One day at a time

9/1 Wednesday Drove out of Hobart to the Huon Valley and the Tahune Airwalk. I enjoyed the airwalk, although Graham was a bit disappointed by it, there wasn't much to see other than trees (it was a forest). Took the guided walk to discover the differences between the types of trees in the forest and it was one of the shortest guided walks I've been on this holiday, although I think the one at Port Arthur has spoilt us. Drove back via the Southern Design Centre in Geeveston and I bought a souvenir of the trip, a pen made out of Huon Pine. Then we drove to the top of Mount Wellington, I was concerned by the level of petrol and how far we had to go. Unfortunately the view from the top was obscured by some low cloud at the top of the mountain. It all looked very strange up there, with completely different plants and no sight of anything other than the top of the mountain. Drove down from the mountain, through the cloud and down into Hobart. Thankfully found a petrol station reason...

8/1 Tuesday After an early checkout, we drove round to Port Arthur once more to wait for it to open. It is remarkable that no one asked to see our tickets and we wandered around the site, in relatively peace and quiet. We had seen all the major buildings before the cruise over to the Isle of Died. There was some attractive scenery around. The walk and talk around the island was very interesting and entertaining. Having finished at Port Arthur, I drove over to Hobart, via the little town of Richmond, which had the oldest bridge in Australia. It probably looks better if there was more water in the river. We had tea and cake before continuing on to Hobart. Had a little difficulty finding the hotel, again the location in Google and therefore my GPS, was inaccurate. After a short walk, we found the hotel and drove over. The room was a long walk from the reception. After a shower, we set out to find somewhere for dinner. We decided on a Greek restaurant in Salamanac Square and sat outside, ...

7/1 Monday Drove down to Port Arthur, after filling up at Swansea at a BP. It was another long two hour drive. We stopped at a few of the tourist attractions on the way down, including a natural paving effect and sea arch. The places were busy and we were pushed to the overflow car park when we got to Port Arthur (where we had to queue for at least an hour to get into the park). Split to trip over two days and took the audio tour for today and wandered around the vast sight. Even though it was busy, it wasn't too bad with plenty of room to move around. Booked into the hotel, when we found it and although it has a spa bath, the bed is disappointing. Will be having dinner in the hotel, there isn't much choice around here.

6/1 Sunday Today was the day we went to Wineglass Bay in the Freycinet National Park. Today was a long drive down from St Helens to Swansea. Took the scenic route via St Marys, which was a very curvy route. Stopped in Bicheno for brunch and a little shopping in preparation for the walk later. Not that impressed with the brunch! Went to see a blowhole and took several pictures of it in action. Drove down to Coles Bay and paid $22 to park there. Took the walk up to the lookout and then down on to the beach itself. The sand wasn't as fine as that at on the Bay of Fires. The walk was tiring, undertaking it over midday and was thankfully for the rest on the beach. We decided to take the longer route back to the car park which was more level than going back over the mountain pass. It was a long trek, but not as difficult as the trip there and there was no one else encountered. Took the road back up the coast and then down to Swansea. We had dinner at a very local restaurant, it was acros...

5/1 Saturday We left the hotel early and made good time to the Lilydale Falls, were there was lots of wild wallabies, although they weren't as interested in us as we were in them. I took over the driving after the falls, I need to get the hang of driving an automatic. We didn't stop in Scottsdale as previously planned, as we wanted to get over to the coast as quickly as possible. We did stop at the cheese factory where we had lunch. Made it to St Helens but early afternoon, but the room wasn't ready, so we went out to the Bay of Fires north of St Helens (eventually - went the wrong way initially and made a brief stop at St Helens Point). Found Bingalong Bay on the GPS and used it to find the Bay of Fires. Graham complained about my driving and I think I have picked up some bad habits, so I will try to modify my driving and control my speed - its not wise to put me in charge of a car with a 2.5 ltr engine. The Bay of Fires was very spectacular, took a few pictures - see oth...

4/1 Friday Day of leisure in Launceston. Started with a cruise down the Tamar River and into the Cataract Gorge. Afterwards we walked down the Gorge to the First Basin. Graham wasn't that keen on taking the chairlift, but in the end we used it twice. It wasn't very high but did cross the lake in the basin. The suspense bridge was fun, but it would have been nice to have it bounce a bit more. Came back via the Zig Zag path and walked back through the city to pick up a few things along the way. Booked to attend one of the "best" restaurants in Australia - Stillwater. Walked over and after some discussion we both agreed to have the tasting menu, although I opted not to have the wine courses. The food was amazing, I've never been a fan of shell fish, but the combinations that they prepared really were lovely. Graham seemed to be happy with the wine if not all the other people in the restaurant, especially two were had encountered earlier. Took a taxi back to the hotel...

3/1 Thursday Packed early and after breakfast, we checked out. Went out shopping, although I wasn't feeling that comfortable - gastro and sun burn. Bought a pair of shorts at Myer and Graham bought a pair of sunglasses. Made our way to the Sydney Tower after stopping off at a starbucks. The view from the restaurant was amazing, although I was disappointed that it was self service, especially after costing $45 each. We weren't in any hurry to get to the airport, took a taxi there. Thankfully we were able to check in when we arrived there. Had a bit of a wait before the flight, but there weren't enough seats in the waiting area for the flight, when we finally got there. The flight went smoothly and I watched a Ugly Betty episode on my ipod to pass the time. Thankfully it was still light when we landed and drove to the centre of Launceston and the hotel. Unfortunately we could not find any restaurant open by the time we had checked in and settled in the room. Neither Graham or...

.: Tina Arena- Discography I had the pleasure to attend Tina's first concert in Sydney and it was also my first time in the Sydney Opera House. I was blown away by her performance and had a hard time sitting in my seat - I just wanted to get up and dance !@! Blogged with Flock

2/1 Wednesday Took a walk over to the Opera House and I got a ticket to see Tina Arena in concert there that night. We wandered around to Maquarie Point and took pictures of ourselves in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We walked back to the centre and took a train out to Bondi Junction and from there took the bus to the beach. It was busy but not packed. Stayed for about an hour on the beach and went into the sea, but it was surprisingly rough so didn't hang about. Didn't use sunscreen, thought I would be OK for a short spell in the sun - how wrong was I - badly burnt on front and back !! We had lunch in Bondi just off the main street and then took a bus back to the train station. Went back to the hotel and rested up before going out to see Tina Arena. The seat was level with the orchestra and Tina was in front of this, but she did turn around several times. I'm sure that she made eye contact, while I was bopping along to her music and at the end I could swore ...

1/1/2008 Tuesday Work up at about 9am and no ill effects from the night before. Hotel was quiet this morning and as we made our way to Central Station, there was very little life in the city centre - there were no shops open which I found unusual. Took a while to get to Chris's place in Summer Hill as the trains were running on a Sunday service. Chris put on an excellent spread for lunch and after a chat we went to the Bay Walk. Unfortunately I wasn't really dressed for the walk and suffered in the hot weather wearing jeans. Chris drove us back and after a quick shower, we went out for dinner around Oxford Street. Graham's favourite restaurant had changed hands and certainly wasn't up to the same standard as previously. We didn't even leave a tip, the service was appalling. We wandered around Oxford Street, but instead of hitting one of the bars, we had coffee in a cafe; and watching the passing trade. The view on offer was generally disappointing, with just the o...