We got our flight safe and sound. A good friend once told me to always have G&T's with ice and a slice. That tradition didn't start on this trip but were definetly keeping it going. Theit so good tasting at 10am. I've been in NZ for two whole days now and this is the plan. Tom and i booked a camper van for 15 days to see the whole of the north Island which i have been assured by a few people is plenty of time. We plan to do the exact same thing on the south island so i'm not sure when the next blog update will be done, but i do promise you one thing. It will be action packed! Bungee jumping, white water rafting and more extreme sports than you can shake a stick at!
The adventure continues...
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Australia
Six months in Australia has come to an end. I don't think i've seen anywhere as much as i would have liked to seeing only four out of the eight states. I saw most of Tasmania and most of the Australia capital state (only because ACT is so small). New South Wales is a beautiful place and definetly somewhere i would consider living. Melbourne is the most cosmopolitan state with people dressing very fasionably and rather qwerky.
Australia is very baron but also very beautiful and because it's so big there is so much to see and do, while i didn't manage to see anything of the outback and alike i think i had a totally different experience to most that go to Australia and i am thankful to Dave for suppling that. I've learnt that i could move to anywhere in the world and make new friends start a new life. I have an understanding of Australian working culture, they don't like doing it but they do love a few beers after the work is done, which i must say is something i agree with.
The culture is a mix between British and American and obviously and element of thier own. I really liked Australia and will definetly be going back sometime in a later part of my life to see the other states i missed. I meet some truly amazing people that i hope to keep in touch with them for the rest of my life!
Australia is very baron but also very beautiful and because it's so big there is so much to see and do, while i didn't manage to see anything of the outback and alike i think i had a totally different experience to most that go to Australia and i am thankful to Dave for suppling that. I've learnt that i could move to anywhere in the world and make new friends start a new life. I have an understanding of Australian working culture, they don't like doing it but they do love a few beers after the work is done, which i must say is something i agree with.
The culture is a mix between British and American and obviously and element of thier own. I really liked Australia and will definetly be going back sometime in a later part of my life to see the other states i missed. I meet some truly amazing people that i hope to keep in touch with them for the rest of my life!
Bondi and Coogee beaches
Bondi and Coogee beaches are really beautiful parts of Sydney. We stayed in Bondi for a week, went surfing, looking around a few little saturday markets and chilling out before we had to leave Australia. The first few days we were in Bondi the weather was stunning not a cloud in the sky and comforting sun beating down on our skin as we read and listened to music. I went out for a night out with the hostel on a Tuesday which was a really good laugh and made some other new mates.
When we were checking out at the end of our stay the owner asked where we planned to go next, he offered to drive us over to the sister hostel in Coogee and even gave us cheap night for the last few days of our stay in Australia. The hostel in Coogee was really nice, not many people in our room whihc was a bonus and we could see the local rugby ground from the balconay of our room. We went over to the rugby ground to watch the rugby over the weekend, Saturday was union day and Sunday was leaugue. obviously i watched more union than league.
When we were checking out at the end of our stay the owner asked where we planned to go next, he offered to drive us over to the sister hostel in Coogee and even gave us cheap night for the last few days of our stay in Australia. The hostel in Coogee was really nice, not many people in our room whihc was a bonus and we could see the local rugby ground from the balconay of our room. We went over to the rugby ground to watch the rugby over the weekend, Saturday was union day and Sunday was leaugue. obviously i watched more union than league.
Another road trip, just Tom and I
So after about 16 weeks spending time with other people not just Tom i was time for some "us" time. I know what your thinking, this is starting to sound like a relationship. We'd planned to get a car for 3 days to drive from Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra and a few other places. I picked the car up from Melbourne airport early before heading back to the hostel to pick up Tom and the bags. This plan had a flaw, me not being drivings greatest fan as well as driving through a really busy city at lunch time. I got lost for roughly 2 hours and stressed is not the word. I grabbed Tom and we headed to Sydney. We'd planned to stop in a town just south of Canberra, this in the end didn't happen because we thought just get to Canberra and then we could have all day driving around the city and seeing the sites before heading onto Sydney and the Blue mountains. We stayed in a formula one hotel which was quite nice but we had to wake the receptionist up at a little gone 12 in the night because the machine we used to check in stopped working. We slept rather heavy that night as we had been driving since about 1.
