Final Days in Hawaii

Well, I skipped a day on this blog for the first time on this vacation, mostly because we did not do very much on a super relaxing Saturday.  We had hoped to rent a car today, but none were available until Sunday.  So we headed for the pool and lounged this morning, enjoying a nice game of Words with Friends.

Lunch is back to the Hilton's casual restaurant, Tropics, where we both have the grilled Mahi Mahi sandwich.  In the afternoon, we head for the beach where we rent two chairs and an umbrella.  The weather today is perfect, sunny and in the seventies.  The ocean water temperature is a little cool, but we do take a couple of swims.

Dinner tonight is at Chef Chai's, a relatively new restaurant on Kapiolani Boulevard in Honolulu, which means that we will need to take a taxi there.  The menu looks interesting, but the food is disappointing.  I order what is called New Zealand King Salmon -- what's that?  Never heard of this type of salmon before.  Eating is makes me think that this is really Atlantic salmon with a lot of barbecue sauce on it ... I'm suspicious.  Rob orders halibut, which seems to be of the frozen variety.  Where are all the tasty Hawaiian fish on the menu?  We don't recommend this place, although the ambience seems nice.  Hard to tell for sure since we were denied a table inside, even though there were some clearly available the entire time we were there.  We had a very nice day, though, but we are looking forward to a little more activity on Sunday.

Sunday starts with a long wait in the line to rent a car, but that's okay -- we have our car by 9am. We set out to drive around the island of Oahu.  Uh oh, seems like we are not the only ones to have this idea.  Similar to Saturday, the weather today is just gorgeous, so not only are all the tourists out and about, but the locals want to have a nice day on the beach today, too, I think.  Traffic is bumper to bumper, and many of the spots where one would want to pull over and admire the view are totally full, but we are able to pull over a few times.  One stop, unfortunately, is a beach which appears to be an unofficial campground for homeless people -- creepy!

We continue on, but there is so much traffic!  Two stops were fun, however.  First, on the north shore, we stopped at Sunset Beach, known for big waves and surfers.  Even though this is a very popular location (tour buses are pulling over here), the beach is beautiful, and the waves and surfers are fun to watch.  There is plenty of room for everyone.  Rob buys a t-shirt.

The next stop that we enjoy is Waimea Valley and Falls.  Although it costs a little money to enter, it is a pleasant 1.5 mile round trip walk through a beautiful botanic garden with the waterfalls at the end.

Guests may swim in the pool at the base of the falls, but we pass.  Lots of really interesting vegetation; the best is the Monkey Pod tree -- very large tree with an enormous canopy.  Rob takes lots of pictures.

Dinner tonight is at probably the best restaurant that we will go to here in Hawaii:  Alan Wong's.  It is also in Honolulu, so we take another taxi ride to get there.  This food does not disappoint.  We start with seafood cakes, made from crab, shrimp, and  lobster:  very light and delicious.  We each then have a salad.  For our main entrees, Rob has the Opakapaka (pink snapper), and I have the Onaga (red snapper).  We do a little sharing, and we both enjoy our meals very much.  Now here is some great Hawaiian fish on the menu!   Alan Wong's is very memorable to me in that they have an extensive Hawaiian coffee menu.  I pass this time, but years ago when we ate here I remember that it was the most delicious coffe that I have ever had.  I did take a picture of the menu:

Well, that's it.  We fly home tomorrow.  What a trip it has been!

Friday in Waikiki

This will be a very short blog post, as the Hawaiian spirit overtook us and not much happened that bears elaboration.  We woke up very late -- 9am -- we really needed that sleep.  After a breakfast of Starbucks coffee and fruit, we head down to the Hilton's casual restaurant on the beach called Tropics.  It is already lunchtime, and I have the grilled Mahi Mahi sandwich and Rob has the Mahi Mahi soft tacos.  Our plan consists of nothing more than walking up the beach and returning, so that is what we do.  

Back at the Hilton, we spend the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool in the Ali'i Tower.  That's it!

Dinner tonight is at Roy's Waikiki.  It is fabulous.  We start with sushi rolls that I wish I could detail out the ingredients, but I really don't remember.  Just really good.  We each then have a green salad.  Rob finishes with a half portion of the butterfish, and I have the half portion of the ahi island tuna.  When I see the lady who is the manager walk by at the end of the meal, I wave her over because I remember her from when we ate at Roy's many years ago.  It turns out she is the person I remember, and she is very pleased to be remembered.  We have a nice conversation with her -- she is named Dina.  We all  laugh when she asks me my name, and I reply "Roy."  She says, "Hold on," and leaves for a minute, returning with a Roy's bag and a giant stack of Roy's coasters.  Perfect for me, obviously!

We walk back and turn in.  That was our day!

The Longest Thursday of My Life!

We wake today in Sydney, our last day in Australia.  Our plane is scheduled to depart today (Thursday) at 9:20pm for our return to Hawaii.  We have a leisurely morning then check out of our apartment, leaving our bags with the front desk.  Our plan today is to go the Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour.  The aquarium does not disappoint us!  You follow a winding path through the facility and see all sorts of sea creatures.  I especially like the seahorses.  Then you come to the larger tanks.  The first one has the underwater tunnels that many aquariums have (I wouldn't know from first hand experience -- I honestly can't recall ever having been to an aquarium before!).  The tunnels are pretty cool.  We see small sharks and other beautiful fish.  I really didn't make an effort to learn the names of the fish, since it would be unlikely I would remember them anyway.  In the second large tank, there is a creature that looks like a manatee, but is called a Dugong.  There are two, very playful and large!  The final exhibit is the best, and it is a super large tank (no tunnel for this one, but lots of viewing points) that contain all of the gorgeous tropical fish from Australia's Great Barrier Reef.  You could stay here and watch these amazing fish for hours.  The aquarium was expensive, but worth it.  You could save a lot of money by combining the ticket with other Sydney attractions, but today we are only interested in the aquarium.  There are several restaurants along the water in Darling Harbour, but they are all kind of tourist traps.

We really have not other plans for the remainder of this day, so we decide to do a little shopping, but first we have lunch at the Queen Victoria Building (QVB).  We eat at Cellini's on the top floor, both of us getting grilled chicken sandwiches, which the Australians call chicken burgers.  It seems that if the sandwich is cold, it is a sandwich; if it is hot, it is a burger.  We walk around the QVB and then stroll over to the giant Westfields shopping center.  I buy a small backpack at the department store, Myer, to augment what we can carry on the plane later today.  Other than that, we check out the men's clothing.  We both try on pants that seem to be a trend in Australia that we have not seen before: khaki type pants that are gathered at the ankle with elastic, like sweat pants.  Rob says that he liked them except that he needs to be about 30 years younger to pull it off.  We both just feel ridiculous in these pants.  With a little more time to kill, we relax in the lobby of the Hilton across the street and log into their wifi.  One final thought on Australia regarding men's restrooms:  although urinal troughs are not seen very often in the USA, they are the norm down under -- yuk.  Here is one example of the many encountered here:

We return to our apartment building to collect our bags and take a taxi to the airport.  Our bags are too big to try to use the train service.  At the airport, we are allowed to use the Air New Zealand lounge since we are flying business class to Honolulu.  It is surprisingly nice with a large buffet with pretty good food and wine for us to enjoy.

We board the plane and get ready for our 10+ hour flight.  After dinner, we each pop an Ambien sleeping pill, which usually has no effect on me, but tonight was completely different.  I am out like a light, and the next thing I know we are two hours short of landing -- wow!  The downside of this is that the pill has left me very groggy, so I am really out of it.  How odd that the most I have ever slept on a plane has at the same time left me so exhausted!  Landing occurs at 10:30am -- and it is still Thursday!  Will this day never end?  Darn that international dateline!

