Tassie

Tasmania has always been on our list of places to see in Australia. We absolutely loved New Zealand and Tasmania (commonly known as Tassie) is famous for its similar small town feel with tons of scenery and great food. We headed over for 6 days over the March long weekend to see as much of Tassie as we could.

Tasmania is an island state located off the southern coast of Australia and separated by the Bass Strait. It has a little population of just over 500, 000 with half of them living in and around Hobart. Needless to say coming from Melbourne with a population of 4.35 million; as soon as we landed in Hobart you couldn’t help but notice the calm, relaxing pace and the small town vibe Tasmania has to offer. There is no hustle and bustle and it’s a great place to go to relax and unwind.

Tasmania is famous for its beef, lamb, seafood and fresh produce and we were spoiled with choice and got to enjoy our fair share of it. It is also famous for its scenery and several hiking/ camping spots. It did not disappoint and we recommend it to anyone coming to see Australia.

We landed in Hobart and got to spend a few days with our friends Ali and Phil. I worked with Ali at the Royal Children’s Hospital as she was a Radiology fellow and became good friends. Ali and Phil are very warm and welcoming people and we really enjoyed our few days with them. They collected us at the airport and then took us to see the Salmanca Markets and Hobart Harbour.

We were then dropped off at MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). MONA is an art museum located within the Moorilla winery on the Berriedale peninsula. It is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. The museum presents antiquities, modern and contemporary art from the David Walsh collection. Walsh has described the museum as a "subversive adult Disneyland."  

The museum offers free entry for Tasmanians and only charges an entry fee to overseas and interstate visitors. The museum offers an Ipod to take around with you so you can learn about each piece. There were some really interesting pieces and some that made you think WTF? One piece that is the most talked about is the Poo Machine. Yep it’s a machine that reflects the various stages of digestion and tracks food from the beginning to the very end and deposits feces on a Petri dish with smells and all. After we took in the sights and smells of MONA we headed through the market and up to the Moorilla winery for some wine tasting.

After we wrapped up at MONA, Ali brought us back to their house. It is a stunning house up on the hill near Mount Wellington that overlooks Hobart down below. I have never seen such a stunning view from a house before. It was breath taking! We had a delicious dinner with Ali, Phil and their neighbors.

Our next day was spent at the “Taste of the Huon” festival. It is located in the nearby Huon valley which is one of the wine regions. We had some delicious food, wine and desserts. I even got to have my first delicious Tassie apple (Tassie is known as the Apple Island). We had some great wine from the Wombat Winery and enjoyed the beautiful, warm weather.

We took a tour up to Mount Wellington after the festival and got to take in the spectacular views. We then went to the Cascade Brewery in the hopes of doing a tasting, but they were unfortunately closed. Plan B was to swing by the liquor store and buy our own Cascade beer to do tastings back at the house. That evening we went to Ali and Phil’s favorite Italian restaurant and indulged in some delicious pasta. Thank you again for the wonderful trip, we really enjoyed getting to spend time with you both!

Monday we were off in our rental car to Cradle Mountain. We only had one night there so there was not a lot of time to actually climb the mountain. Instead we did the Dove Lake Hike that is an easy 5km hike around the circumference of Dove Lake that sits at the base of Cradle Mountain.

Following our hike we sat on the balcony of our little cabin at the Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village and while enjoying some of our Wombat wine; had a visit from a Pademelon (mini wallaby) which was incredible!

The next day we drove up to Launceston and enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch at Hallam’s Waterfront Restaurant and a walk through Cataract Gorge.

We were then off to Coles Bay in Freycinet National Park. We stayed in the Coles Bay YHA in a caravan park. Our hostel room was a private one in our own little camper. It wasn’t anything fancy but since we were spending all day kayaking or hiking it did the trick. We spent the evening exploring the small town of Coles Bay.

Day two was spent doing an Oyster Kayak with Freycinet Adventures. I haven’t quite developed a love for oysters but Neal loves them! We lucked out and ended up being the only two people on the tour that day. We headed off with our guide Leith who coincidentally had lived in Lake Louise for a year and then in Vancouver. We spent our time paddling and chatting about hockey. We saw several wetland birds such as Pelicans and black swans; we also say a giant sting ray. We went through the oyster farms that sit in the middle of the river, the mix of fresh and salt water allow the oysters to stay fresher for longer for commercial sales. We stopped at a beach where Leith shucked our fresh oysters picked from the farm and also got to enjoy cookies and a cup of tea. As we were leaving a lady that rescues injured wildlife came by with Sophie the baby wombat. Sophie was so incredibly cute!

