Monday 12^th January

Again the hills were shrouded in mist when we got up this morning. Having loaded the car we decided to drive up to Charlotte’s Pass at the head of the Perisher Valley and by the time we got there the sun was shining and the sky was blue. We walked for an hour or so, on the Summit track to Mount Kosciuszko (pronounced Kosi-osko), with some magnificent views before retracing our steps.

We walked about 8Km in all and the wild flowers were lovely. We then drove back to Canberra to John and Pen’s for a pleasant evening together.

Sunday 11^th January

After raining heavily again all last night the tops were all covered in mist so we decided to do another low level walk. We waited until about 10.30am when the rain had more or less stopped and went out to walk along Thredbo Valley track. This wound its way gently alongside the valley and crossed three suspension bridges. The river was very full with all the recent rains and the white water was extensive and quite spectacular in places.

The mist was down most of the time although the rain showers meant much upping and downing of umbrellas. After 6-7Km we decided to turn back as it was too wet to sit anywhere and eat our sandwiches, so we eventually had a very late lunch in the dry when we got home!

I managed to book an hour’s massage at 4.30pm which I enjoyed, before preparing dinner of pasta, sauce, meatballs and salad.

Saturday 10^th January

The rain continued throughout most of the night and this morning so we had a lie in and spent time reading. Once the rain had eased a bit late morning we decided to venture out and did the Riverside Walk which was nice and gentle. The walk paralleled the river and then circled up around Australia’s highest golf course before returning to Thredbo village.

The sun even came out a few times but we were glad of our umbrellas on occasion as mostly it was quite misty.

We had a very late snack for lunch as we had booked to have dinner at Knickerbocker which is a French inspired restaurant at the end of the village that had been recommended to us. The meal was excellent – I had an onion crème brulee with chicory leaves to start which was very good and then a whole smoked trout with salad which was absolutely delicious.

Friday 9^th January

We were on the road by 9.30am as we had decided to take an extended route to Thredbo through the mountains if the weather was okay. We stopped after an hour or so at Cooma and stocked up with food and drink for the next three days at the local Woolworths, before wending our way through the hills. The road was good but had lots of ups and downs and hairpin bends. The hills often seemed to be covered with the white skeletal trunks of dead trees which gave a rather strange landscape, presumably the results of previous extensive bush fires.

We had lunch in the highest town (village!) in Australia at some kind of a ski resort place. The waitress was very dour which we found quite amusing but the ‘steak sandwich with the lot’ was good. We thought ‘the lot’ applied to salad but it also included a slice of cheese, a piece of bacon and a fried egg!

We found our apartment in Thredbo which has designated parking spots underneath and has a small balcony. The views are lovely but the weather closed in during the evening (another hot and humid day) and we had another thunderstorm. Although the thunder and lightening weren’t as spectacular as previously, the rain came down in sheets.

Thursday 8^th January

Another enjoyably lazy morning at John and Pen’s while Holly (John’s daughter) and her two little girls (Tilley, 3+ and Bea, 14mths) came over for a while. Pen had a meeting in the morning but we picked her up at the University and drove up to the National Arboretum for lunch. Having visited the Bonsai exhibition we drove to the Telstra Tower and went up to the top viewing platform where we had some brilliant views of Canberra and its surrounds.

We then returned home to find that Pen’s mosquito zapper had arrived in the post so we sat outside in the evening and had dinner. Unfortunately we should have waited for some hours for the zapper to have exerted its effect because, although it attracted the surrounding mozzies, they decided to take a feed off us instead of being zapped! The weather had been hot and humid all day so there was a good thunderstorm and a torrential downpour in the evening whilst we sat under the covered verandah.

Wednesday 7^th January

We had a very lazy morning and then caught the bus into town with Pen and had lunch, sitting outside, at an Italian restaurant. Our plan was to visit the art gallery and museum but it was closed until 11^th so we had a coffee and came home.

