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...

If you can't be home for Christmas, the next best place to be is Australia.  It's summer, it's warm, it's light until 10 pm, and the animals look extra cute with Santa hats and Christmas sweaters on.  Missy and Emily came down from Malaysia to spend last Christmas with us and of course we had a wonderful time. Our first stop was Moonlit Sanctuary, a small local sanctuary not far from our house.  The highlight by far for Missy and Emily both was being able to pet a koala.  Missy has been asking for this since her first Aussie Christmas and we finally found somewhere she was able to do it. Emily, me, Missy, and Phil at Moonlit Sanctuary Group pic with Roo Santa Emu Missy petting a koala Koala selfie Koala needs some shades too Maybe getting some cuddles from one of her favourite people Duck is loving life  On Christmas Eve we always head down to Phillip Island for a picnic on the beach followed by watching the littl...