Janelle was on days off so we decided to go north to Stanley. Stanley is famous for 'The Nut', a volcanic plug jutting up & providing views of the little town and the many bays that surround Stanley. While the walk to the top was only 460m long, we had been warned of its steepness. And they weren't wrong ! An extremely steep climb, especially for Zane who had Stella on his back. At the top we quickly forgot about the climb and enjoyed the spectacular views. Fortunate that we'd come that day, as we found out the track would be closed the next day (for a week) for maintenance. We met another couple at the top, with two young children. We chatted and compared travelling stories while Stella and her new friend played in the dirt and threw rocks. We walked the circular track back to the bottom, spotting numerous pademelons and the holes they had dug looking for young shoots & plants to eat. Back in Stanley we stopped for coffee and a milkshake. Zane & Stella went off to the Seaquarium while Janelle wandered through the cute shops & the museum. After lunch (Zane had to get the seafood pie!) we headed back home to Sisters beach for an early night.
This was our home base while Janelle was working in Burnie. It was a 40 minute drive from Sisters to Burnie. While Janelle was at work Zane and Stella could explore the coast line, visit the playgrounds and walk in the parks, hike and ride around the tracks and trails of Rocky Cape National Park overlooking sweeping views of the coast and really get to know the area. We went down to the boat ramp and collected shells and rocks. We hiked into the hills and looked over Anniversary Bay before going down through the track that was lined with wildflowers and orchids and giant saw banksias (the only place they grow). Many of the plants require fire to open the seed pods before regeneration. We also saw wallabies and pademelons, lizards, pacific gulls, sea gulls, crows and the native black currawong (we got a great pic of one with cradle mountain in the background). Zane hiked to Doone Falls and saw a rare ground parrot but couldn't get a pic.
Erosion has made the rock formations around the area quite stunning and different from other coastlines. The weather in Tassie is constantly changing, one day windy then rainy and then the next day sunny and perfect for the outdoors. Just awesome! Zane and Stella also went to the nearby Lobster Ponds to see the Giant Crayfish the biggest freshwater crayfish in the world. We had 4 days break between Janelle working and decided to head to Hobart for some sightseeing. We left first thing Saturday morning for Hobart as we wanted to check out the Salamanca Markets. We parked the car 8 levels high and as soon as we stepped outside we were hit by the cold. A quick wardrobe change which included scarf, beanies and jackets and we were set. We met with Emily, a pharmacist friend of Janelle who lives in Hobart. We strolled the market stalls, chilled out on the beanbags on the grass with coffees (and hot chocolate for Stella). Zane enjoyed a salmon sausage and we bought some souvenirs. Afterwards we went to constitution dock for a look. Zane had seen a pub 'The Hope and Anchor' claiming to be the oldest continuously licensed pub in Australia since 1807 so as Stella nodded off we popped inside to enjoy a beer and cider by the fire. We were having some serious trouble finding accommodation (we didn't bring the trailer with us), as the World Cup cricket was on in Bellerive. We ended up staying with Janelle's parents friends, Malcolm and Elizabeth. We expected to stay just the one night but they were very hospitable & insisted we stay on. With a great view over the harbour, located beside the cricket oval we had an enjoyable night watching the sunset and listening to the live crowd roar while watching the Aussies beat Scotland on TV! On Sunday we went to the Port Arthur Historical Sight. An amazing piece of history, so well preserved. We stopped in at Dunalley on the way for coffee and scones. A lovely cafe on the water. We then spent the whole day at Port Arthur learning about the history of the convicts and seeing the old buildings. It was 9 degrees so we were pretty rugged up! They have a memorial there for the victims of the massacre which occurred in 1996. On the way home we stopped briefly to look at the tessellated pavement, another awesome part of nature. As the salt from the sea goes into grooves in the rock it expands the rock and has created this pavement which looks man-made. It's pretty spectacular, as is the view. We returned home, and even though we were exhausted we decided to take up the offer from Malcolm and Elizabeth to leave Stella to sleep and go out for dinner. Zane chose a seafood place 'The Drunken Admiral' which had fantastic nautical decor, great food and cocktails served in a parrot! On Monday Janelle and Stella went to the Botanical gardens with Emily and Zane went to the Maritime Museum. In the afternoon we all headed up to Mt Wellington to take in the view. Fortunately it was a lovely clear (and cold) day so there weren't any clouds to mask the amazing view. So glad we did this! We had a lovely BBQ dinner back home with Malcolm and Elizabeth, with their families and grandchildren. Stella had an absolute ball playing with the kids. Thanks so much to Malcolm and Elizabeth for their hospitality and for the family BBQ it was great to meet you all. Cheers On our return to Sisters Beach we called in to Anvers House of Chocolate for a quick tour of the factory and had some Belgium waffles and hot chocolate YUM!