We take a taxi to our hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and check into our room in the Ali'i Tower -- very nice ocean view room on Waikiki Beach -- who can complain?  Our day consists of lunch and lounging at the pool, and a very nice nap in the hotel room afterwards.  The nap ends when I hear a pigeon making its pigeon sound.  Yikes, we had left our balcony sliding glass door open a few inches and a big fat pigeon is not walking around in our hotel room!  Fortunately, when he sees me, he reverses course and walks back out.  Crisis averted

Dinner tonight is at a restaurant called Orchids in the Halekulani Hotel, a ten minute walk down the beach.  The staff here had recommended it, and we enjoyed it very much.  The restaurant is like old time Waikiki, with waiters in white coats and a dress code: no t-shirts or shorts.  We both order the same food: a grilled romaine salad with japanese cucumber and feta cheese.  Our main dish is the specialty of the restaurant:  steamed onaga (Hawaiian red snapper) with Asian vegetables and steamed rice.  It is a simple preparation, but really delicious, just exactly what we wanted.  We are really happy with this restaurant choice.

Time to go to bed for a good night's sleep.  The 45 hour Thursday will finally come to an end.  Here is a photo of the sunset from our room:

Art Museum Day in Sydney

As our time in Sydney comes to a close, we are embarking today to visit two of Sydney's art museums: the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art.  The Art Gallery of New South Wales is the in park known as the Domain, which lies between the Botanic Gardens to the north and Hyde Park to the southwest, and that is our first destination.  In passing through Hyde Park, though, we must stop to admire a landmark that we had only seen from a distance.  At the corner of Elizabeth and Bathurst Streets stands a lovely obelisk.  We are curious as to what it commemorates.  When we arrive there, there is no sign to tell us.  Carved into the obelisk is the year it was erected (1857) and the name of Sydney's mayor at the time (Peter Thornton).  Is this a monument to him?   I'll have to check this out later with the help of Google.

Our next detour is to look at Rob's cousin Arthur Sherman's bronze sculpture one more time.  While we examine it, Rob notices a detail that we had not noticed before.  At the base of the sculpture is what appears to be the artist's signature.  The letters have faded, but you can definitely make out the A for Arthur and can kind of make out the whole Arthur as well.  There is no other spot that contains anything that looks like the signature, so this must be it.  Glad we came!

Now, we head towards the museum, passing in Hyde Park what must be Australia's fanciest water fountain, a gift from a mayor:

Then we pass another monument that appears to be a gift from a former mayor:

This seems to be a trend!  How nice of these mayors to erect these monuments (to themselves!).  Peter Thornton, however, does not appear to be one of them.  Googling the obelisk, we learn that it is not a monument to the former mayor, but was erected to allow sewer gasses to escape from the sewer below and up through the obelisk, escaping from the top.  A little bit gross, but looks nice!

At the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the main exhibition is called "Pop to Popism."

You can see from the signage in front of the museum that the exhibit features several works by Andy Warhol.  I particularly like the Warhol films at the entrance which show Lou Reed and Edy Sedgewick.

It is a wonderful and large exhibit with artists from the US, England, and Australia.  Rob enjoys the works by Roy Liechtenstein.  We also enjoy the permanent exhibits, which include some amazing aboriginal art.  We end our visit with paninis for lunch in the museum cafe.

We walked back to our apartment so that we could do some laundry before departing Sydney tomorrow.  At 3:30pm, we departed and walked back to the Rocks area, which is the location of the Museum of Contemporary Art.  The special exhibit there is a review of American artist Chuck Close's printmaking.  His art features portraits of people, some famous, that Chuck Close calls "heads."  The portraits are achieved in a variety of ways, including woven into tapestries, some painted and some in prints (that don't look like prints).  The techniques employed are not easily understandable by me, but the end results are beautiful.  See the museum's web site to see a large selection of the work:

www.mca.com/au.

Dinner reservations for tonight takes us back to Sailor's Thai, also in the Rocks area, where we had earlier dinner with Connie Pinder Barr.  The food here is outstanding.  Coincidentally, we also ate here twice in 2006.  It is still a little to early for dinner, so we enjoy some wine at Buckley's on the wharf, where we can watch the people walk by.

Dinner starts with Tod Mun fish cakes with quail eggs and a Banana Leaf Salad with prawns and chicken.  Our mains are spicy wagyu beef and red curry with chicken  The food here is flavored perfectly (unlike Longrain from the night before) and is perfectly paired with a reisling from Te Whare Ra,  Marlborough, New Zealand.  Time to turn in early!

 

Bondi Beach

Today seems like a nice day to visit Bondi Beach.  Bondi is not easily accessible from Central Sydney:  it is too far east to walk to, so your options are either to ride a bus all the way there, which could take a while, or ride the train to a station called Bondi Junction, which is still about two miles from the beach.  Most people switch to bus at that point and ride it to the beach.  Well, we like to walk, so our plan is to ride the train and walk the two miles to the beach.  We walk to the Town Hall station here in central Sydney, which is only about a few blocks from our apartment.  From there, the train ride is only about ten minutes or so to travel four stations to Bondi Junction.  We had never ridden the train system here in Sydney before, and the trains are really nice, very comfortable.

At Bondi Junction, there is a modern shopping mall, which is modern and very nice.  We are turned around a bit and unsure which way is east to get to the beach, but with a little help from a few locals we are soon on the Bondi Road heading to the beach.  When we originally planned our trip to Australia, we had thought an apartment in Bondi might be a nice option, but now that we are on the ground, we realize that it is a little too remote.  The neighborhood is as you might expect from any beach town, nice but a little run down.  Lots of places to get cheap food.  We pass two businesses that advertise "Panel Beating."  What would that be?  Well, it turns out that is the Australian term for an automobile body shop.  Panel Beating is what one does to remove dents from a car.  We walk the two miles to the beach, and it is not a difficult walk since it is a gentle downhill almost the whole way to the beach.

When we arrive at the beach, the sky is a little cloudy, which is not a bad thing -- helps to keep us from overheating.  Our first stop is for lunch, so we go to a restaurant called Bondi Trattoria, which has a nice view of the beach.  It is about 11:45am, and they are only serving their breakfast menu until noon, so Rob has a frittata, and I get the breakfast pizza (regular pizza with a fried egg on top).  It is very good.

We now begin our beach walk in earnest.  We walk north along the beach sideway and then look south at the beach.  Here is our view:

Then we turn around and head south, but not before stopping at a shop to buy some Bondi t-shirts.  South of Bondi Beach is a great paved walkway along the ocean that connects Bondi to beaches to the south:  Tamarama and Bronte.  The walk has amazing weather sandstone rock formations.  This photo shows that path with the rocks, which has nice houses overlooking it:

The path from Bondi to Bronte is about a four mile walk, round trip.  It is very beautiful.  As we walk, the sky clears, which makes the water turn an amazing blue color.  This next photo is a view to the south with Bronte Beach in the distance:

Lots of walking today, but when we return to Bondi Beach, we take a cab back to Bondi Junction.  It costs a little money, but we have walked enough for one day and can't get motivated to walk two miles more -- all uphill.  A quick train ride and we are back to central Sydney and our apartment.  What a lovely day!

