On Monday, D got up a bit before me and exercised in the Hilton's gym. We were out of our room around 9 and over to the international ticketing lines by 9:30, almost 2 hours before the flight at 11:20. We quickly found that the flight had been delayed to 12:30, so we ended up spending a good amount of time relaxing at the Melbourne airport.
Once on the plane, the flight was fine. We had tons of movies to watch (I watched Evan Almighty, Pirates of the Carribean, SpiderMan 3, and something else that I forget). The only problem was that we couldn't sleep. On the way to Melbourne, we slept for the first 8 or 9 hours and then spent the remaining 6 awake. On the way to LA, we couldn't really sleep. I might have nodded off for an hour total, but it wasn't easy. We got to LA at 8:30 am and were really concerned about not making our connecting flight on Continental scheduled to leave at 10:25. D and I had planned it all out on the plane so that one of us would run over to the Continental counter and check in so that the plane couldn't leave without us. But everything worked out fine, we flew through baggage claim and customs, and then ran with all the bags on a cart over to the Continental ticketing. The line was reasonable and we were at the gate by around 9:30. The flight was on time (go figure) and we got on the plane.
Since D's work booked her flight and we booked mine separately, our seats were not together. I was in 20A and D was in 22D. When we got to our seats, I saw that a couple was in 20B and 20C together, which meant neither of them would switch with D so we could sit together. There was a man in 22E and no one in 22F, so we asked if he'd switch to 20A. He said his wife wasn't sitting next to him either, she was in 22B. There was no one in 22A and another man in 22C. So here's what we did... The wife in 22B switched to D's seat in 22D, next to her husband in 22E. I sat in 22A and D sat in the wife's seat in 22B. The man in 22C remained (more on him later). After a few minutes, an older woman showed up with a ticket for 22A and we politely asked (more instructed) her to take my seat in 20A. So it all worked out.
The man in 22C was a character. After some brief introductions, he went into a tirade of sorts about the seminar he attended in LA. It was an "intensive" as he called it run by Byron Katie. It was basically a self-help course for 10 days! We feigned interest for a while, learned a bit about it and after some talking, D and I fell silent, putting an abrubt end to the topic. He gave me a mini-book about the basics and I have to say I did NOT agree with it. But I guess that's the nature of those sorts of things, some feel strongly about them and others don't get it.
We got to EWR, got through customs, got our bags, and met Jim Duffy outside. We were keeping an eye out for his minivan and certainly were not expecting him to show up in a shiny white Mercedes. Turns out that one of his clients sold him a Benz with 28k miles from a few years ago for $9k, an incredible deal. It's a fantastic car and Jim loves using it for his car service.
At this point, D and I are literally counting the seconds until we saw Ayla. We got home, and almost sprint into the house to see her. Bill, Lynn, and Ayla were on the second floor and Ayla starting making noises as soon as she heard the garage door open. Once she heard our voices, I think she got really excited. Lynn later told us that she was excited just to be home, since she hadn't been there much in the past two weeks with my mom and Bill and Lynn.
Ayla had a huge grin when she saw us and I grabbed her immediately for a big squeeze. I couldn't stop kissing and hugging her for the next hour before she went to bed around 8:30ish. D felt the same way.
Ayla is definitely becoming a person, if she already isn't. She understands everything you say, although chooses to ignore it at times. She doesn't really have any words, but she talks up a storm. She screams in delight whenever you play with her and she hugs our legs all the time, which I personally love. I am thankful every day to have such a beautiful, smart, fun, silly, healthy, and wonderful daughter. I only wish I could spend more time with her. This weekend we are going to spend together almost the entire weekend (except for a couple hours Sunday for a football game) and I can't wait.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Freycinet to Hobart
Our last day in Tasmania. We got up at 7:45, showered, and packed our bags. We realized that we wouldn't fit all of our stuff into the bags we had so we used one of Denise's conference bags as a third checked bag. It worked great since we had very few clean clothes left and we stuck them in there. We were really hoping that the weather would let up and we'd be able to do the Wineglass Bay Lookout walk. It's pretty much the signature of Freycinet and a gorgeous sight to behold. We stopped in Wineglass Bay on the cruise we took earlier, but we were hoping to see it from the lookout and actually walk on it. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had different plans and it was raining and foggy just like the day before.
