Thursday, November 29

Still windy but not as extreme as on Wednesday. We wondered if the trip on the boat down the Swan River would be rough but then figured we’ve been on BC Ferries in really bad windstorms so how could it be worse than that *lol* We got down to the jetty about ½ an hour early so we walked around the outside of the Bell Tower and took some photos (it wasn’t open and we were going to be back just after it closed). There weren’t many people on the boat so we had our choice of seating – we went to the upper lounge and I stood on the deck taking photos. At one point, the river is 3 km across – that’s a big river! The water wasn’t rough and it was smooth sailing for the 45 minutes it took to get to Fremantle. In fact, the docking at the Fremantle Port was the roughest part (it’s right at the mouth of the river) and the boat goes alongside not into a slip.

We had a few hours before we were supposed to be back for the return trip so we headed into Fremantle and caught one of the free buses around town to get our bearings. We got off and meandered through town, looking in stores and trying (unsuccessfully) to stay out of the rain showers. When we found ourselves at the Fishing Boat Harbour, we realized that we could finally get the fish and chips that we had been craving since we got to Australia. The only question was which restaurant would have eggless batter. We got lucky with the first try – the girl at the order counter at Cicerello’s knew the ingredients of their fish and chips and there were NO EGGS. The restaurant was really busy – there were a few groups of school kids, lots of other tourists and quite a few locals on their lunch hours. We had the barramundi and chips and they were mouth wateringly good. The portions were huge but I managed to get through all the fish and about ½ of the fries.

After lunch we headed towards the Fremantle Prison but then realized that we didn’t really have enough time to have a good look around so we went back into the downtown area and wandered around some more. The buildings are so impressive – most are made of limestone bricks of varying colours. They look so different from the wooden buildings we are used to. We saw a large eucalyptus tree that had been decorated for Christmas with lights, giant bulbs (looked like beach balls) and stars. There was also an old piano sitting outside for anyone who wanted to play it.

Soon it was time to head back to the port so that we wouldn’t miss the ship. Still not many people onboard but wine tasting was offered on the lower deck. We were admiring the views from the upper seating area – including a few people with windboards, one guy with a parachute who was water skiing and getting great air time with his jumps (apparently he shows off for the cruise boat a few times a week), and some guys on a dive boat who decided to moon everyone on the cruise boat. *lol* We got back to Perth about 5 p.m. and headed back to the condo for another relaxing Jacuzzi after packing our suitcases for our early morning flight to Hobart by way of Melbourne.

One of the things on our to-do list was to visit Rottnest Island – however, that didn’t happen because of the graduating students and the parties. The students are called “leavers” or “schoolies” and there are parties that last a week. A lot of the parties have supervision but we realized that when there are large groups of students, it’s hard to actually explore. Most of the celebrations seemed to be fairly orderly – designated party areas, chaperones, buses to events, etc. Maybe we’ll get to Rottnest if we go back to Western Australia.

Friday, November 30

Up at 3:45 a.m. for our 4:15 a.m. taxi ride to the airport. Security at the airports is so much simpler than North America – you are allowed water bottles on domestic flights (ones that you bring through the security check, you don’t have to take your liquids, aerosols and gels out of your bag, you can keep your shoes on and it is still only a walk through metal detector). Breakfast was served on the flight (3 ½ hours duration). We had 2 hours in the airport and then off to Hobart (1 ¼ hrs in the air) – we had a snack served (crackers and cheese for John, more fruit for me). We arrived in Hobart at 4:15 local time and caught a cab to the condo. Karen and Les were coming in on a later flight (due to arrive at about 7:30), picking up the rental car and coming to the condo. The taxi driver took the long way to the condo from the airport (10 minutes if you go around the end of the airport but closer to 25 the way he went), but we got there. The unit at Worldmark, Seven Mile Beach that we were booked into was a small cottage with 2 bedrooms, a fairly good-sized kitchen and living room area, an enclosed patio and another strange bathroom set up – sink and tub in one room and toilet in another.

John and I walked to the local corner grocery and picked up enough stuff to give us snacks for the evening and food for breakfast in the morning. It was a beautiful afternoon – warm and sunny. We walked back by way of the beach watching all the people and dogs playing along the length of the 7 mile beach. Once back to the condo, we relaxed in the courtyard waiting for Karen and Les to arrive – we figured it should be about 45 minutes but the time kept passing with no sign of them. Another delayed flight! It got dark and we were getting concerned when there was a knock on the door and there they were. They had almost run over a furry creature (suspected to be a bandicoot) but managed to avoid it *s* The car was bigger than expected (it had been upgraded as it was the only car they had left) and Karen had found a coupon in a magazine (on the flight) for a free GPS rental so they had no trouble finding the quickest route from the airport to the condo.