Our last day in Freycinet was spent doing a 15km hike down to the world heritage listed Wineglass Bay. This is one of the world’s top 10 beaches and it did not disappoint. We hiked over to the far side of the beach where most tourists don’t bother to keep walking to and enjoyed our picnic lunch and the amazing weather! We then hiked over to Hazards beach which is on the protected bay side of the peninsula. We swam in the crystal clear but chilly water and relaxed on the beach then hiked back. It was a long but amazing day. We wrapped up the trip with a delicious dinner at The Edge Restaurant.

On our way to the airport we stopped by the well recommended, family run, Puddleduck Winery. We met their family pet duck and did a quick wine tasting before we were off to the airport.

We were so impressed with Tasmania and really lucked out with the incredible weather. We had to fit a lot in 6 days and would go back in a heartbeat. Cheers Tassie!

Love Laura & Neal 

Byron Bay, NSW

Blog 5 of 5!

We left Brisbane in our rental car and decided to stop by Surfer’s Paradise in the Gold Coast on our way. Overall we really weren't impressed after seeing the Sunshine Coast. It would be a good spot of you’re interested in Amusement Parks but overall it was very touristy and a little underwhelming. We stayed there for lunch and then decided to keep driving.

We ended our amazing holidays at Byron Bay. Byron is well known for being an idyllic Aussie town. It is quintessentially “strayan” with its laid back, hippy vibe. You can’t help but feel relaxed once you arrive since everyone is really friendly and in no rush to get anywhere.

We stayed at Lili Pilli B&B with the very friendly Mouna from www.airbnb.com. It was approx 4km outside the town centre and because the town was so busy with the Byron Music Festival that was on over New Years we ended up walking a lot to town. Thankfully there was “The Roadhouse” located a 5min walk up the road from our B&B that we went to for Breakfast, Dinner and for Neal’s favourite the whiskey tasting. The Roadhouse has the largest selection of Whiskey in all of Australia. Neal was able to do a tasting that allowed him to try Whiskey’s from the various locations in Scotland as well as South Korea and Japan. I stuck with the wine!

On our first day we did the famous Lighthouse walk that takes you to the most Easterly Point in Australia. The walk was beautiful and we saw plenty of beaches and heaps of people catching waves. We missed out on doing a Kayak trip here but it looked incredible and guaranteed dolphin, turtle or whale sightings (depending on the season).

On our second day we crossed off my biggest goal on the bucket list and did some surf lessons. Neal and I have been fortunate enough to surf in Tofino, Canada; Dingle, Ireland; San Sebastian, Spain & Cabarete, Dominican Republic. However, since High School it has always been my goal to surf in Australia and I finally accomplished it. It had been 5 years since our last surf so we were a little rusty. We started out on some baby waves and were being out performed by some 5 year olds surfing the same waves but once our technique came back we were standing up on every wave. We now have the surf bug back and are planning to catch some waves back in Victoria.
(We forgot our Go Pro at home so we ended up filming this with a non waterproof camera and therefore stayed very close to shore for the videos)

We had fantastic weather while in Byron and some days it was 40 degrees with 90% humidity. We loved our time here and felt so relaxed by the time we left. On the morning we were driving to the airport I was even eating Granola as we left! I guess it rubbed off on me!

Here is a video of a unique sport played in Byron called Bubble Football!

That’s it for the 2013/2014 Christmas and New Years Adventure. Thanks for checking in and next I will be filling you in my ‘Dirty Thirty Birth Month Down Under!’

Love Laura & Neal

Brisbane for NYE

Blog 4 of 5

We headed over to Brisbane for a few days to visit my family in Brisbane. We had such an incredible time visiting my Uncle Emmett & Aunt Orla and were blown away by the hospitality of my cousins. We stayed with Kevin and Jill Martin (Kevin is my Mom’s 1^st cousin) and his four children Erin-Marie, Shaeleen, Patrick and Bridget.

Our first day was spent at the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin’s) with Kevin, Patrick and Shaeleen. We saw some spectacular Aussie Animals as well as the Croc Show that was hosted by Steve Irwin’s wife Terri, Bindi and Robert. It was slightly cheesy in some parts but overall it was a very entertaining show.

