually set off late am in 43 degrees of heat. This van was very different to the last one so we had to acquaint ourselves with all its quirky ways – yes they do have them.
We had decided on the advice of our travel agent to visit Fairy Island to see the penguin parade, even though we had seen them in Tasmania we thought the island would be worth a visit.

We are now in peak holiday season for Aus; everyone who can be, is at the beach. The first camp site we visited was full but we managed to get in at the second one. We decided to get fish and chips prior to the penguin parade so drove into town and ordered our tea. 40 minutes later still no sign of our order, and as it was getting close to parade time we had to cancel the order and rush off.
On arrival at the penguin parade we could not believe the number of visitors; hundreds of them, coach loads. There was a massive visitor’s centre, with gift shop, restaurant, information centre and an opportunity to have your photo taken with a guy in a penguin costume. We went down to the beach where there was a large tiered seating area from which you could watch the penguins come onto the beach. Then you could walk along the boardwalk and watch them head off to their burrows. No photos allowed, no access to the beach. We did see the penguins and they were just as delightful and amusing as the ones in Tassie but all in all a bit of a disappointment in comparison and more than twice the cost. So if you get the chance chose to see the ones in Tassie, they will not disappoint.

The hottest night on record and we are sleeping in a tin can – surprisingly I slept much better than in the hotel in Melbourne.

Love and hot hugs
Janet and Jeff xx

Sun 10th Jan...

Spent the morning in jail. No Jeff didn’t get arrested for drunken behaviour on leaving the comedy club, we spent the morning visiting The Old Melbourne Gaol, Victoria’s oldest prison, where 135 executions took place including the infamous Ned Kelly. The building was opened in 1913 and whilst many of those executed were sentenced for crimes such as murder; many of the other inmates received harsh sentences for milder crimes such as theft, drunken behaviour or even being homeless. The cells were tiny and oppressive and each had a story to tell about the inmates over the years, a fascinating yet depressing history. Hard to believe that this hell hole closed as recently as 1994 and only because of overcrowding. We also experienced the Police Watch House where you get arrested, charged and locked up in a holding cell – not your average day’s sightseeing.

The afternoon we visited Queen Victoria’s market – which is many large undercover areas with 100s of market stalls selling everything. There is a main area for fruit, veg, meat, fish, cheese, wines etc then another area for clothes, shoes, leather belts/bags/jackets, and loads of stalls selling Japanese and Korean tat – I wonder who buys that stuff?

As the markets were not far from the Italian quarter we went back for an early dinner. The restaurants were offering drinks incentive to encourage diners in; the further we walked the better the offer got – starting with one complimentary drink each we ended up at one that was offering a complimentary bottle of wine. On the way back to the hotel Jeff spotted Laura Robson and congratulated her on her recent excellent performance & managed to not use the term “New balls please!” once.

Love & city hugs...

jeff & janet

Sat 9th Jan...

More sightseeing taking in Parliament House, the Old Post Office, The Royal Mint and the Supreme Court before sitting enjoying the 32degrees in Flagstaff gardens.

In the afternoon we wander through the Italian quarter which is a contrast to the CBD as it is low buildings, small individual shops and loads of cafes and restaurants. A lively atmosphere and quite busy for early afternoon.

The comedy club is held in one of the many theatres, and being the first show of the new year was packed with everyone in good spirits. As well as the compere there are three acts all of whom were extremely funny and all the material was new to us. It appears that the Australians do not worry about political correctness and there were many racist jokes as well as ones about disabilities – although much of the humour is aimed at themselves and any aimed at others is not delivered with any spite. A really enjoyable evening, remind us to tell you the knitting joke when we get back!

love & LOL hugs...

jeff & janet

Fri 8th Jan...

A very early flight into Melbourne, we drop our bags at the hotel & head off into the city to explore. First impressions are good, easy to get around, free tram & bus; a grid road system should mean no lost tourists & enough to keep us busy for a few days. Weather is much warmer than Tasmania, a hot 32 degrees C. We buy tickets for the comedy club tomorrow & explore the city, taking in the quay/docks area, river Yarra and some of the sights.

