Maybe in Oz

The second day of this Tassie trip was spent in Launceston.  We drove over from Cradle Mountain in the morning and stopped to sample some local cheese along the way.   Ashgrove cheese for some delicious samples  After the drive over we were quite thirsty so of course had to stop at a couple local wineries.  Launceston is one of our favourite places to go to stock up the wine fridge and enjoy the beautiful scenery and food along the way. Josef Chromy Winery for some Sparkling After lunch we went to Platypus House Seahorse World to check out some of the local critters.  Platypus are really difficult to see in the wild; in the nine years we've been here we've only seen one from far away.  So it was a treat to see them up close and watch them scuttle around.   Mr. Platypus The absolute best thing about Platypus House though are the echidnas!  Echidnas are actually the closest living thing to the platypus, though they look far from it.  They are actually near

Over New Years we took our friends Emily and Missy to Tasmania for a few days to show them some of our favourite Australian places, creatures, and food and drink.  Tasmania is a quick 40 minute flight from Melbourne so we took an early flight over and made the two hour drive from Launceston to Cradle Mountain.   December 27 is the busiest day of the year in Cradle Mountain National Park, but fortunately there is very limited accomodation there so even on the busiest day the crowds weren't bad.  There are limited parking spots in the park, so we took the shuttle to the end to hike the Dove Lake Circuit.  We've been to Cradle Mountain a few times now and knew not to have expectations when it came to the weather there.  It was a stunning day though with a nice clear view of the mountain and the perfect hiking temperature. Ready for some fun! Starting the Dove Lake Circuit Hike Great View!   Even better without the silly people in the picture Stunning for