We have dinner reservations at a Thai restaurant in Sydney that is very well known, called Longrain.  We are able to walk the short distance and arrive at our designated time of 7pm.  The menu us very interesting, different from the normal Thai restaurant, so we are going to be adventurous.  For starters we have Green Papaya Salad -- not an unusual choice, but very spice to our palates.  We also have a salad of Eggnet and Pork.  What is Eggnet?  Egg prepared in some sort of way to look like a net -- I wish I could explain it better.  It sat atop the salad, which was delicious and not too spicy.  Our mains were Green Jungle Curry with Baramundi -- good, but didn't really taste like a curry -- and we had a side of Green Vegetables with Oyster Sauce, my favorite part of the meal actually.  Rob comments that all of the dishes had the flavor of too much raw garlic, not necessarily a good thing.  The meal was a little disappointing actually.  Our wine was a pinot noit from Ashton Hills Vineyard.  This winery is in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia.  It was very good, but did not pair well at all with this food.  We should have order a white, like a reisling, instead.  Oh well, time for bed!

Cruising the Sydney Harbor

After a cloudy start, the weather today turns fine, so we decide today is the day that we will undertake a Sydney Harbor cruise.  We had done this in 2006, but it is always a good idea to see the great views from the water.

We walk to Circular Quay, passing several pubs that are very lively for a Monday morning, and there is a good reason.  Back home, it is Super Bowl Sunday!  The game here is broadcast live at 10am.  I would have thought that the appeal of the game was mostly for Americans, but I think there is quite a bit of Australian interest as well.  As we watch the news later in the day, there is much news coverage of the big event, including Katy Perry's over the top halftime show!  

Arriving at Circular Quay, we book our trip with the Captain Cook cruises,  They offer a "hop on hop off" harbor cruise, and our boat departs at 12 noon.  The first stop is at Fort Denison, a small island that is a former military fort in the middle of the harbor.  There is a museum and restaurant there, but we elect not to get off.  The boat continues on the the wharf at Taronga Zoo.  The commentary provided is interesting.  We learn that Russell Crowe has a penthouse at the finger wharf that extends from Wooloomooloo!  The next stop is Watsons Bay, which the guide definitely recommends as a place to stop and tour.  There is a short 5 minute walk to the ocean.  The wharf also features a famous restaurant, Doyle's on the Beach, for seafood.  We depart the boat and explore.

The guide is correct in that the ocean can be reached very quickly by crossing a small park.  The views are unexpectedly great!  We can see a very rocky shore with a view to North Head in the distance:

We are able to take a short walk north to see more views from higher up on the cliff.  We return to the bay shore to await another Captain Cook boat and enjoy a beer at the "Beach Club."

The cruise continues and returns to the zoo and Fort Denison, then makes a quick stop at the steps at Circular Quary before continuing on to Luna Park and finally to Darling Harbor where we make our final departure.

We walk through Darling Harbor, but it is not really our scene.  It is really reminiscent of San Francisco's Fishermans Wharf -- very touristy and crowded.  The aquarium is here, which is highly recommended, but we plan to go there on another day.  We walk through the area.  Note:  there is a lot of construction going on around here, including a new convention center, so it is also extremely noisy!

Our destination is actually off the beaten path to a very interesting building that we have been admiring from our apartment's balcony.  We're not really sure how to find it, but we muddle our way there.  The building looks like a Gaudi building in Barcelona with its odd shape and a "melting" look to its architecture.  We find it but it is blocked off from the public, although a guard indicates we can walk near to it.  Apparently there is some type of reception shceduled for this evening at this building that staff is preparing for.  Must be some VIPs attending with all of this security.  The building is even more amazing up close with it brickwork and glass.  Here is a picture I found of it online (Rob took several as well):

We are told it is the new home of the business school at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).  Later on, as we watch the evening news, we learn that the building's grand opening is actually today (coincidentally) and that the building is the first in Australia by renowned architect Frank Gehry.  In the dedication, Australia's governor-general called it "the most beautiful squashed paper bag I've ever seen."  This immediately provided a name for this new iconic structure:  the paper bag building.

We walk back to our apartment and our path takes us through Sydney's China Town, which is interesting and, as it turns out, adjacent to the area where our apartment building is.  Back at the apartment, we relax and call for a dinner reservation at a restaurant called Flying Fish, where we had enjoyed a wonderful meal in 2006.

Dinner requires a cab ride, as Flying Fish is at the end of a wharf in the Pyrmont neighborhood, just a little too far to walk.  There is a great view of the harbor bridge.  We enjoy starters of a leaf salad and a fennel citrus salad.  For mains, Rob has baramundi with yellow curry, and I have John Dory, very well prepared and delicious.  We also share a side of carrots with harissa and cardomom -- really good.  Our wine is a chardonnay from the Margaret River area of Western Australia from a winery called Evoi.  A quick cab ride home completes our evening.

A Fine Sunday Walk

We bid a sad goodbye to Connie Pinder Barr as she heads for the airport at 10am to catch her return flight to the USA.  Rob and I are on our own today.  The weather is still warm with some cloud cover, so we head out for a long walk.  Our objective is to walk around more residential neighborhoods to get a feel for Sydney away from the tourist areas.

We walk out along Oxford Street and pass many gay clubs -- everything is still a little sleepy here on a Sunday morning.  We keep walking along.  Oxford Street is a major east/west thoroughfare that goes through Sydney and may even go as far as Bondi Beach.  Signs definitely point to the destination of Bondi Junction.  After a ways, we come upon an area identified as the Victoria Barracks and then we are in the area known as Paddington.  The shopping here looks very nice -- again, not so much traffic on a Sunday morning.  There is an area called the Paddington Market, where it appears a Saturday market takes place.  At this point, we decide turn back and explore the northern areas of Kings Cross and Potts Point.

We turn north on an interesting looking residential street called Liverpool, which, coincidentally is the same Liverpool street that passes our apartment building downtown!  This residential street is really pretty.  The townhouses are older and almost all of them feature beautiful wrought iron railings on both the main floor and a balcony on the second floor -- very Victorian looking and very charming.  We continue through this neighborhood until we reach Victoria Street which runs north/south.  It is about lunchtime, so we stop in a nice looking cafe/restaurant called Tigerbakers.  Rob enjoys a sobe noodle salad with chicken and I have a green salad with feta, tomatoes, cucumber, and also chicken.  The food is very nice.

We continue north on Victoria Street until it crosses Darlington Street which continues into Kings Cross.  Kings Cross sounds like it would be a nice neighborhood, but in fact it is quite squalid!  The street is lined with strip clubs!  Wouldn't want to be here at night!  But just as quickly as the neighborhood turned bad, it then turns nice again as we continue north on Macleay Street.  This area has nice shops and restaurants combined with lovely apartment buildings.  This area is now considered Potts Point, rather than Kings Cross, I think.  We walk as far north on this little peninsula as we can.  The northern part of this is occupied by a naval base, so it is obviously not walkable for the general public.  We turn south along the Cowper Wharf Road and continue along the water of Woolloomooloo Bay.  At the base of the bay is a long wharf extending into the bay containing condos and several large restaurants that are doing good business.  We follow the waterfront back to the north and head for Mrs. Macquarie's Point.  We are surprised to pass a modern swimming pool club built into a wharf.  At the point, of course we stop and Rob sits on Mrs. Macquarie's chair, a seat carved into the rocks.

From here we enjoy a walk through the Botanic Gardens until we reach the Sydney Opera House.  Then we head back to our apartment -- we've done a lot of walking today, easily over ten miles.  Our path takes us up Pitt Street, which has great central business district shopping, including the historic Strand arcade, which stop to admire and get a cookie.

Dinner tonight will take us back to the Oxford Street neighborhood (Darlinghurst) to the restaurant Baccomatto Osteria,  This had been recommended to us by the waiter at Berta, but is also well reviewed by Yelp.  We have a very delicious dinner.  We start with cod and potato croquettes with a leaf salad.  Then Rob has saffron pasta with clams and sea urchin, while I have stracci pasta (pasta sheet cut into squares) with a tomato beef sauce -- we both really enjoy this.  We also enjoy a nice conversation with our waiter, who is "over Sydney."  Then back to the apartment to watch the men's championship of the Australian Open, which lasts too late, so neither of sees the end of the match (Novak Djokovic wins over Andy Murray).