Earlier in the trip Jeff asked what a boutique hotel was. We are now staying in the Pensione Boutique Hotel and it appears that boutique means modern, minimalist and very very very small rooms. Not quite as small as the back packers store room but ........

love & boutique hugs...

jeff & janet

Thurs 7th Jan...

Today we set off continuing south towards Bruny island. We drive past Hobart thru Kingston, Margate and Snug to Kettering to catch the ferry to Bruny island. Bruny island is another national park which has more amazing beaches & sights. A quick lunch, a drive, a walk thru temperate rainforest & some homemade ice-cream & we return to catch the ferry back to Hobart. While walking we come across my favourite beach ever, covered with stone stacks & I cannot resist adding mine to the collection.

On return to Hobart we check back into the Bates motel, complete with knife holed shower curtains, blood stained shower basin & we head off into town for Hobart’s best fish & chips. We sit next to a lovely elderly gentleman coincidently named Jeff. No, i was not sitting opposite a mirror!!

He is alone & very chatty telling us about life in Hobart. Fortunately for us he spent much of his life in Melbourne, our next destination, so we take advantage & ask about Melbourne & we get some good advice & tips to get the best of our time in Melbourne. The fish & chips are very good.

An early start tomorrow means an early night for us oldies. We have enjoyed Tasmania, much slower than the mainland & a very different feel but a naturally stunning place. A must visit place & we wish that we had longer here. If you like nature, walking, beautiful beaches, amazing countryside & a relaxed environment then visit Tasmania. You will not regret it.

Love & stone stacked hugs...
Jeff & Janet

Creek names...

I have missed driving past these creek name signs & once we are back in a vehicle i’m reminded of how fascinating they are. Someone even put some stop lights by the Que River so we could queue!

But how sophisticated are the Tasmanians? Not for them simply naming all waterways creeks, no sir. No sooner had we started to drive & we see Jacks Stream, One Tree Brook, Far Far Flow & Bothersome Beck.

Then, joy upon joy, Lonesome Rivulet, wow! A rivulet, what joy the English language is, so rich & varied. Apparently the average person at 16 (outside Australia) has a growing vocabulary of some 40,000 words. They then spend the next few years reducing this to about 20,000, or less LOL. If they emigrate to Australia they ditch those 20,000 words & learn the 34 words that they use for the rest of their lives. LOVL.

Btw i hate these text type abbreviations & use them merely as comedic props. SWB. Sighs with boredom & i will now refrain from using them further, OJUJ.

Love & LTH’s
Jeff & Janet

Wed 6th Jan...

We set off & visit a wild life park to see Tasmanian Devils in the flesh, so to speak. It is a very basic park, chicken wire & duck tape, but the animals seem well cared for. They run a Tasmanian Devil breeding programme & release animals back into the wild. We see wallaby’s, wombats, devils, kangaroos & lots of other animals.

Janet hand feeds some tame forest kangaroos, and falls in love with the wombat.

We then drive south heading through the world heritage Cradle mountain national park, a quite amazing national park. On route we take in the mining town of Queenstown, a weird place, a very strange lunar type landscape, a consequence of the copper mining that goes on here & a shanty town look & feel to the town. Still, it has a fuel station & a tea shop so we can all refuel & get on our way.

A long drive & we have nowhere booked for tonight, so we will have to take pot luck; pot luck turns out to be the Hamilton hotel. The second oldest inn here in Australia. A mildly eccentric place but the bed is comfortable, the place is clean & the hosts are very welcoming. She seems to do all the work while he swans around drinking & chatting with customers & instructing his first wife on the art of waiting. Apparently they all get on swell!! The tropics of Hamilton!!

