Short European Trip - Weds

Recently had a short trip to Europe for training and tried to make the most of it.

Worked the Thursday morning before heading home for an afternoon flight. Taxi arrived right on time. Quite a bit of work going on at the airport with the expansion of the international terminal. Still lots of earthworks to be done and the cabbie told me that the airlines were moving in on Saturday!

Ate my lunch and then visited the polling station for the state election as I'll be out of the country on election day. No real privacy and my name was marked off electronically. Was searching for the ballot box when one of the staff showed me and mentioned, "I would have rugby tackled you." "Well," I replied, "I know taekwondo so that would have been interesting."

 
 Don't forget to vote

Checked in at Qantas - great, my bags are going all the way through to Vienna. Three flights so we'll see. I'll freeze if they don't make it. Border Security posed no issue. Did see some woman using her mobile in that restricted area but nobody said anything to her. Had to do a full body scan and passed - no missing body parts which is an obvious relief. Then, the first bit of work to do - shopping for duty-free cosmetics for the wirfe. And she prepared a bit of a list too. Just glad I took a photo of the list as I left the actual list in my baggage. The shop downstairs only had 2/4 items so I had to go upstairs after taking a look at the public viewing deck. Not a lot of activity plane-wise. Found all the required items but three of them were really expensive.

 
Bit quiet at the airport

Ha - one Indonesian guy left his wallet at the security checkpoint and another guy left his iPad behind. I remember leaving my backpack at the x-ray check in Korea once and just rescued it before it was sent away for destruction.

One of my pet hates emerged at boarding - upon the call to board no attention was paid to the rows being called for. So many people boarded prior to being called which slows down the whole boarding process. Same everywhere you go. Sat next to a young lass, Victoria, from Bolton who'd been in Oz for four months for a working holiday. She's seen more of my country than I have. Interestingly, all four air stewards in our section of the plane are male. Not a female-dominated job anymore.

Surprise, surprise. The entertainment system wasn't working properly as the audio was all jumpy. Same with my travelling companion. Tried swapping headsets. No difference. One of the attendants rebooted the screens. Victoria shared some M&Ms. Yummo.

"This is the best bad idea we have sir. By far." - Argo. Thoroughly enjoyable movie. Glad I had the option of the subtitled version as the audio was stuffed once again for the last 20 mins or so. And you miss so much of the dialogue due to aircraft noise. Got nearly two hours of work done on the laptop - email feature works brilliantly. Some much needed work done. We made up lots of time due to a strong tailwind kicked up by the cyclone on the northeast coast. I was unable to obtain a righthand side window seat with a view of the cyclone when I checked in - dammit.

Couldn't get wifi access at Changi Airport on my mobile. Not sure what the problem was (I know now though). Maybe I had to login first and accept the terms of service as I did with my laptop. Few more emails answered. No mucking around or queue jumping in Singapore. People boarded by rows as they were called and boarding passes were checked before allowing them to pass - as it should be. Lots of Germans onboard. Hardly surprising as we are bound for Frankfurt. Just about the oldest bunch of flight attendants I've ever seen.

 
Plane for Frankfurt from Singapore

Cottesloe Beach - Sculptures by the Sea

What ya gonna do when the mercury hits 41.1C? Head to the beach, that's what. I think that half of Perth had that idea today. Luckily we managed to get a parking spot close by but it was certainly more good luck than good management. Otherwise we would have been stuck in traffic for the next quarter of an hour. They really do need to put a freeway running past the beach to deal with the number of vehicles.

The Boy had a go on his boogie board and had a great time. There was an exhibition on, Sculptures by the Sea, and there were some interesting pieces on display. Man, the beach and surroundings were busy. The queue at the fish and chip shop was horrendous. Glad we'd already had our tea.

Jupiter and Venus were out - almost together in the sky actually. I even spotted what I initially thought was a flare until I realised that it was moving far too quickly for a flare. It was a meteor in actual fact. Took a few photos of what was going on and we had some drinks too. Lovely way to spend an evening.

King of the Waves?

Photos

Wetlands Wildlife

It's Australia Day today and so I have the day off work. Got up early to walk with the missus and the dog. Good idea to go for a walk early - just take a look below at the Bureau of Meteorology's forecast for the next week. Anyway, I noticed a few birds out and about at the nearby wetlands and thought I'd return to take a few photos.

Hot weather on the way

Heron and Pacific black ducks

Wetlands Wildlife Photo Album

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 15

Overnight it was pouring with rain which made me very glad that I looked at Cradle Mountain last night as it would be shrouded in cloud and an utter disappointment today. And so it proved to be. After breakfast I looked for some fuel but it was $1.965/L at the visitor centre and I asked if fuel would be available in the town of Moina, some 24 kms away. A woman who lived in Perth but worked at the park said that it would be.