Saturday, December 1

Time for the Salamanca Market in Hobart. This was on everyone’s list of places to see and we were not disappointed. After finally finding a parking spot, we headed toward the market area. John and I were temporarily delayed by the sight of 2 miniature schnauzers who were being walked by the mother of the owner. Of course we had to ask if we could pet them *g* The market had over 250 stalls and was wall to wall people. It was impossible to stick together so we wandered and periodically met up with each other. There was so much to see – produce, baking, farm fresh products, flowers, crafts, food stalls, wood working, and more…. It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. At one stall, there were farm fresh eggs (yeah I know I wouldn’t look at them but Les did) selling for $7 a dozen! We spent about 2 hours browsing the market and bought lots of souvenirs and Christmas presents.

Because it was a mostly sunny day, we wanted to go to the top of Mt. Wellington to view the city and surrounding area from above. What people hadn’t bothered to tell us is that the wind is very strong at the top. It was hard to even walk in a straight line and standing on the observation deck trying to take a photo was definitely challenging. The view was spectacular though!

The rest of the day was spent getting groceries and enjoying the resort.

Sunday, December 2

Another windy, partly sunny kind of day so we decided to go to a wildlife park. After looking at a lot of brochures and reading the Lonely Planet guidebook, we chose to go to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary near Brighton which wasn’t too far away. The sanctuary has two separate areas – one for the permanent sanctuary residents and the other for the animals (and birds) who are being rehabbed. We were given food to feed the kangaroos when we arrived and it wasn’t long before the kangaroos came looking for a handout. They are so soft and you feed them just like horses, hand flat and let them nibble the food. One of the mama kangaroos actually put her paws around our hands when we were feeding her.

There were a couple of Tasmanian Devils who were running in circles around their enclosure (a very large area marked Devils Retirement Run) and others that you could see in burrows but were sleeping (or just ignoring the people). We saw wombats (a baby that was about 9 months old) and some adults as well as various birds and some koalas. Eventually we noticed people crowded around the Tasmanian Devil pen and headed over to see what was happening. One of the employees was trying to lure “Prince” out of his burrow – Prince was definitely not interested even when the food bits were waved right under his nose! After waving the food around for a while, the keeper went to the next pen and coaxed a smaller female devil out. While the keeper talked about Tasmanian devils and the problems facing them (including a very contagious cancer of the face), she wandered around the cage and then stretched out in the sunshine.

After he had finished with the devils, he went and brought a koala over to a viewing area. Everyone was invited to touch her if they wanted – didn’t take long before I was in line and so was Karen. Once we were finished with viewing the animals (I would never be finished looking at the kangaroos, wombats, devils and koalas if I wasn’t dragged out), John and I visited the gift shop/office. We weren’t in it for more than 10 minutes and 3 calls for animals that needed to be rescued came in. It was a busy place and I’m glad I could help out with my admission fee and purchases at the gift shop.

Our next stop was a park for a picnic – unfortunately the wind kept blowing everything around and it was a little cool so we didn’t linger for long. Off to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens next – specifically the Tasmanian and Australian mainland sections. There we saw some Huon Pine, a slow growing tree that is now protected from being harvested. The needles looked more like our cedar trees than pine trees. The gardens were beautiful and well labeled with species names.

Karen and I discovered a Scotch Elm tree that formed a “fort” in the center. It reminded us of all the forts we used to make when we were growing up in Lake Cowichan. *s* We wanted to go through the Subantarctic Plant House but it was closed due to the high temperatures outside (making it difficult to regulate the temperature inside when the doors were opening). >/p>

There were lots of areas to explore in the botanical garden – we visited the conservatory and marvelled at the beautiful orchids. There was an “orchid cactus” that had a flower larger than my hand. In the garden, there was also a steam powered carousel – built in 1865 and still in operation.

Monday, December 3

John and I headed out to visit the Port Arthur Heritage Site. The guidebook and maps indicated a drive of about an hour to get there – of course, what wasn’t mentioned, was that the roads are narrow, twisty and posted as a speed limit of 100 kmh (similar roads at home would have a maximum speed limit of 60 kmh). We took our time driving and pulled off for a few attractions that were on side roads – including a spot called Tessellated Pavement – an interesting rock formation.

We finally got to Port Arthur and were just in time to catch a boat ride (included with the price of admission) to view the prison from the water and hear a little history about the two islands in the bay – one was used as a graveyard and the other as a separate boys’ prison. After the boat tour, there was a walking tour giving a little more detail about the use of the buildings on the property and a few anecdotal stories about prison life. After that, we were free to explore – the area of the prison which is accessible to the public is 40 hectares – needless to say, we didn’t visit everything. It is definitely a place to spend a couple of days and if we go to Tasmania again, we will stay nearby so that we have much more time to explore.

