farewell down under

After a whirlwind trip to Tasmania and Sydney, we returned to Melbourne to wrap up our time down under and say aufwiedersehen to wonderful friends. We spent our last day at Brighton Beach, floating in salt water and soaking up as much sun as possible before returning to winter. We walked the beach and enjoyed the 80+ colorful beach houses (really sheds) lining the shoreline before packing up our summer gear and heading to the airport. It was a long flight home (successfully via Dubai this time, where it was raining!) and then via NYC all the way to snowy wintery Vermont!

Brighton Beach, Melbourne Australia

View of Vermont from the Airplane

Home Sweet Home, under many feet of snow

For the rest of the photos from the trip view the albums on the Featured Photo Album list.

harbor views

We flew from Hobart to Sydney, getting beautiful views of the city from the plane. Our plans were tossed in the air and so we hopped on a train into the city and went with the flow. We arrived at Circular Quay with no idea of where to go so with our newly purchased transit passes, we hopped on a Darling Harbor Ferry and were treated to gorgeous night time views of the Sydney Harbor. From the Ferry deck, we saw the Circular Quay, the Opera House, the Harbor Bridge, Luna Park, Darling Harbor and everything else in between, including some fireworks over the Opera House.

View of Sydney from the Airplane

View from the Ferry of the Opera House lit at night

Harbor Bridge with surprise fireworks over the Opera House

Having enjoyed our Darling Harbor Ferry ride so much, we decided to try out another ferry to Cockatoo Island, an old industrial and prison island, that was hosting the Bienniale Festival for Contemporary Art Installations. While we weren't thoroughly excited by the art work, the old warehouses and machinery on the island were lots of fun to see. We then headed back into the city, explored the botanical gardens and then met up with Sara and Ed for a lovely evening walking around the harbor, which included watching the Carnival Spirit Cruise Ship leave the Sydney Harbor and some yummy food at a tiny restaurant on the Nurses Walk alley in The Rocks.

On the way to Cockatoo Island

The Carnival Spirit, leaving Sydney Harbor

The following day, we enjoyed more of the Sydney downtown including The Rocks Market, the Contemporary Art Museum, and the Customs House, which featured samples from the crocheted coral reef exhibit decorating the floor space with a scaled model of the city below. We then hopped the Manly Ferry across the Sydney Harbor to Manly, seeing some spectacular sailing competitions. We made our way to the famed Manly Beach and enjoyed a lovely afternoon on the beach, which had strong undertow warnings, before heading back to the city with more beautiful views from the ferry.

Sydney Harbor

Inside the Customs House, Crocheted Coral

Sailing Competitions in Sydney Harbor

Manly Beach

Views of Sydney from the Manly Ferry

Spectacular Sydney Skies

Our last day in Sydney, we strolled through Hyde Park and checked out St. Mary's Cathedral before heading to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to check out their impressive collection, most notably an impressive exhibit of artwork done by Australian high school students. We then meandered through the Royal Botanical Gardens, enjoying the Rose Gardens and a grass garden. I met up with Carolyn, a friend of mine from Hopkins, who I hadn't seen since graduation, and we explored more of the Botanical Gardens. Mom and I then headed to the Harbor Bridge to walk across it (on the free street level). We saw different (yet still beautiful) views of Sydney from the bridge but decided we enjoyed the view from the ferry more so for our last evening in Sydney, we hopped the Darling Harbor Ferry, saw the sites from the water and enjoyed a yummy meal on the waterfront.

Hyde Park with a view of St. Mary's Cathedral

One of the many Rhinos raising awareness throughout Sydney

View from the Harbor Bridge

Last evening views of the Harbor Bridge

Darling Harbor

To view all the photos from Sydney, click on the 2014 Sydney Album.

tasman to the pipes

We drove the rural dirt road through the Sandspit Forest Park to the Tasman Peninsula, getting gorgeous views of the coastline before waiting for the turntable bridge in Dunalley to rotate back in road position in order to cross over into the Tasman National Park. We stopped at the Arch, walked to Waterfall Bay, which sadly had no water running in the waterfalls on the seaside cliffs, and viewed the area's blowhole (which was not as impressive as the one in Bicheno but it did have a cool tunnel leading out to the open ocean).