In the evening we drove over the river and had dinner with John and Pen at a Mediterranean restaurant in Richmond. We drove past various imposing government buildings but Canberra doesn’t have a central area as such and not much in the way to see apart from shops.

Tuesday 6^th January

Today we wanted to visit the Jenolan Caves en route to seeing John and Pen in Canberra so we rang up at 9am and booked a couple of cave tours: the Imperial at 11.45 and the River Cave at 1.15pm. The Imperial trip was the easiest with only a couple of hundred steps and lasted an hour whilst the River Cave was the most strenuous they offer, lasting two hours and with over 1200 steps and two vertical ladders.

Both the caves were well worth visiting with some wonderful formations, chambers and underground rivers, and were sympathetically lit. Formations included some very large shawl formations and a couple of fine stalagmites called the Minaret and Cleopatra's needle. The whole cave so far explored covers five levels of cave systems and a couple of underground rivers with some huge caverns.

We grabbed a sandwich that we ate on the way back to the carpark and then set off for the three hour plus drive to Canberra. The terrain varied from the rocky escarpments with more gently sloping, forest covered hills to very English looking farmland and pastures. We arrived shortly after 7pm and had a lovely evening with John and Pen.

Monday 5^th January

Today started out very cloudy but we decided to go to the Scenic world which incorporates the steepest funicular railway in the world, a cable-car ride, a gondola ride and some walking in the valley bottom through the rainforest. It is quite near where we are staying and has free parking, which was a bonus. We arrived at 9.30am so we got very good value for money with an early bird ticket- $30 each for the day - with unlimited rides. We took the railway down into the valley bottom and it was indeed a ‘cliffhanger’ experience; we loved it as we went down almost vertically. We did a couple of the longer board walks and returned to the top by the cable car. There were some interesting exhibits around from the old coal mine that used to work in this area as well as information on the various trees. After a cup of tea we went down again by cable car through the cloud

and did a bit more walking on the valley floor before returning up the railway. We liked it so much we went up and down again before walking over to the Scenic skyway (gondola with a glass floor). Unfortunately the ride was mostly still in cloud so we decided to come back later and go again if it cleared.

We had some excellent soup for lunch in Katoomba and then drove to Wentworth Falls and walked down to a lookout and then to another lookout over the Falls, which were high but didn’t have much volume of water despite the rain last night. We then drove to Sublime Point lookout and walked down (and up again) for some great views.

The skies had cleared so we decided to drive back to Scenic World and try and catch the gondola again. We were successful and had some great views across the valleys and the Katoomba falls on the last trip of the day!

In the evening we walked uphill along the main street of Katoomba looking for someplace to eat. Unfortunately where we fancied was full so we dithered around for a while and then tried a bar and brasserie that didn’t look too promising from outside but was much better upstairs! We ended up having one of the best meals we’ve had – sliced seared kangaroo with a mango salsa followed by backstrap of lamb (melt in your mouth tender) with wilted spinach, roasted crunchy chick peas, mushrooms and spring onions as a side salad – delicious.

Sunday 4^th January

After breakfast Gary drove us to the car hire place and we picked up a car for the next ten days. We drove to Katoomba and stopped to have a bite of lunch in Leura. We settled into our B&B and then drove to Echo Point (wonderful views)

where we did a short walk to a lookout

and then another short walk to Leura Falls and Cascades.

The humidity was increasing all the time and when we got back we sat on the verandah for a cup of tea/wine while we enjoyed a great tropical thunderstorm and torrential rain. The thunder and lightening lasted well over an hour and knocked the power out for a time. Once the rain eased we drove a short way into town and had a very good Thai meal.

Saturday 3^rd January

Today was hot and humid so we decided the best place to be was on the water. We caught the ferry to Sydney Olympic village which took us up the river for about an hour. We stayed on the ferry and came all the way back again, marvelling at how much waterfront there is to Sydney!

