Blue mountains walkabout

Today's tour guide was our own crocodile Dundee Andrew who took us on a day trip up to the Blue mountains

A couple of hours west of Sydney you find yourself in the blue mountains a world heritage listed site filled with old fashioned towns and villages  and many shops and cafes to while away time.

We began our tour with a quick stop at Wentworth falls lakes before lunch at the pie shop and then on to echo point to see the breathtaking view of the the three sisters rock formation and aboringal legend tells the tale of  3 sisters being turned into stone!!

After a short walk here we got back in the car and had a visit to the Campbell rhododendron gardens at blackheath these where awesome so many different varieties and coulours.

After a stroll around. Here we had stops at Goretts leap and the Evans lookout before stopping for a very welcome cup of tea in Leura

We finished off our last day with a short visit to the Leura cascades some beautiful waterfalls not far away.

It's been a great day and an awesome holiday catching up with old friends and making new friends  - we are homeward bound tomorrow and I will finish these blogs when I get home- I do hope anyone that has read them has enjoyed our holiday as much as we have and I inspired you to visit somewhere that perhaps you hadn't thought of going before

Sydney bus exploration

After a lazy hotel breakfast escaping a rather heavy shower of unforecast rain we decided to be proper tourists for the day and explore Sydney on the hop on hop off bus. A brilliant way to see a city and with the recorded commentary you find out a great deal out the main attractions along the route.

We purchased a day ticket which included both the city and Bondi tours and we began with a tour of the city.Leaving kings cross we went past Wooloomloo bay past the opera house and botanical gardens and Hyde park before going past central station and down Harris Street  and the maritime museum.

we got off near China town and visited the Chinese garden of Friendship.

this is a tranquil spot in the corner of Darling harbour designed in 1988 by architects and Gardner's from Guangzhour sydneys sister city it is a very serene place to wander through and reflect and have a cup of tea  well away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

a little walk through Darling quarter and we arrived in cockle bay and decided it was time for a lunch stop so we picked one of the many cafes along the harbour side  and sat and people watched before jumping on the bus again for the next leg of of journey.

we continued on past the rocks and a quick photo stop near the harbour bridge before swapping buses for the Bondi tour.

We decided to just get off at Bondi  beach and do a short walk and have an ice cream by the beach.we learnt that Bondi means"water breaking over rocks" and it's golden beach and waves makes it a major attraction for surfers and visitors.

We then took the bus back to the city and the stop just by our hotel. Another great day  in this awesome city -one day left tomorrow  with Andy as our tour guide!

Arrival in Sydney

We had an early start to catch plane from Hobart to Sydney at 8.25am sad to be saying goodbye but the last part of of our antipodean adventure continues in Sydney.

We arrived in Sydney at just gone 10am and managed to find our way to Epping to be met by my old school friend Andy and we were welcomed by him and family and had a gorgeous BBQ lunch with them

In the afternoon Andy took us into the city and we checked into our hotel and then went on a guided walking tour which took us through the domain past the art gallery along the sea wall to Mrs Macquarie's chair from which we got a spectacular view across to opera house and harbour bridge. We continued onto botanical gardens and looked for painted koalas-  and onto the Opera House which is world heritage listed  and designed by artitect jorn Urzon and opened by the Queen in 1973  we also got some stunning shots of the harbour bridge which opened in 1932 as the world's tallest steel arch briidge- you can do the harbour climb and get to the very top or stroll over at your own pace

We finished our evening with pizza on the quayside another great day

Salamanca markets and botanical gardens

Our last day in Tasmania and we spent the morning mooching around Salamanca square and market - lots of lovely stalls selling local foods and crafts a definite must if you are in Hobart on a Saturday. After a stop for brunch we had a wander down to the harbour and then went to the royal Tasmanian botanical gardens.
They are Australia's second oldest botanic gardens established 2 years after Sydney. It was a really enjoyable couple of hours seeing all of the different areas of the gardens from the native plant collection to the conservatory with its exoctic orchid collections. The friends mixed border had a variety of different irises in many different colours. It was a lovely end to our week over in Tasmania. We have really enjoyed all of the places we have visited and hope that my blogs about where we have been have inspired you to visit this gorgeous part of the world a gem of a holiday destination - we leave tomorrow to spend a few days in Sydney

Bruny island exploration

Another fab day exploring this time Bruny island- an island full of coves to explore and see so much of Australias wildlife from echidna and wallabies to little penguins!

Bruny island- is over 50km long from denned point in the north to Cape bruny lighthouse in the south.

We started our day by getting car ferry from Kettering across to bruny then stopping for a coffee and spot of cheese tasting at the bruny island cheese and beer company  before a very windy walk up to the truganni lookoutpoint at the neck which gives spectacular views as well as  being able to see where the Littlepenguins have their burrows which they cross over to at dusk each night. After a very blowy walk we continued onto Cape bruny lighthouse this is the most southern lighthouse in Australia - there are great views from here and  a very interesting little museum about the history of the lighthouse.

After lunch at hotel bruny - very tasty wallaby spring rolls and salt and pepper squid!! We carried on to adventure bay and saw the captain cook memorial commentating captain cooks landing at bruny island.
Before getting the ferry home had a couple of stops at the fudge shop,oyster shack and whiskey shop....would be rude not to!! Another awesome day

Wineglass bay lookout walk

Today's adventure was a walk up to the wineglass bay lookout from the sunglass bay car park it was approximately 3km long and despite being very  steep well worth the effort. Wineglass bay is one  of most photographed beaches in the whole of Australia and is situated in the Freycinet national park and nestled in a granite mountain range called the hazards. The wineglass bay trail leads to a lookout with panoramic views across the bay. You can do the longer walk down to the beach and along the coast which has over 1000 steps and not  to be considered unless physical ly got!! It was an awesome walk to the look out well worth doing. From here we carried on back down coast to Swansea where  we stopped for lunch and a short walk along the beach before heading back home.

East coast exploration

Todays adventure took us on an exploration along the east coast of Tasmania- first stop was the Australian bushland garden which was opened in 2010 and celebrates indigenous flora of SE Tasmania and had some awesome outdoor sculpture s.We stopped at Devils corner vineyard for lunch and enjoyed a glass of wine and stonebaked pizza with  amazing views before heading further down coast to Coles bay for an over night stay   at the Iiuka holiday park on the edge of the freycinet national park had a gorgeous walk along Muir's beach

 Before having a delicious salmon  dinner cooked by Michelle and cheese and biscuits down by beach waiting for the sun to set! Another lovely day

Richmond and the Bonorong wildlife park

After a good night's sleep we were ready to explore  some of Tasmania today's tour guide was Loraine who  took us over to Richmond a Georgian village approx 24km from Hobart the richmond bridge now a tourist attraction itself dates to 1823 to enable easier move ment of police and convicts between Hobart and port Arthur the village itself was founded following the discovery of coal along the river banks causing the river to be named coal river Richmond retains many historic buildings such as the old jail and provides a glimpse of what it would have been like in Tasmanias colonial era after lunch at the wicked cheese we went onto the Bonorong wildlife park where we had a talk from the keepers about some of the  injured animals they have there including wombats koalas and Tasmanian devils   Bonorong was founded in 1981 as a sanctury for native Tasmanian wildlife and now serves as a wildlife hospital and place were animals can be protected and reintroduced into the wild where ever possible- it was really interesting to hear all about them- some facts include wombats poo square poos!!! Koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves ; all marsupial ba bird are called Joey's and lastly a collective noun for a group of kangaroos is a mob!!