We then went to see Kondalilla Falls with Patrick and Kevin. It was a very easy hike but the falls were beautiful and the views of the Glasshouse Mountains were stunning.

Neal did some sailing with Kevin and I had a lovely brunch and shopping day with Jill, Patrick, Shaeleen and Orla. We then celebrated New Years at Fridays on South Bank with views of the Storey Bridge with Erin-Marie, Shaeleen, Patrick and Bridget. Thanks for ringing in 2014 with us, we had so much fun.

New Years Day was spent having a delicious Aussie BBQ up in the Glasshouse Mountains at Jill’s sister’s house. It was so nice to be included with all of her family too.

We had such a wonderful time getting to spend time with my family. Thank you again for having us!

Laura & Neal

xoxo

Noosa

 Blog 3 of 5…

We had the amazing opportunity to visit Noosa in Queensland for 3 days. This was hands down my favorite place so far in Australia and I would go back in a heartbeat! Noosa has amazing white sand beaches surrounded by a bay with warm ocean water. We had fantastic weather while we were there and loved every minute of it!

We stayed at Noosa Rainforest B&B that we found through www.airbnb.com.au. We got great rates and it was in a perfect location just a few minutes’ walk to the beach and to Noosa National Park. It was a 20 min walk into the main part of town. The hosts were so friendly and provided us with a delicious breakfast every morning.

On our first day we went on a very long day trip (13hr) to see the world heritage listed site of Fraser Island. We did the tour through www.viator.com.au. We traveled with Fraser Island Discoveries and had a great tour guide. Fraser Island is completely made of sand with a unique fungi component that allows vegetation to grow on it. Fraser Island is 125km in length and contains several lakes that are insulated with tea tree leaves and allows it to contain fresh water. This comes in handy since you can’t swim in the ocean because of all of the sharks and jelly fish! It was a very bumpy drive as the whole drive out to Fraser and around it is on sand. We really enjoyed the trip and understand why it is so unique to Australia.

The Drive out to and on Fraser Island

Lake Mackenzie (The Tea Tree Lake that left our hair and skin so soft!)

We decided to spend our second morning exploring the Noosa National Park. We did a few of the amazing walking trails and saw several of the amazing beaches. We stopped by the infamous “nudie” beach but since there was only an overweight old man there we decided to keep on hiking. On our way back through the Eucalyptus forest we saw our first Aussie snake. Lucky me I looked over right beside me to see this brown snake slithering up an embankment away from me, I promptly gasped and ran away quickly. I told Neal that I saw a snake and of course Neal was like “oh cool where did it go?” and he went trying to go see it! He responded with “Oh Laura it’s just a little brown Gardner snake.” Later on we described the snake to a local to which we were told that it was actually an Australian Brown Snake that is venomous and you should actually stay away from it. (Therefore… I told you so Neal!)

We spent to rest of our time in Noosa enjoying the great food and getting some sun on the amazing beaches!

Thanks Noosa, we miss you already!!

xoxo

Laura & Neal

Christmas in Sydney

Blog 2 of 5...

Since we got to share the holidays with Neal’s parents Arlene and Brad; we all headed to Sydney to celebrate Christmas with their family (Arlene’s Brother) Grant, Jamie and Aiden. We had some fun filled trips to the Taronga Zoo, Blue Mountains and seeing the Christmas sights around Sydney and had an amazing Christmas Day Feast.

We also got to have a lovely dinner with my cousin Caroline, her husband Graham and their son Tom. I got to meet my Grandpa Cooke’s brother Robert who is a sweet man that we really enjoyed getting to know. Thanks again for having us!

Sydney weather did not cooperate yet again and it poured rain all of Christmas day. I was a bit disappointed since all the Aussie’s like to brag that they get to go to the beach on Christmas Day. For the second year in a row Christmas day was definitely NOT beach weather!! Oh well, there could be worse things to complain about…

Thanks again to the Le Helleco’s for welcoming us into their home and sharing another wonderful Christmas with us.

xoxo

Laura & Neal

The views of Sydney from Taronga Zoo are spectacular!! To get there you can take a ferry from Circular Quay that takes you right past the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

We got to see some of the famous Aussie Animals that Aiden quizzed us on throughout the day. Below are some of them. The Tasmanian Devil, Quokkas, Blue Penguins, Echidnas & The Huntsman Spider. I even made it through the spider exhibit and the snake house!!