Summer Saturday in Manly Beach

We wake early (not on purpose!) and have a relaxing morning in our apartment here in Sydney.  Connie slept well on the rollaway bed that we had obtained for her.  Our first objective today is to find the bronze statue that had been sculpted by Rob's cousin, Arthur Sherman.  It is in an outdoor area by the Darlinghurst Post Office on Oxford Street.  As it turns out, we had walked right by it on our first night in Sydney without seeing it.  It is a little off the street, so you wouldn't usually notice it if you weren't looking for it.  The statue is a representation of the birth of Australia and is very impressive.  Here are two photos that I took.  Rob took plenty more.

Our next objective is to visit Manly Beach, so we get ready and head for Circular Quay, where we will catch the ferry that will take us there.  As we walk across Hyde Park, which is really lovely, we are waylayed by the central monument, which is a tribute to the fallen and veterans of World War I, called the ANZACs.  It is built in the Art Deco style and is very nice inside with a small museum.  We continue walking through the park, admiring the giant fig trees, Hills Figs.  We stop for more photos at the fountain, then onto Circular Quay.

Manly Beach is on the ocean, just north of North Head, which with the opposite South Head is the entrance to Sydney Harbor from the Pacific Ocean.  The ferry ride is nice and provides good views of Sydney.  It takes about one half hour to reach the Manly ferry station.  The boat is somewhat crowded as we realize that going to the beach on a sunny Summer afternoon is naturally what many Sydney residents would want to do themselves.  That's okay -- it is not too crowded and kind of makes for a festive atmosphere.  When we arrive, we walk along the street called the Corso which connects the harbor side of Manly, where the ferry terminal is located, to the ocean beach.  The beach is beautiful!  Lots of people enjoying this day!  We find a restaurant on the street overlooking the beach where with can have lunch.  Rob has a smoked chicken salad on pita (which is really a tortilla), and Connie and I each have fish and chips.  After lunch we walk up and down the beachside promenade, then head back to the harbor.  

The harbor area has a lovely waterside walk that Rob and I partially walked in 2006 and were looking forward to walking along again.  Connie was eager to do this walk, too!  So we walk along with the water and smaller beaches on one side and house and apartments along the other.  We see a swimming area that is blocked in to stop the waves and the sharks, where people can swim laps.  We we walk along, I stop to take a picture of the opening in the land where the Pacific Ocean meets the harbor:

When we finish our walk, we board the ferry for the return ride to Sydney.  As we experienced on our ride here, the ferry ship experiences some pretty big rolling from the large waves coming into the harbor from the Pacific.  It is a little thrilling and a little scary, but we are in no danger.  It is nice to know there are personal flotation devices underneath our seats.

Back in Sydney, we decide to take a roundabout walk back to the hotel and head for the Sydney Botanic Gardens.  As always, the gardens are beautiful and immaculately maintained.  We exit the gardens and cross into the next park known as the Domain.  From here we can cross the street and head back into Hyde Park.

For dinner tonight, we stop at the grocery store and get an assortment of foods to enjoy in our apartment with Australian wine and the women's final of the Australian Open tennis tournament (Serena Williams wins over Maria Sharapova).  At about 9pm, we hear the sound of fireworks and leap to the window to watch a great fireworks display at Darling Harbor.  What a treat!

Waking up to Sydney

Today is Friday, January 30 (in Australia, anyway), and we are in for a treat!  Connie Pinder Barr is joining us from faraway Atlanta!  We wake early and have a leisurely morning.  Shortly after 9am, Rob heads down to the lobby of our building to await Connie's arrival.  Her plane from Los Angeles landed at about 8am.  And then ... Connie arrives!  Woo Hoo!  Our plan (if Connie is not too exhausted) is to walk around central Sydney and enjoy today's perfect weather.

We set out and stop to have lunch at the Queen Victoria Building (QVB), and older, historic shopping arcade that is home to fancy shops and nice restautants.  We stop at one that has a nice display of salads and we each order the tuna salad with beans.  We walk around the arcade and admire the giant clocks.  We walk north along George Street and then we spot the Sydney Tower.  We make the spontaneous decision to ride to the top of the tower!  There is a 4D movie to watch before they let us up that is actually pretty entertaining!  At the top, the views are perfect thanks to today's perfect weather.  Here is a picture that I took:

After this, we continue north towards the main harbor, known as Circular Quay.  We walk along the quay and head to the view of the opera house from the Park Hyatt hotel -- gorgeous!  Heading towardss the Botanic Gardens, we don't quite make it there.  We stop at a waterside bar called Buckley's for refreshing beer or two, or three, maybe four.  We're in vacation mode for sure!  Soon enough it is time for dinner, so we head back the area called The Rocks to dine at a restaurant called Sailor's Thai.  For staters we have some steamed dumplings that are blue for some reason and tod mun (fish cakes) with quail eggs in the center.  For mains, we enjoy barramundi, spicy greens, and outstanding chicken in a red curry sauce.  The food tonight is even better than we remembered it from 2006.  Our wine today is a New Zealand pinot gris from Te Whare Ra (a winery in Marlborough that Rob and I have visited).

Walking home, we pass a restaurant in an alley that has a selection of hanging cages that I am compelled to photograph:

Well, we didn't do a tremendous amount of sightseeing today, but we sure had fun!

Blue Mountains in the Sun ... then, Sydney

We wake to a beautiful blue sky and look forward to seeing the Blue Mountains in the sun!  Our first stop this morning is a park with the unimaginative name of "Scenic World."  It seems a bit of a tourist trap, but truthfully, as a tourist, it is not something one should pass up.  Since our time is limited today (we need to drive to Sydney this afternoon), we arrive at the opening time of 9am.  As advised when we bought our tickets ($35 per adult), we first take the Skyway over the canyon to view the Katoomba Falls.  They are really impressive and really this view from the Skyway provides us probably the only opportunity to see them from top to bottom.  Here is what the Skyway looks like from the ground:

It is pretty high up!

Next, we take the Railway down to the valley floor.  This railway started as a way for miners to get down to thier mines, but gradually got taken over by tourists.  Well, today, the mine is long gone, and the railway has been replaced by a more modern system, but it is still a little harrowing as it is the steepest railroad in the world!  It is a short ride, though.

At the bottom, there is a nice 45 minute walk through a rain forest,  We are in the shade for the entire walk as we are under the canopy of the rain forest. 

Several of the trees are identified for us in signs.  The most beautiful is called the Blue Mountain Gum (Euchalyptus), which is a very large tree with gorgeous white bark.  We ride back up to the top in another enclosed car, called the Cableway.  We enjoy views of a rock formation called Orphan Rock.

After leaving Scenic World, we stop at a nearby park to take a short walk to the Katoomba Cascades (term for small waterfalls).

We still have some time to do a little more sightseeing before we need to head to Sydney, so we decide to return to Blackheath to admire the views we had seen yesterday in the rain and fog.  This was a good decision!  The views of the Grose Valley (as opposed to the Jamison Valley, which is what you see from Echo Point and Scenic World) are stunning in the sun.  The waterfall known as Govetts Leap is super good!  It is the tallest waterfall in the Blue Mountains.

We admire other views of the valley from a spot called Evans Lookout.

Well, that's it for the Blue Mountains -- glad we had enough good weather to enjoy them!