In a bid to conserve fuel I drove at 60-70 km/h which was a good idea as the cafe/servo at Moina was closed for winter. Winter which finished six weeks ago mind you. The nearest fuel was, you guessed it, at the visitor centre 24 kms back up the road (and up the mountain). I decided to drive to Staverton and was a little disappointed to find only three or four houses and one antique fuel bowser. Knocked on a couple of doors to ask where the nearest petrol station was and one guy told me that it was 15 kms down the road (in Sheffield). Drove very slowly until we reached Sheffield then discovered a petrol station that was completely automated. I must have driven for close to 25-30 kms with the low fuel light coming on and off.

On the journey to put fuel in I'd noticed a sign for a town called Nowhere Else and decided to backtrack to investigate. Turned out to be nothing more than a couple of farms. Bit of traffic about though.

Nowhere Else sign

Back in Sheffield I found murals all about the town. No wonder they call it the Town of Murals. Very pretty and a great tourist attraction. Bought some souvenirs and asked for directions to Marakoopa for the caves to which the shop owner quickly provided a map.

As I approached the turnoff for Marakoopa Caves I noticed that we only had a few minutes until the next tour started - but we weren't the last to join. Brian, the guide, gave a great tour complete with stalactites, stalagmites, mightytites, flow, melted cheese, straws, pendutites, two rivers and glowworms! He has done more than 1755 tours. We went 400m inside the cave and weren't disappointed. The fine for breaking off some of the furniture for a souvenir is $15,000 and they've fined three people to date. Tour finished at 1pm and we headed to Perth, Tasmania. I drove quite slowly as fuel was getting low once again.

By the time we arrived in Perth it was raining quite heavily. No postcards available, except at the post office which was closed, so we hunted for food. I ate a wallaby sausage at Utsi - a cafe made from a converted church. The lady at the visitor centre at Cradle Mountain had said to try the food there. Finally found a place that sold food, the restaurant at the petrol station, and we had nachos and a King Island pie. Not bad.

Asked for directions to the airport, as there were two ways to go. They told me the quicker way which was about three kilometres further - not that I had the fuel for it.

Well, I'm sure that the car was out of fuel. My rental agreement was that I purchased a tank of fuel and any fuel that was in the vehicle was free for Avis. They weren't getting any freebies from me, not after the insurance incident at the start of the car hire. At Avis' desk the girl tried to inform me that the total price payable would have fuel added to the rental/insurance, etc, but I pointed out that I had paid for a tank of fuel. After telling her she was then able to inform me that I was correct. Their slogan, "We Try Harder", may be correct in that they try it on. Not a pleasant experience, really.

Quite a queue for the check-in for Qantas Link. And right behind us was a Japanese family that took the cave tour with us. Down in the waiting lounge there was a Jetstar flight that was delayed for 30 mins. We started boarding at our scheduled departure time and so were some 20-25 mins late in leaving. With a 150 km/h headwind we weren't going to make up any time into Melbourne. No probs as we had four hours to kill anyway.

Melbourne-Tassie Trip 2011 Photo Album No.3 - See photos 105-162.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 14

Early start to the day as the cruise on the Gordon River started at 8:30 am and we had to be ready before then. Brekky and check out to take care of before finding parking all day for $2.

Boarded the Lady Jane Franklin II amongst the 89 passengers and we had a seat in the middle of the lower deck. But we were free to wander around on all decks. The captain, Rob, took us through Hell's Gates, at the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, and the entrance was only 65ft wide. Our ship was 9.5m wide, a smidgen over 31ft, so there wasn't much room for error. Met up with the Davies couple, from yesterdays train ride, and said hello.

The cruise through Macquarie Harbour, at a cracking pace, took us past some salmon/trout farms. With no natural predators the fish do quite well. As we approached the Gordon River the pace slowed considerably. This was to protect the river bank.

I wondered about the lack of birdlife on the river and it turns out that the river is too deep for normal waterbirds near the bank. All of the big Huon pines have been harvested from the area by convict labour in the 1820s and 30s, and by the piners in later years, so there wasn't a lot of big trees to see.

We stopped at Heritage Landing and The Boy was given the job of counting chimneys created by burrowing crayfish, of which we didn't spot one (probably because they are nocturnal). He reached 1,031 in the 30 minutes that we were there.

The ship turned around and lunch was served. Luckily I noticed that the pasta had pesto as The Boy had quite a bit on his plate and with his allergy that could have been very serious. New plate required. Lots of tasty salmon to eat.

Cruised back to Sarah Island which was settled by convicts in 1822. A total of 131 ships were built in 12 years (96 in the five years that Captain David Hoy was in charge). We were given a tour by Jane Flanagan, from The Round Earth Company, and that was very informative. After the play last night I wanted her to be our guide.