So we checked out, packed up the car, and headed out to the Moulting Lagoons. We found the small carpark off the main road and walked about 100 feet down to the lagoon. The lagoon is enormous, more like a sizable lake, but more importantly were the thousands of black swans all over the place. They've counted as many as 10,000 swans on the lagoon. Tons of them had signets (baby swans) too! It was unbelievable seeing that much wildlife in one place. I felt like we were watching a herd of wildebeasts in Africa. There were swans as far as the eye could see.
After the Moulting Lagoon, we drove up to Binchon to see the blowhole. It was very easy to find and it was quite impressive. It was just a rock with a hole in it, so when the waves came crashing in (which they were certainly doing today!) they'd shoot through the hole and blow out the top of the rock about 50 feet in the air. It was very cool to watch.
From there, we started driving to Hobart, about a 2.5 hour drive. About 5 minutes into it, I noticed that the low fuel light was on. Rather than pushing it and getting stuck somewhere before reaching the airport for our 5:15 pm flight home, we chose to turn around and get gas in Binchon. We got about $20 of gas because D didn't want to spend too much. We paid for a full tank of gas with Hertz so it made sense to return the rental car with as little gas as possible. $20 got us about 14 liters of gas and the gas light went on again with about 25 kms left to go. I was nervous about running out of gas, so we stopped again and got $8 more. We probably could've gotten to the airport on the original $20, but the $8 gave me peace of mind.
We got to the airport at 2:45, about 2 and a half hours before our plane. JetStar wouldn't even let us check in that early, so we had to sit around for 30 minutes before we could check in. Once we did check in, we went through security in a flash and had to sit around for about 2 hours because our plane was delayed until 6 pm. The time went really slow, but we kept realizing that we were on our way to see Ayla and that made us both happy. We watched videos of her on D's phone a couple times. Every baby or young child we see makes us think of her. We both cannot wait to see her...
We arrived in Melbourne, got our bags, and easily found our way to the Hilton connected to the airport. Couldn't be easier. We ordered room service, tidied up a bit, and watched a movie on TV. Our only complaints are that we have to pay $0.55 per minute for internet service in the room and the "king" bed is actually 2 singles together. Other than that, the hotel is phenomenal. We'll get up in the morning, D will exercise in the gym and we'll make our way over to the terminal through a walkway around 9 am for our flight at 11:15. We'll be in LA around 7:30 am, which is totally wierd in that it is actually before we left! Then we have a 10:25 flight to Newark which arrives at 6:45 pm. We should be seeing the cuteness by 7:30 or 8 if all goes well.
So we checked out, packed up the car, and headed out to the Moulting Lagoons. We found the small carpark off the main road and walked about 100 feet down to the lagoon. The lagoon is enormous, more like a sizable lake, but more importantly were the thousands of black swans all over the place. They've counted as many as 10,000 swans on the lagoon. Tons of them had signets (baby swans) too! It was unbelievable seeing that much wildlife in one place. I felt like we were watching a herd of wildebeasts in Africa. There were swans as far as the eye could see.
After the Moulting Lagoon, we drove up to Binchon to see the blowhole. It was very easy to find and it was quite impressive. It was just a rock with a hole in it, so when the waves came crashing in (which they were certainly doing today!) they'd shoot through the hole and blow out the top of the rock about 50 feet in the air. It was very cool to watch.
From there, we started driving to Hobart, about a 2.5 hour drive. About 5 minutes into it, I noticed that the low fuel light was on. Rather than pushing it and getting stuck somewhere before reaching the airport for our 5:15 pm flight home, we chose to turn around and get gas in Binchon. We got about $20 of gas because D didn't want to spend too much. We paid for a full tank of gas with Hertz so it made sense to return the rental car with as little gas as possible. $20 got us about 14 liters of gas and the gas light went on again with about 25 kms left to go. I was nervous about running out of gas, so we stopped again and got $8 more. We probably could've gotten to the airport on the original $20, but the $8 gave me peace of mind.