We then walked through the Botanic Gardens to the Art Gallery of NSW where we wandered through some interesting oriental exhibitions as well as sculpture and painting by Western artists in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Having had a cup of tea and a cheese jaffle (toasted sandwich) we then walked to catch the bus. Unfortunately we discovered that the bus we wanted to catch takes a different route back so we ended up walking to the Central Rail Station which was a lot further than we had intended. We only had twenty minutes to get showered and changed before David and Tania picked us up to go for a drink. We had made contact with them yesterday as they were on the Ningaloo Reef boat trip and had suggested we meet up in Sydney. We spent a pleasant couple of hours in their company before they dropped us off at the Glebe Street Diner and went off to a prior engagement. Gary and Julie joined us for dinner and we had a lovely evening together.

Friday 2^nd January

Today was hotter than yesterday and after a leisurely breakfast, we caught the 1pm ferry to Watson’s Bay which gave us good views of the coastline, followed by a bus trip to Bondi beach. This was less crowded than Manly, didn’t have sun umbrellas everywhere and also had plenty of space on the grassy banks in front of the beach.

We enjoyed a very pleasant breeze as we walked for an hour along the coast path past Taramara Bay to Bronte Bay.

From Bronte we caught the bus back into Sydney, to the central railway station, and then our usual bus up Glebe Point road.

We went and had an early dinner, as we hadn’t had lunch, at a Vietnamese restaurant a few bus stops down Glebe Point road. The food was tasty but not as good as some we’ve had.

Thursday 1^st January 2015

We had a late breakfast today at 10am and as it was much hotter than yesterday we decided to take a bus down to Circular Quay and catch the ferry to Manly. It seemed that most of Sydney had decided the same thing but we found seats on the 1pm ferry for the half hour ride and wandered around Manly beach and the Esplanade watching the waves and the hundreds of people.

It was too hot to walk far so we called in at the Skiff Sailing Club as recommended by Gary and Julie and had a cool beer. Iain also had some crostini with smoked salmon and wasabi cream which was quite delicious. We caught the 4pm ferry back and then the bus again, although we got off a stop too soon.

This evening Gary and Julie invited the four of us guests to a barbecue which was lovely – prawns, snapper and steak with pumpkin soup, salad, roast potatoes and cumara, and homemade cheesecake for afters.

Wednesday 31^st December

After a lovely breakfast, sat outside in their little garden, with a German couple who are also staying here, we discovered that the laptop wouldn’t work or charge. Gary kindly took us into a computer shop but they weren’t very helpful and said we probably needed to order a new battery. Julie (Gary’s wife) didn’t think that was likely as plugging into the mains bypasses the battery so it should have lit up and we agreed. Later, having removed the battery and re-inserted it, everything seemed to be working perfectly again!! We’ve no idea what was wrong....

We caught the bus into the centre at Circular Quay and had a short look at the Museum of Contemporary Art before having a cup of tea. We then wandered up to the Bridge and climbed up the 200 steps in the pylon for some stupendous views.

Surprisingly it wasn’t busy although there were a lot of people around the harbour already staking out their positions to watch the fireworks. We then walked through the Rock area and had a couple of small pizzas (crocodile and a kangaroo and emu!) which were delicious and rather different from your average pizza! We then wandered all around the Darling and Pyrmont harbours trying to determine where we get the boat in the evening. We missed the actual spot but found it when we got internet connection back on the laptop. It was a nice walk though and not too hot.

Gary gave us a lift down at 6.45pm and we discovered that we weren’t the only ones wondering where to go – there was no signage at all to indicate that our boat was docking there. Anyway the boat Commissioner 11 turned up and we found a table inside although almost all the time we were out on deck. It was a bit breezy at times but not really cold at all. There was free beer, wine and champagne, as much as you could drink, and a wonderful array of finger foods circulated throughout the evening. We had a great position to see all the fireworks – right in front of the bridge- but it was also a wonderful way to see the harbour as we circled around for a couple of hours before the Parade of Lights. After the 9pm fireworks all the boats (including ours) in the Parade of Lights switched on their outline lights and gradually promenaded around the main harbour – magical!