Once back on dry land I did some searching for decent souvenirs and went to the sawmill. There is a huge fine for cutting down the protected Huon pines so only driftwood, which doesn't rot, can be used. Therefore the wood is quite expensive. Bought a mixing bowl and spoon for the missus.

Back in the car and The Boy remembered where the road to Zeehan was. Some dumb woman stopped in front of us, in the middle of the road halfway down the highway, with no indication, just so that she could take a photo. And it was in a spot where overtaking was not allowed! Some people should just not be allowed to drive vehicles. Full stop.

Much to my disgust, and against of the guarantees I had been given, it wasn't raining when we reached Zeehan. Strahan has only 40 days a year when it doesn't rain and we enjoyed two of them consecutively. I planned to visit Montezuma Falls nearby but with a three hour return journey on foot I thought "bugger that".

Drove into Cradle Mt - Lake St Clair National Park and had another person stop in front of me in a no overtaking zone - on a bloody steep hill this time! Stupid tourists should be barred entry into Tasmania. It would seem that idiot drivers flock to Tassie.

Cradle Mountain itself was experiencing clear skies and great views. Called into the YHA to book a room and they upgraded us to a 4-bunk room at no extra charge. In fact, we had the 6-room bungalow to ourselves. Bought some very expensive groceries also.

Across the road to the Visitor Centre to buy a Parks Pass but as it was already ten past five they had shut for the day. Was fortunate enough to see an employee and asked about the pass and she showed me the after hours pass, of which there were only two left to buy, and told me how to fill it in. I put $24.75 in coins into the envelope only to discover that I couldn't put it into the box.

Drove into the park which has some 40 one lane sections until you reach Dove Lake near the mountain. Had to fill in a booklet detailing our planned walk - to Dove Lake boat shed and Glacier Rock at Dove Lake. Certainly came in a bit colder and the clouds finally came in. Beautiful walk and fantastic scenery. A terrific place to visit.

The drive back to our accommodation was about 18 minutes without traffic so we certainly picked a good time to visit. Tea time and then off to our room. The tiniest bit of rain fell at 8pm.

Family shot at Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

Melbourne-Tassie Trip 2011 Photo Album No.3 - See photos 41-104.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 13

No hassle this morning as our West Coast Wilderness Railway ride wasn't until 10:15 am. Yu-Jin and I walked to IGA to buy food for breakfast - pancakes. Took forever to cook without butter didn't taste very good. Played a bit of totem tennis and then I realised that my booking was made but I still had to collect the tickets and get to the station. Upon collection of the tickets I was informed that we had to be there at 9:45 so we still had a bit of time.

The lady giving the tour had only been doing it for three weeks and it was her first day with the whistle and flag. Her commentary was a bit muddled and she wasn't really confident in her delivery. Give her time though.

The stories that were told made the journey better. Train ride was OK, lunch was nice but the photo opportunities were few and far between. Quite difficult to obtain a decent photo at times. It is the case that the pollutants from the Mt Lyell Mine contaminated the Queen River and then the King River. No fish or wildlife can live in either river. Perhaps in 100 years time, after rehabilitation, the wildlife may return.

We had 40 minutes to wander around Queenstown until the coach left so wander we did. Not a great town to see either. The coach took 50 minutes for the journey, which took me 33 by car, and we watched a DVD entitled the West Coasters.

After the drive back to the railway station I visited Peoples Park and took the short walk to Hogarth Falls. Quite nice and I learnt that ferns only unfurl one new frond each year. Not really productive then.

Back at the YHA we went for a walk with Vince (co-owner) and Finn (his dog) around the area and past the beach. Best way to learn about the place is to take a walk with a local. The Boy and I played a few more games of pool and I had a chat with a South Korean who had trained in Melbourne to become a pilot. He was travelling around Tasmania by bus.

The Boy and I had dinner at the tavern. Schnitzels, veal, not too flash. Veggies left a lot to be desired.

Mount Lyell engine from West Coast Wilderness Railway in Strahan

Melbourne-Tassie Trip 2011 Photo Album No.3 - Photos 1-40.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 12

Good start to the day. A hearty breakfast to attempt to finish off all of the food that Loic had prepared for us. Left at about 9:30 am for our five hour drive to Strahan and the first turn I took, on the Southern Outer, was the wrong way. Soon corrected that. Drove into Hobart looking for directions to Bridgewater or Glenorchy. Managed to head the correct way and we were on our way.

As we didn't get caught behind log trucks we made good time. In the Gordon-Franklin National Park we stopped at the Nelson Falls and walked to the 35m high falls. Pretty impressive, as were the snow covered peaks in the area. Not a great deal of traffic in the area but plenty of narrow and windy roads. It brought out the rally driver in me - albeit in a Hyundai Getz 3-door.

The entrance to Queenstown was like a moonscape and certainly not what I'd come to expect in Tasmania. Got caught behind a truck for about 2km from within Queenstown but luckily he wasn't headed down my turn off to Strahan. Managed the drive, not including the waterfall stop, in four hours for just over 300 km.