Driving to Sydney is mostly uneventful.  What is amazing is that the divided highway called the M4 ends about 12 miles from the city center and then one must take streets to get the rest of the way!  Seems like someone should do something about this!  As we enter Sydney, I of course make a wrong turn, but Rob's navigation skills get us to the Budget rental car return place.  The map provided by Budget at the airport is not helpful!  Anyway, we return the car and take a cab to our rental apartment at 528 Kent Street.  We check in and are very pleased with our one bedroom unit.  It is on the 49th floor with stunning views way off in the distance and Darling Harbor up close.  We can peak at the Harbor Bridge between buildings from the bedroom window.  Before we relax, we go the Cole's grocery store about two blocks away to stock up on supplies.

Researching restaurants on Yelp, I find an Italian place not too far away called Berta.  The reviews are very positive including raves for the friendliness of the staff.  The downside is that it is supposed to be difficult to find.  Well, we find it and it is quite busy (and small), but we are accommodated at the bar overlooking the kitchen.  The food we ordered is meant to be shared plates, and it was fantastic!  The descriptions on the menu are as follows:

"fiore di burrata red cabbage parmesan" -- Burrata cheese served with toast and some type of spread (the parmesan?) and pickled? red cabbage, very good.

"cauliflower walnuts mustard" -- Unbelievable good, roasted cauliflower drizzled with lemon aioli with walnuts; I guess the mustard was in there somewhere.  We could eat this every day!

"ricotta caramelle fennel sumac" -- This was a pasta dish with pasta filled with ricotta and spinach?  twisted and served in an asian flavored sauce with fennel, super inventive and incredibly delicious!

"snapper almond picada marjoram thyme tomate" -- Very nice piece of fish in a tasty sauce.

We also have a side of a Leaf Salad.  The staff, as adertised, was very friendly.  We make the acquaintance of Stuart who provides some restaurant recommendations for us in Sydney.  That is most appreciated!

We return to our apartment and watch Andy Murray defeat Tomas Berdych in an Australian Open semifinal, then to bed.

The Blue Mountains

About two hours west of Australia,the Blue Mountains rise over 3,000 feet over sea level and provide an attractive side destination from Sydney.  We drove here yesterday in terrible, rainy and foggy weather and have yet to see anything really.  We hope for better today.

We awake to the same weather, unfortunately -- very rainy and extremely foggy -- kind of like a winter day at the end of Partrick Road!  After breakfast, we consult with the front desk on advice for our activities today.  She suggest we could do some walking around at the top (Cliff Trails) and also visit the neighboring city of Leura which has a charming shopping area.  Well, I didn't come here to shop, so it is not certain what we'll do.  Anyway, the most beautiful viewpoint in the Blue Mountains, called Echo Point, is a short walk from our hotel, so that is what we decide to check out first.  We make the short walk there, but there is nothing to see.  A gorgeous vista lies behind this fog, so we are led to believe.  We consider taking the cliff walks that set out from here, but it turns out that will involve walking through muddy areas, which we are not equipped (shoe-wise) to do, so we decide to consult the nearby tourist information office.  The woman there is very helpful and suggests that we drive to the next town to the west called Blackheath.  At the tourist office there, we can take a paved ("sealed" as the Austrailians say) walk through a wild area.  We decide that sounds like good idea.

At Blackheath, there is a very helpful woman there as well, who tells us about the walk and warns us not to step on any "Red Triangle Snails."  She shows us a picture -- they are whitish/yellowish with a red triangle on their backs, hence the name.  We promise not to step on any:  why would we want to?  This is a nice walk with interesting vegetation to look at.  We see pretty pinkish red flowers and some small pine-type trees with yellow flowers.  We also see several of the snail and do avoid stepping on any.  Near the end of the walk is a viewpoint of a rock formation called Pulpit Rock, and we can actually see it!  Hooray, the fog is lifting a little.  This is our first view of something/anything in the Blue Mountains.  We continue on to the end of the trial, which terminates at a spot called Govetts Leap Lookout.  "Leap" is the Scottis word for waterfalls, so Govetts Leap Lookout provides and view of a beautiful waterfall that is also known as Bridal Veil Falls.  It is impressive, even in the partial fog.  A sign directs us to an even closer overlook which it says in 15 minutes away.  We decide to take this walk.  The rain is not too heavy at this point, but also not completely stopped.

This may be a mistake.  As it turns out, 15 minutes does not seem to be an accurate estimate for this walk.  Secondly, the "walk" is really just a giant staircase down.  Thirdly, there are enormous amounts of standing water on the "trail," which gets our shoes pretty wet.  Fortunately, there is little mud.  As we are getting close to the end (I can hear the waterfall), Rob really wants to turn back -- his shoes are getting too wet.  However, I insist on finishing the walk; a decision that Rob is not happy about, but he relents.  At the end, the payoff isn't really worth it.  We do see the falls up close, but the fog is thick and the view is just okay.  Time to head back.  As we climb (all upstairs at this point) back up, we are treated with a view of a heavyset female hiker with her pants pulled down and urinating.  No additional comments here needed.

Well, we are pretty wet at this point, so we have no choice but to head back to the hotel to dry off.  With this weather what else is there to do anyway?  This is very discouraging.

Back at the hotel, we entertain ourselves by playing Words with Friends in the hotel lounge while enjoying some sauvignon blanc.

Sometime around five o'clock, a miracle happens:  it begins to clear.  We grab out cameras and head back to Echo Point.  We can actually see the Blue Mountains, and they are gorgeous!  We are at the rim of a large valley (Jamison Valley) looking down at an ocean of green trees with impressive rock formation along the rim.  The most famous of these is the Three Sisters.  We take lots of pictures (Rob with his camera and me with my phone).  What a treat.  This is the best photo that I took:

Soon, it is time for dinner.  We are eating in our hotel tonight.  Nothing fancy, a steak for me and rack of lamb for Rob.  Our wine tonight is delicious.  It is a Cabernet Franc Merlot from Ross Hill, located in  Orange, New South Wales.  I would definitely drink this again!  Tomorrow should be more good weather (I hope, no guarantees), so we will hopefully get some additional sight seeing in at the Blue Mountains before we head to Sydney.

Our Wine:

From Tasmania to the Blue Mountains

We will miss Tasmania ... It is a beautiful place with such lovely outdoor landscapes that we really enjoyed driving through and admiring.  The people here have been super friendly and very welcoming.  Oh and that salmon!  Yum!

Today, we rise early and head to the airport for our flight to Sydney.  The flight is uneventful with one annoyance in the process.  When a flight is nearing departure time in Hobart, anyone who needs to get on the plane but has arrived late to the airport is told to jump to the front of the check-in line.  Similarly, these latecomers are able to jump to the front of the security screening line as well.  For those of us who arrived early to the airport for our own flights, it is a little exasperating to have to wait while those who are late are processed first.  In the USA, if you can't get to the airport on time, you will miss your flight -- here, you get first class treatment.  Not fair!  I spend the flight researching the Blue Mountains and reading the book that I bought about the history of Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula.

Anyway, we arrive to a rainy Sydney, but quickly collect our bags and obtain our rental car.  I wish the remainder of our journey today would be so uneventful.  We get plenty of directions for how to get on the highway (the M5) that will take us west, but when we leave the airport, there are no signs for any highways.  So of course, we make some wrong turns, then retrace our steps and Rob is able to navigate us in the right direction even without any signage.  I have to say that based upon our experience today and when we initially landed in Sydney, this airport is kind of a mess.  Finally, we see the signs for the M5, but one direction takes us to Botany Bay and the other to Canberra.  Neither seems correct to us.  Why can't they just say "East" or "West"?  Ugh!  Rob quickly consults the maps and Canberra seems the right choice.  Unfortunately, it is too late to get in the correct lane, so we drive on and figure out a way to backtrack on get on the highway (which is really backed up, by the way).  The drive to the Blue Mountains is relatively uneventful at this point, if you discount the downpouring rain and fog.  Isn't Australia supposed to be a dry place?  The rain and the fog continue all the way to our destination.  It is pretty dismal.

