Oct 13, 2019 - Bag gobbler

Arrived in Melbourne at 6:15 after quite a good flight (if you can call a long haul flight good). No problems with immigration or customs, and we were soon at the departures area for domestic, .This is where the problems started. We had been told we would need to check our cases in for the Hobart flight, so we found a bag drop area and saw that people used their boarding passes to retrieve their details and to print the bag tags . So J put his bag on the conveyer and commenced answering the on screen questions. He then realised the tag from...

Aug 26, 2019 - Tour Pro-blogue

Well if it is good enough for leTour, it is good enough for TassieG! Packing is nearly complete and J is pleased that his bag is light at 13kg. He was miffed that C came in only a half kg more, even with many more clothing items! Anyway, J has been told that he should rest his back (some people think he's been doing that for quite a while) and avoid heavy lifting and strenuous activity. So I guess over 20 hours in a plane won't be too strenuous. And before anyone complains, I will not be held responsible for poor punctuation and wonky...

May 8, 2019 - Accommadition and Travel Costs

Accommodation Costs 2018 to2019 28/08/2018 to 1/09/2018 Melbourne Pullman Albert Park $612.00 = $153.00 per/night Disappointed Room good, breakfast good BUT no help with bags on arrival (noticed other guests were carry their own bags too), room key not programmed properly, coffee machine in Executive Lounge overflowing necessitating us to clean it, dirty dishes not cleared away, USB ports in the room disconnected necessitating a maintenance man working for 30 mins only to be told they had deliberately been disconnected by staff (perhaps you...

Mar 17, 2019 - Sailing around Southern Australia

We have had two great days touring in Tasmania.Toured from Burnie and Hobart. Loving the wonderful weather. No rain yet abd pretty calm seas. Of course food is too good. Sort of difficult to post pictures. I am able to post more pics on facebook. We will be in Adelaide today. We have a tour to the Barossa Valley out of Adelaide. Will see where McLeods Daughters was filmed. All 256 episodes. Moon over the water in Southern Hemisphere. Just gorgeous. Picture of sunrise over Australia. We are on land side, starboard side, as we traverse...

Mar 13, 2019 - It’s an early start to get to Hobart

Wonderful Tom was up at 5am to get me to the airport in time for an early flight. Left Sydney and it was raining. Arrived in Hobart to sunny blue skies, but only 9C degrees with a wind blowing. Oops, hope I have enough clothes. Especially after having just gotten over a bout of influenza. Checked into hotel and reorganised my things into my backpack. Still have hike lunches food to buy and squeeze into the pack. Yikes! Once Peter arrived we both did a lunch shopping trip at the local supermarket then had a quick look around the area...

Feb 22, 2019 - Hobart, again!

Hobart, again Wednesday 20 February Ok, today we set off for the last leg of our Tasmania trip. A dull start to the day, cool -only 10 degrees with rain squalls. Fortunately no tent to pack away! The cabin was a bit spartan, but the bed was comfortable. We headed north to start our 360 kilometre drive, all the way to Moina before heading east, the road steadily dropping from the cabin at roughly 1,000 metres elevation, all through wilderness forests and fields of button grass. Some pretty spectacular hairpin bends and occasionally, great...

Feb 19, 2019 - Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain Sunday 17 February A bit cloudy and quite cool to start. Tessa had eaten a dove or pigeon last evening and didn’t wake us early, she wasn’t even pushing for her breakfast! There was a large patch of feathers in the garden! Louise, our host had not returned last night but did text this morning. We breakfasted, etc, packed and set off. North along the A7 to start, turning off at Legana, after refuelling, to head for Westbury. A lovely drive, we had driven this road two days ago, but it was still good! Across country to...

Feb 16, 2019 - Launceston 2

Launceston 2 Thursday 14 February Bright sunny morning, we just relaxed, fed the goats and chicken, chased the dog around the garden, clothes washing, updated finances, etc..... We drove into Launceston to a new development on the waterfront, called Seaport and to the Mudbar Restaurant to meet Greg and Debbie. Greg was a very close friend of David, Ruth’s first husband. We had a great time, Greg and Debbie were great fun and the food was really good. After lunch we were invited back to Greg and Debbies, in Hillwood, northward, on the east...

Feb 13, 2019 - Launceston 1

Launceston 1 Friday 8 February We found the house, down a narrow muddy track and met our host, Louise and her dog Tessa. Unpacked, were shown the ropes and routines for the dog, chicken and goats, and settled down to dinner. Saturday 9 February Louise left early, she was undertaking a six/seven day hike in the southwest! Very heavy rain overnight which continued into the morning, much needed here. We set off to the Farmers Market in Launceston and then to the shops to top up on groceries. Ruth had arranged to meet with Leonie, a friend we...

Feb 9, 2019 - Stanley

Stanley 4 February We woke early-ish to find it was raining, not heavy but a steady fine rain. Washed the dust off the car! Packed up, drove to the visitor centre to check the local take on the road closures. The roads we wanted to take through Zeehan and Corrina were closed to all but local traffic, they were carrying out back-burning to contain the bushfires up there, so we had to change our plans. We drove back to Queenstown along the very twisting and winding road, visibility was bad as the clouds were so low. It was still raining. We...

Feb 3, 2019 - Strahan

Strahan 2 February A quiet night and beautiful clear and sunny skies this morning, nice and warm. We wandered down to the dock and booked a Gordon River Cruise for tomorrow before heading to ‘The People’s Park’ just kilometre around the bay. This Park was donated to the town back in the early 1900s in anticipation of the growth of tourism! It provides a 1.2km walk into the temperate rain forest to the Hogarth Falls at the end of the track. We walked in, and it was peaceful, we could hear the birds. Huge trees, blackwood, myrtle and black...

Feb 1, 2019 - Coles Bay to Strahan

Coles Bay to Strahan 31 January Topped up fuel at Bicheno before heading onto the Lake Leake Highway, climbing steadily until we reached the high point at 640metres before dropping down to Lake Leake. Managed forests here, felling and replanting. Looked in at the Lake, man-made, or at least to its current extent judging by the dead tree trunks poking out of the water, a beautiful setting in the forest. There was a campsite here which we could easily have stayed in, were we camping. On along the Highway, we saw an echidna by the roadside but...