We got to the airport at 2:45, about 2 and a half hours before our plane. JetStar wouldn't even let us check in that early, so we had to sit around for 30 minutes before we could check in. Once we did check in, we went through security in a flash and had to sit around for about 2 hours because our plane was delayed until 6 pm. The time went really slow, but we kept realizing that we were on our way to see Ayla and that made us both happy. We watched videos of her on D's phone a couple times. Every baby or young child we see makes us think of her. We both cannot wait to see her...
We arrived in Melbourne, got our bags, and easily found our way to the Hilton connected to the airport. Couldn't be easier. We ordered room service, tidied up a bit, and watched a movie on TV. Our only complaints are that we have to pay $0.55 per minute for internet service in the room and the "king" bed is actually 2 singles together. Other than that, the hotel is phenomenal. We'll get up in the morning, D will exercise in the gym and we'll make our way over to the terminal through a walkway around 9 am for our flight at 11:15. We'll be in LA around 7:30 am, which is totally wierd in that it is actually before we left! Then we have a 10:25 flight to Newark which arrives at 6:45 pm. We should be seeing the cuteness by 7:30 or 8 if all goes well.
Freycinet day 2
This morning we got up to find that the weather was miserable. Raining and fog so thick you couldn't see the other side of Coles Bay from the lodge. Going to the top of Mount Amos was out of the question because of the rain (the rocks were too slippery when wet) and even if we did, we wouldn't see past the trees. We had some breakfast, went to the visitor's center to see what our options were. After realizing that almost everything was going to be fogged in, we decided to chill. We went back to the room, set up a home theater, and watched Meet the Robinsons on the laptop. We both liked it a lot. We didn't have any popcorn, but we improvised eating Rice Bubbles out of wineglasses. After that movie, we tried to watch The Hit, which was so awful, we could get past the opening credits. Then we tried watching The Simpsons, but I don't think we had the movie. It seemed like a number of individual episodes strung together. If it was the Simpsons movie, then it was awful. There was no plotline to follow. In one second, Bart's fighting Principal Skinner and the next Homer is in the army. We gave up watching about 30 minutes into it and got in bed. I napped while D read her book.
In the afternoon, the rain seemed to be stopping so we decided to drive around and see if any hikes were worth doing. We drove to the beginning of the Wineglass Bay Lookout hike (which we both want to do badly) and met some folks who had just returned. I asked "Is it worth it?" She responded "It depends what you're looking for. If you want to see some cool rocks and trees along the path, it's great. If you want to see anything else, don't bother." So we decided it probably wasn't worth the effort of a 1.5 hr return hike to see nothing. So we drove out to the lighthouse on the ocean side of the peninsula. All we saw was straight down the cliff faces to the ocean below, but the views were pretty much gray. We took a video to prove it.
After that trek, we stopped at Sleepy bay on the way back from the lighthouse. It was gray and raining again by this point, but amazingly we saw a bride, groom, bridesmaid, flower girl, and photographer. They were taking pictures in the rain in front of some nice scenery. The fog had let up just enough to see some cool rock cliffs so we spent about an hour hiking around the area, including a secret path that a local informed us about while we were there. It wasn't so great, but gave us a different perspective and it was fun exploring.
We were drenched so we got home, changed, and drove to the Edge of the Bay restaurant for dinner. We got there at 5:30 and they weren't ready for guests. Evidently they didn't start cooking until 6:30, go figure. So we drove back into Coles Bay and ate some decent burgers at Jus Food. 2 burgers and 3 drinks for less than $20, not so bad.
After dinner, we went back to the cabin and watched Live Free or Die Hard. We both enjoyed it. After discussing plans for Sunday, we're getting in bed and watching Evan Almighty before crashing.
In the afternoon, the rain seemed to be stopping so we decided to drive around and see if any hikes were worth doing. We drove to the beginning of the Wineglass Bay Lookout hike (which we both want to do badly) and met some folks who had just returned. I asked "Is it worth it?" She responded "It depends what you're looking for. If you want to see some cool rocks and trees along the path, it's great. If you want to see anything else, don't bother." So we decided it probably wasn't worth the effort of a 1.5 hr return hike to see nothing. So we drove out to the lighthouse on the ocean side of the peninsula. All we saw was straight down the cliff faces to the ocean below, but the views were pretty much gray. We took a video to prove it.