Strahan is situated on the Gordon River. Considering that the population is only 637 there seems to be accommodation for thousands. It's just that our accommodation was pretty difficult to find and it is a case of what I was anticipating to be the easiest to locate was, in fact, the most trying. Irony, eh? Stopped in town for a bit to eat and found that all of the specials had sold out at the bakery/cafe. After locating our accommodation, pretty much by accident as it isn't well sign-posted, we had a snack and a couple of games of pool before I decided that we should see a play entitled "The Ship That Never Was" by The Round Earth Company. The Boy took some convincing to come along. I was annoyed to find that the entry fee had increased, in relation to the pamphlet that I'd read, but for children under 13 it was a gold coin donation and so was actually cheaper that I had planned for.

The pantomime was great and The Boy and I both got to play parts. Talk about a good laugh and an interesting story to boot. The Boy enjoyed it far more than he had expected to. If you are in town you can't afford to miss it.

Walked into town and up to View 42° restaurant and bar for a pizza and drinks. Nice. On the way back to the YHA we stopped by the supermarket to pick up some breakfast but it was already close. Only open till 7 pm and not 12 am like Hobart and Launceston. Shower and bed.

Strahan Village - the postcard-type view

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photos 201-238.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 11

After brekky we jumped on the Southern Outlet and headed down to Huonville. I wanted to use my expensive tourist pass to obtain a free jet boat ride. The weather was quite variable and some of the hills were a bit too much for the car on the way. Weird roads in Tassie too. Gotta really pay attention to where you are going and which lane you need to be in.

Visited Huon Jet Boat Company. We were the only customers which justified my decision not to make a booking. They even waited a little longer in case anybody else turned up. Which they didn't. Still had to pay $10 ea instead of $72/$49. Needed to throw on a few extra layers of clothes and a life jacket as it was going to be cold. They waited for the rain to clear, and made reference to a snow front, before taking us out. Our driver was Andy and he gave us a great ride. We went some 12km upstream at speeds of 75-80 km/h. There were a number of high speed spins and bumpy rapids to go over. We really enjoyed ourselves and The Boy even asked for extra spins.

I planned to look through Huonville for arty things but there didn't appear to be any of those kinds of shops. So I ended up driving straight out of the place. Next stop - Mt Wellington.

Didn't take long to get back to Hobart, as the roads aren't bad, but the road up the Mountain isn't quite so good. The drive up the Mountain is over 10 kms long. I was worried about the car hire agreement which states that the car can't be taken above the snow line. We stopped the car at The Chalet, 1000m above sea level, and walked a fair way up the road. Enough snow for us to have a snowball fight. I copped a few hits to the back but The Boy got a nice one to the face. It snowed during our walk.

After finally seeing a car come down from the summit which wasn't covered in snow I had confidence to drive to the top. Actually, the road was still dry so there wasn't much to worry about.

The summit was very windy with snow falling. I collected some snow in a bottle and had a look at the observation area. Hobart started disappearing from view quite quickly as another blanket of cloud made its way over. Great view though.

The 10 kms descent took about 18 minutes. Drove around Hobart, through Battery Point and into Sandy Bay so that I could do some shopping for lunch. Back to the Signalman's Cottage for some hot chook. The afternoon was one of TV and napping. At night we looked at the city from the lookout on Mt Nelson.

Frozen sign atop Mt Wellington

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photos 153-200.

Short Holiday in Bunbury

It's always nice to get away for a few days over summer. This year we visited Bunbury for a couple of days. The weather was kind, although hot and humid. New highway made the trip quite quick. Lady who looked after Hunter took good care of him and even removed most of the matted hair around his ears - I'm very grateful. Didn't do a heck of a lot, other than shopping, eating, and swimming at the beach and in the hotel's pool and spa. But what else should you do on holiday?

Photos.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 9

After going to bed at 11 last night we had to be up by 8 o'clock for breakfast. I'd ordered a continental breakfast for 8:20am but then I went to check on it, as we had to leave at 9am for a 9:15 tour, and it hadn't been made but was soon delivered. Had to cook the toast myself though (unlike yesterday's breakfast).

Arrived at Tasman Island Adventure Cruises on time and were issued with gore-tex suits to keep out the wet and cold. A coach picked us up and we were driven to the boats at Eaglehawk Bay. Our pilot, Mike, and deckhand, Damo (former pearl diver in the Kimberley), were hilarious and very knowledgable. Saw a great deal of the coastline and entered caves and passages. During the, at times, freezing and wet conditions, we spotted albatrosses, dusky dolphins (NZ), petrels and humpback whales. The tour was fantastic and turned around at Tasman Island which was adjacent to the 1,000 ft cliffs of the mainland. There were an enormous amount of shearwaters about and they looked like mosquitoes on the horizon.

