November - guests and a trip to Tasmania

November was an exciting month as we had our 3rd visitors! Doug & Cindy Brann braved the long flight and arrived Nov 14th and stayed with us for 3 weeks. They were amazing troopers as they flew in around 10am and didn't go to sleep until like 11pm that night! They started out with a bang with a walk around downtown and ended up on a water taxi ride on the Harbor at night.

We took a few great side trips which gave us a chance to be tourists as well. We had a wonderful trip to the Blue Mountains, and went to see the Jenolan Caves, and then spent a day in the Hunter Valley Wine Country where we did a few tours and saw several wineries.

Wine Country:


Polly and Cindy at our first stop:


On my first winery tour:


All wined out, so on to the beer sampling at the Blue Tongue Brewery!

It was back to work for a couple of days, and then we spent 5 days in Tasmania. For those who don't know much about Tasmania, it's a small island Southeast of Australia, and is its own Australian state. Our trip included a lot of driving, but we really had some great variety and got to see a lot of the island. We flew into Hobart, and drove 2.5 hours North to Freycinet National Park and stayed at the Edge of the Bay Resort on Coles Bay. There we did some great hikes overlooking Wineglass Bay as well as a few other short hikes.

Cindy handfeeding a wild kangaroo outside of our cabin

Polly and Jason at Wineglass Bay

Doug at Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay without us in the way

Sunset on Coles Bay


Polly reflecting


View of Coles Bay from our cabin



From Coles Bay, we drove 2 hours to Launceston where we had lunch and did a 1 hour boat cruise of the Cataract Gorge. That was nice, but probably our least favorite activity of the trip.

Cataract Gorge:


After lunch, we drove another 2 hours of very windy roads to Cradle Mountain National Park and stayed 2 nights at the incredible Voyages Cradle Mountain Lodge. We had side by side spa cabins in the hill. We spent 3 hours the next day hiking around Dove Lake and got some great pictures as well as a short hike to the water falls (my favorite). The resort was amazing, and lots of wildlife everywhere. We had very nice cabins, and Polly took advantage of the spa tub after our hikes, and Cindy enjoyed a spa day. The weather was perfect with crystal clear sky and warm days and cool and clear nights.


Waterfall near the lodge


Wild wombat at night



Amazing Dove Lake:




Polly soaking her feet in very cold water after a long hike



We left Cradle Mountain for a 4 hour drive back to Hobart, where we explored a litte and had dinner at the Drunken Admiral. The following morning we enjoyed a really nice tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, complete with free samples.



Hobart from our Hotel


We finished our day with a tour and walk around Port Arthur. Port Arthur has a great Australian history. Sydney and Australia was founded from the English as a penal colony. Port Arthur was where they took the repeat offenders & really bad convicts. It was a penal colony in the middle of a thriving port and town.

Port Arthur




We really liked Tasmania. The wildlife is amazing. There are kangaroos, wallabies (small roos), paddemelons (really small roos), possums, and wombats. They are not shy at all, and will come eat out of your hand. It is such a beautiful and I guess I would use the word "natural" to best describe it. We would be driving for miles on the "main highway"and not see any signs of civilization, and amazing views around every corner.



Just what does this sign mean? I think it means: "Watch out - the kangaroos here can lift your car."


Standard foot shot for Steph


Funny, this guy in Tasmania has a Charlotte Hornets bag! No, he wasn't from North Carolina, and nope, he had no clue who the Hornets were. He just liked the bag. :)