The next day we went straight to the tourist information centre and found all the free things to do in city. Tom wanted to visit the war memorial museum which was really cool and interesting but as it was still early in the morning and neither of us had eaten anything i was a little restless and my mind wasn't in a learning or strolling mode, if I'm honest i just wanted a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. The drive through Canberra itself is really nice, the city itself has only been there for 90-something years so everything is really new, clean and well organised. I eventually got my coffee and bite to eat so stopped nagging Tom. We went to the National arts museum but because they only thought to put about 25 parking spaces we couldn't find anywhere to park and didn't actually get to go in, Tom was rather disappointed, but me I'm not art farty at all and don't get all the finger painting thing selling for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
We hit the road again for a fairly short drive to Sydney, the scenario was beautiful if not sometimes baron. We arrived at about 5pm so hit rush hour square on which was fun as you can imagine. We drove across the Harbour bridge which is a great bridge as bridges go of course, saw the opera house which is also great and an iconic building. We managed to get down to Bondi beach, parked outside MacDonald's to use their wireless Internet and found a hostel in the Blue mountains. I also popped into a hostel and booked a four night stay about 2 minutes walk from the beach for when returned a day later. All the organising being done it was time to drive up to the Blue Mountains, it's about a 2 hour drive west of the city. We got there about a 8ish and found the hostel we planned to stay in, checked in, threw the bags in the room then went for a pint and a pizza.
We got up early the next day and drove about 5 minutes to the most famous attraction in the blue mountains, a rock formation called the three sisters (picture below). It was a windy day so we didn't hang around long before moving onto the next attraction which was a few rides and a walk around the rain forest. They had a gonadal car that went across the valley, past a waterfall and gave you a different view of the three sisters rock formation. The next ride we went on was the old miners railway where they used to mine for gold. At the steepest part of the ride it 52 degrees which even going about 20 miles an hour is a scary experience. Once we'd hopped off the ride we walked around the valley floor looking at the mining exhibitions and watching a few videos. We also looked at the flora and fora that lived in the area. In order to get out of the valley we got the last ride of the day back to the visitor centre which was a lot like a ski lift and went about as fast although we did manage to get another perspective on the three sisters.
We'd popped into town for some fish and chips before moving onto our next destination which was to be a waterfall, this is going to sound really stupid so please excuse me. We managed to find the car park for the water fall but not the water fall! I know how stupid are we. So instead of going to see some water fall Tom and i sat in the car and played a cross word, which was a fun and made me feel even more stupid, happy days!
That spot being left behind forever we headed back to Sydney this time driving slowly taking in all the views as we come off the mountain range. Fairly impressive i must say.
We got back to the hostel in Bondi while it was still light so we popped up to the shop and got something for tea. We dropped the car back the next morning which was as much of a palaver as picking it up but i won't go into that for Tom's sake!
Photos - Tom and I driving into Sydney
Driving over the Harbour bridge
The drop from the gonadal car
Three sisters
The next day we went straight to the tourist information centre and found all the free things to do in city. Tom wanted to visit the war memorial museum which was really cool and interesting but as it was still early in the morning and neither of us had eaten anything i was a little restless and my mind wasn't in a learning or strolling mode, if I'm honest i just wanted a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. The drive through Canberra itself is really nice, the city itself has only been there for 90-something years so everything is really new, clean and well organised. I eventually got my coffee and bite to eat so stopped nagging Tom. We went to the National arts museum but because they only thought to put about 25 parking spaces we couldn't find anywhere to park and didn't actually get to go in, Tom was rather disappointed, but me I'm not art farty at all and don't get all the finger painting thing selling for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
We hit the road again for a fairly short drive to Sydney, the scenario was beautiful if not sometimes baron. We arrived at about 5pm so hit rush hour square on which was fun as you can imagine. We drove across the Harbour bridge which is a great bridge as bridges go of course, saw the opera house which is also great and an iconic building. We managed to get down to Bondi beach, parked outside MacDonald's to use their wireless Internet and found a hostel in the Blue mountains. I also popped into a hostel and booked a four night stay about 2 minutes walk from the beach for when returned a day later. All the organising being done it was time to drive up to the Blue Mountains, it's about a 2 hour drive west of the city. We got there about a 8ish and found the hostel we planned to stay in, checked in, threw the bags in the room then went for a pint and a pizza.