After that trek, we stopped at Sleepy bay on the way back from the lighthouse. It was gray and raining again by this point, but amazingly we saw a bride, groom, bridesmaid, flower girl, and photographer. They were taking pictures in the rain in front of some nice scenery. The fog had let up just enough to see some cool rock cliffs so we spent about an hour hiking around the area, including a secret path that a local informed us about while we were there. It wasn't so great, but gave us a different perspective and it was fun exploring.
We were drenched so we got home, changed, and drove to the Edge of the Bay restaurant for dinner. We got there at 5:30 and they weren't ready for guests. Evidently they didn't start cooking until 6:30, go figure. So we drove back into Coles Bay and ate some decent burgers at Jus Food. 2 burgers and 3 drinks for less than $20, not so bad.
After dinner, we went back to the cabin and watched Live Free or Die Hard. We both enjoyed it. After discussing plans for Sunday, we're getting in bed and watching Evan Almighty before crashing.
Freycinet day 1
We got up around 8:30 and ate some simple breakfast before realizing that our bags were not going to hold all of our stuff plus the additional things we've gathered on the way (extra hat, shirt, puzzle, souvenirs, etc). We are now thinking that buying an extra backpack that we can check will be useful. So we walked around looking for a place to buy a new backpack, but today is Thursday and all of Hobart is closed for the Hobart Show, which is a large carnival with rides, shows, booths, etc. It's actually a national holiday. So no luck with the bag. We left Hobart around 10 after checking out and getting our car. We drove about an hour and a half before stopping in Swansea for lunch. We couldn't find a good cafe so we settled on a little restaurant next to a motel. D had spaghetti bolognese and I had a ham and cheese toasted sandwich with chips (fries). Both turned out to be quite good and we complimented the chefs while we were there.
We stopped a bit north of Swansea at a beautiful beach for a bit, then continued all the way into Freycinet National Park and into Freycinet Lodge. The Lodge was originally built as a chateau for someone before the place was turned into a National Park and the government has allowed it to be used as accomodations. We're staying in room 32 (the same number as in Cradle Mountain coincidentally) and it's gorgeous. 30 steps from Richardson beach, which isn't the nicest beach here, but a beach nonetheless.
Then we made our way into town to determine activities for tomorrow and to get to our twilight paddle in Coles Bay. We figured out that we're going to go on a cruise tomorrow morning and then be back in time to take quads to the Friendly beaches (gorgeous white sand supposedly). A full day to say the least, but doable we hope.
We got down to the beach, got the obligatory kayak lesson, and pushed out into the water. D and I have gotten pretty good in double sea kayaks so we gave the other couple (Simon and Sarah) a few pointers. They seemed to appreciate it and thanked us later. Sarajane was the only other woman there (it was her birthday) and she was in a double with Sam, the guide. The paddle took us around Coles Bay, seeing a few marine birds, and right near our room to hear about the Hazards (the mountain range) and the history of the area. The going was tough in the beginning going against the wind, but the way back was fairly easy since the wind was at our backs and we drifted a good bit of it.
After the paddle, we talked with Simon and Sara a bit and then drove across the street for dinner. We saw Sarajane sitting alone and Denise, out of the kindness of her heart, asked her to join us. So she did. We talked for a good hour about Tasmania, its oddities and the differences between here and the states. There are plenty! She'd been to the states, so she had a pretty good idea and gave us a few pointers about things in the area to see and do. It was a great dinner.
Afterwards we made our way back to our room around 9:30 at night. It was the first real night driving we've done and I drove about 30 km/hr (~20 mph) the whole way. When we got near the lodge, D saw something move to the side of the car and after some car maneuvering, we saw a small dark furry animal with seemingly white ears. Looked kinda like a fox, but with a smaller snout and shorter legs. We'll ask about it in the morning. It didn't walk like a devil, so we're thinking it was a Quoll. Quolls are the other marsupial carnivores on Tasmania that compete with Devils for food.
