2-29-12

Drove from Cradle Mountain to the east coast of Tasmania today. Stopped at a raspberry farm outside Deloraine and had delicious pastries at a bakery in Scottsdale. Made a short detour en route to Oyster Bay to see the Bay of Fires. Well worth the extra time!

They call it the Bay of fires because of the distinctive orange lichen growing all over the rocks. 

Bay of Fires has some of the whitest sand beaches around. The sand is so fine it squeaks when you walk on it.

The color of the water glows with the brilliant turquoise. 

These colors are not photoshopped! :-) 

We walked along 4 of the beaches in the Bay of Fire conservation park.

Arrived at Oyster Bay last evening and walked from our cabin to see this!

A good ending to another fabulous day in Australia!

2-28-12

Today was a cool adventure! We were out the door early and embarked on a day hike to summit Cradle Mountain. The trek we did is part of the 6 day Overland Trail route which is rated one of the best 10 hikes in the world. I can see why - it was so beautiful!

Button grass covered the ground and gorgeous Eucalyptus trees towered above.

 

 Here's a view of where we're heading…the top is the peak on the right behind Bob.

 Having a snack at kitchen hut before climbing to the summit.

Spectacular rock formations near the top.

 Made it!
We ate lunch and hung out on the top for over an hour. Sunny, cool and amazing everywhere you looked!

 Top of the world (took this pic with our fish eye lens).

Parts of the trail were surrounded by spongy, mossy earth.

Returning Martin's rock to it's home town.

In 2009 Martin sent me this rock with the intent that someday I would return it to it's home at Dove Lake when were were able to visit. Pretty special. Sooo happy to be here! Thank you, Martin!

____________________

Tomorrow we'll leave Cradle Mountain and drive to the east coast of Tasmani. Want to make note of the critters we've seen since arriving in Tasmania: kangaroos (our favorite), wombat (2nd favorite - saw about 5 in the wild), wallabies (they are abundant!), a Echidna greeted us when we arrived at our lodge (cute!), possums (many seen at night), quolls (spotted and sorta like a cat), koala bear (sleeping in a tree at the wildlife park), Tasmanian devil and lots of birds.

2-27-12

 Bob and I flew to the island of Tasmania this morning, rented a car and drove to Cradle Mountain Lodge for a 2 night stay. Along our drive we marveled at the terrain of enormous Eucalyptus trees filling the rolling green hills.

We stopped at Trowunna Wildlife Park and hit Kangaroo Kingdom!

They were all hanging out on the grass and eager to interact with you for food.

We now think kangaroos are some of the coolest creatures. They look like a cross between a bunny & a deer. Doesn't this pic look like a far side cartoon?!

We met this cute wombat.

He was pretty cuddly and is related to the koala. Both are endangered.

Here's a Tasmanian Devil. This wildlife park is a refuge and rehabilitation sanctuary for tasmanian devils. Despite their name and the horrible sounds they make when eating their dinner, Bob and I kinda liked them. Not terribly cute but not without their charm. 

We hit the jackpot with this place. It wasn't busy (only 6 other folks there) and we were free to interact and wander as long as we liked with the animals. The guy in the pics also gave an informative tour ending with feeding the devils.

2-26-12

Martin & Ruth's lovely home.

Finn their famous cat.

The guys and I took a train into the city today...

...and then onto a ferry for a ride around the harbor.

It was a beautiful overcast day.

Close up views of the Opera House.

Incredible architecture.

Cool from every angle.

A view of Harbor Bridge (fun that we climbed it!)

We got off the ferry at Manly Beach.

We played in the waves until our lips were blue.

High winds...

...makes for a great sailing day.

The bay was filled with all sizes of sail boats. Many doing races. That was really neat to see on the ferry ride back to the train.

We enjoyed spending the evening with Ruth who couldn't join us during the day because of work. Tonight we ate chicken with pumpkin and veggies followed by mango with ice cream. Yum!

2-25-12

Woke up this morning to the Kookaburra (he sounds like a monkey). He was hanging out in the front yard looking for food. Then I went on a beautiful run with Adrian (he runs cross country in high school) to Como Bay and back. Bob enjoyed a nice walk with Ruth through the neighborhood. 

After breakfast we filled our Camelbacks with water and snacks and drove to Royal National Park to do a short rain forest trek with Martin, Adrian and Daniel.

We found this big Goanna climbing a tree.

A scenic drive along the coast towards Wander Beach and Cronulla.

Gorgeous Australia.

Late afternoon we drove into Sydney to do the Harbor Bridge Climb. Breathtaking views and some interesting history from our tour guide.

On the top!

Sydney Opera House. Love it.

After a full day we headed back to the house for another feast by Ruth. This time Kangaroo! Another great day in OZ!

2-24-12

G-Day Mate! :-)

We made it to Australia and it's GREAT to be here! Martin picked us up after our LONG flight and we went back to their beautiful home in Oyster Bay. Took a trip to the local grocery to buy some supplies and as soon as the boys returned from school we hit the beach. Adrian and Daniel provided expert instruction on the finer points of body boarding and we were quickly catching some good waves! What a fun afternoon at Wander Beach. After some sun time we stopped in a chocolate shop in Cronulla!

Lorikeets everywhere! Martin and Ruth's backyard is a bird paradise! We marveled and took a million photos of the gorgeous Lorakeets within arm's reach. They also have a Magpie and Kookaburra that hang out often. 

Tonight Ruth treated us to a feast with local Marlin as our entree. Delicious! 

Martin, Ruth, Daniel and Adrian are so hospitable and wonderful (just as I suspected) and in just 24 hours Bob and I are having a wonderful time!