Driving through Rheban Beach south to the Tasman Peninsula

The Arch

East coast of the Tasman Peninsula (with Waterfall Bay in the distance)

After walking the east coast a ways (though not the 8 hr trek), we headed to Port Arthur, bypassing our original plan of a 5 hour hike to Cape Huay. We made it to Port Arthur, and discovered that all the sites were only available to those who purchased tickets to see the ruins. Not in the mood for wandering around old ruins, we followed signs for a "remarkable cave" and were greeted with gorgeous costal views, including views of both Tasmania's southern tips Cape Pillar and Cape Raoul (both which had really neat rock formations) in addition to a hike into a water carved cave. We then drove by some lovely beaches (just begging to be enjoyed) and stopped to check out some black swans up close. We then drove the rest of the loop of the Tasman Peninsula, seeing a yard filled with hundreds and hundreds of gnomes and then stopping to meet Ash's auntie and see her aspiring eco village before heading back to Hobart for a delicious family dinner to celebrate our last night in Tasmania.

View of Cape Raoul

Black Swans on the Tasman Peninsula

Our last morning, we woke up bright and early - ready to hike Mt. Wellington with Susie. We hiked across the "organ pipes" portion of the mountain. It was extremely windy on the way up the mountain but once we got close enough to be hugging the boulders and hiking amongst the low shrubs, we were well protected. After walking the organ pipes, we headed to the summit where the wind was amazingly strong but the views looking back over the city and the coast were beautiful. It was an awesome way to stretch our legs before getting on a plane and get one last view of Tasmania. We made such good time that we even had the time to go check out Mt. Nelson for brunch with the Susie and another last look at the landscape before returning our camper and heading to the airport to fly to Sydney.

Mount Wellington before our ascent (organ pipes are the brown part at top)

View of Hobart from Mt Wellington

Mt. Wellington

The Mt Wellington Organ Pipes

Mt. Wellington Summit

To view all of our photos from Tasmania, view the 2014 Tasmania Album.

freycinet

We woke up early to a gorgeous sunrise over the ocean and enjoyed breakfast with picturesque views in all directions, including the red decorated rocks. From our picnic table we could also see the Bicheno blowhole (and the tourists coming to visit and photograph it).

Sunrise in Bicheno, view from the Camper

Sunrise in Bicheno

Bicheno coast at sunrise

The Blowhole, Bicheno

After a gorgeous morning, we headed to Freycinet National Park (the whole peninsula) for some exciting hikes. We hiked up to the Wineglass Bay lookout on an extremely well maintained path with nice stone steps and benches along the trail that was lined by massive boulders and rock formations. The view from the look out was of course beautiful -the curved white sandy beach of Wineglass Bay, the mountains beyond and the lagoons to the east. While many took in the view from the top and hiked back down, we went onward down to the bay on a much less manicured path. Climbing over rock piles and through narrow passage ways, we enjoyed seeing trees twisted by years of wind the length of the trail to the beach.

Freycinet National Park, rocks on the walk

Freycinet National Park, rocks on the walk

View of Wineglass Bay from the lookout, Freycinet

The beach at Wineglass Bay did not disappoint, with its fine white sand and turquoise waves crashing on the shore. We had a lovely lunch, sitting on the beach surrounded by seagulls not-so-patiently inching their way closer and closer in the hope of crumbs. On the beach, we were treated by our first Wallabee with a baby! At first we couldn't see the baby's head (it had elbows and feet awkwardly sticking out), but after a couple minutes it rotated around in its sleepy daze after getting its head dunked in the sand while its mom hopped around the beach.