Speaking of marsupial carnivores, we heard, read, and saw alot about the Thylacine. That's the scientific name for the Tasmanian Tiger. It's a carnivorous marsupial like the Devil and Quolls that was prolific in Australia through the 19th century. There hasn't been a documented sighting of one for decades, but occasionally there are reported sightings throughout Tassie. Supposedly a local paper is offering an enormous reward for documented proof, but Sarajane told us that most Tasmanians wouldn't tell. They wouldn't want everyone going after it to find it if they did see one. She thinks they're out there in the thousands and thousands of miles of wilderness that exists here. I believe her. If you look at a map of Tassie, you can see how many area there is that is simply wild. No people, no planes, no nothing, just wilderness. I have no doubt that there are many species out there that we don't know about. I also agree with her that I wouldn't tell if I did see one. It's like the Giant Squid. Now that we know about it, we hurt them, like the one who lost a tentacle trying to get away from the camera last year. Let the animals live in peace. One day, we'll have the technology to see them in their natural environment without affecting them. Like the motion sensitive cameras they use to track Devils and Siberian Tigers. They don't do anything to the animals. They simply track them when they are nearby. Okay, I'm done griping.
We stopped a bit north of Swansea at a beautiful beach for a bit, then continued all the way into Freycinet National Park and into Freycinet Lodge. The Lodge was originally built as a chateau for someone before the place was turned into a National Park and the government has allowed it to be used as accomodations. We're staying in room 32 (the same number as in Cradle Mountain coincidentally) and it's gorgeous. 30 steps from Richardson beach, which isn't the nicest beach here, but a beach nonetheless.
Then we made our way into town to determine activities for tomorrow and to get to our twilight paddle in Coles Bay. We figured out that we're going to go on a cruise tomorrow morning and then be back in time to take quads to the Friendly beaches (gorgeous white sand supposedly). A full day to say the least, but doable we hope.
We got down to the beach, got the obligatory kayak lesson, and pushed out into the water. D and I have gotten pretty good in double sea kayaks so we gave the other couple (Simon and Sarah) a few pointers. They seemed to appreciate it and thanked us later. Sarajane was the only other woman there (it was her birthday) and she was in a double with Sam, the guide. The paddle took us around Coles Bay, seeing a few marine birds, and right near our room to hear about the Hazards (the mountain range) and the history of the area. The going was tough in the beginning going against the wind, but the way back was fairly easy since the wind was at our backs and we drifted a good bit of it.
After the paddle, we talked with Simon and Sara a bit and then drove across the street for dinner. We saw Sarajane sitting alone and Denise, out of the kindness of her heart, asked her to join us. So she did. We talked for a good hour about Tasmania, its oddities and the differences between here and the states. There are plenty! She'd been to the states, so she had a pretty good idea and gave us a few pointers about things in the area to see and do. It was a great dinner.
Afterwards we made our way back to our room around 9:30 at night. It was the first real night driving we've done and I drove about 30 km/hr (~20 mph) the whole way. When we got near the lodge, D saw something move to the side of the car and after some car maneuvering, we saw a small dark furry animal with seemingly white ears. Looked kinda like a fox, but with a smaller snout and shorter legs. We'll ask about it in the morning. It didn't walk like a devil, so we're thinking it was a Quoll. Quolls are the other marsupial carnivores on Tasmania that compete with Devils for food.
Speaking of marsupial carnivores, we heard, read, and saw alot about the Thylacine. That's the scientific name for the Tasmanian Tiger. It's a carnivorous marsupial like the Devil and Quolls that was prolific in Australia through the 19th century. There hasn't been a documented sighting of one for decades, but occasionally there are reported sightings throughout Tassie. Supposedly a local paper is offering an enormous reward for documented proof, but Sarajane told us that most Tasmanians wouldn't tell. They wouldn't want everyone going after it to find it if they did see one. She thinks they're out there in the thousands and thousands of miles of wilderness that exists here. I believe her. If you look at a map of Tassie, you can see how many area there is that is simply wild. No people, no planes, no nothing, just wilderness. I have no doubt that there are many species out there that we don't know about. I also agree with her that I wouldn't tell if I did see one. It's like the Giant Squid. Now that we know about it, we hurt them, like the one who lost a tentacle trying to get away from the camera last year. Let the animals live in peace. One day, we'll have the technology to see them in their natural environment without affecting them. Like the motion sensitive cameras they use to track Devils and Siberian Tigers. They don't do anything to the animals. They simply track them when they are nearby. Okay, I'm done griping.
