Maybe in Oz

One of my absolute favourite places to explore in Tasmania (though to be honest it's all my favourite!) is Freycinet National Park.  But of course on the way we had to stop for some more local wine and oysters.  Wine is, after all, a great motivator for a hike! We hiked down to the stunning Wineglass Bay to take in the views there.  It was the perfect temperature so a hike, nice and sunny but not scorching and the water was an absolutely spectacular shade of turquoise. Another thing that was a spectacular shade of turquoise was the blue bottle jellyfish covering the beach.  This ended up limiting our time in the water but they were sure pretty to look at.  The hike back up is tougher - mainly because it's back up.  There's not really a break in the vertical climb back to the top.  But once we did reach the top we were rewarded with a nice view of the bay and surrounding park. Back at the carpark was this lit...

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 f...

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 pictur...

After our big Christmas adventures we sent our guests off to Tasmania while we finished off the work week.  We meet them in Hobart and made an important first stop at Lark Distillery where those who think whiskey doesn't taste like ass partook in a tasting.  Then we strolled through the Salamunca Market, stopping for a lunch of Wallaby Burritos.  That put a skip in our step as we headed down to Kingston where we stayed for the night. Whiskey tasting Wallaby burritos We set off on New Years Eve morning for Cradle Mountain, taking the longer route via Lake St Clair.  There's not a lot between Hobart and Cradle Mountain except for rolling pastures and curvy roads.   The last time we had been to this lake it was raining so hard we couldn't see past the parking lot.  This time it was only raining lightly so we got to see what the area actually looked like.   Lake St Clair Echidna spotting   Real Echidna.  The only place you...