We got up early the next day and drove about 5 minutes to the most famous attraction in the blue mountains, a rock formation called the three sisters (picture below). It was a windy day so we didn't hang around long before moving onto the next attraction which was a few rides and a walk around the rain forest. They had a gonadal car that went across the valley, past a waterfall and gave you a different view of the three sisters rock formation. The next ride we went on was the old miners railway where they used to mine for gold. At the steepest part of the ride it 52 degrees which even going about 20 miles an hour is a scary experience. Once we'd hopped off the ride we walked around the valley floor looking at the mining exhibitions and watching a few videos. We also looked at the flora and fora that lived in the area. In order to get out of the valley we got the last ride of the day back to the visitor centre which was a lot like a ski lift and went about as fast although we did manage to get another perspective on the three sisters.
We'd popped into town for some fish and chips before moving onto our next destination which was to be a waterfall, this is going to sound really stupid so please excuse me. We managed to find the car park for the water fall but not the water fall! I know how stupid are we. So instead of going to see some water fall Tom and i sat in the car and played a cross word, which was a fun and made me feel even more stupid, happy days!
That spot being left behind forever we headed back to Sydney this time driving slowly taking in all the views as we come off the mountain range. Fairly impressive i must say.
We got back to the hostel in Bondi while it was still light so we popped up to the shop and got something for tea. We dropped the car back the next morning which was as much of a palaver as picking it up but i won't go into that for Tom's sake!
Photos - Tom and I driving into Sydney
Driving over the Harbour bridge
The drop from the gonadal car
Three sisters
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Dammit!
The 4 newest posts aren't in order. They should be the exact opposite to what order they are in. Not sure how to do it! Sorry
Hitch hiking
So Tom and I have been hitch hiking for rougly 12 weeks at least once or twice a week. So here's the low down. The best places to stand are at the start of a lay-by on a straight road so that people have plenty of time to see you and make the decision to pick up you up for not. The most likely people to pick you up are people who have done some hitch hiking before or people who are generally interested in meeting people. The type of car is also a very relaible indicater of what the likely hood of them picking you up. New cars are a nine times out of ten not going to pick you up. The older the car the more likely they are to pick you. Next i think is the way you stand and the number of people in the group, obviously i think the more people the more unlikey you are to get picked up. Avoid hates and hoddies because they scream out thug so there a no go. it normally takes about 15 mins to get picked up. After that time i start to throw a few moves like double thumb and the big cheesy smile. I've never turned anyone down for a lift so far because they have been creepy or they drive a death trap. Some people i have picked me up have been nice enough to take me further than they are going just to be kind. Tom's been picked up by and old guy who he spent the day with, he bought Tom a hotdog and a cup of tea then drove him to the airport. Like your average taxi ride home after a night out on the booze you have your standard set off questions "busy tonight drive?" or " on late tonight drive?" We normally speak about where i'm from, what i'm doing or where have i been or where an i going next. I find it's normally easier to make basic chat all the way because it's easier than the akward silence to handle.
Tractor madness
This is an account of the tractor experences tom and I have had so far. So about two or three weeks ago. I had my first gasp moment going down a fairly steep hill and i changed gear and i couldn't get it into the next gear. The tractor picked up a fair bit of pace and i did swear because at the emd of the hill is a main road.
The next moment of tractor madness was, i got the tractor beached on the same road but slightly further up. I took the turn to wide and got the bottom of the trailer dug into the road surface about 5 or so centremetres. The tractor was stuck right i n the middle of the road so there was only one car able to get past at one time. Luckly the road is a rather quiet. I ran to the orchard up the road because i didn't have my mobile phone on me so i had to us Adam's. Dave sounded rather relaxed on not bothered when i spoke to him and he said he was on the way. It took about 5mins or so to get the tractor out but he did it in the end. The best thing was he didn't shout and wasn't annoyed at all. He told me how to stop it happening again, i said i was sorry and no more was said.