Gosh, that whale was difficult to spot and once we decided to search for it on the way back and had taken off, and Damo commented that this would be the time that it would be spotted, we spotted it. In fact, it came up very close to the boat. Damo had smelt the whale beforehand, and told us so, and coupled with the oil on the surface, he knew where to look. On the way back we were swooped by three or four giant petrels which was very unusual.

The Boy sat in the forwardmost adventurer's seat for the whole trip. It was, apparently, the wettest tour day they'd had. And was he glad to get back to the hotel for a hot shower or what? We watched a bit of the Bathurst 1000 before heading to the cafe for hot chocolates and to give The Boy a chance to go on the (free) computer for a while. At 4pm we headed back to the Port Arthur Historic Site for another look including the audio tour. Had just missed the harbour cruise and so took the last walking tour of the day with tour guide Mark. It started raining fairly soon afterwards. Half an hour later we were left to our own devices and spent another 60 mins doing the audio tour. A fabulous and well recommende tour - you need to do all three - ghost tour, walking tour and audio tour.

Watched Shrek 2 that night.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photos 61-106.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 7

Checked out of the Batman Fawkner Inn and walked to City Park to check out the Japanese macaques. Wandered around some of Launceston to get a few photos of the lovely buildings before driving through Scottsdale on the way to St Helens. We came across a sign for Mt Paris Dam and decided to take a look. After 13 kms of white, corrugated metal road travelling through some deforested area with thick smoke we came across a four wheel drive track. That's where I stopped the car and we walked down to the dam. Well, some ruins anyway. The further we went the better it got until we found the Cascade River and followed it as far as we could walk. Lovely spot.

Back on the road and drove through the hills. Came across a few idiot drivers who kept cutting corners or just straddling the lane in each direction. These people shouldn't have been on the road. Once I got past I soon left them behind.

Reached St Helens just before 2pm and searched for lunch. A jacket potato looked nice, as did the salt and pepper squid, but we did some shopping first. Grabbed the squid and then was told that the jacket potatoes were sold out and the kitchen was closed. Bummer, missed it by 15 minutes. Filled the car up with fuel.

Visited the information centre for some info on the Bay of Fires. Drove out to have a look. Nice spot, bloody cold and reasonably coloured. A Korean couple, whom we'd seen at the takeaway shop, parked next to us. The guy got out and said, "Hi" to which I responded, "Annyeong haseyo". He quickly replied with "How do you know?" I found that reaction to be hilarious.

Some large waves nearby and we also searched for birds' eggs but failed to locate any. Apparently the birds nest in the areas near the beach so we were interested if we could find anything.

Took the hill road, as opposed to the coast road, to Bicheno but almost went the wrong way at St Marys. Arrived at our hotel at 6pm. Carried out the washing and had a shower. Into town for tea at the RSL for a roast but they'd had 60 people already and were sold out. Tried Pasinis and bought lasagna and spaghetti - did not taste great. And we had to leave the shop as they were closing (7:45pm).

Finished the drying and watched The Mummy Returns. Had a bit of a disagreement with a NSW couple who had parked in my spot, and half of the next, who didn't want to move. When I finally convinced them the bloody Bicheno Penguin Tour bus parked behind both of us.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 152-200.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 6

Even after an early night it was difficult to get out of bed. The night was cold and I had to put more clothes on. Coco Pops for breakfast - you know that you are on holiday when that is on the brekkie menu. Found our way up to Cataract Gorge Reserve without too many problems - thanks to the assistance of my human GPS.

Took the Zig-Zag-Track, designed for hikers, to the top. The view was pretty good. Bit of work to get there. Back down and we took the (expensive) chairlift across the gorge. Great view from the seat. Spotted a potoroo upon our exit. Wandered down the Cataract Walk before turning around to go over the Alexandra suspension bridge. Saw another potoroo when going to the lookout. The chairlift is the world's longest single chairlift span. A very pleasant spot to visit.

Next stop was Tasmania Zoo. So many different creatures to see and feed. We arrived at 12pm which was an hour before the Tasmanian Devils' feeding time. The wedge-tail eagles were magnificent and the Australian Dogs were beautiful. Great to feed the emus, calves, pony, parrots (except for a cockatoo that bit The Boy) and wallabies. Certainly the highlight of the visit was the feeding of the devils. There was a rooster that chased The Boy around the zoo a bit which was funny. He really enjoyed feeding the wallabies. We bought some souvenirs and left at 2pm to head to Beaconsfield. I had thought that the entry price was a bit steep but changed my mind after all of the animals that I had seen.



Our plan was to visit the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre but, unfortunately, it didn't include a tour of the mine as it is still a working mine. So we had a look around the ruins of the old mine and the exhibition to the trapped miners, Scott Russell and Brant Webb. That was interesting. Sorry to say that it wasn't what I'd hoped to see and I left a bit disappointed.