We reach the town of Katoomba, where our hotel is located, but we have no idea where.  We pull over to try to use the Garmin GPS that we had rented, but either it doesn't work or we're stupid.  I'm pretty sure it doesn't work (I hope).  Rob jumps out of the car to consult a shopkeeper who gives some type of instruction, so we follow a hunch and luckily find the hotel.  The fog is still really thick at this point, so it is difficult to say the least.  We check in and have lunch in the hotel's restaurant:  caesar salad for me and quinoa salad for Rob with sides of chicken satay and steamed vegetables -- pretty good with a glass of Dalyrimple sauvignon blanc from Tasmania.  It is now about 3pm and there is literally nothing to do, given the weather.  Can't do any sightseeing (try admiring mountains in the fog) and won't do any walking (no real attractions in the town here, all the attractions involve shrouded scenic viewpoints).  It is disappointing since we had come here to view the sites and do some hiking, neither of which are possible today.  We'll hope for better conditions tomorrow, but not feeling very hopeful about that.  This afternoon, I guess we'll just lounge in our very nice hotel room and watch Rafael Nadal lose in the Australia Open.  The hotel, but the way, called Lilianfels, is really nice, too, not just our hotel room.  Not much to do until our 7pm dinner reservation at the restaurant called Echo, a short walk away at a sister property of our hotel.

Dinner at Echo is very fancy and rather expensive, but very good.  It has an Asian theme to its food.  Rob starts with a fig salad, which features figs stuffed with goat cheese with frisée and melon.  I start with a salad with grilled octopus.  It tastes similar to calamari.  Underneath the salad, however, is some type of seaweed that I absolutely cannot eat.  Other than that, it was very good.  For mains, we each have grilled John Dory filets that are served with sugar snap peas, broccolini, cabbage, and little potato in a ginger broth.  Extremely good.  Our wine is a pinot grigio from Pipers Brook in Tasmania.  We retire to watch Andy Murray defeat Australian Nick Kyrgios in a quarterfinal match in the Australian Open.

Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day, everyone -- celebrated every January 26!  This date is celebrated as the anniversary of the day in 1788, when the British sailed into Sydney Harbor with its first fleet of convict ships.  This date has been celebrated since early on in Sydney and New South Wales (the Australian state that includes Sydney).  However, other Australian states did not have a history of celebrating this date, because it was not their history.  All of today's states in Australia were for a long time independent colonies.  Even after the colonies/states were federated together to create the nation, Australia, in 1901, there was not broad agreement that this date should be selected as the day for celebrating the nation.  Several alternatives were proposed by the states.  However, by the 1930's, consensus was reached, and today's national holiday, Australia Day, was officially born.

Our celebration plan for today is to explore the Huon Trail.  This is an area to the south of Hobart that is well known for its natural beauty and fruit orchards.  We head south and drive through lovely seaside neighborhoods until the houses become more sparse and the view is more rural.  Our first stop is the recommended Inverawe Native Gardens, a private estate run by an elderly husband and wife in what is clearly a labor of love.   Margaret, the wife, provides us an extensive overview of the property, including a map.  All the plants in the gardens are native to Australia.  Their accomplishment is impressive, and the location is very scenic.  The property sits on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel at the mouth of the North West River near the town of Margate.  I take note of one plant that can either be the size of a bush or grow to the size of a small tree call Melaleuca Nesophiles.  It has charming little pink poms poms, similar to the bottle brush tree (another Australian native plant), although we are informed that they are not related.  I plan to see if this is available in the United States.  Rob likes the annuals called Paper Daisies, native to Western Australia.  Seed packs are available for purchase, but I don't think we would be allowed to bring them into the United States.  Too bad for us.

We continue driving south along the western shore of the channel until we reach a town called Woodbridge, where, just to the south, we stop at the Grandvewe Sheep Cheesery, Australia's only organic sheep's milk cheese producer.  There is a small cafe there, so we enjoy lunch called "toasties."  These are grilled (sheep) cheese sandwiches, combined with either ham or roasted vegetables, very good.  We each enjoy a glass of sauvignon blanc produced under the Grandvewe name.  The coastline here is very scenic, and as much as we enjoyed driving the Tasman Peninsula yesterday, we are enjoying this more.  The landscape is just so charming with its rolling green hills and blue water.  We make additional stops in the small towns of Gordon and Verona Sands to admire these views.  Verona Sands lies just at about the bottom of this peninsula.

After Verona Sands, the highway turns back towards the north as we drive up what is now called the Huon River valley, which is, of course, an estuary at this point.  We stop at a scenic pullover site and take some nice pictures of Eggs and Bacon Bay, yes, that is the real name.  

We also drive through a charming town called Cygnet as we make our way north to Huonville, which is the top of this valley.  The agricultural specialty of this valley appears to be apples, and there are any roadside apple stands.  Huonville, itself, appears to be a very nice larger town, but we pass through.  We stop just north, however, at a place called the Apple Shed, where I hope to see some of the local apples.  We are disappointed to learn that this is actually more of a restaurant.  It does offer apple cider tasting, though.  We pass on this and continue north.  One more picture of the Huon Valley at its northern end:

Our final stop on today's drive is the top of Mount Wellington.  This mountain towers over Hobart and the surrounding areas at 4,170 feet elevation.  A fairly good road take you to the top, but it takes a while to get there.  Once there, it is colder, naturally, but the views are amazing.  You can see a great distance, and many pictures are taken.  Here is one I took with the city of Hobart in the center:

You can see Hobart is not that close, and certainly far below!

From here we return to the hotel to watch a little tennis and prepare for our flight to Sydney tomorrow. We have dinner reservations at the restaurant Rockwall, where we ate on our first night in Hobart.  Both of us are certain to order the Tasmanian Salmon again.  This may be our last chance to get it, since its availability in other parts of Australia is uncertain.

Dinner does not disappoint, we both order the same salad and same Tasmanian Salmon that we did last Wednesday.  We also order a pinot noir from a town called Granton and a winery called Stefano Lubiana.  It is not a light style and actually seems as if it could age a while.  Everything about this dinner was perfection.  I feel a little sad (maudlin, actually) at the end, as there may not be another chance to enjoy this delicous fish.  This particular Tasmanian Salmon is from the Huon River area, where we had just toured this afternoon.  Hopefully, I am wrong, and we will find this on the menu in Sydney.

Walking back to the hotel, I get the idea to walk past the hotel, even though the street sign says there is no outlet.  My hunch is based on the fact that every time I look our our hotel window, I see someone walking in that direction.  As soon as we pass the hotel, we see why:  there is a lovely small park called Princes Park that one can stroll through.  It connects to neighborhoods on the other side.  I regret not coming through here before, but we are glad we did this evening.

We go back to the hotel to turn in and watch a little more tennis.  We have to get up early tomorrow.  As I write this, I can look out the window and see the Dawn Princess come into and dock in Hobart Harbor.

Day of Driving and the Tasman Peninsula

We are leaving Freycinet National Park today to return to Hobart, but with detours.  What changeable weather these Tasmanians have, though.  We wake this morning to a real downpour, which we dash through to get to breakfast at the main lodge.  Fortunately, we get a break when it is time to load our luggage in the car.