The landlord chats & within seconds we know far too much about his life & worse about other Hamilton residents that we will never meet, thank god! He reminds me, not in looks, of a Del boy character, he has a bore hole in his back garden & natural spring water that he plans to bottle & sell. Tasmania has no bottled water of its own he tells us so he is on to a winner. I suspect he is fishing for investors & we give him the slip & head off to our haunted room for some sleep!

Love & tired hugs...
Jeff & Janet

Lawn-seston...

Forgot to mention that when we were on the beach last night the fires that had been burning on the other side of the bay could be seen from miles away – with flames flaring in the dark – it was pretty scary to see.

Today we visited Launceston – but the Aussie’s pronounce it Lawn-seston so they did not understand what we were saying. Launceston is an odd place, a strange mix of architecture, art nouveaux, Victorian, modern, colonial and shabby. The shops were also an odd mix of really cheap £1 type shops and designer expensive shops although everything they sold seemed to be a bit out of date.

We visit Pennyworld which is a group of buildings that had been relocated brick by brick – not sure why – but included a row of cottages, a gun powder store and railway station for an old steam train.
Later we visit Cataract Gorge, a lovely location where the river tumbles down the gorge to a basin of rocks and plants. The victorians decided it was a place to be transformed into a social meeting environment so removed the swamp land and laid lawns, put in a bandstand, may poles and play areas. Today the bandstand remains but has been added to by a swimming pool, restaurant and the longest chair lift in the world which goes across the gorge. It is lovely that such a beautiful location can be enjoyed by tourists and locals but I think I would have preferred the pre victoiran version.

Our next destination is Mole Creek and on route we spot a honey shop offering honey ice cream,. Mmmmmm delicious. The shop also sold an amazing range of flavoured honeys and Jeff could not resist the chocolate honey.
Tonight we stay at a campsite based at the foot of three mountains, the views are stunning. All the cabins have been booked out so we take the offer of a back packers two bunk room – only $20 each plus $6 for linen. The room is tiny, about 8’ x 12’ – a bit like a storage facility. It is cool at the base of the mountains and the owner’s offer of extra blankets is welcomed.

Before dinner we take a walk through the National Park and meet Joan, an aged Australian who lives “on the road” in her campervan. Joan likes to talk, but it is not keen on listening. Very quickly we get her life story – contradictory in so many ways, she tells us that she doesn’t like men but seems to have affairs with many of the tour leaders she meets on her travels, she tells us of her 'fling' with Gazza Petterson in Derby one hot summers day in 1996 – way too much information for a first time meeting for our liking so we say polite goodbyes and continue on our walk.

Strangely there is a fully licensed restaurant on site so we enjoyed an excellent meal before retiring to our store room.

However our concerns are unnecessary as its one of the best night’s sleep we have and so cosy and warm we have no need for the extra blankets.

Love and snuggles
Janet and Jeff
Xxx

Fairy Penguins...

We meet at a hut on the beach and by the time the tour is ready to go there are about 50 people. Its very windy and quite cool, the sensible ones have turned up in fleece jackets and fur hats – we were not so sensible. We are taken down to a viewing stand on the edge of the sand and as we wait for the sun to set, Courtney, our tour leader gives us lots of information about the penguins. The ones we will see are known as any of the following names – Blue, Little or Fairy. Some interesting facts – at about 8 weeks old the parents stop feeding them to encourage them to leave the nest and head for sea. Once at sea they do not have to return for two years (that is when they are ready to mate). They only return to land to breed or to moult. They mate for life. They have about two sets of young each year usually two young in each set. We are fortunate that it is breeding season so we hope to see adults and chicks.

We split into smaller groups and Ryan leads our group down to the water’s edge where we can hear the penguins chattering down by the rocks. As a small group forms they start the procession up the beach; the tour guides have specially filtered lights, enabling them to highlight the groups for us to watch and photograph. When the penguins set off across the sand in line it is difficult not to laugh out loud, they are as adorable as they are hilarious. After watching several groups make their way to the nesting sites in the thorn bushes, we then go further up the beach to see the chicks and are privileged to watch the adults feeding them – although this is a form of chucking up into their youngsters throats,

Although the perfect end to the evening would to have been offered a steaming mug of hot chocolate this wasn’t to be so with the car heater on full blast we headed back to the cabin – a delightful evening.

love & little penguin hugs...

