Category: Aussie Travels

Yanchep National Park

Doug put Yanchep NP on his lists of things to do in WA because there is a famous cave there, but you have to take a tour and we weren’t able to visit on a day when they were running.

As it turns out, all the other things to do and see, or where you could eat or buy coffee or get information, were closed. So we did the best we could, did the walk around the wetland which was lovely, and came back to the cursed holiday house. I can’t judge what it would be like when everything was operating and open, but it’s not on my “must go back and see” list, though it was a pleasant outing on a cold, bright day when we had had so much lousy weather that week.

Click on any image below to see a slideshow, then use the ⓘ symbol on the right for the description

Travelling to Tasmania via Phillip Island

As I mentioned a couple of posts back, we went to Tasmania over Xmas, staying in what turned out to be a really not very nice villa in Strahan (although the town itself is a good base for exploring, and has some rather lovely features like Hogarth Falls.)

But! We took our time driving down to Melbourne, where we stayed in Healesville for a couple of nights, then driving through the most glorious national parks and rainforests to Phillip Island, where we stayed for a few days at Cowes (and of course viewing the magical Penguin Parade), before catching the night ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania.

The trip was amazing, with stunning scenery both on the way there and in Tasmania itself. We took a cruise with Heritage World cruises at Strahan out through Macquarie Heads and up part of the gorgeous Franklin River, and travelled between Strahan and Queenstown on the West Coast Wilderness Railway.

The villa was so horrible, we left a day early and went to Stanley on the north coast. We stayed in a guesthouse so lovely we’re going back there this Xmas.

We (or rather Doug) took many many pictures, and here are some of them 🙂 Continue reading “Travelling to Tasmania via Phillip Island”

Cute animals from Tasmania!

We ran away for Xmas, and then ran home again. We had a wonderful time. Tasmania is incredible, even if its wonder has not always been responsibly cared for. We also ate some fantastic food and bought some expensive but delicious Tasmanian whisky.

Anyway, I thought you might like to see some of the cute critters we saw on our travels. [Command+click for best experience.] Enjoy 🙂 Continue reading “Cute animals from Tasmania!”

Our stay in the rainforest

It was our twenty-third wedding anniversay on 20 July (!!), and we spent it at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat in the Lamington Plateau. This was our second visit there, but last time we went in summer. This time, it was mid-winter, and during a cold snap. Like last time we went for an all inclusive package (excluding lunches), so we could do pretty much what we liked. Continue reading “Our stay in the rainforest”

And we’re back!

Actually we’ve been back since last wednesday. Shattered doesn’t begin to cover the mental exhaustion caused not only by flogging the car on the roads for three days straight, but also contending with the worst sequence of roadworks I’ve ever seen in any country. On our last day we literally could not go for more than twenty kilometres at any point without being slowed, stopped, or diverted, and all with billboards screaming about accidents and speed cameras. The information overload and the concentration involved damn near killed me. Continue reading “And we’re back!”