There was a short firework display at 10.40pm but then the skies erupted at midnight with the main display. The display was all we’d been hoping for and the reverberations from the fireworks were amazing! We returned to the wharf about 1am and caught the light railway to Glebe. It was just like being on the London underground, it was so crowded!

Tuesday 30^th December

We drove up to Binalong Bay to admire the coastline with the blue green sea and white sands,

before driving south along the coastline and then up and over St Mary’s Pass and Elephant Pass. Unfortunately the trees at the side of the road were so dense we didn’t get many views. We stopped at Bicheno to take a look at the blowhole there in the rocks

and then continued down the Tasman Highway. It was very windy as we went south and we drove through some fairly torrential rain before stopping at a café in Orford for some lunch. Iain had seafood chowder and I had seafood lasagne, both of which were very good.

We found our way to the car returns at Hobart airport and then had to readjust the luggage a bit as the big case was 2Kg too heavy. I had suspected that this might be the case and had made sure we had some room in one of our carry on bags.

Gary from the B&B met us at Sydney airport and we were made very welcome in their lovely house which is about 15minutes walk from the harbour area. We went out and wandered up the road to find somewhere to eat and ended up in an Indian restaurant where I had a couple of dishes I’ve never seen before. One was tandoori cauliflower with spicy mushrooms and the other consisted of spinach leaves deep fried in chickpea flour and served on spicy chickpeas and potatoes with tamarind and raita sauces.

Monday 29^th December

We decided on a lazy day today, especially as it was somewhat cloudy, though warm. We strolled out into the town at lunchtime and had some excellent seafood before relaxing for the rest of the afternoon – apart from catching up on the blog, photos and washing! I also managed to arrange a ninety minute massage appointment which was great as my back and neck have missed their regular dose!

We discovered that Tasvacations had sent a nice bottle of wine to our room and later Bruce came round from Bed in the Treetops with a bottle of champagne to say sorry about the mixup. We decided that champagne wouldn’t travel too well so we enjoyed it that evening with bits of cheese , pate and salad we still had leftover from when we were self catering – very nice!

Sunday 28^th December

Today turned out quite eventful! We set off in the sunshine along the Tasman highway from Launceston that wound its way through a pastoral valley between Mount Arthur and Mount Barrow, before climbing over forested hills to Scottsdale. Shortly afterwards we went on a minor unmade road, a stony forest track, to look at Ralph Falls and then onto St Columba Falls. Both these were great waterfalls and well worth the effort of getting there and Iain did a sterling job driving our little car over a road really designed for 4WD vehicles.

We continued on to St Helens and Bingalong Bay where we were booked for two nights. I was driving and managed to stall the car on a very steep lane up to the accommodation. Luckily Iain took over, reversed down and got us up to the top in one piece! There we discovered that they had no record of our booking (made over 12mths ago by TasVacations) and we were unable to stay there as they were full. Fortunately they rang a hotel in St Helens and managed to get us a room but its not the same. Actually the hotel is very good and has a nice swimming pool and we have a verandah and a spa bath so it’s not all bad news!

Having sampled the pool and the spa bath

we decided to stay at the hotel for dinner rather than walking into the centre of town, which we shall no doubt do tomorrow!

Saturday 27^th December

Another sunny day and after a late start we made our way to the chairlift over Cataract Gorge. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and ended up toiling way up and then down a hill that we could have made our way around but we did eventually find the chairlift which has the longest single span in the world.

We then walked along the gorge and back before returning on the chair lift and walking around the other way over the suspension bridge and back to the end of the gorge and the harbour area, where we caught the 3pm river cruise. We went up the Tamar for about a third of the way (it is about 70Km long and the longest tidal estuary in the world) and then up to the gorge and the River Esk (North and South). The trip took 2.5 hours and included a small wine and beer tasting session as well as afternoon tea and was very pleasant.