The last tractor occurence was performed by Tom. We were picking golden delicious near daves house and the weather was appaling, one minute it was hammering down the next the sun was beaming, Tom moved the tractor down the row with about half a bin of apples and touched the brake, Next thing i hear him shouting "Raymond, Raymond, Raymond" (in a really girly voice). I look down to see the whole tractor sliding toward the row of trees on the right hand side. The skidmark was about 5 metres long and he was moving at an alarming rate, i think he must have been travelling no more than 3 miles an hour, but the sheer terror in his voice was great. I shouted to take his foot of the brake which he did but he still slide towards the tree. In the end he pulled the stop button on tractor and the whole ordeal was over. He still had about 2 metres from the tree so i imagine he would have had time to try practically anything before impact. We had a really good laugh about it which was nice to take the edge of his impending death (not).
Later i realised i'd left it in 2wheel drive mode, sorry Tom.
The next moment of tractor madness was, i got the tractor beached on the same road but slightly further up. I took the turn to wide and got the bottom of the trailer dug into the road surface about 5 or so centremetres. The tractor was stuck right i n the middle of the road so there was only one car able to get past at one time. Luckly the road is a rather quiet. I ran to the orchard up the road because i didn't have my mobile phone on me so i had to us Adam's. Dave sounded rather relaxed on not bothered when i spoke to him and he said he was on the way. It took about 5mins or so to get the tractor out but he did it in the end. The best thing was he didn't shout and wasn't annoyed at all. He told me how to stop it happening again, i said i was sorry and no more was said.
The last tractor occurence was performed by Tom. We were picking golden delicious near daves house and the weather was appaling, one minute it was hammering down the next the sun was beaming, Tom moved the tractor down the row with about half a bin of apples and touched the brake, Next thing i hear him shouting "Raymond, Raymond, Raymond" (in a really girly voice). I look down to see the whole tractor sliding toward the row of trees on the right hand side. The skidmark was about 5 metres long and he was moving at an alarming rate, i think he must have been travelling no more than 3 miles an hour, but the sheer terror in his voice was great. I shouted to take his foot of the brake which he did but he still slide towards the tree. In the end he pulled the stop button on tractor and the whole ordeal was over. He still had about 2 metres from the tree so i imagine he would have had time to try practically anything before impact. We had a really good laugh about it which was nice to take the edge of his impending death (not).
Later i realised i'd left it in 2wheel drive mode, sorry Tom.
My trip to Bruny island.
Last weekend i went to an island off the coast of Tasmania with a friend from work called Adam to see a few mates who he knew from his last job. We headed out on Saturday morning about 11 to get the ferry which was $30which we shared. We had planned to get a lift over on Adam's mates 14 foot catamaran but because he had so much stuff we had to drive over. It was such a beautiful day and the water on the way over was so flat, you'll see what i man from the picture below.
We got to Adam's mates house (Mick) after about three hours after leaving the coconut lodge.
That evening we had a BBQ with all the people i had meet, which was a good job as by this time i was starving. After we had food Benny took Adam and I out on his 14 foot cat to catch some flat heads. Adam had mentioned that we may have a fish when we where out at bruny so i had brought along Rodney the $20 rod. Even though some drunk numpty had stood on Rodney's reel and put a fairly big crack down it, i still managed to catch a nice size flat head. I had 6 catches but only 1 was a keeper. The last bite i had was a BIG fish, it was so big that it broke the line and that meant i was down a wieght and a hook, but i had fun none the less. On the way back to the shore we passed over a massive stingray, Adam said it must have been about a metre to a metre and a half across! Obviously i managed to get steaming drunk
The next day i woke up i had such a bad hangover and an even worse neck because i had slept upright in a car seat because i was to drunk to setup my tent! Doh. We'd planned to meet another one of Adam's old work mates the next day called bomber on the account that he had a massive beard! He rowed us out to his little boat in the bay which was such a clapped out hunk of junk. We cruised over o point across the bay which was about 4 kilometres. The water was so calm on the way over and it was a really nice day i thought there would be no problems at all. After we'd sat there fishing for about an hour or so the sun went away and an onshore wind picked up. Benny, Bomber and Adam came back to the boat so we could head back. After about 10 minutes or so of cruising along Bomber swore and then he turned the engine of the boat, at this point my heart sank, hopefully the boat wouldn't do the same! The waves were progressively getting worse and we were really starting to bob about which was really concerning me. Then he muttered the last thing i wanted to hear "Does anyone have mobile support", that made me so nervous. I somehow managed to see the news headlines in Australia TV saying "Four die in terrible old boat tragedy". After a while Bomber got the engine started and we headed back, however we had to go down wind for 10 minutes then up wind into the waves for 5 minutes. As you can imagine it was going to take a good hour to get home. Basically i put my hood up, put my head in my hands and sat there until the waves disappeared and the water became calm again. Adam rowed the stuff back to the beach, then he rowed back for bomber and last but not least he came back for me. I found out later that no-one on the boat was that bothered about anything in the slightest apart from me!