When we arrived home we entertained our road trip friends that we keep running into Myles, Shana and Angel. We had a great night exchanging travel stories, mishaps, and funny characters you meet on the road. Cheers guys see you at the next stop or when you come visit in Cairns! We did a day trip into Burnie and checked out the Makers Mall and Info centre. Woodwork, beads, art, jewellery, soap, etc. Janelle went on the paper making tour and made some paper out of old jeans! Zane went for a look at the Museum in town that has an historic recreation of stores. Blacksmiths, dentist, pharmacy, general store, cabinet makers and an old dining room. On the Friday we packed up the car and headed to Ulverstone to drop Janelle at work. That afternoon we would drive to Launceston for the night before heading to Hobart for the weekend. Janelle had met some lovely girls at work and Laura mentioned a free kids gym at the Rec centre that Stella could go to. Laura had a little girl called Stella the same age! The local schools provide a service at the Rec centre where students in "acrobat/circus school" assist in running a mini gym where little kids can bounce, hang, climb and play on acrobatic equipment. Stella met other Stella and her cousins and they had a great time running riot! Zane and Stella kept popping into the pharmacy to say hello before heading to the Ulverstone beach and playground. There we saw our friends in the VW Snail from Forster driving by. Zane waved out and they came down and said hi. We exchanged travel stories and then planned to have dinner at our beach shack in Sisters beach next week, small world! Finally when Janelle finished work we drove to Launceston to the Old Tudor Motel to stay the night before hitting Hobart. Janelle had a great time working with the staff in Ulverstone and Burnie. Check out her pharmacy blog. She also wrote an article for an online Pharmacy magazine. Great work Junni you are amazing! The next 2 days Janelle had work at the pharmacy in Burnie. Zane and Stella dropped her off, and went to the Burnie Pad, a place for young kids and parents to go and hangout. Tables and chairs, bean bags, paints and crafts, etc free for the kids to use and the parents supervise. We also went to Wynyard for a look and had a walk around the wharf, did a little shopping, went to the local libraries. Stella did some painting at home and helped make crumbed chicken. It must have looked good as she had a chew on the raw piece when Dad wasn't looking! Stella also had fun on some more playgrounds around Burnie and Wynyard.
After arriving the previous night in Devonport we needed to drive to Ulverstone and Burnie to meet with Janelle's employers for her locum work, see which days she would be working and then make a plan from there. Janelle arranged to have the first 5 days off so we could sightsee and would start work thereafter. The boss in Burnie informed us that he had a "shack" at Sisters Beach (40 mins from Burnie) that we could use while we were in Tasmania, if we wanted. Jackpot! We decided (without knowing better) to do a 5 day loop of the west coast leaving from Burnie travelling through Zeehan, Strahan, Queenstown and Cradle Mountain before returning to pick up the keys for the shack and Janelle starting work. We set off southbound into the west coast and camped at a free site called Hellyer Gorge. It was a great spot with a creek running around the site, a walk along the river under the bridge and clean toilets and fire pits. We set up and got chatting to some other campers before all of us were sitting around the camp fire exchanging travel stories. Around dusk we walked to the bridge and saw the local platypus who put on a great show for us. That night it got very cold and rained all morning. We decided that camping in the trailer was not going to work in this weather and so headed to Zeehan and booked into a cabin.The second night it got down to 3 degrees and we encountered hail and snow! The next morning amid small hail showers and checking the local weather and minimum temperatures we decided the West Coast of Tassie was not for us and our camper trailer! Back to Devonport and somewhat warmer weather. We set up in the East Devonport caravan park beside the harbour we had arrived on the Spirit earlier. We attempted to set up the tarp but gave up after battling the wind. We tucked ourselves into a corner behind some trees and utilised the camp kitchen for cooking and cleaning. The first night was terrible as winds buffeted the camper and kept us awake all night. At breakfast in the camp kitchen the next day we spoke with some other campers who spent the night in tents and one lad said his tent was slapping him in the face during the night! At least we had a sunny day to greet us. We set off for Spreyton to visit the apple farm and sample some ciders, had seafood from Strait off the Boat where Zane had his first Tassie scallop pie, took Stella to some local parks and went shopping for warmer clothes. The second night we cooked up a bacon and mushroom pasta in the Billyboil and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the inlet on a much calmer night than the previous. The following day, after a fitful sleep, we packed up and headed to Burnie to collect the keys for the "shack" at Sisters Beach. On the drive we went through Penguin, Burnie and Wynyard to see Fossil Bluff and Tabletop Mountain and the Lighthouse. It was a beautiful drive along the coast with amazing scenery of rolling green hills and cattle, cliff and rock faces overhanging spectacular ocean views and little seaside towns and houses. We pulled into Boat Harbour Bay, just before Sisters beach and were getting very excited. The Bay was beautiful. Calm, clear waters and a little surf club and restaurant. After looking at the menu and view, this was to be the spot for Zane's birthday dinner the next night!