When you pay your admission, you are given a playing card. This card matches up with information found in a display in the visitor’s centre. It was interesting to read all the stories while looking for the one that matches the card in your hands. It really makes you aware of what these people went through while prisoners at Port Arthur. As well as this display, we found the Separate Prison fascinating. The idea was that prisoners would be reformed by contemplating their lives in silence and anonymity. When they were out of the cells, they had to wear masks and not talk. It was soon discovered that, rather than reforming most of the men, it was driving them mad and a new building needed to be built to house these men. John and I spent 2 minutes in the complete darkness and silence of the punishment cell (a place where the normal sentence was 30 days or longer) and were happy to be outside.

One of the houses which was open to the public was the Junior Medical Officers’ house. The interior of this home reminded both John and I of many old homes on Vancouver Island – high ceilings, low doorknobs, ornate decorative mouldings.

On the way back to the condo, we followed the signs to a little town that is known as Doo-town. All the “cottages” (some are more like cottages than others) are named something with Doo in the name. We saw houses named “Just Doo it”, “Love-Me-Doo”, “Much-A-Doo”, “Sheil-doo” and others. At the end of the road, was a mobile food truck called “Doo-Lishus”. We were a little hungry so we went to see what they were offering – and we saw fresh, cooked Tiger Prawns. 2 each made a meal *s* It was a neat little sidetrip.

Tuesday, December 4

Headed north to a town called Sheffield – apparently a sister city to Chemainus. They also have murals all over town. Unfortunately, no photos as the weather was nasty. There was snow mixed with the heavy rain and a lot of wind as well (the next day, there was apparently snow on the mountains near Sheffield – not a surprise!). Karen and Les were looking up some people they had met in Fiji on their first trip there. Again, all the guidebooks and maps indicated a 2 ¼ hour drive – huh…. 4 hours later (after a short stop in a lovely little town named Ross – just below the 42nd Parallel South), we made it to Sheffield. Once we had the address, we headed to the house. It was a lovely old home set on almost 100 acres. After a short visit to catch up, we headed south again. The scenery was so much like the interior of BC (only a little greener). It was a nice drive even if it was longer than expected *g* (and that seems to be the norm in Australia – it always takes longer than it should to get somewhere).

Wednesday, December 5

Our last full day in Australia (for this trip anyways *g*). We spent the day exploring the town of Sorrell, re-packing the suitcases and having a nice soak in the hot tub. John and I went to the on-site restaurant (Beaches) to celebrate my birthday with fantastic fish and chips. The service and food were excellent. After dinner, we wandered around trying to find an elusive echidna with no luck. We walked down to the beach and spent some time beachcombing and wishing that the vacation had been longer *s*

Thursday, December 6

We were up early as our flight left Hobart at 8:40. Once we arrived in Sydney, we had 5 hours before our flight to Dallas/Fort Worth left. It took a bit of time to figure out how to transit from the domestic terminal to the international one (a subway train), and then we needed to check our luggage and get our boarding passes. The lady at the check in counter was very friendly – telling us that she was familiar with our island. She has skied Mt. Washington several times *s* Once checked in, we passed through security (a little more strict than the domestic flights) and puttered about in the shops as we didn’t want to sit down for long (knowing we had a long flight ahead of us). Once we found our gate, we were approached by a lady who was doing a survey on departing tourists for the Australian government. She may have regretted asking us – she got her ear talked off *lol* The survey definitely helped pass the time and soon it was time to board.

Next stop – Dallas/Fort Worth 16 hours later. Another 5 hour wait between planes but by the time we passed through customs with our baggage (and then rechecked it), we only had about 3 hours to wait. First thing on the agenda was to find our gate – the entire area was Terminal D but our gate was C4. After a few confusing moments, we discovered that we needed to take a skytrain to the C gates. Once we were there, we ate at Pizza Hut and then wandered until almost time for boarding. We were sitting in the lounge area when a fellow walking by asked if we were going to Vancouver, Canada. We said we were and he told us there was a gate change – back to D40. *sigh* Ok – ask the attendant in the boarding lounge where that is and she is less than helpful (American Airlines). Finally she pointed and said go up there and you’ll find it. Lots of help. We found it ok – the duty free was delivered to the correct gate and soon we were on our way again. Once on the plane, John and I both napped for an hour or so and then waited impatiently to get to Vancouver.

What a surprise to find an automated customs area at Vancouver Airport – we were done in no time at all and actually thought we might be able to make the 10:45 ferry until we got outside to the taxi stand. Long line up…. Oh well, we had a reservation at the Travelodge near the airport so we would follow through with the original plan. After checking in, we headed to Timmy’s to get our coffee fix *lol* Then it was off to bed to sleep soundly until John came in the door at 6:50 carrying coffee and asking if we could make the 7:45 ferry. A mad scramble ensued (by me, as he was already wide awake) and I managed to shower, dress and repack the one suitcase that we had opened before the taxi arrived 10 minutes later. We made it to the ferry by 7:37 (2 minutes to spare before we missed it) and scurried up the walkway. It’s amazing what you can do when you’re almost home *g*.

Now we’re home madly preparing for Christmas – and talking about (and planning) the next trip to Aus.