After that affair we went for a drive to a beach just down the coast from Great Bay and went for a drive along the beach in the little car which was a beast. We drove right across from one side of the beach to the other end and curiously the water at one of the beach was slightly red. Benny said it was a red plankton in the water that gave it the tinge. We left after the beach to head back to the main land but when we got back to the ferry port we had to wait for the ferry to leave and return. We got the ferry back to the main land and returned back to the coconut lodge about 6:30. I had a really good weekend and Bruny is a very beautiful place, but the ain't a great deal there to do.
Me on the fairy to bruny
The very big beach with the red water
We got to Adam's mates house (Mick) after about three hours after leaving the coconut lodge.
That evening we had a BBQ with all the people i had meet, which was a good job as by this time i was starving. After we had food Benny took Adam and I out on his 14 foot cat to catch some flat heads. Adam had mentioned that we may have a fish when we where out at bruny so i had brought along Rodney the $20 rod. Even though some drunk numpty had stood on Rodney's reel and put a fairly big crack down it, i still managed to catch a nice size flat head. I had 6 catches but only 1 was a keeper. The last bite i had was a BIG fish, it was so big that it broke the line and that meant i was down a wieght and a hook, but i had fun none the less. On the way back to the shore we passed over a massive stingray, Adam said it must have been about a metre to a metre and a half across! Obviously i managed to get steaming drunk
The next day i woke up i had such a bad hangover and an even worse neck because i had slept upright in a car seat because i was to drunk to setup my tent! Doh. We'd planned to meet another one of Adam's old work mates the next day called bomber on the account that he had a massive beard! He rowed us out to his little boat in the bay which was such a clapped out hunk of junk. We cruised over o point across the bay which was about 4 kilometres. The water was so calm on the way over and it was a really nice day i thought there would be no problems at all. After we'd sat there fishing for about an hour or so the sun went away and an onshore wind picked up. Benny, Bomber and Adam came back to the boat so we could head back. After about 10 minutes or so of cruising along Bomber swore and then he turned the engine of the boat, at this point my heart sank, hopefully the boat wouldn't do the same! The waves were progressively getting worse and we were really starting to bob about which was really concerning me. Then he muttered the last thing i wanted to hear "Does anyone have mobile support", that made me so nervous. I somehow managed to see the news headlines in Australia TV saying "Four die in terrible old boat tragedy". After a while Bomber got the engine started and we headed back, however we had to go down wind for 10 minutes then up wind into the waves for 5 minutes. As you can imagine it was going to take a good hour to get home. Basically i put my hood up, put my head in my hands and sat there until the waves disappeared and the water became calm again. Adam rowed the stuff back to the beach, then he rowed back for bomber and last but not least he came back for me. I found out later that no-one on the boat was that bothered about anything in the slightest apart from me!
After that affair we went for a drive to a beach just down the coast from Great Bay and went for a drive along the beach in the little car which was a beast. We drove right across from one side of the beach to the other end and curiously the water at one of the beach was slightly red. Benny said it was a red plankton in the water that gave it the tinge. We left after the beach to head back to the main land but when we got back to the ferry port we had to wait for the ferry to leave and return. We got the ferry back to the main land and returned back to the coconut lodge about 6:30. I had a really good weekend and Bruny is a very beautiful place, but the ain't a great deal there to do.
Me on the fairy to bruny
The very big beach with the red water
The end of an era
After the apples are finish we had a party with all the pickers, a few beers and a BBQ. Nothing really to write about, but there are a lot of good photos so here goes
Team Wales
Dave the Farmer and I
Tom and I
Master picker and his padawan students
From left to right - Steve, James, Me and Cohen
Pipi and I
James, Adam and little Sebby
Just a few facts, the day i held the record for the most bins picked in one day i picked 9 bins. That means i picked at least 20,000 apples which is roughly 4 tonnes! I know, i'm a legend!
