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On Boxing Day after watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart sailing race, we hopped on a plane to Hobart, Tasmania (better than traveling 4-5 days at sea!). We'd been looking forward to this trip for a while, so it was great to land and begin exploring a new place. We had the evening in Hobart to walk around and have dinner before heading off the next day up the east coast to the Freycinet Peninsula.

I had reserved a campsite right on Richardson's Beach in Freycinet National Park, which I felt really lucky to get given the campsites are given away via a ballot system for the Christmas/New Year period. We set up camp and enjoyed some local Tassie beer - Moo Brew - on the beach. Mike grilled some steaks/mushrooms/onions for dinner and then we watched the sunset by our tent.

The next day we went on a 12km hike to Wineglass Bay and Hazards Beach. Hazards Beach was empty and the water crystal turquoise blue - it was paradise. We walked the length of the beach in awe at the lack of people during the 'busiest' time of year for tourism in Tasmania. We went down to check out the campsites at the end of the beach and after not much discussion decided this was where we wanted to spend our thrid night.

After returning to our campsite at Richardson's Beach, we jumped in the ocean and then took (cold) showers. We decided to drive up the coast because we did not want to miss seeing the little penguins in Bicheno and the beer drinking pig at Pub in the Paddock in Pyengana - both came highly recommended.

It was a lot of driving for one evening, but so worth it. Feeding the pigs - Priscilla and Priscilla Babe (the younger one) - was hysterical. Priscialla even burped after she slurped the beer down! We did learn that the pig beers are mostly water with a little beer for taste. After eating some pork sausages at the bar (why order anything else?) we headed back down the coast to Bicheno for a 10pm tour to see the little penguins. They come out of the ocean when it gets dark to a grassy area with various burrows to feed their young and sleep. We saw hundreds of the little guys - it was really neat.

The next day we packed up our campsite and put together a few backpacks with gear for our night at Hazards Beach. We arrived after a few hours of hiking (thanks to Mike for carrying the big pack!) and got the prime tent spot. We spent the afternoon swimming, watching the wildlife and walking around. At dusk there were wallabies hopping around and one was pretty bold and got really close to us. It was an increcible camping experience..one we'll never forget.

We ended our trip in Hobart, which was a lot of fun given all the activity on the waterfront from the Sydney to Hobart race. We walked around looking at all the big racing boats and even got to welcome a handful of finishers! The Taste Festival was also going on so we had fun trying local food while sitting outside under the almost full moon on our last night. Hands down, I think it was definitely the best time of year to be in Hobart with all the race activity, food/wine and warm weather.

Tasmania is so pristine..as with the other places we've been, I'd love to see more and wish we could have stayed longer.

Last weekend we traveled to South Australia to enjoy some wine and wildlife! Inspired by a trip that our friends Chris and Jess did about a year ago, we spent time on Kangaroo Island and the Barossa Valley, one of Australia's most famous wine regions. 

We flew Tiger Airways to Adelaide on Friday afternoon. Tiger offers incredibly cheap fares (20-30 dollars), but you definitely get what you pay for.. there's no online check-in and the service is notoriously bad. Oh well, it got us to Adelaide in one piece! After checking into the airport hotel we took the bus into Adelaide to walk around. There really wasn't much to see there as a visitor except for some interesting old buildings and churches and the University of Adelaide was quite pretty. Our favorite part of the city was where we had drinks and dinner - Apothecary 1878, which I had read about it in the Good Food Guide in advance. Mike had an authentic mint julep in a special pewter cup and after drinks we headed down to a brick wine cellar for a yummy dinner.

We had an early flight the next morning to Kangaroo Island, which we were okay with given our motel was slightly creepy. There was a hot tub in the middle of our bedroom and the curtains didn't quite blind the fluorescent sign outside (a la Kenny Rogers Chicken from Seinfeld). We were picked up by our wilderness guide after arriving at Kingscote Airport and within minutes of being on the road we saw a koala in this big dead tree and a black tiger snake (apparently the 4th deadliest in the world, eek!).  Our guide first took us to a forested area where we saw koalas hanging out in the trees. After morning tea we headed to Flinders Chase National Park to see Admirals Arch and the Remarkable Rocks. Then our guide Peter, who has been a sheep farmer on Kangaroo Island for 30 years, made us a delicious BBQ lunch. In the afternoon we ventured to Seal Bay, a nature reserve and breeding area for Australian seal lions...it was cool to get relatively close to these animals.