On arriving at the beach shack we fell in love with the place. It was much more than a shack. Heated walls, fireplace, ocean and mountain views, hot water - Woohoo! We were so excited that we all did a little dance! The next day Zane got up and hiked a section of the Rocky Cape National park to start off his birthday. Then we went to Penguin for the markets. Heaps of little stores selling either handmade gifts or vintage/antique items and collectables. The live music was rocking rocking and Stella had a few dances. Some lebanese food for lunch and then off to Boat Harbour Bay for an early dinner. The staff were very friendly and ensured we had a good night for Zane's b'day. A seafood platter topped off the day for Zane and we headed back to Sisters Beach and our new home the beach shack. The next morning we went on a family hike through Rocky Cape National Park and checked out a wet cave. We spent some time at the beach and utilised the webberQ at the beach house. We had an awesome intro to the North West coast of Tasmania and were very excited to enjoy the next part of our adventure. We left Geelong at 6am to catch the 9am Spirit of Tasmania trip across the Bass Strait.
It was a quick 1 hour trip from G-town through Melbourne down to the port. As we arrived we could see caravans and campers lining the streets leading to the ship. We drove up and were informed to return at 830 as they were running behind time. After a coffee and some toast we returned, had the security check and parked the camper and x-trail in the cargo hold. We went to level 7 and it was very busy and crowded. We want up to the top level where there was a lot more room; bars, kids rooms and restaurants. We set up in the bow of the boat where a TV was playing Foxtel MAXmusic channel and for the rest of the day we enjoyed hits from the 80's, top 50 bands and other great music! We were lucky to get 10 knot winds all day and as we crossed the heads of Port Melbourne it was a little rough for 10 mins and then smooth sailing for the rest of the day. Would not like to see it on a rough and windy day! We saw dolphins swimming alongside the ship and spent the day wandering around, looking in the info centre, taking Stella to the kids room and listening to channel MAX. Vegemite sandwiches The Spirit was running behind time and we arrived around 8pm. This gave us the opportunity to watch the sunset as we entered the harbour. It took around 40 mins for the cars to drive off before HELLO Tasmania! We drove a short distance to The Argosy hotel in Devonport and settled in for the night. We left Fitzroy and hopped on a train back to Geelong. Stella was excited to see the girls, Mayla and Harper again. Janelle went to watch Mayla play netball. Blake is the coach and he is doing a great job. Malya's team won! We spent the next day relaxing at the house. Sandra and Janelle went out for coffee. On Thursday night Zane and Janelle put Stella to sleep and went out to 'Armageddon dessert bar'. This place was so cool! It was set up like something out of the 70's/80's. Almost like you were going to your nannas place for coffee and dessert. We got the tasting plate - a chocolate mousse cake, a vegan peanut butter cheesecake & an apple crumble. Yum! All came with different sauces, cream & icecream. We certainly spoilt ourselves.