Wallabee with a baby joey on Wineglass Bay Beach

The sleeping baby wallabee

After lunch and entertainment on the beach, we headed across from east to west via the Isthmus track to Hazards Beach. The track had much more arid greenery and a really nice boardwalk over a sometimes swampy stretch (it was bone dry when we walked by). When we reached the other side, we were again greeted by another beautiful beach, this time with orange hued sand and finely polished seashells. We walked the whole length of the beach, collecting shiny shells to add to our baggage. We continued onward through the bush to a few alcoves just north of Hazards Beach that had absolutely beautiful brilliant rocks that looked like fire against the turquoise and blue ocean.

The Isthmus track from Wineglass Bay to Hazards Beach, Freycinet

Hazards Beach, Freycinet

Rocks near Hazards Beach, Freycinet

View looking back towards Hazards Beach from another little alcove

Fire Rocks, Freycinet

After the beautiful beaches and alcoves, we hiked around the mountains to complete our loop, enjoying the beautiful views of the boulders, vegetation, and ocean sparkling under the hot sun. After a long loop hike, we drove to another spot on the peninsula for a couple other short walks to a lookout point on the east coast and some other neat coastal views.

Freycinet plant life

View of the east coast of Freycinet Peninsula (with Wineglass Bay in the middle)

It was an absolutely amazing day in Freycinet National Park with hours and hours of hiking to explore the beautiful landscapes. Once again, we hopped back in the car to drive back south during the beautiful evening light. We drove along the coast, getting another view of the Freycinet Peninsula before heading south to Swansea to view the old Spiky Bridge and head further south to position ourselves closer to the Tasman Peninsula for our last full day in Tasmania. By the time the sun set, we were ready to chill in our camper and prepare for another fun day.

View from the Tasmanian mainland looking back at Freycinet

The Spiky Bridge in Swansea

For more Tasmania Photos, visit the 2014 Tasmania Album.

maria island

We woke up bright and early to see the sunrise over Hobart, shedding a beautiful pinky purple light on Mount Wellington as the backdrop of the city, in an effort to drive north to catch the morning ferry to Maria Island. We drove through the beautiful Tasmanian countryside, lit by the morning light, by forests that were still smoldering from a recent burn, and arrived in Triabunna to catch the ferry.

Sunrise over Hobart

Mt. Wellington in the sunrise light (taken from the car on the highway)

We set foot on Maria Island and were off for a day of beautiful site seeing. We walked around the island along the coast to the Fossil Cliffs, which had boulders filled will shell fossils and gorgeous views of the western coastline. We then continued onward, ate lunch with a gorgeous view of the coast, and then headed inland for a walk to the resevoire that was filled with bird calls and hopping wallabees. We then explored the historic village area (which was just a few buildings making up Darlington) before heading to the east coast toward Painted Cliffs for low tide. We walked a gorgeous white beach before reaching the Painted Cliffs, which were absolutely beautiful. The Painted cliffs were so colorful, with swirls, groves, honeycombs, and speckles that looked like chocolate, carmel, and cream and everything in between.

West Coast of Maria Island with the waves crashing full force

Fossils on Fossil Cliffs

On the fossil rocks

West coast of Maria Island, view of Bishop and Clerk Mountain

The reservoir on Maria Island

East coast of Maria Island

The Painted Cliffs rocks

The Painted Cliffs rocks

Walking inland from the Painted cliffs we came across more wildlife including a wallabee eating thistles (of all things, super spiky plants) and a pair of wombats, a mama and a baby (that had its head glued to his mom's bum most of the time).

Wallabee

Mama and Baby Wombats

It was a lovely day on Maria Island, filled with lots of walking, site seeing, and enjoying the beautiful national park with its diverse landscapes. We then got back in our camper and drove north, enjoying the beautiful evening light as we headed to Bicheno for the evening. We saw beautiful views of Freycinet Peninsula (where we were headed tomorrow) and got to our resting spot, a roadside picnic area, just in time to cook some dinner and watch the sunset pinken the ocean before the moon rose over the rocks. We had spectacular views all day and all night (since the moon was so bright!).

View of Maria Island at the end of the day from the ferry

View of Freycinet over a vineyard

Moonrise in Bicheno, view from our camping ground

For more Tasmania photos, view the ALBUM.