Jeff & Janet

Tues 5th January 2010...

We’re driving through north Tasmania & its beautiful countryside. Around lunchtime we drive into a small town, village, no, hamlet really, called Derby.

We stop at a lovely tea shop & the homemade muffins are a delight. From nowhere this boy appears. On closer inspection he is not a boy but a man with a boy’s face. Obviously much older than he first appears, his best years now passed. He proceeds to bluntly proposition every female in sight including Janet. Janet laughs & gently rebuffs his advances, but he is persistent. Once every female has declined his less than subtle advances he seems to calm down, a look of resignation crosses his laughter lined face.

We start a conversation & we introduce ourselves. His name is Gazza Peterson, Derby’s very own paid Lothario. Apparently, it is his paid employment to proposition any & every women over the age of consent that enter Derby’s boundary. We ask what his success rate is & he answers dejectedly, “Not as good as it used to be & not as good as my mate, Christopher Parsons.” We hear both his best chat up lines & how he once ran alongside a car doing 30mph down the high street & pulled a 48 year old, one-eyed mother of eight. He seemed rather too proud of that conquest. “..1998 that was, remember it like it was yesterday.”

He sighs.

He has held this role since 1987 when he turned 18 & was voted 3 years running ‘the boy most likely to’. “Most likely to, what?” we all ask. He grins like a Cheshire cat with wind & smirks, “..you know, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.” Oh dear we seem to have walked onto the set of Carry On Lothario.

We slowly get him off his favourite subject & onto work & football. Interestingly he worked for the now defunct tin mine as a draughtsman & he tells us that his town, Derby changed their name 7 years ago, from Derby Town to Accrington Stanley as they did not want to be associated with the team with the same name in England.

Gazza’s aftershave is beginning to make us feel light headed so just as his best mates Mal Smiff & Christopher Parsons turn up, we take the opportunity to leave & bid him farewell & wish him a quick conquest to cheer him up.

Funny old world...

love & twilight zone hugs,

Jeff & Janet

Mon 4 January 2010...

A startlingly blue clear sky as we drive further North to Low Head, just past George Town. The drive is along the twisty turny coast road with some wonderful views over the sea and bays. The information centre sorts out our accommodation and we head off for the beach camp and our wooden beach cabin.

After exploring the coast line, light house and town centre we enjoy the sun on the veranda of the cabin.

Early dinner at the local Italian restaurant tonight and then off on the Penguin tour, must remember to wrap up warm, its very cold tonight.

love & waddling hugs,

jeff & janet

January 3rd 2010...

First stop Hobart tourist information centre to organise accommodation for tonight in Bicheno (pronounced Bish-eno). Then we drive Northwards along the East coast to Frysnet National Park to test out some of the walks. It’s a lovely warm day with a stiff breeze, good walking conditions.

We set off for Wineglass Bay which if you do a walk there and back is 300 steps up from the beach so I’m glad we have decided to do a circular, albeit, longer route. The first part of the walk is busy with a lot of non serious walkers going only as far as the first viewing point, after that the path becomes quieter. Wineglass bay is another stunning white sand beach with crystal clear azure blue water, although somewhat colder than the Gold Coast waters. Onwards through the rainforest, there is a wonderful perfume in the air from the shrub blossom. Hazards Beach is another beautiful beach but with a lot of seaweed so not quite so inviting. We walk along the beach before turning back inland and across the rocks and back to the car park. A 4.5 hour walk. Back at the car park is a wallaby just out for his evening feed.

At Bicheno we eat at Rose’s Cafe and Restaurant, a good meal finished with a platter of Tasmanian cheeses – scrumptious.



Love and full tummies
Janet and Jeff xx

January 2nd 2010...

We fly into Hobart, hire a car & drive to our motel.