Team Wales
Dave the Farmer and I
Tom and I
Master picker and his padawan students
From left to right - Steve, James, Me and Cohen
Pipi and I
James, Adam and little Sebby
Just a few facts, the day i held the record for the most bins picked in one day i picked 9 bins. That means i picked at least 20,000 apples which is roughly 4 tonnes! I know, i'm a legend!
The Tasmania road trip
The apples have been picked, the tractors are back in the shed for another year and were packing up the coconut lodge to leave to go back to the mainland. If we left Tasmania without seeing any of it that would be a very poor effort. The three of us decided to rent a car to 2 days and one night to go for a drive around tassie. The plan was go to Hobart (the state capital) to collect the car then head to the following places - Mount Wellington, the cascade brewery, Launceston, Pyangana, St Helens, SWANSEA and finally Port Arthur to see the place where the first reafendiing convicts went to serve time.
We got the 7:45 bus to Hobart and collected the car which was a Hyundai Getz. It was a lovely day so we drove to Mount Wellington which it the highest mountain in Tasmania, it's also just above Hobart so on a clear day you get a great view of the city and surrounding penicluars. When we got up there the wind must have been gusting up to about 100kilometres an hour. Plus there was still snow about from roughly a week before. We hung about for 10 minutes then headed on to our next destination the cascade brewery. We wanted to go on the tour around the brewery but you had to wear closed toed shoes and trousers so that was out of the question. Instead we went into the bar and took the taste test which was 6 different cascade beers ranging from a stout to a light and guess which one was which. We needed to get at least 3 out of the 6 right in order to win a official taste tester hat. I cheated and looked at which beer was going into the paddle of 6 and still only managed to get 3 out of 6. Tom won by getting them all right but he had a little help from the bar tender because he marked the same beer down twice. Lauren came second with 4 and she has been taught about all the different types of beers in one of her last jobs.
The next stop was Launceston which was about 250 kilometres north of Hobart, Tom drove and apart from a few stops to get some food and so on we made pretty good time. When we arrived at Launceston we realised why everyone that we'd meet down south said it was a total dive. They couldn't have been more right really, the city centre was a series of small shop that we old and dilapidated. We had a beer in a little pub on the outskirts of Launceston the left for Pyangana. It was my turn to drive and it was getting dark, when it gets dark in Tasmania the roads become alot more dangerous because of all the suicidal animals, ranging from Wallabies to a native cat that eats chicken brains by biting through a chickens skull and sucking out the brains, nice hey!! We got to Pyangana about 7 and went into the pub we'd heard so much about, The Pub in the Paddock. We had a beer and enquired with the bar lady about the three vital things for the road trip, 1. can we feed the pig a beer, 2. are you still serving food, 3. do you have a room for three people for the night? The only disappointing answer was we weren't allowed to feed the pigs because they were sleeping but she did say if we stayed we'd be able to feed them in the morning. We booked the room, had food and then a skin full of beer. We got friendly with the people in the pub and sat about chatting for a few hours.
The next morning we got up, said thank you to the bar lady, feed the pig a beer and hit the road, next stop St Helens. It didn't take long to get to St Helens and we had a spot to eat, had a look around then head to our scenic stop of our trip which was wine glass bay. We strolled up to the lookout point and the view was extraordinary. The car park was full of Wallabies so we petted them for a while and hit the road again. The next stop on the tour was most probably the most important although i forgot to get a postcard, SWANSEA!! We stopped at the welcome to Swansea sign, had a photo shot and then headed into town to find the Social club to have a pint and a game of pool. We had another photo shot outside the social then headed onto the beach to have a picnic of fresh chicken sand witches and crisps. Again we feed the local wildlife, which like Swansea was seagulls. By now the sun was starting to go down and we still had another 150 or so kilometres to Port Arthur. The drive went well and when we got there it was about 7 so we headed into the visitors centre and asked about the Ghost tour, we were able to get onto one but unfortunately we'd have to wait about an hour and a half. We had a cup of coffee and played some games and generally larked about. When the tour started i was very skeptical about the ghost thing but after hearing all the stories I'm more worried about it being true. It wasn't a nice place, lots of murders, trading and funny going ons. The tour lasted about an hour and a half so we didn't get back to the coconut lodge until about 12:30. I had a really good time and plan ongoing back at some stage to see the rest of the place. Now for the photos
Tom, Lauren and I atop of Mount Wellington
Pretty boy, i know
best test i've ever taken
Beer drinking pig!