Cradle Mountain day 2
We got up kinda early since we had fallen asleep early. We ate oatmeal and made sandwiches again for a later hike. D watched the end of the movie. We went to the visitor center and decided to do another hike. So we went back out, did another rough and steep section to get to Hanson's peak. This one was MUCH harder. There was one section that we needed to use chains mounted in the rock faces to get up. If you fell, you were certainly dead. I mentioned to D at one point that she should watch where she grabbed trees and bushes to make sure she wasn't grabbing spider webs. This freaked her out so she rarely grabbed anything for the rest of the hike. Coincidentally I saw a red backed spider on the trail later in the hike.
The views were incredible and the trails were spectactular. We ate lunch in the Twisted lakes, a small group of lakes with a trail through them. Bob, the bird (a Tasmanian crow/raven) spent some time with us at the top of the peak. They don't seem too afraid of humans and would come within feet of us. Coming down was just as hard if not harder than going up. There were sections with chains again, but going down, I felt alot safer than going up for some reason. We got back to our car, drove to the internet cafe, split a sandwich, and then decided to see the Tasmanian Devils @Cradle. To kill some time, we drove over to the Wilderness Gallery, a collection of photography from the area. They were charging for admission and considering we only had about 15 minutes before they closed, we decided against it. Then we headed over to Devils@Cradle.
Devils@Cradle is a breeding center for Tasmanian Devils. We learned all about them. The guide even brought in Charlotte, a young female that she held and we all got to pet her. Devils are very soft and good tempered, until they eat. She fed a few of them for us to see. They go insane over food. Even relatives snarl, growl, bare their teeth, and even snap at each other. This is evidently part of the reason that this breeding center is necessary. There is a disease called Facial Tumour Disease (or something similar) that is ravaging the Devil population. Once a Devil has the disease, they pass it to their young and all of them will die. It causes a cancerous growth near their mouth and within months, it prevents them from eating and they starve to death. The disease is completely natural and was not caused by any human intervention whatsoever. This breeding center is keeping a small population away from the natural population in the hope that the disease will run its course and eventually this disease free population can be re-introduced to the wild. They're also working with geneticists to determine what is causing the disease and figure out a cure. There have been advances, but curing the entire population of thousands of Devils in the wild is impossible. Especially since they are so elusive. But this center is doing its part and it was cool to see. We bought a stuffed toy Devil for Ayla to help the center financially.
The views were incredible and the trails were spectactular. We ate lunch in the Twisted lakes, a small group of lakes with a trail through them. Bob, the bird (a Tasmanian crow/raven) spent some time with us at the top of the peak. They don't seem too afraid of humans and would come within feet of us. Coming down was just as hard if not harder than going up. There were sections with chains again, but going down, I felt alot safer than going up for some reason. We got back to our car, drove to the internet cafe, split a sandwich, and then decided to see the Tasmanian Devils @Cradle. To kill some time, we drove over to the Wilderness Gallery, a collection of photography from the area. They were charging for admission and considering we only had about 15 minutes before they closed, we decided against it. Then we headed over to Devils@Cradle.
