Eastern States escape

Dear all

Thank goodness for Qantas Club.

Got into Sydney and waited for your flight. Went to the departure gate and after milling around for a little while was advised there would be a slight delay. So off to the nearest coffee shop and waited there for a while.

A further announcement said there would be a delay of about an hour and a half. Not a bad thing really. I'd rather they find electrical glitches prior to taking off rather than in the air. So the consequence of this was, we got in about 2 hours later than we should have. Never mind. The perils of travel.

Will be loading the last of the piccies on today.

Take care all

Till next travel time.

Cheers

Bee and Ron

Hi All

This will most likely be the last entry to the blog. At this point we are sitting in Qantas Club Sydney on the way home. Our plane leaves about 15:00 Sydney time and we should be back in Perth 17:00 (local time)

Looking forward to getting home and seeing Aleena. Here's hoping she didn't get too happy with the care by Steve. Not taking anything away from Steve. I'm sure all went well or at least that's what was indicated whilst we were away.

Yesterday we cruised into Hobart and checked out the town. Nice place. Very quiet compared to Perth but lots more to see there. At least Tassie seems to have kept all its heritage instead of tearing it all down.

Had a look at Salamanca Place and some of the tall ships tied up at the docks. Also went on a Harbour cruise on an old ferry. Our host at the B&B was horrified when I told her we went on the old Red and White ferry. Her first question was "did you eat anything?" I must admit, when I had my first look at the Ferry I did think it was run by "dodgy brothers" and was grateful I could at least swim. Anyway, we made it back with no dramas. So a little tip if you go to Tassie. Steer clear of Captain Fells Ferry Cruises!

Anyway. Will load on more piccies from yesterday after we get home. The PC runs just a little faster than my Netbook and I want to be able sort them a little better too.

Cheers all

Bee and Ron

Dear All

Arrived back in Hobart. Drive down from Strahan was thankfully uneventful although all the bends in those roads made life just a little interesting. Nearly got run off the road by a truck who really was speeding up a hill and on very narrow twisty roads. All I could see in the rear view mirrow was the grille of the truck. Needless to say, I took the easy way out and pulled over to let him go through. I truly didn't feel like trying to keep up with him.

The GPS we hired nearly wound up in the Derwent River!. Stupid thing. I had two choices of King Street and I chose the one which I had originally chosen to get us to the B&B before. However this time, it decided to have fun with Bee and took us smack into the middle of Hobart City and then refused to recalculate to get us to the B&B. Managed to back track on our own and find the place. Never mind. All in the fun of touring.

Tomorrow will go back into Hobart but probably by water taxi. I don't particularly wish to try to get a hire car into the city and park. I know!. No spririt of adventure!

Anyway. Will load some more piccies on today.

Cheers

Bee and Ron

I'd made arrangements to be called if there were 2 other people interested in taking the same tour with us on the Helicopter. Reason being they like to take a full load and it keeps the costs down for all concerned. Got a phone call at 08:10 advising 2 other people were interested and could we be there by about 09:00. Well breakfast was consumed at lightning speed and I managed to get the last parking spot on the wharf at Strahan. Clearly this was meant to be.

We were briefed on the helicopter and got underway. OH MY GOODNESS! Ron reckoned every time he turned around to look, I had this major head swallowing grin plastered on to my face! With a few Ya Hoos thrown into the equation, especially whilst following the King River Gorge at about 30 feet off the ground, it was a mind bendingly wonderful trip. We also had a look at the Teepookanna viewing platform and stands of Huon pine which looked out to the coast near Hells gates. Just fantastic. The pilot also followed the train line between Queenstown and Strahan and you could really see how difficult this line was to construct hugging cliff sides and straddling creeks and rivers. Really difficult to put it into words really. I had trouble getting out of the helicopter. Mainly because I had my fingers wrapped around the door handle not wanting to open it to get out (not really but I didn't want to get out, I wanted to see more).

Also went on a harbour/river cruise to Sara Island, fish farms and up the Gordon River. All spectacular!

We'll have to come back.

Will load more piccies out soon.

We pack up today and head back to Hobart. Hopefully I'll have a bit more time to get the piccies up.

Take care

Cheers

Bee and Ron

Dear All

We went on the Wilderness Railway train trip today and it was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

The train itself has such history and the people working on the tour all seem to be so good at what they do. We were really well looked after.

Will put some more photos up on the blog.

If you come to Tasmania, it is well worth the visit to Strahan and having a trip on the train.

Cheers

Bee and Ron