Part Three..

Going from Kia Ora to Windy Ridge on the fifth day we passed three major waterfalls that we paid a visit. It was raining and the falls were beautiful!

This is Hartnett Falls as seen from the bottom.

On our way there we saw a couple of brown trout doing a mating dance in a pool further down the river. It was amazing to see them swimming round and round in a tight circle and occasionally stroke up along each others' sides.

The last day it drizzled as we walked mainly through lowland forest. The gums looked beautiful in the rain, their bark changing colour to orange, yellow and green as they got wet.

When we got to Narcissus Hut where we were to catch the last ferry the real hardships started. First we were told that there were no more seats on the 1 pm ferry (this was at 11 am) and the last ferry had only two spots left and there were three people ahead of us making a booking. That would mean we would not get out until the following day, we'd miss the Salamanca markets in Hobart on Saturday and we'd have to stay the night in this most miserable of huts. Well, the ferry poeple weren't exactly having their best day. Turned out they had made a mistake in the bookings and had more spaces left on the 3.30 pm ferry. After about an hour the ferry people called the hut saying that there were four people too many booked on the first run and if the family of five that booked 6 weeks ago (way before anyone else but easiest to approach as there were 5 of them) would be happy to give up their spots and get a complimentary serve of wedges (everyone who heard this got a good laugh out of it, wedges!!!??) as compensation. No chance! they were going to be on that early ferry, took their luggage down to the dock and waited in the rain for the ferry to come. When it came everything seemed to work itself out. There was just the Yang party to come aboard, the ferry driver called out to the Yang party. No reply as they were the tourists already on the boat! A Japanese family who understandably didn't understand why they were beeing rollcalled mid- scenic tour. So the family of five that were booked 6 weeks in advance had to see their places taken by people that booked on the day and had to wait for the next ferry. All went well after this until we got to the bus. 4 of the people that came out with us had called the bus company and booked themselves in on the day. It was all fine the bus company had said, they were good to go. When the bus came, half an hour late, the bus driver tells these four that they are not on the manifest. By this time we are losing hope in the capabilities of the Tasmanian transport system and their bookings. Luckily there were 4 people that did not turn up so they got to go after all.

On Saturday we went to the Salamanca markets after a scrumptious breakfast at Jackman and McRoss.

We had a wonderful time in Hobart and an especially good time on the trek. I hope to get back here to visit the bay of islands, Maria Island and Freycinet National Park soon.

We met really interesting and nice people on our trek, made some new friends which we will hopefully visit soon.

All in all we were very happy campers!

Part Two of our Overland adventure

These are photos from Pelion Hut as the sun set. If I had stayed up a bit
longer I would have seen the spotted-tailed Quoll that was hanging around

outside the hut.

On our fourth day we had a grand opportunity to see the views from the top of Mount Ossa, we were told that the weather is seldom as good as it was on this day and even when it's sunny the top is often covered in cloud. Mount Ossa is 1617 metres and the hike and scramble up the top is a bit of an adventure.
The trail to the top led through what looked to me almost like a Japanese garden. As we rounded the corner shortly afterward we got a clear view of the mountin we were about to climb.










In the middle of the photo you can see a faint trail going up the mountain side, it looks like a few rocks that are brighter than the rest. That was the way we ascended. Look further up and you see the snow. We had to go through that as well and then climb over huge boulders.



John scrambling on that trail you can see ever so faintly on the other photo.

This is me in the snow. It may not look treacherous but it did feel like it. The snow was very slippery due to the hot sunshine and around the boulders the snow had melted underneath so we had to look out for big holes or at least avoid stepping through the snow into a big hole. John didn't quite manage and fell through ending up with a pointy rock just centimetres from his groin. That would have hurt!

The views from the top were awesome!

Overland Track in Tasmania

Cradle Mountain Lake St Claire National Park is a well known track in Tasmania and Australia. It's about 65 kilometres long and takes 5-6 days to complete. We took 6 days from start (Ronny Creek) to finish (Narcissus Hut), that way we'd have time for side trips as well. The first day we took the 8 am bus from Launceston, wearing shorts, and three hours later we arrived in snow. They have not had snow like that in November for about 5 years. We felt a bit uneasy but were thankful for our thermals, beanies, gloves and dare I say it, merino underwear.

As the hours passed the weather got worse..

After our 45 minute lunch break at an emergency hut the storm calmed and we walked into a beautiful landscape.

From what I understand this is Barn Bluff, 1559 metres.

I love snow but the mood definately got better as the day got hotter.

The second day we took a sidetrip to Lake Will, another beautiful place;

The scenery that day was magical with view like these:

On the third day, after a 5 hours trek I was shagged but the day was young so I decided to do Mount Oakleigh, 1386 mtrs, as well. This is the mountain as can be seen from the hut where we stayed.

And this is the view from the top;

During our trek we saw ample wildlife sightings, such as pademelons with their joeys, wallabies with joeys, wombats (as seen in the pics below) plus lots of other animals like possums, green rosellas, robins and more.