Friday 26^th December

It was another sunny day and we drove via Lake Cathune lookout (rather unspectacular!) and Round mountain lookout (which was much better!)

and stopped near Mole Creek to go for a 40 minute walk up and down through a lovely forest to a lookout over the Alum Cliffs.

We sat there admiring the view and having our lunch before returning and driving to Launceston. We are in a charming little cottage (Scottish cottage so very appropriate!) which has a lovely garden. There are four cottages altogether but we are the only guests. It has been renovated with great love and care and it shows, and feels this. We relaxed with a cold beer in the sunshine in the garden and then wandered down to the waterfront and booked a Tamar boat trip for tomorrow afternoon. We got back about 5.30pm and opened the champagne that we hadn’t wanted to drink yesterday while I prepared dinner and updated the diary and Iain sunbathed.

Thursday 25^th December

Today we decided to do the Dove Canyon circuit in the morning. We caught the shuttle up to the Ranger Station and saw a wombat grazing at the side of the road.

We then did the 2.5-3 hour walk (5Km but graded difficult) in 2hours 18minutes! It had some rough stony bits and steep ups and downs but with beautiful scenery. The sun was shining again and the walk ran across button grass swamp to Knyvet Falls, and then alongside Pencil Falls and Pencil Creek.

There was a steep rocky scramble up and then a path along the edge of the Dove Canyon which was so deep we couldn’t see the bottom from where we were walking.

The path then wound up through forest before returning across button grass swamp again on a boardwalk. Apart from the start and end of the walk the path was unmaintained but no worse than many we’ve been on in the UK. We arrived back in time to change for lunch and catch the shuttle bus up to near Cradle Mountain Lodge where we had a fantastic buffet lunch.

After lunch we had a short stroll along the Enchanted Walk which was all on boardwalk but quite lovely and then watched a video and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Wednesday 24^th December

I woke at 6.30am to brilliant sunshine that continued more or less all day! We went to the visitor’s centre (about ten minutes walk) and picked up the shuttle bus that goes up and down to Dove Lake underneath Cradle Mountain. We alighted at Ronny’s Creek and took the Overland Track across to Crater Falls and Crater Lake.

 It started on a good boardwalk across swampy land covered in button grass and with lots of different wild flowers and shrubs and then climbed up a beautiful little valley with Crater Falls tumbling down at the end. The whole walk was transected by numerous small creeks and burbling streams. We climbed to around 1000m looking over Crater Lake and then took the path down past the Wombat Pool and Lake Lilla to Dove Lake which involved quite a few ups and downs.

At Dove Lake we decided to do the circuit as the weather was still so good.

We stopped to eat our sandwiches and then continued along a lovely path, sometimes stony and sometimes with boardwalk and then had to go up another steep hill (not fair!!) before continuing with gentle undulations back to the car park. We climbed up Glacier Rock and took some photos and altogether we did around 13Kmand had some great views of Cradle Mountain. We caught the shuttle bus back and relaxed with a well earned beer!

Tuesday 23^rd December

Today we decided to divert to look at Dip Falls and the Big Tree before travelling to Cradle Mountain.

It was cloudy and overcast but the road was fairly good, even the unmade sections. We drove through varied countryside, forests and farmland and the rain only started once we had seen the falls and the tree (which was indeed extremely large) and eaten our lunch in the picnic shelter. Some of the trees in the forest around the Big Tree were even taller than the ones we saw at Mount Field NP.

We then drove up to Burnie to stock up at the supermarket and get fuel and got lost a few times!

We then travelled through heavy rain, with thick cloud obscuring the mountains, to Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village where we have a cabin for Christmas.

We had some excellent flathead (a locally caught white fish) that I fried, accompanied by potatoes and spicy vegetables.