Tasmania, Australia
Date: 6-10/09/2013
Day 1:
Had a last minute meeting with my SV in the morning and miscalculated the ETA to Gold Coast Airport. With traffic jams near the entrance to Toowoomba and in Gold Coast, it could not be any worse! Hasben was trying to drive as 'efficiently' as possible and with constant praying, we made it just in the nick of time to the boarding gate. We were the second last passengers to board the plane. To be honest, I was expecting to be going back to Toowoomba, but... Alhamdulillah... Seriously, we never learn!
Arrived at about 6PM in Hobart. What? The temperature was nearly the same as Toowoomba (which was predicted) but the wind was sooo unexpected! Left my jacket in the car at Gold Coast and the rest of my luggage contained 'spring-y' outfits. The locals were in their winter gears. Bad judgement, again...
Picked up our rental car and checked-in to the B&B: Edinburgh Gallery. Was still thankful and a bit awed that we actually made it!
Day 2:
Morning at Salamanca Market. Wanted to buy some Tasmanian-made stuff but was too expensive. Ended up with some souvenirs, suspected were made in China. Borrowed Hasben's jacket because the Sogo T-shirt was not suitable against the the Antarctic wind... Duh! Felt sorry for Hasben but not sorry enough to return the jacket.
Off to Huon Valley. Spectacular and calming views. Stopped by Vinnies to buy proper warm clothes. Had lunch by the river... Awesome!
Drove up Mount Wellington. Apparently warm clothes from Vinnies were not warm enough! Was having a hard time posing for the camera. Hand and face were at risk of cold burn. Kimi was crying, not suitable for small children. Forced myself to endure the pain for the sake of beautiful scenery... And it started to snow!!! Excited, yes... Tortured, yes...
Back to Hobart in the evening. Was trying to take advantage of coldness to ask Hasben to buy Kathmandu stuff. Crap, store was closed. It was 5PM. Went to Royal Botanic Garden, was also about to close. Managed to pose with orange tulips near the main entrance. Feels that tulips are rare and gorgeous.
Went back to B&B after shopping at Woolies in Hobart city. Cooked microwave dinner. Very challenging. Made countless rounds to the pantry as Hasben watched Shawshank Redemption (hmphhh...) because B&B had only one microwave in the pantry.
Day 3:
Packed up our bags and started our road trip to Launceston. Stopped for pictures on road sides because too many beautiful sceneries!
Arrived at Coles Bay for lunch near Freycinet National Park. Could not proceed to Wineglass Bay due to time limitations. So sad... Ended up with postcards and fridge magnets...
Next up was Bicheno Blowhole. Maybe not a hole, but more like a drain. However, still impressive.
Sunset at Binalong Bay, Bay of Fires. Was discussing in the car with Hasben, E and Fizi: why 'Fires'? Conclusion: Maybe sunset makes the sea look like its on fire...
Straight to Launceston. Booked the medieval looking hotel: Penny Royal Hotel. Was expecting a castle door like in the reviews, but our room had normal looking doors. But room was modern and pretty. Could not get the stove to run (just my luck) but the microwave was in the room. Yeay!
Day 4:
It was raining since night and continued on till morning. Went to Cataract Gorge which was very close to the hotel. Superb superb view! Went on the Cataract Walk in the rain, had my shoes soaking wet! Wet shoes are the worst!
After checking out, bought food supplies and umbrella at Coles. Went to the city and had a 1-hr parking limit. 30 minutes to find a baby changing room to wash Kimi's poo, and a rushed 30 minutes more to buy jacket at Myer and some souvenirs. Could not find flip-flops. Shoes were still wet!
Stopped at small towns along the way to Mount Roland. Deloraine had pretty houses. And a Vinnies shop. No flip-flops though so ended up with a pair of hotel slippers for $1. Looked ridiculous but had blisters at back of feet due to wet shoes!
At Sheffield (not the city in UK), there were many murals - and it was nicknamed Mural Town, very appropriate. Was so sleepy and drowsy (and uncomfortable feet) to explore the murals, what a waste!
Reached our lovely cabins: AAA Granary Accommodation. It was super nice. Had everything we needed! Cooked dinner, did our laundry, dried our shoes (!!! ^_^ b ) and watched a travel show on Tasmania on DVD.
Day 5:
Beautiful morning! Opened the dining room curtain to reveal the best view ever! Mount Roland and Cradle Mountain, picturesque! Might be one of the prettiest breakfast (literally) I ever had.
Weather turned cloudier and cloudier as we headed to Cradle Mountain. It rained and the wind was also joining in. Nasty. And also there was some snowing going on. Nastier... Because we could not see the mountains. They were covered by the dark clouds and fogs. So we waited until the clouds departed for some really fast photo-shooting one can manage.
Were hoping to stay longer because was sure the beauty we saw, was just the tip of the iceberg. But a 4 hours 40 minutes journey awaited us. We had to be in Hobart by 5PM to catch the plane back home. However, had to return back to AAA Granary to use the toilet (Kimi was poo-ing 'wildly'!). No time for a lunch stop so we ate in the car. Hasben had a stomach ache so I had to finish all the food alone.
This time we arrived calmly without any hassles. Managed a second trip to the Royal Botanical Garden (which was also used to wash someone's poo, I might have fed my family some rotten food, ops...). Reached Gold Coast at 10PM and Toowoomba at 1AM. Alhamdulilah, made it home safe. Wishing that I could go again. Tasmania is too beautiful that it hurts (because it is cold, get it?) :o)
(How do you like this kind of narration? Copied it from Marian Keyes' The Charming Man. Am thinking of writing more like this because Marian made it so much fun to read! Hihi...)