On Friday morning Blake and Sandra left for the Gold Coast, leaving us in charge of the house, dog and guinea pigs. We took in the sights of Geelong on the huge Ferris Wheel. Then wandered down to the Nightjar markets, a local music and food event. Stella enjoyed the music and Zane and Janelle were overcome by the ridiculous amount of different food stalls. On Saturday afternoon we went to 'Pako Festival', an annual celebration of the different cultures in Geelong. Every culture had a food stall and there were cultural performances like Maori dancing, salsa dancing and Hawaiian Hula girls. We enjoyed polish dumplings and gnocchi, and satay sticks. We picked a great weekend to be in Geelong ! On Sunday we took 'Scout' the dog for a walk to Buckley Falls. A lovely wilderness walk, right in the middle of suburbia. We were busy packing up for Tasmania as we were leaving early the next morning. We farewelled Blake, Sandra, Mayla and Harper. We had such a nice time visiting them and hopefully will call back through our way back to Melbourne. We drove through Melbourne and stopped overnight in Geelong at Blake and Sandra's amazing house to see their beautiful family. Stella was overjoyed to have 2 girls to play with and Malya and Harper were great big sisters and entertained Stella all evening. Thanks girls! We left our the X-trail and camper at their house and with the pram, backpack containing Stella, portacot, suitcase and laptop case we caught the train into Melbourne. Fitzroy Day 1 - We hopped onto the Number 11 tram which took us to stop 17 in Brunswick St. Hello Fitzroy! This was to be our home for the next 6 days as Uncle Ramon and Auntie Jamie generously offered their apartment for the weekend as they were headed to NZ. That night we had drinks and a BBQ and Uncle Greg and Jamie's friend Kyra came around too. It was a great night catching up with the family and we were totally pumped for the weekend as we discussed places of interest, shopping and things to eat! Day 2 - First coffee in Melbourne - perfection. Stella played in the park and in the afternoon we all went to the Queen Victoria Markets. They were amazing! We ate $3 Turkish Borek's and Stella scoffed fresh fruit from the organic markets. Janelle had a quick massage and we bought some produce for dinner. That night Janelle's workmate buddy Carmen came around for dinner. Carmen had only moved to Melbourne 2 weeks prior and was exited to have a catch up with old friends. The girls made plans to go into town the following night to check out "White Night" while Zane and Stella would stay home. Day 3 - Off to Stagger Lee's Cafe for breakfast where we had rice porridge with vanilla, lime, passionfruit and flowers. Not what we would usually order but it looked amazing and tasted great. Smashing coffee. The place was so cool it didn't have any signs on the brick walls just a little blackboard at the door. We went into the Melbourne Museum for the afternoon. It was awesome. We were there for 3 hours until Stella was over it but you could easily spend the whole day there. On the way home we called into a Tiki bar called "Luwow" which had a Southern Seas theme. Loved it! Ordered a Mai Tai and right on cue Stella woke up and wasn't happy. Went home and on the way Zane called in for a beer at "Naked for Satan". Stunning views over Melbourne from the rooftop bar. Carmen came around and collected Janelle and they went out for some pintxos and a drink back at Naked for Satan. and then went into town to check out the annual event White Night with 500 000 other people. Throughout the city there are light shows on the buildings and stages with entertainment and dancing. It was a late night and a souvlaki was needed to make it home after lots of walking and catching the wrong trams. Day 4 - Went to Stagger Lee's again for breakfast with Carmen. Zane had breakfast tacos and then finished of the girls Spanish hotpot and poached eggs with avo. We said goodbye to Carmen with the promise to catch up when we get back from Tassie. Zane headed off to Soundwave. It was a big walk and on the way he passed the University where a bunch of students were welcoming students for O - week when he hears "Hey Dockray". It was Mitch Stent - St Andrews school captain from 2011! Small world. Then at the gate for Soundwave Zane met Kyra - Jamie's bestie from Thursday night! Soundwave highlights - King Parrot, The Bennies, Steel Panther, Ministry, Dragonforce and Faith No More! Then a big walk home and a midnight souvlaki. Janelle and Stella had a day of shopping and a lunch date. Then they went to church which was in the Hoyts Cinema at Central Station. Day 5 - The Fitz this morning for another amazing breakfast and coffees. Zane had the burrito and eggs, Janelle had the spanish omelette and Stella got vegemite on toast! We had a midday sleep before jumping on the tram and heading into Melbourne city for a look. We met up with another of Janelle's uni friends Taryn at Mamasita's a very busy little Mexican restaurant on Collins St. We arrived at 530pm so got a table but by 6pm it was full and busy. We ate a few tasty plates and gasped at the bill! Great dining but you certainly pay for it! We finished the night off with some great desert and Stella chased birds in the city square and loved running around the revolving doors. We were impressed by the herb and veggie gardens that were on display throughout the city. Definitely want to get our gardens happening when we get back to Cairns. Day 6 - For our last day in Fitzroy we wanted to explore the streets around Brunswick St, shop, eat and enjoy. We strolled along Gertrude and Smith St and shared a turkish gozleme. Janelle popped into a few health and organic shops while Zane looked at some antique and vintage collections. There is a big market for retro/vintage stuff, they charge top dollar but some of the woodwork/workmanship was pretty average.
We dined at Rice Queen and ate some chicken "ribs", dumplings and pork belly. We went into a Thai restaurant, sat on the thai cushions on the floor and shared a curry. Stella loved the idea of sitting on the cushions and felt the need to sit on all of the surrounding tables. We got some takeaway for Ramon and Jaimie for when they arrived home from NZ and went home to put Stella to bed. Ramon and Jaimie were stoked to have food on arrival and we had a great time exchanging travel stories. Thanks so much guys for letting us have the apartment, we absolutely loved Fitzroy and can't wait to come visit again. |
Archives
September 2016
Zane, Janelle & StellaOur family adventures as we travel Oz Categories |