Kids in Tasmania and the
Trip Start
Apr 03, 2005
1
20
27
Trip End
Apr 2006
Hobart, Australia
Sunday, November 13, 2005
From Sydney, we took the scenic coastal route home, which took us to Wollongong. Then inland, through the mountainous Macquarie Pass, from where we had beautiful coastal as well as lush farm lands views below. We spent a few days exploring the beautiful Yass Valley, swerving around sheep on the road while checking for kangaroos in the bushes.
We all put our endurance to the test as we hiked some very spectacular gorges, forests, cliffs, overhangs and waterfalls of the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands. Our baby, Joe, travelled very well, loving every step of the way. The theme of our hikes seemed to be we would always end up hiking a much longer trail than we had originally intended, wanting to see and experience more of the spectacular beauty. Amazingly, we were able to experience such diversity, with never having to travel more than 2 hours away from my home town of Bowral.
The South Coast boasts some of the whitest sand beaches in the world and were also fortunate enough to witness dolphins frolicking in the sea in Jervais Bay. Our rental house bordered on a national park and we would be serenaded by hundreds of birds day and night including some very cheeky kookaburras that lived close by.
We all then flew together off to Tasmania, rich with diverse wilderness, another hiker's dream. We explored Field National Park as well as Freycinet, once again beautiful scenery that included much diversity as well as waterfalls and some of largest and oldest trees in the world. The unhurried streets and picturesque harbour city of Hobart was a welcome change from the overwhelming bustle of Sydney, making it an easy and pleasant city to explore. Our timing was perfect so that we also hit the boisterous Salamanca Market.
We also travelled along the east coast, staying at Swansea, and then on to Bichono, where we went on night watch to see hundreds of Fairy Penguins returning home from a day out at sea.
A highlight of our trip was our interactive tour of a wildlife park, where we mingled with kangaroos and wallabies. Informative shows featuring Tasmanian devils, wombats and koalas, where most of the stars were once injured and brought to the park for refuse.
Not far from Hobart is Port Arthur, where at one time, the most dangerous convicts where dumped. It is now a large informative historical site set along some very beautiful coastal background scenery, where we spent a few hours walking about the now abandoned jail and settlement.
It was amazing the amount of territory that we managed to cover at a pace that was accommodating for a 2 month old baby Joe, my 5 month pregnant daughter Lisa, and a brand new Gramma within a period of 3 weeks.