Wanted to grab a bite to eat in town but, as it was Launceston Show Day, most shops were closed. The Club Hotel was serving meals from 6pm which didn't help us as it was 4:30. Popped across the road for a hamburger and chicken schnitzel burger at Pot of Gold. I rang Shirley at Low Head Penguin Tours and she said that we needed to meet her at about 7:30pm.

It only took half an hour to reach Low Head Penguin Tour area - just keep following the road and you finally reach it although it isn't signposted really well. Had about half an hours sleep, or so, before venturing out. Shirley was there and said we should go to the pilot station whilst we were waiting and we did. There was a plaque to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the sighting of the Tamar River by Bass and Flinders in 1798. Nice little time filler.

There was supposed to be about another 10 people show up, but there were only two more, and they'd probably been put off by the rain that had been falling since 4:30. Taylor (girl) was our guide, must have been 19 or 20 years old, and Shirley popped down afterwards. Almost as soon as we arrived at the viewing platform we spotted four penguins who had come ashore. They were preening themselves first before heading to their burrow. We had a chance to walk up the track where they would be headed so that they walked straight past us. You had to wear dark clothes, watch out for the South African box thorns and the guide used an orange light so that the penguins didn't become frightened. The fine for touching one is $3,000. On this tour you are still allowed to use a camera but no flash. Other tours have banned the use of cameras altogether. Shirley, who runs the information centre in town has been doing the licensed penguin tours for 16 years and she told me that she expected that rule to come in here as well. We must have seen 12-15 penguins in all, in an hour, with the last couple under a bush quite some way from the beach. They did make a few calls. Two penguins were spotted heading out to sea.



On the way back to Launceston, the rain got heavier the closer we got, during the 57km drive. In bed by 10:30pm.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 91-151.

Weekly Golf Comp at Burswood Park Golf Course

Some of the guys at work have decided to start a weekly golf tournament. Tee time is 6am and nine holes are completed before work. I've decided to join in as I love golf and don't have the time to play otherwise. It's not far from work so not too difficult to join in.

The first hole, the 10th, wasn't a great start with three 4-iron shots to start with. Hit a double bogey and considering that it's been twelve months since I've had a hit that wasn't too bad. Another bogey, double, bogey, bogey followed by three straight pars and I wasn't looking too bad. Hm, that put the mozz on myself. Couple of balls in the drink for a quadruple bogey on the last. At least I broke 50, with my score of 48, but I would have been much more satisfied with a 45 or so. Second best score off the stick for the eight of us so not too bad.

Drove to the car park near work and heard a thumping sound from outside the car. As I slowed so did the frequency of the thumps. As I checked my tyre, check the photos, another guy drove into the car park with the same sound. As I crossed the road to go to work a 4WD went past making the same noise. Somebody dropped a few on the road - bastard. As I left work that evening I noticed a woman with a flat rear passenger side tyre. She stopped for the traffic lights and I attracted her attention. She had no idea that she had a flat tyre. I'm a little amazed by that, in fact. How can you drive a car and fail to notice?

Strange scene in the car park when I noticed a bra on the rear dash of a car. I know that you need to be careful around people who leave a hat in that position but what's the concern with someone who does that with a bra? Bit of a worry.

Burswood Park Golf Course photo album on Facebook.

Chemfest 2011 At Curtin University

Attended Chemfest yesterday. No, it wasn't about a group of druggies getting together and shooting up, snorting powdery substances or popping pills. It was about some companies, a few of the local universities and Scitech putting on an informative display to get school-aged children excited about studying chemistry.

We saw displays for memory metals, how different household cleaners contain chemicals that would destroy your eyes, fingerprint viewing and everybody's favourite - slimy goo made out of different polymers.

Scitech's own presentation whereby they used liquid nitrogen, fire and made elephant's toothpaste was great. It had the kids', and many of the adults', attention. Check out some of the photos.

Chemfest Photo Album on Facebook.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 5

Headache receded somewhat but still feeling a bit out of it. Difficult to get out of bed. Had brekkie and a shower before storing our larger bags at the hotel. Caught the train into Flinders Street Station and grabbed a no. 35 City Tram (free) on which we circled the city once. Not really impressed with Docklands which is still being built. Walked around Federation Square for a bit before catching a tram back to the Shrine of Remembrance so that The Boy could buy a souvenir.

Had an ice cream before grabbing our bags from the hotel and catching a train back to the city. Tram to Southern Cross Station for the SkyBus where I wasn't able to upgrade my single ticket to a return. Gotta try. Arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Had a yucky gnocchi - neither of us felt like eating junk food. Found out that our gate changed and the flight had been delayed by 30 minutes to Launceston.