Great Cousins Day Out! Thanks Aiden!

Jamie took Neal and I out with Aiden to see the Blue Mountains. They have this name because in the heat the Eucalyptus lets of fumes that make the mountains look blue. We did a walk out to the "Three Sisters;" it was fitting to see the Australian Equivalent of the mountain we got married in front of in Canmore, Alberta.

Our Delicious Christmas Day Feast. We had French Toast in the morning and a Seafood Lunch. As you can see below Jamie knocked this out of the park, Amazing!! Thanks Jamie!
Despite the weather Neal, Brad and Aiden were determined to get to swim on Christmas Day. They didn't last too long in to pool after this photo was taken!
Aiden got Light Savers for Christmas and naturally Neal was all over taking part in an epic battle... The force was not with him and Aiden won!
In the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, they had a 3-storey Swarovski Christmas Tree. It was stunning!

Finally getting to meet Robert Cooke (Grandpa Cecil's brother) with Tom (my second cousin).

Caroline, Tom, Robert and I. The Cooke Clan! Thanks for the lovely dinner Caroline and Graham!

A Shananigan Christmas

Hello Everyone!

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and happy 2014! What and incredible year it has been and we are very much looking forward to seeing what adventures lie in store for us this year!

This is Blog 1 of 5 by the way so stay tuned...

Neal’s parents Brad and Arlene returned to Melbourne following their adventures in New Zealand, Sydney, Barossa Valley, Adelaide and the Great Ocean Road. Needless to say we took it easy for their first few days and allowed them to recuperate. We got to show them the highlights and what we feel are the best parts of Melbourne. They did their own trip to Philip Island to see those adorable little blue penguins and saw the Great Ocean Road on their way back from Adelaide. We had a wonderful trip with them over the week and a half and even got to enjoy an early Christmas dinner.

Thank you Brad and Arlene for your wonderful taste in wine that you couldn't finish before you left. We think of you often! 

A trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Yarra River

The Infamous Hoiser Lane off Flinders Street that has all of the impressive Melbourne Street Art.

The Mornington Peninsula where we visited Mont Alto (and had a delicious lunch), Paringa Estate, Red Hill Winery and the beach houses of Mornington Beach.

The Yarra Valley where we had incredible cheese at Yarra Valley Dairy (yum!), We visited Coombe Farm, Yerring Station and Innocent Bystander/ Giant Steps Winery. We definitely stocked up on some amazing wines on those trips!

Our early Christmas Dinner!

Blog 2 of 5 will follow shortly about our Christmas in Sydney!

xoxo 

Laura & Neal

Cairns and the Northern Beaches

Neal and I were fortunate enough to get to see the infamous “Tropical Australia” for a week in the beginning of November. We headed up to far north Queensland with Neal’s parents B&A to enjoy a week of sun, warmth and adventure. Now some of you must be thinking that we already live in Australia and we must already have this… Melbourne’s winters are damp, cool and wet (think winter in Vancouver, but not quite so cold). So we were really looking forward to the trip. The climate is fantastic as the weather was 30-32 degrees everyday with blue skies and sunshine. There wasn’t much humidity for this time of year and it was the shoulder season so it wasn’t too busy. November is also to start of stinger (jellyfish) and crocodile season. The geography, climate and laid back attitudes reminded me a lot of holidays in Hawaii. There are even sugar cane fields and several surrounding hills. We absolutely loved it!

We stayed 20mins north of Cairns in Trinity Beach at the beautiful Blue Lagoon Resort; where we had a fantastic 2 bedroom apartment for the week. http://www.bluelagoonresort.com.au/

The location was good with several delicious restaurants in walking distance. Such places were the Blue Moon Grill, L’Unico and The Lime Tree. The beaches were nice and the infinity pool was great! The only downside to this area is that there isn’t anything to do after dinner; you would need to drive to one of the nearby communities to find a pub or some night life such as Palm Cove or Cairns itself.

Our first day trip was with The Adventure Company Australia; that we booked through viator.com. We were collected by the lovely and very knowledgeable Shane and taken on a full day trip in an air conditioned coach. Our first stop was the Wild Life Habitat Port Douglas where we got to feed Wallabies and Kangaroos as well as take plenty of pictures of Cassowaries, Crocodiles, Koalas and Kookaburras (just to name a few).

Our second stop was impressive Mossman Gorge. I definitely could have spent more time here and had a swim but we did get a quick tour around to see it and a part of the rainforest.