We start driving, and the weather is nice.  There are some clouds but nice breaks of blue sky and sun.  The temperature is cool, though, about 60 degrees farenheit.  We retrace our path from the drive here passing through the towns of Swansea and Orford. However, when we reach the town of Sorrell, we don't head to Hobart but south towards the Tasman Peninsula.  There are three sights to see on our agenda.  The peninsula is beautiful and a little different from where we had come from up north.  The grass is a little greener and the trees a lot fuller, very pleasant rolling terrain.  We soon arrive at our first destination: the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park.

Tasmanian Devils are endangered.  There is a facial cancer for which there is no cure, and given that the Devils tend to bite each other in the face, the cancer will likely wipe out the entire species.  There is a plan to prevent this, however.  The Tasman Peninsula is isolated from the rest of Tasmania by a man made canal.  The Devils on the peninsula do not have the cancer, so they are protected so long as they do not come into contact with the other Devils.  Over the next 15 years, the Devils on the mainland will likely all die, then the Devils on the peninsula can be used to repopulate the mainland.  The Conservation Park is working on the effort, as well as providing a place for the public to come and see the Devils.  We arrive at 1pm and we are in luck.  There will be a feeding of the Devils at 1:30pm that we can watch.  The Devils are not large, about the size of a small dog, but they have vicious teeth and as we watch, two of them begin to bicker and release a large hissing sound.  All of us viewers jump in fright!  Here is the best picture of a Devil that I took:

They have red ears and a white stripe n their chests, not entirely ugly.  

The feeding provides a lot of information on the Devils.  Here is what we learned:  they are slow, have bad eyesight, and are terrible hunters at night when they are active.  So they are scavengers, which means they eat things that are already dead, preferably a wallabee, but really anything.  They eat all of their victims, including bone, fur, teeth, and anything else.  There is only one part of the corpse they won't ear:  the intestines.  They don't like the intestines since they are likely full of grass or other vegetable matter, and Devils only want meat!  If they find a large victim, they will signal other Devils with their voices to share -- how nice!

One other comment on the feeding:  the ranger pulled out chunks of wallabee to give to the Devils using her bare hands.  With blood on her hands, she then continued the presentation, kind of gross.  The two Devils in the enclosure that we saw fed were one male and one female.  They were named Chumbo and Missy!

Our next destination of Port Arthur.  It is not really a town, but a historic site.  Port Arthur was one of the original settlements of Tasmania, which means it was established to incarcerate transported convicts.  It has a brutal history and was used as some sort of prison for decades.  Later abandonned, it was almost lost to history, but the government stepped in and established this historic site in order to preserve what was left of the buildings, which are mostly just ruins at this point.  The site is rather large and takes a few hours to walk around and read the signs that explain the various buildings/ruins.  Our luck is not so good, though, as the weather has turned rainy just as we are about to set out on our tour, so we walk around in the rain.  Fortunately, we do have umbrellas.  Most of the Australians, for some  reason, do not.  I wish I could provide more detailed information on the history of this place, but I have not yet done my reading!  When we departed, I bought a short book on the history of Port Arthur which will educate me.  Here is link to the official web site, if anyone would like to do their own reading, or just look at a few pictures (which I have failed to provide in this blog):

http://www.portarthur.org.au/

Finally, we drive a few miles farther south to view White Beach, which Fodor's guidebook describes as Tasmania's most beautiful beach.  Who can pass this up?  It is really at the end of the world, which is what the end of the Tasman Peninsula feels like.  It is a long crescent beach with gentle waves and, of course, the advertised white sand.  Now it is time to make the return drive to Hobart.

Back in Hobart, we return to Maldini's Italian restaurant (third time here) for dinner.  We share starters of a local grilled calanmari salad with citrus and fennel and tomate bruschetta, which is fantastic.  For mains, Rob has spaghetti and meatballs, and I have a seafood risotto.  Both portions are large, and neither of us can finish.  Our wine is a Bream Creek pinot noir, which is a light style wine.  We return to our hotel room to watch some Australian Open tennis.  Today was a lot of driving -- all on the wrong side of the road!

My Two Favorite Australian Birds

My favorite Australian bird is the Australian Magpie, not because it is a nice bird, most probably consider it a pest, but the song is incredible.  The birds always sing in duet.  Check out his page for pictures, but even better you can hear the song:

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/bird/24

Here is the link for the Laughing Kukkaburra, check this out, too!

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/bird/37

Freycinet National Park

Yesterday, we spent our time in the park relaxing; today, we will be exploring.  But first: a little Tasmanian history.  Tasmania was discovered by Europeans in 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.  He mapped the area and named it for his patron, Van Diemen's Land.  Then, he moved on to New Zealand.  Nothing much happened after that until 1802 when a French fleet came exploring in 1802.  A lieutenant on the expedition was named Freycinet and the peninsula which contains this park was named for him.  There is also a Mount Freycinet on the peninsula.  The French checked out Tasmania but decided they had no interest in it.  The British, then at war with the French, decided in 1803 that they would claim Van Dieman's land for their own and shortly thereafter began transporting convicts from England to prison facilities on the island.  Of course at some later date, the decision was made to rename the island, Tasmania, after the original explorer.

The Freycinet peninsula connects to the mainland in the north and then extends south into the Pacific Ocean.  Our accommodation, the Freycinet Lodge is located in the northern part of the park on the bay (west) side of the peninsula.  The main attraction in the park is known as Wineglass Bay, named for the shape of the inlet.  There are only three ways to see the bay:  get in a plane and fly over it, take a cruise to see it from the water, or hike into the area.  We elect to hike it.  A side note on Australian terminology:  what we call a trail is called in Australia at track.  Those who use the tracks are not hikers, but are called trampers.  The hike to Wineglass Bay is about 4 kilometers one way, about 2 1/2 miles, but we are going to hike (tramp) a loop trail which takes us to Wineglass Bay, then across the peninsula and back up the other side for a round trip of 11 kilometers, just under 7 miles.  The initial part of the hike is mostly uphill from the car park as we must ascend to cross a pass between two of the mountains in the range called the Hazards.  The track is very well maintained and can be hiked by most people as long as they can complete the climb.  The first viewpoint is back toward Coles Bay, which is very scenic.  Then the track keep climbing to reach the viewpoint of Wineglass Bay from on high.  This view is stunning.  Everyone on the track will take a pause here to enjoy this.  From here the track descends down to the beautiful beach in Wineglass Bay.  Many hikers don't go this far; it seems they just check out the viewpoint then turn back to the car park.  Being in the bay itself is just gorgeous.  Of course there are other hikers, but not as many as one might suspect, so it is really a treat to get to enjoy such a wonderful example of nature's beauty in a complete unspoiled and private environment.  We stay here for a while, snapping pictures and enjoying a snack.

We tear ourselves away and set out west across the isthmus track.  This is a relatively flat path with interesting vegetation.  We see a gorgeous deep pink flower that seems to be completely out of place.  The only other blooming plant we have seen is the Smoky Tea Tree, which has lovely small white flowers.  They are common along the path.  Regarding the pink blossom, though, we later learn from a ranger at the visitor center that it is a hyacinth orchid.  We see three examples on the path.  The flower has not foliage, reminding us of the August blooming flower in Napa known as a Naked Lady (in the lily family).  We come near to a marsh area and are complete confounded by a sound emanating from the marsh.  It sounds almost electronic in a middle to low tone.  We have never heard anything like it.  Is it a bird or what?  Again, the ranger at the visitor center fills us in.  It is the Eastern Banjo Frog.  Strange.  The next stage of the path takes us to a long beach on what is called the Promise Bay.  It is called Hazards Beach.  We also weren't expecting part of the trail to be on a beach, but are pleasantly surprised.  I see a few shells to pick up and take along with me.  We also stop to enjoy our packed lunch that we had purchased this morning at the lodge.