Uneventful flight with Qantas AirLink, with better service than Jetstar, to Launceston in a pink plane. Got a bit of sleep on the way. After obtaining our luggage I went to pick up the Avis hire car. Just before signing I was hit with an insurance bill of $34.12/day to remove a $3,348.90 excess for any damage regardless of fault. To say I was not happy would be an understatement as the hire car cost had suddenly doubled. And I had to read the lengthy insurance paperwork - I'm sure this made the hire car representative uneasy too. Then when I finally got to the car there was some damage to the number plate and wing mirror that wasn't on the initial paperwork. Back to the office to inform them.

Driving from the airport to Launceston posed no difficulties and we parked the car near the street where the Batman Fawkner Inn was situated. Not knowing where we were headed it was a bit of a fluke. Actually getting inside was more problematic as no-one was on reception although they were supposed to be. And when they opened the door they wanted me to pay twice for the room which I think had more to do with the booking being made for two adults instead of a child and an adult - the booking process hadn't allowed me to book properly and I'd sorted this out, or so I thought, by email before arriving. The girl on reception promised to provide sheets on about three occasions before finally doing so. Towels cost $1 each. No problem with that.

Behind the inn was a pizza shop where we had a tropical pizza and minestrone soup with garlic bread. Not feeling so well we were unable to finish it.

One thing I've noticed in Tassie, if not a few, you don't really need to do a penguin tour as all of the women are obese and waddle like penguins, homes on the hillside are two levels and every television I saw was a widescreen plasma.

The girl from reception gave me directions to the shopping centre but the other side entrance to City Park was open although a gate on the inside was closed therefore I had to walk up the hill and go the long way around.

The Batman Fawkner Inn was where an historic meeting took place that led to the settlement of Melbourne. And it has a great, hot shower.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 86-90.

Canning River Regional Park Ride

There's quite a bit of water in the Canning River Regional Park area. This morning I took a bike ride so that I could take some photos. Before you know it the weather will have warmed up significantly and all of the water will be gone. And much of the bird life with it.

The area is quite beautiful and peaceful. Surprising as it is so close to a major shopping centre and not far from the city. Lovely area for a walk or a bike ride. Lots of people walk their dogs there too.

Canning River Regional Park photo album on Facebook.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 4

D, T and M picked us up just after 9am and drove us up into the Dandenongs visit Grants on Sherbrooke to feed wild birds (tres cool) and to the SkyHigh cafe atop Mt Dandenong itself for the lookout and The Giant's Chair. There was a nice view of Melbourne and the CBD looked rather small from a distance. Melbourne is an expansive city however.

Quite a long drive down the Mornington Peninsula and we stopped at Sorrento for lunch at Just Fine Foods - although I wouldn't say the same about the service. Fish and chips x4 off and a chicken and leek pie for myself, followed by the best vanilla slices around (self-boast on their behalf). Weren't bad. We walked down to the beach and out onto the jetty where the breeze was quite chilling. D drove us to Cape Schanck and we wandered down the boardwalk to Pebble Beach after looking at Bushranger Bay.

The Boy and I both had headaches from getting dehydrated the day before. By this stage it was after 5pm so the nearby maze that we'd planned to visit had closed. Back to D & T's house for a rest before going out to Ghin Thai Cafe for a nice dinner. The cafe was very quiet but that was because everyone else was ordering home delivery. D drove us back to our hotel by 9:30pm and we went pretty much straight to bed.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 65-85.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 3

Shower and brekkie followed by a train into the city which took only seven minutes. Walked a couple of blocks to catch a no. 96 tram to the Melbourne Museum for the Tutankhamun exhibition. The very informative Egypt 3D movie ran for 25 minutes. We spent almost two hours inside the exhibition which had many wonders of the ancient Egyptian world on display. We're talking 3,300 years old here. Especially impressive was the sarcophagus of Tjuya, aunt of Tutankhamun. Spent about 15 minutes in the souvenir shop deciding on what to buy. Tutankhamun And The Golden Age Of The Pharoahs was great.

Melbourne seems to be the smokers' capital of the world. The air is difficult to breathe in sometimes.

Back to the city for lunch at McDonalds with an Irish/Chinese family from the Gold Coast. Don't know if I'm missing something, or if McDonalds is, but I didn't see a toilet seat on the toilet.

Change in plans as my friend, Din, will not be getting back from his trip until late so won't be able to meet us for tea. No probs. Caught the no. 96 down to Luna Park in St Kilda. Free entry but unlimited rides were $33.95 for kids and $43.95 for adults. Individual rides priced at $9.50. Pity I didn't find out about the 10% discount for showing your Met ticket beforehand. Went to put our bags in a locker but they were all being utilised.