Me and the local wildlife at wineglass bay
Wineglass bay
Swansea!
Some of the ghosts at Port Arthur
We got the 7:45 bus to Hobart and collected the car which was a Hyundai Getz. It was a lovely day so we drove to Mount Wellington which it the highest mountain in Tasmania, it's also just above Hobart so on a clear day you get a great view of the city and surrounding penicluars. When we got up there the wind must have been gusting up to about 100kilometres an hour. Plus there was still snow about from roughly a week before. We hung about for 10 minutes then headed on to our next destination the cascade brewery. We wanted to go on the tour around the brewery but you had to wear closed toed shoes and trousers so that was out of the question. Instead we went into the bar and took the taste test which was 6 different cascade beers ranging from a stout to a light and guess which one was which. We needed to get at least 3 out of the 6 right in order to win a official taste tester hat. I cheated and looked at which beer was going into the paddle of 6 and still only managed to get 3 out of 6. Tom won by getting them all right but he had a little help from the bar tender because he marked the same beer down twice. Lauren came second with 4 and she has been taught about all the different types of beers in one of her last jobs.
The next stop was Launceston which was about 250 kilometres north of Hobart, Tom drove and apart from a few stops to get some food and so on we made pretty good time. When we arrived at Launceston we realised why everyone that we'd meet down south said it was a total dive. They couldn't have been more right really, the city centre was a series of small shop that we old and dilapidated. We had a beer in a little pub on the outskirts of Launceston the left for Pyangana. It was my turn to drive and it was getting dark, when it gets dark in Tasmania the roads become alot more dangerous because of all the suicidal animals, ranging from Wallabies to a native cat that eats chicken brains by biting through a chickens skull and sucking out the brains, nice hey!! We got to Pyangana about 7 and went into the pub we'd heard so much about, The Pub in the Paddock. We had a beer and enquired with the bar lady about the three vital things for the road trip, 1. can we feed the pig a beer, 2. are you still serving food, 3. do you have a room for three people for the night? The only disappointing answer was we weren't allowed to feed the pigs because they were sleeping but she did say if we stayed we'd be able to feed them in the morning. We booked the room, had food and then a skin full of beer. We got friendly with the people in the pub and sat about chatting for a few hours.
The next morning we got up, said thank you to the bar lady, feed the pig a beer and hit the road, next stop St Helens. It didn't take long to get to St Helens and we had a spot to eat, had a look around then head to our scenic stop of our trip which was wine glass bay. We strolled up to the lookout point and the view was extraordinary. The car park was full of Wallabies so we petted them for a while and hit the road again. The next stop on the tour was most probably the most important although i forgot to get a postcard, SWANSEA!! We stopped at the welcome to Swansea sign, had a photo shot and then headed into town to find the Social club to have a pint and a game of pool. We had another photo shot outside the social then headed onto the beach to have a picnic of fresh chicken sand witches and crisps. Again we feed the local wildlife, which like Swansea was seagulls. By now the sun was starting to go down and we still had another 150 or so kilometres to Port Arthur. The drive went well and when we got there it was about 7 so we headed into the visitors centre and asked about the Ghost tour, we were able to get onto one but unfortunately we'd have to wait about an hour and a half. We had a cup of coffee and played some games and generally larked about. When the tour started i was very skeptical about the ghost thing but after hearing all the stories I'm more worried about it being true. It wasn't a nice place, lots of murders, trading and funny going ons. The tour lasted about an hour and a half so we didn't get back to the coconut lodge until about 12:30. I had a really good time and plan ongoing back at some stage to see the rest of the place. Now for the photos
Tom, Lauren and I atop of Mount Wellington
Pretty boy, i know
best test i've ever taken
Beer drinking pig!
Me and the local wildlife at wineglass bay
Wineglass bay
Swansea!
Some of the ghosts at Port Arthur
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