Dehydration in progress

I have spent the last few days dehydrating food in a special food drying machine and then vacuum packing it so we can eat wholesome meals while trekking our little hearts out. I have never been this organised! It beats the time when I brought fresh veges and even salad on a New Zealand hike. People were absolutely baffled when I brought my food out but then again I didn't bother bringing a stove so I just ate raw veges.. Laziness manifests itself in me in the strangest of ways.
I think we will have more food than anyone else on the entire track. It doesn't matter how much we downsize our packs, we always end up with too much stuff. John, the gear crazy rich machine has to bring two compasses, wilderness first aid kit (that I must admit is pretty smart, my kit usually consists of one band-aid), epirb and gps, extra maps and it wouldn't surprise me if he went out and bought a satellite phone! PLUS about 2 kilos of disgusting creatine bars and power gels. He's the only person on the Occupational Health and Safety board of this household and he takes it very seriously.

So the trek we are doing is the Overland in Cradle Mountin National Park, Tasmania. Last time I did it was in 1997. The weather was awful the entire time and we got no views whatsoever! This time however I am hoping we'll get views like this one..


Aaahhhhh! This is life! Now, we'll see what we do get.. I'll post the photos in a week when we get back.

Gardening Queen.. or pruning machine..

I have found my calling!! I LOVE pruning roses! Yesterday after I had spent hours of labouring in the garden John came home and the first thing he said was "Holy Shit!" when he looked at the damage I had done. The pile of cuttings and weeds is getting huge. All I could say to my defence was "I think it looks good, really clean and empty. It'll make it easier to lay down turf!".. Hmm...

That pile to the right of the gate is the result of my backbreaking work. To the left the roses were thick as thieves, you could hardly see the fence. Anyway, I think it looks good. It aint finished by far, a lot more weeding has to be done and then we'll lay down grass and voila'; soccer yard!

Brisbane

The trip to Brissie started with a bit of a disaster. The plane broke down in Brisbane and couldn't make it to Newcastle so we had to take the bus to Sydney, 2.5 hours south, hop on a plane there and go north again. We got to Brisbane hours later than planned and the guys who were off to a conference had to hurry to get there. Us girls took a walk along beach and ended up having thickshakes at a surf club right by the sea.

That night we went to John's friend Dean and stayed there overnight. His girlfriend is heaps of fun and their 2 year old daughter is a gem!

On Saturday we went and had a look at field spaniels as John wants a puppy.. This breed is quite rare and we took the opportunity to meet the dogs while we were in the neighbourhood so to speak.

We were very impressed with the dogs. I must admit John is not the only one wanting to get one but it might be too big of a commitment for us. We are pretty selfish people, even together, after all.

John, Will and Gracie.

Also got to see some cocker spaniel puppies.. ai ai they were sooo cute!

On Sunday we took the car into Brisbane and went for a walk along southbank and rode on the Ferris Wheel. It's really pretty along there. Restaurants and cafes, markets, swimming pools for the kids etc.

Now we are back in Newcastle getting ready for our next trip which starts on Saturday when we are off to Tasmania to do the overland track.

Dandy old time

The Dandy concert in Sydney was great, went out for dinner first at a fancy restaurant and then on to the venue itself. Even was the band playing before the Dandy's and I thought they were excellent. Kind of folky and country like, a bit like me. The Dandy's weren't bad either but not really my style. Thought most of their songs were too similar but some that stuck out were great. After the concert we tried to find a decent pub, an old, back-street one and we lucked out in Newtown. This one had awesome ambience. I'll put the name here as soon as I can think of it..

The following day we were a bit heavy out of bed and thus went for a hearty brekkie in Coogee by the sea. Nothing like a breakfast full of fat, greasy goodness after a night out.

What a beautiful spot to live in! Lucky sweetpea!

The day was spent shopping away in Sydney and in the arvo we took the ferry to Manly where we had a 35th party on, Redneck style. So, what we wore were short skirts, tight tops and lots of make-up and ugg boots. I felt like i was back in Newcastle.. Needless to say the mullet was a must among the guys for the evening.

Maribob in her getup. Not being used to make-up it rubbed off in no time. I reckon I look like normal... Maybe I do belong in Newcastle, Rednecked Hillbillieville..

(those pics in the background are not there all the time.. just emphasized the redneck "ambience" for the evening)

Ponytails like that are "handle bars" in Redneck lingo.

Sunday we hopped on the (world's slowest) train to Newie where we had our second Dandy part of the weekend at Nobby's point, the Fat as Butter festival.

We missed the entrance and had to walk around the whole festival area, we went over sand dunes, past dog poo beach and walked and walked until we finally got there.. to find the place packed with teenagers. I haven't felt that old in a long time. Everyone was running around in skimpy dresses or shirt-less, carrying on like teenagers do. We were dressed in sensible shoes, had warm clothing on and a blanket in out bag..... PLUS snacks. We were officially old. It all came to good use though, those little girlies in their little dresses were pretty cold by the end of the night.

Later in the afternoon we found the older population to be hangning out in front of the band scenes. This is a fashion sample of the not so fashion conscious but at least more fashion sensible. No it is not 1988, it really is 2008!

Tomorrow, Friday we are off to Brisbane. I'll be back with details of that trip.