Day 1:
Had a last minute meeting with my SV in the morning and miscalculated the ETA to Gold Coast Airport. With traffic jams near the entrance to Toowoomba and in Gold Coast, it could not be any worse! Hasben was trying to drive as 'efficiently' as possible and with constant praying, we made it just in the nick of time to the boarding gate. We were the second last passengers to board the plane. To be honest, I was expecting to be going back to Toowoomba, but... Alhamdulillah... Seriously, we never learn!
Arrived at about 6PM in Hobart. What? The temperature was nearly the same as Toowoomba (which was predicted) but the wind was sooo unexpected! Left my jacket in the car at Gold Coast and the rest of my luggage contained 'spring-y' outfits. The locals were in their winter gears. Bad judgement, again...
Hobart Airport
Picked up our rental car and checked-in to the B&B: Edinburgh Gallery. Was still thankful and a bit awed that we actually made it!
Day 2:
Waiting for Kakak Mimi =D
Morning at Salamanca Market. Wanted to buy some Tasmanian-made stuff but was too expensive. Ended up with some souvenirs, suspected were made in China. Borrowed Hasben's jacket because the Sogo T-shirt was not suitable against the the Antarctic wind... Duh! Felt sorry for Hasben but not sorry enough to return the jacket.
Off to Huon Valley. Spectacular and calming views. Stopped by Vinnies to buy proper warm clothes. Had lunch by the river... Awesome!
Drove up Mount Wellington. Apparently warm clothes from Vinnies were not warm enough! Was having a hard time posing for the camera. Hand and face were at risk of cold burn. Kimi was crying, not suitable for small children. Forced myself to endure the pain for the sake of beautiful scenery... And it started to snow!!! Excited, yes... Tortured, yes...
Back to Hobart in the evening. Was trying to take advantage of coldness to ask Hasben to buy Kathmandu stuff. Crap, store was closed. It was 5PM. Went to Royal Botanic Garden, was also about to close. Managed to pose with orange tulips near the main entrance. Feels that tulips are rare and gorgeous.
Went back to B&B after shopping at Woolies in Hobart city. Cooked microwave dinner. Very challenging. Made countless rounds to the pantry as Hasben watched Shawshank Redemption (hmphhh...) because B&B had only one microwave in the pantry.
Day 3:
Packed up our bags and started our road trip to Launceston. Stopped for pictures on road sides because too many beautiful sceneries!
Prosser River, Orford
Arrived at Coles Bay for lunch near Freycinet National Park. Could not proceed to Wineglass Bay due to time limitations. So sad... Ended up with postcards and fridge magnets...
Next up was Bicheno Blowhole. Maybe not a hole, but more like a drain. However, still impressive.
Sunset at Binalong Bay, Bay of Fires. Was discussing in the car with Hasben, E and Fizi: why 'Fires'? Conclusion: Maybe sunset makes the sea look like its on fire...
Fire-y sea?
Straight to Launceston. Booked the medieval looking hotel: Penny Royal Hotel. Was expecting a castle door like in the reviews, but our room had normal looking doors. But room was modern and pretty. Could not get the stove to run (just my luck) but the microwave was in the room. Yeay!
Day 4:
It was raining since night and continued on till morning. Went to Cataract Gorge which was very close to the hotel. Superb superb view! Went on the Cataract Walk in the rain, had my shoes soaking wet! Wet shoes are the worst!
After checking out, bought food supplies and umbrella at Coles. Went to the city and had a 1-hr parking limit. 30 minutes to find a baby changing room to wash Kimi's poo, and a rushed 30 minutes more to buy jacket at Myer and some souvenirs. Could not find flip-flops. Shoes were still wet!
Stopped at small towns along the way to Mount Roland. Deloraine had pretty houses. And a Vinnies shop. No flip-flops though so ended up with a pair of hotel slippers for $1. Looked ridiculous but had blisters at back of feet due to wet shoes!
Doleraine
Fotografer melampau... =X
Railton Road, Moltema
At Sheffield (not the city in UK), there were many murals - and it was nicknamed Mural Town, very appropriate. Was so sleepy and drowsy (and uncomfortable feet) to explore the murals, what a waste!
Reached our lovely cabins: AAA Granary Accommodation. It was super nice. Had everything we needed! Cooked dinner, did our laundry, dried our shoes (!!! ^_^ b ) and watched a travel show on Tasmania on DVD.
Day 5:
Beautiful morning! Opened the dining room curtain to reveal the best view ever! Mount Roland and Cradle Mountain, picturesque! Might be one of the prettiest breakfast (literally) I ever had.
Weather turned cloudier and cloudier as we headed to Cradle Mountain. It rained and the wind was also joining in. Nasty. And also there was some snowing going on. Nastier... Because we could not see the mountains. They were covered by the dark clouds and fogs. So we waited until the clouds departed for some really fast photo-shooting one can manage.
Snow is falling!
Were hoping to stay longer because was sure the beauty we saw, was just the tip of the iceberg. But a 4 hours 40 minutes journey awaited us. We had to be in Hobart by 5PM to catch the plane back home. However, had to return back to AAA Granary to use the toilet (Kimi was poo-ing 'wildly'!). No time for a lunch stop so we ate in the car. Hasben had a stomach ache so I had to finish all the food alone.
This time we arrived calmly without any hassles. Managed a second trip to the Royal Botanical Garden (which was also used to wash someone's poo, I might have fed my family some rotten food, ops...). Reached Gold Coast at 10PM and Toowoomba at 1AM. Alhamdulilah, made it home safe. Wishing that I could go again. Tasmania is too beautiful that it hurts (because it is cold, get it?) :o)
(How do you like this kind of narration? Copied it from Marian Keyes' The Charming Man. Am thinking of writing more like this because Marian made it so much fun to read! Hihi...)
Comments
p/s: the view were super duper awesome that i envy you to the bitsss:p