First impressions; its greener, cooler (they even have electric blankets on the beds in the hotels!) & different to the mainland. After unpacking & tea we drive into Hobart. Luckily there is a food & wine festival so that is dinner sorted. We try some different foods (smoke salmon platter, tempura mushrooms, scallop wrap, lemon cheesecake and raspberries and hot chocolate pudding and raspberries & sample a couple of wines all very delightful & begin to plan our stay in Tasmania.

Hobart is smaller & much quieter than Sydney, a stark contrast. It is very pretty, old buildings, yachts, waterfront restaurants, reminds us of Devon or Cornwall harbours. We really do feel like we’ve stepped back in time, it is very peaceful & relaxing. It has a completely different feel to mainland Australia.

The gardens contain old fashion roses, hollyhocks and penstemon – all very English cottage.

Love & sedate hugs
jeff & janet

New Years Day...2010

We wake early & set off to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge at our booked time of 9.45 am.

We arrive a little early & get put on an earlier climb of 9.25 am. We fill out some forms, get briefed & dressed for the climb. Ronan is our climb guide, a combination of Mary Hopkins & Graham Norton. The voice of one & the wit of the other, not sure which way round though as they both are recognised for their lovely voices & razor wits!

We set off & slowly climb to the top, lots of pictures are taken, by Ronan, walkers are not allowed to take anything on the climb. We cross the bridge & slowly descend. The whole experience takes about 3 hours; the walk is about 1.5 hours. It is much less strenuous than envisaged, not as scary as envisaged as most of the walk is on solid steel, only a small amount is on see through grating & with Ronan as guide much funnier than envisaged. Ronan was knowledgeable, pointing out significant places of interest, giving facts & figures & funny as he would gently mock anything & anyone including paying guests, my kinda guy. It was a pleasure to meet him & if/when you do this walk ask to go on Ronan’s climb, you will not be disappointed.

We mooch around Sydney for the remainder of the day looking forward to our next destination, Tasmania.

We hope you are all well, had lovely Christmases & fun New Year celebrations.

Love & brand new shiney 2010 hugs,
Jeff & Janet

New Years Eve....2009/2010

So, after much discussion we decide on watching the fireworks from Mrs Macquarie’s seat. We rise early & make our way to the park, about a 40 min walk from our apartment. Wow! The queue is already long, people have started queuing from the night before but we are given hope by an official who says there are about 2000 people in front of us. Phew! We start queuing about 9am, finally get in & seated at 1pm. We hoped that the fireworks would be worth it. Mrs Macquarie’s seat is one of the most popular places to watch the display. They allow 20,000 people into the park & it is very well managed. Food & alcohol are sold in the park (BYO is not allowed) & temporary toilets are in place. The atmosphere is very friendly & party like. Reminds me of Glastonbury; everyone with the same intention, to have a good time.

The entertainment starts in the afternoon with air displays; this is followed by an AboriginalSmoking ceremony to rid the harbour of evil spirits. At 9pm there is the children’s firework display lastng about 10mins which is pretty impressive. After this the cruise ships and any other boats in the harbour take part in a light procession – all the boats are decorated with fairy lights of different shapes such as fish, dragons, birds etc. At 10, 11 and 11.30 a volley of fireworks is set off from one of the pontoons to srtart the countdown to midnight – each time this happens the crowd gets a bit more excited. The fireworks do not disappoint, what a spectacle, over 15 minutes of lights & sounds. What we did not realise that in addition to the bridge fireworks there are 7 pontoons on the river letting off synchronised fireworks. It is truly amazing & everyone should see this at least once in their life. At times it was difficult to choose where to look!!

It’s a slow walk out of the park & we struggle through the Sydney revellers, all very well behaved, to get back to the apartment about 2am. We watch the rerun n the news which shows the fireworks with the synchronised music – all very impressive. 3am and so to bed, the plan to walk the Sydney Harbour Bridge on New Year’s Day morning is not looking too clever right now!!

Love & gunpowder hugs,
Jeff & Janet