The Daintree Rainforest is a must see if you are up in the area. If any of you have done the Road to Hana in Maui it is very similar with hairpin turns and tons of scenery.  

We had lunch in Cape Tribulation that was really impressive. I had the steak and Neal had Barramundi, both were delicious and considering what we paid for the day trip we definitely got our money’s worth. After lunch we got to walk the beach and explore Cape Tribulation. It’s unfortunate it has such a miserable name for such a beautiful, stunning place. Apparently Captain Cook hit a part of the reef that actually connects to the Cape and was not impressed so he named it as such.

After lunch we got back on the bus and made our way to the Daintree River for our Crocodile tour. Our guide was impressive and was able to locate 5 crocodiles that I wouldn’t have had a hope of seeing on my own if it wasn’t pointed out to me several times (thanks Neal!) They blend in so well with the Mangroves and brown river water that you would never see these monstrous creatures coming. It didn’t take much for me to remember to keep my arms inside the boat at all times!

We then made our way back home and stopped at a few look out points along the way. It was a great trip and well worth doing through a tour as it was a lot of driving with some very windy roads. It was nice to sit back, relax and just enjoy the day trip. Well worth the money and completely recommended by us!

Tuesday was the infamous “Race That Stops A Nation,” The Melbourne Cup. We headed to a nearby sports bar that was packed with people trying their luck punting on the horses. I had the most luck of the day and bet on the winning horse, Fiorente.

Our second day trip was to the Great Barrier Reef. The four of us SCUBA dive and couldn’t wait for this trip! We drove to Port Douglas and took “The Poseidon” to the outer banks. It’s a 90minute boat ride out there and the ocean conditions were “average” according to the crew. As I have gotten older my sensitivity to sea sickness has gotten worse. I took my sea sick tablets but still battled it the whole way out to the dive site. Unfortunately I was also surrounded by people who lost the battle and were heaving their breakfast up. Once in the water the sea sickness resolved, thankfully. Neal had a GO PRO HERO 3 Camera and Go PRO Pole that was our early Christmas present from his parents (Thank you!). Neal shot some great video at all 3 dive sites. We had 40min dives in each spot and saw a huge amount of underwater creatures such as a white tip reef shark, a green turtle, clownfish (Nemo!), 3 different kinds of Cuttlefish, giant clams and a Hump Head Parrot Fish. The air temperature was 30 degrees and the water was 27 degrees! Awesome! The crew was amazing and our dive instructor Pete was great. We arrived back to Port Douglas and were completely exhausted. After forcing ourselves to stay awake through dinner, Neal managed to drive the 45mins back to our resort before we all collapsed and were in bed by 9pm. http://www.poseidon-cruises.com.au/

Our Third and Final day trip was on Friday to Fitzroy Island with Raging Thunder Adventures. We took the 45min ferry (in much calmer waters) to the Island. The Island has overnight accommodations and a restaurant/ bar. We headed there for a day of Sea Kayaking and Snorkelling. Our guide EJ was great and our crew was complete with 3 Kiwis and 4 Canadians. The coral was incredible and the best I have ever seen snorkelling. We were all decked out in our stinger suits and once you got used to them they were great to wear while snorkelling because I wasn’t paranoid about being stung by the potentially lethal Irukandji Jellyfish. We saw plenty of fish and I found Nemo! We saw some giant clams and since there is no hunting allowed in the waters around Fitzroy Island it is now the home to several Green and Hawksbill Turtles. We were fortunate enough to be able to swim with a green turtle for about 10mins while we were snorkeling. It was amazing! http://www.ragingthunder.com.au/

That night Neal and I took the bus into Cairns and enjoyed some dinner and got to explore some of the city. It’s very hippy with tons of backpackers. There is definitely a lot of things to do for tourists especially if you want to party every night, but we were glad to have stayed away from the hustle and bustle of the town. We found PJ O’Brien’s Irish Pub and got to listen to a talented live band while we danced the night away. It was a blast having our own mini pub crawl and meeting people along the way.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. On our last day we explored Palm Cove and were impressed with the massively long beach and the extensive choice of restaurants and pubs. We would definitely recommend staying in this area if you are looking for a nice compromise between the busy atmosphere of Cairns and the remote and very relaxing area of Trinity Beach.

That’s all for now. So sad our holiday is over...

We’ll keep you posted on our next adventure over Christmas!

Laur