Devils@Cradle is a breeding center for Tasmanian Devils. We learned all about them. The guide even brought in Charlotte, a young female that she held and we all got to pet her. Devils are very soft and good tempered, until they eat. She fed a few of them for us to see. They go insane over food. Even relatives snarl, growl, bare their teeth, and even snap at each other. This is evidently part of the reason that this breeding center is necessary. There is a disease called Facial Tumour Disease (or something similar) that is ravaging the Devil population. Once a Devil has the disease, they pass it to their young and all of them will die. It causes a cancerous growth near their mouth and within months, it prevents them from eating and they starve to death. The disease is completely natural and was not caused by any human intervention whatsoever. This breeding center is keeping a small population away from the natural population in the hope that the disease will run its course and eventually this disease free population can be re-introduced to the wild. They're also working with geneticists to determine what is causing the disease and figure out a cure. There have been advances, but curing the entire population of thousands of Devils in the wild is impossible. Especially since they are so elusive. But this center is doing its part and it was cool to see. We bought a stuffed toy Devil for Ayla to help the center financially.
Cradle Mountain day 1
Oatmeal for breakfast, yummy with honey. Stopped at visitor's center, bought gloves, earbands, etc. Then we drove out to Dove Lake and parked. Signed the walk registration book, D peed, and we were off. We took a "rough and steep" route to Marion's lookout. At the first intersection, we ran into a few older ladies and chatted for a bit. After telling her our plans to go to Marion's lookout, she said her name was Marion, and we thought that was an interesting coincidence. The "rough and steep" part of the trail was just that. Very steep and rough going. But it only lasted about 45 minutes or an hour and when we were done, we were almost all the way to the lookout. It felt great to get so high so quickly. Every step felt like an accomplishment. Plus the technicality of the trail took your mind off the physical difficulty. The unfortunate part was that it was raining and the wind was BLASTING at the lookout. So after about 3 minutes there, we were off to Kitchen Hut and possibly the summit of Cradle Mountain. After about an hour hike, D was at about an 8 and we needed to get to the Kitchen Hut for it's toilet. We traversed a number of knee deep snow fields to get there and finally arrived. No toilet in sight. We asked the people that were there and they had no idea of any toilet nearby. D saw a sign on the hut that said the toilet was 100 meters down a track nearby so we asked if they knew the track, but they didn't. Luckily a guy saw another structure nearby and we scrambled over more snow to get there. It was the toilet and D was happy. We found our way back to the hut, chatted with a family following the Overland Track (a popular Tasmanian multi-day hike), and then ate our lunch, pre-prepared PB&Js. After lunch, we decided to NOT try for the summit. We had no snow equipment and were not prepared to get over the amount of ice we thought was up there, not to mention the low cloud cover and that the view may be weak at best.
So we started down the face track, which would bring us to the west side of Dove lake and back to our car. But then D remember that the face track was closed from our trip to the visitor's center. We later found out that the trail was very narrow at some points because of rock falls. We could've made it through, but it would have been scary. Regardless, we went back a different way to the car park that we thought might have less snow. Boy were we wrong! We ended up walking across much larger snow fields, although there were less of them. We stopped at Cradle peak, which was gorgeous and the views were spectacular. The sun had started to peek out by this point, but the winds weren't too bad, which the important piece. We met some guy who had sold his business and decided to travel throughout Australia for a year. Sounded nice to us...
We decided on taking the long way back to the car, which may not have been the best choice after 4 hours of hiking already. We saw Cradle falls, which were very cool and then started the long hike back. After about an hour and a half, both of us were exhausted. We felt like our legs were just going to stop working. Finally we found Lake Lilla, which was a sign that we were close to the carpark. We said hello to the lake a few times because we were a bit delirious at that point. We made it back to the car and then headed straight to the Chateau because we were very hungry. D had salmon, which was decent, but the pumpkin soup appetizer was awesome. I ordered wedges with sweet chilli. It turned out to be potato fries (in wedge shape) with a small bowl of sweet and sour sauce. It was pretty good, but I didn't even make a dent in it. We asked to wrap it up and turns out you can't do that in Australia. National law prohibits taking food from a restaurant. Something to do with food poisining or something. The waiter was very nice and chatted with us a while after apologizing for it. In fact, when we left, he said he'd miss us and we should come back. We never did.
We went back to the room and watched Reign over Me in bed. At least I did. D fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through.