First ride - Ghost Train. Wait was for 45 minutes. Absolutely crap ride. And they didn't even set up the camera properly to take your photo at the "scary" moment. Metropolis roller coaster was OK, Enterprise really good, Scenic Railway roller coaster (with 25 minutes wait) was very bumpy (99 years old!) but quite good, Coney Drop OK and the Spider was quite good. The Boy went on Pharoah's Curse and really enjoyed it. I knew that my lunch would have some trouble keeping down so I gave it a miss. G-Force ride was OK. I let him do lots of rides, including Twin Dragons, by himself as my stomach isn't as good as his. We spent five and a half hours there and it was well worth it. Caramel popcorn was delicious. Luna Park closed at 8pm so we headed down Acland Street for tea.

Found La Roche Cafe - all smoking seats outside were taken and there was, thankfully, a table for two available inside. Had a lamb pizza and calamari. Very reasonably priced, for those items on Monday, and a very enjoyable meal. Considering the number of people there and the conversations it was surprising that you were able to talk and be heard. Caught a no. 79 tram back to the hotel which was only 20 minutes away.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 50-64.

G'day Your Majesty

HRH Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh were in town today for the Great Aussie BBQ before nicking back off to Old Blighty. I managed to catch a bus into the city, seeing as many of the streets were closed off for the royal motorcade and CHOGM, and just managed to cross the road before it was closed off to pedestrian traffic. Pity I was on the side of the ride where Prince Philip was as I'd come to see the Queen. Still ended up only a few metres away and got a half decent photo.

After the motorcade had passed I went onto Langley Park and took part in the charity BBQ with a couple of snaggers on bread and a soft drink. Couldn't get close enough to the Esplanade where the royal party was on stage prior to a walk amongst the people so ended up watching proceedings on a large screen. Reports are that there were over 100,000 people in attendance.

Got another look as they went past on the way out to the airport. Just read another report that they took off at 1:01pm. Not bad considering that they left the Esplanade at 11:55am. Not like many Qantas passengers who won't be going anywhere seeing as the airline has been grounded by management.

Whilst I didn't get to say "G'day" it was a bit of a thrill to see her. Did I mention that I am a republican? One who believes in maintaining membership of the Commonwealth though. Still, currently she is the Head of State so deserves a little respect.

Queen Elizabeth II's Visit to Perth Photo Album

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 2

Subdued start to the morning. Discovered that instead of putting my watch forward for daylights savings I had advanced my alarm. Went down for breakfast, which we didn't have much time for, consisting of cereals, fruit, tea/coffee and toast. Grabbed an all day Met ticket for $3.20. Great value on a Sunday in Melbourne for public transport.

First stop was the Shrine of Remembrance. This is a building that truly commemorates the sacrifice of soldiers from Victoria. A total of 4000 medals were on display - one for every hundred that served and six that fell. We took part in a short service at the Unmarked Grave with the Ray of Light. Had a look around from the balcony. The crypt holds a special statue saluting father and son.

Victoria Barracks, across the road from the Shrine of Remembrance, looks beautiful. Tram to Flinders Street Station. Some Korean tourists were having their photo taken so I asked the photographer, in Korean, if he wanted a photo. He was surprised and said that he was a guide. Took another tram past the Fitzroy Gardens to go to the MCG.

Quite a few cars still parked at the MCG. We came to visit the National Sports Museum and were informed that it wasn't available as it was the open arena day. Oh well, we'd come this far. The open arena day, held once a year after the grand final, meant that you were allowed onto the MCG for a kick. What a bonus. The Boy took part in a handball competition for a chocolate prize after scoring a bullseye with his third attempt. We visited the MCG Superstore half an hour later to buy a football and hunted high and low for an Essendon one. Must have been the last in existence. Kicked the footy for about 40 minutes before grabbing two 4 'n 20 pies for lunch. Well, you can't go to the footy without eating a pie, can you? Just managed to grab an MCG tour with MCC member Barrie Johns. What an amazing stadium and so full of history. Ninety three steps to the top of one of the stands - nosebleed section obviously. Tour took an hour is I'd highly recommend it.

Next stopwas the National Sports Museum, which was open, for a look see. No cameras allowed, which was probably a good thing, and we kept our visit down to about an hour and a quarter. Olympic Games memorabilia, AFL Hall of Fame and Legends of the Game, James Hird and Shane Warne holograms, Melbourne Cup, Cricket, etc all wonderfully displayed.

Had another kick on the 'G until 4:30pm. Walked along the Yarra River back to the city and grabbed some tea. Caught a tram to head to the Polly Woodside Maritime Museum (closed) before walking back to the Eureka Skydeck 88 Building. Good view but too many reflections from the windows. Not until you step out onto the balcony, which was absolutely freezing, do you get a great view. Glad we didn't pay money for the Edge Experience as you couldn't even use a camera inside it. Personally, the Rialto Building provides a better view.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Shrine of Remembrance which looks fantastic at night (9pm by this stage). Had to wait quarter of an hour for the next tram but it was OK. Bed at 11pm. Wonderful day at the 'G.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 9-49.