The final part of the trail is 6 kilometers and is not our favorite part.  It follows the coast to the north, but does not offer a lot of variety.  Rob is spotting small lizards along the way, however, which we learn are called Metallic Skinks.  Also, there are no markers on the trail to mark your progress, so you keep thinking you must be getting close to the end, but in reality have quite a ways to go.  Still we make it back in 4 1/2 hours total, which is not too long for this distance.  This was definitely a great hike, even if it was a tramp!

It is only 1:30pm in the afternoon, leaving us ample time to hit the other two major sites in the park.  The first stop is a short hike to Sleepy Bay, which features Gravelly Beach. This area on the Pacific Ocean side of the park provides rocky vistas to enjoy, plus another opportunity to finds really unique and beautiful shells.  I find some in blue, violet, green, and white!

The final stop is a short hike to the lighthouse point, also on the Pacific.  The attraction here is to be at a high spot where you can see all of the tall mountains on the peninsula in one vista, as well as see into Wineglass Bay in the distance.  It is a little reminiscent of Big Sur, back home in California.  We end our day with a stop to the visitor center where we are able to talk to the rangers about the things we had seen, which they were able to identify for us.  Very nice staff here, but it goes without saying that everyone here in Tasmania is beyond friendly!

We head back to the lodge for some needed downtime after several miles of walking today, possibly as many as twelve!  We go to the bistro for a light snack and a beer.  Then it is time to clean up!

After a break, we head to the lodge for dinner.  We both start with the Greek salad again.  It is very good.  For the first time on this vacation, neither of us opts for a seafood dish, but we both choose a pork loin main dish.  It is okay and is served with cooked red cabbage, which is nice.  Less nice is the canned pineapple ring served overtop or the crackling which is served on top of that.  What is that, I ask the server when the dish is presented.  She tells us that it is fried pork fat.  I'll pass, although I'm sure it is delicious.  Best to avoid things like that.  Our wine is a pinot noir from Milton.  Milton is located in Cranbrook, a small town north of Swansea nearby that we had driven past on the way to the park.  This evening is sunny with no clouds, which is very pleasant.  We end the day, sitting on our deck admiring the sunset on Richardson Beach.

Drive to Freycinet

As we leave Hobart and begin driving, both Rob and I are thinking about the remoteness of where we are.  Even the name Tasmania conjures up some distant place that in normal circumstances one would not think of traveling to, yet we did.  It is not such a foreign place -- everyone speaks English here after all -- yet it is so far away from everywhere else.  Now, as we drive, we realize the way out can only involve a drive back to Hobart, and departing Hobart can only mean a flight back to a major city in Australia, and then one can fly hours upon hours to get back to North America.  We are in a remote location!  World events have an impact here, no doubt, but it seems like perhaps the local residents could stop following international news with little consequence to their daily lives.

Today we are leaving Hobart to drive north and east to the Freycinet National Park.  This park is situated on a peninsula on the Pacific Ocean.  We awake to the beautiful sounds of the Australian magpie.  These birds have an amazing song that is always sung in a duet, very unusual, but pleasant.  I am reminded of the kookaburra that I heard when we were in Richmond, not because of the song, but because these are birds that are only in Australia.

We check out of the hotel, but not before asking the front desk staff if they had any recommendations of things to do or see on the way to the park.  One recommends an establishment called Kate's Berry Farm for a place to get a nice sweet.  Another recommends a restaurant in the town of Swansea for lunch.  It is called Salt Shakers.

We drive east on the A3, which is a nice four lane divided highway, until you pass the Hobart airport, when it becomes a two lane road.  Australia does not spend lavishly on highways, I don't think, but they are adequate.  Speed limits are generally 100 kilometers per hour, equivalent to about 62 miles per hour.  Following the Prosser River to the coast, the biggest town we come to first is Orford, where we meet the ocean and proceed north along the coast.  We stop at Raspins Beachin in Orford to admire the view.  There are several nice beaches farther north that we pass along the highway, and we stop at one called Kelvedon, which has the most amazing shells.  We stop to collect a few to take with us.  The next sight we see is called the spiky bridge.  This is a convict constructed bridge that has stone spikes arising along each side.  No one knows exactly why the bridge was built this way, perhaps to stop cattle from going over the side, perhaps to strengthen the construction, or simply because someone thought it looked good.

We next reach the resort/tourist town called Swansea.  It seems very nice and very clean, in fact, it has proclaimed itself the "tidiest town."  It has a nice park along the shore.  We locate the restaurant, Salt Shakers, that had been recommended and enjoy a nice lunch.  I have really good fish and chips made with a Tasmanian white fish, and Rob has an Asian beef salad.  We continue on to the park.

A note on the terrain:  as we drive, the landscape is rolling hills with some forested areas and some open areas.  There is no apparent agriculture beyond the occasional vineyard or orchard.  We do see quite a few sheep from time to time, as well as a few cows, but mostly sheep.  The ocean is a beautiful blue color with some areas of green, which provides kind of a tropical feel.  However, the land seems somewhat arid.  The trees are green, and the grass is green, so clearly it rains here (unlike California in the summer), but the trees seem very sparse, not lush.  Many of the trees are gum trees, or eucalyptus, which do not have a lot of foliage.  When you see water and beaches that seem so tropical, you expect the landscape to be tropical, too, like the Caribbean or Hawaii, but that is not the case here.  We are reminded of what we saw when we drove the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, or even the landscape on Hayman Island in the Great Barrier Reef.

We arrive at the park and follow the signs to the Freycinet Lodge, where we will stay.  The main attraction here in the park is called Wineglass Bay.  It can be reached in only three ways:  you can hike in, you can view it from a plane, or you can take a lunch cruise, which will take you there.  We arrived at 1pm, so it is probably too late for a hike for us today, so we will plan to do that tomorrow.  We check into our room, and it is above expectations.  Beautiful furnishings, spacious bathroom and a fantastic deck that overlooks Richardson Beach -- what a view!

We're going to take it easy today.  After we settle in, we take a short walk to Honeymoon Bay, which has some nice views of the mountains in the park, then we decide to head back and enjoy Richardson Beach.  It is a warm sunny day, perfect for the beach.  The sand is nice, and the beach is very gradual -- you can walk out quite a ways in the water and only get your legs wet.  The water is very cool.  There are some swimmers, but mostly people just getting their legs wet, like us.  The sun is too intense to stay our here too long, so we had back to our deck and relax with a few card games.  Our deck faces north, and we both comment that one of the interesting things to adjust to in the southern hemisphere is that fact that the sun is in the north, not the south.  This can be a little disorienting at times.

Dinner is, of course, at the lodge, where the food is known to be good, at least that what the guidebooks says!  We head over early to enjoy a glass of wine in the lounge before dinner.  We choose a chardonnay from nearly Freycinet Vineyards.  It is very good.  For dinner, we start with oysters, a local specialty, grilled with bacon.  They are okay, but too over-flavored for my taste making it difficult to taste the actual oyster.  Next we each have a Greek salad, which is perfect.  For mains, we each have the salmon.  It is good, but not great.  The salmon is farmed, not sure where, so does not have the incredible flavor of the Tasmanian salmon that we had at the restaurant Rockwall in Hobart.  With dinner we enjoy a pinot gris from Bay of Fires Vineyard, also very good.  Bay of Fires is to the north of the park.  Our waiter, interestingly, is from Alabama.  He is here on a one year work visa that Australia offers to foreigners who are under 30.

After dinner, we have a taste of the Cabernet Franc that we had purchased at Frogmore Vineyards.  It is not good, I'm afraid.  It is like drinking liquid green peppers (or capsicum, as they call them in Australia).  Cabernet Franc is a difficult wine to make, and unfortunately, this was not a success.  We have a big day of exploring the park tomorrow, so we turn in early.