So we started down the face track, which would bring us to the west side of Dove lake and back to our car. But then D remember that the face track was closed from our trip to the visitor's center. We later found out that the trail was very narrow at some points because of rock falls. We could've made it through, but it would have been scary. Regardless, we went back a different way to the car park that we thought might have less snow. Boy were we wrong! We ended up walking across much larger snow fields, although there were less of them. We stopped at Cradle peak, which was gorgeous and the views were spectacular. The sun had started to peek out by this point, but the winds weren't too bad, which the important piece. We met some guy who had sold his business and decided to travel throughout Australia for a year. Sounded nice to us...
We decided on taking the long way back to the car, which may not have been the best choice after 4 hours of hiking already. We saw Cradle falls, which were very cool and then started the long hike back. After about an hour and a half, both of us were exhausted. We felt like our legs were just going to stop working. Finally we found Lake Lilla, which was a sign that we were close to the carpark. We said hello to the lake a few times because we were a bit delirious at that point. We made it back to the car and then headed straight to the Chateau because we were very hungry. D had salmon, which was decent, but the pumpkin soup appetizer was awesome. I ordered wedges with sweet chilli. It turned out to be potato fries (in wedge shape) with a small bowl of sweet and sour sauce. It was pretty good, but I didn't even make a dent in it. We asked to wrap it up and turns out you can't do that in Australia. National law prohibits taking food from a restaurant. Something to do with food poisining or something. The waiter was very nice and chatted with us a while after apologizing for it. In fact, when we left, he said he'd miss us and we should come back. We never did.
We went back to the room and watched Reign over Me in bed. At least I did. D fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Hobart
Our day began with a wonderful breakfast at the Metropolitan Cafe across the street from our hotel. I had bacon and scrambled eggs with white toast, D had scrambled eggs with grain toast. They had fresh squeezed juices so I had orange and D had watermelon, both were great. We then stopped at Starbucks and D got a raspberry white chocolate mocha. She also saw Anniversary blend there, but we didn't buy any. Hopefully they have some at home.
We then jumped in the car, and while D had to adjust to city driving, she got us to the Cambridge Aerodrome and we jumped in a single prop plane to take a scenic flight of southwest Tasmania. Our flight brought us over the southernmost part of Tasmania and some beautiful sights. Southwest Tasmania is almost entirely uninhabited. In fact, only 2 people live in the entire 3761 square miles. They're in their 70s and continue to mine tin from a very small area near Melaleuca. Our flight brought us to a landing strip there and we walked around to a bird observation hut there. The orange-bellied parrot, of which there are only 200 in the entire world, spends only a few weeks in southwest Tasmania to breed. We didn't see them, but they were nesting nearby. From there, we took a boat ride to another old structure near Bathurst harbor where we took a short hike and then ate lunch. After taking the boat back to the landing strip, we flew home.
We walked around Hobart a bit and then ate dinner at Blue Skies near the waterfront. Dinner was great and then we walked around for about an hour before making our way back to the hotel. Tomorrow we drive to Freycinet, which we've been told is warm and beautiful. I'm looking forward to it after 3 or 4 days of fairly cold and windy weather...
We then jumped in the car, and while D had to adjust to city driving, she got us to the Cambridge Aerodrome and we jumped in a single prop plane to take a scenic flight of southwest Tasmania. Our flight brought us over the southernmost part of Tasmania and some beautiful sights. Southwest Tasmania is almost entirely uninhabited. In fact, only 2 people live in the entire 3761 square miles. They're in their 70s and continue to mine tin from a very small area near Melaleuca. Our flight brought us to a landing strip there and we walked around to a bird observation hut there. The orange-bellied parrot, of which there are only 200 in the entire world, spends only a few weeks in southwest Tasmania to breed. We didn't see them, but they were nesting nearby. From there, we took a boat ride to another old structure near Bathurst harbor where we took a short hike and then ate lunch. After taking the boat back to the landing strip, we flew home.
We walked around Hobart a bit and then ate dinner at Blue Skies near the waterfront. Dinner was great and then we walked around for about an hour before making our way back to the hotel. Tomorrow we drive to Freycinet, which we've been told is warm and beautiful. I'm looking forward to it after 3 or 4 days of fairly cold and windy weather...
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