With temperatures at 37C (99F), we were all pretty hot so we waded into the water at Vivonne Bay, which was rated Australia's best beach 2002. The water was so turquoise blue and amazingly clear! Peter then drove us through his farm on the way to a local sheep dairy where we got a cheese tasting and tour. It was fun to see the sheep's milking routine and understand all the work that goes into producing cheese and yogurt.

After about nine hours of touring we were driven to our B&B called Seascape Lodge. It was a wondeful place overlooking Emu Bay. After we went swimming at the beach, we had drinks on the deck and the owners made us a three course meal followed by a yummy brekkie the next morning. We felt very spoiled and it was difficult to leave and get on the plane again.

Although, after getting back to Adelaide the fun didn't stop! We drove about an hour out of the city to the Barossa Valley. We visited four fabulous wineries, Two Hands, Hentley Farm, Rockford and Turkey Flat. A lot of the wineries had a really nice rose, which I was loving given the weather. Our accomodation was a self catering little cottage originally built by German emigrants in the mid 1800's. Mike killed a HUGE spider right when we got there, so I was a bit worried about the bug situation the whole time.

The next day we visited two more wineries, Bethany and Teusner. Teusner doesn't have a cellar door so we had a private tasting in the wine production area and liked it so much we purchased a case. On the recommendation of Chris and Jessica, we drove about 30 minutes outside of the Barossa to Wombat Rise, an animal sanctuary for injured or orphaned wildlife.  They had lots of birds including Galahs, Cockatoos, Kookaburas and Owls plus twenty kangaroos, several wombats and more. I got to cuddle a wombat and play with several young kangaroos!

It was a busy weekend, but I feel like we really saw a lot and had some unforgettable experiences. You'll see in the photos that Mike has some facial hair.. nope he didn't forget to shave, he's growing a mustache (aka mo) for Movember. More to come.

Last Sunday we checked out Sculpture by the Sea, a display of over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and around the world on the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. Set against such a beautiful backdrop, all the sculptures seemed pretty incredible. We'd never seen such a cool fusion of art and the outdoors, plus it was perfect photography material for Mike. Hope you like the pictures.  

Over the weekend we also went to two Halloween parties and a Mexican Fiesta. Friday night we decorated cupcakes and ate lots of candy, Saturday we carved pumpkins and watched an awesomely bad scary movie about genetically altered sheep in NZ (thanks Jennie and Thor) and Sunday after the sculpture walk we took care of our appetites with homemade fajitas and margaritas at Chris and Jessica's place. We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends here!

I've wondered why the handful of islands in Sydney Harbour aren't more accessable to the public. I mean, these are cool bits of land with amazing views! Obviously others have been thinking the same because this year a special Island Hopping tour was announced as part of the annual Crave festival. With the purchase of a ticket, we got to access four islands (Fort Denison, Shark Island, Garden Island and Clark Island) via a special ferry service. On each island we had about 40 minutes to explore, eat a picnic and enjoy some of the entertainment, which was pretty hokey to be honest. You'll see in one of the pics that a lady with a crazy puppet animal seriously invaded my personal space while I was enjoying my sandwich. When swatting it away I was told to give it 'respect'..uh what? Show me some respect! Anyhow, the weather actually cooperated for the first time in a very rainy week and it was a great way to get outside, spend time with friends and see four islands in one day -- something that would be nearly impossible to do on our own with regular ferry service.  Next up, the Night Noodle Market in Hyde Park! It's apparently an October tradition as part of the Intnl Food Festival that Sydneysiders look forward to and associate with Springtime. Yay!

One of the first things we planned after arriving in Australia was a ski holiday to New Zealand. Skiing in August in the Southern Hemisphere was something we just couldn't pass up..  I booked the trip after some internet research and a few hours with a Lonely Planet guide, so I was pleased that everything turned out great! Well, everything but the snow conditions. It had been several weeks since the South Island had seen snow, so we had spring conditions for 3 of 4 ski days. The last day we enjoyed powder as it snowed about 20 cm. the night before.

For those interested in the play by play summary, read on.

We flew Air New Zealand direct to Queenstown, which was so worth it. Going via Christchurch would have added a lot of extra driving to an already short trip. After 3 hours and a hot meal on the plane (which I don't think I've had on a short flight since I was 12 or so), we descended upon the South Island and the scenery from the plane was incredible..seemingly endless snow topped mountain ranges, fiords and lakes. After arriving we picked up our rental car from Nationwide, which was a groovy hot blue 4WD Suburu. It turned out to be a perfect car for the trip.

We then headed into Queenstown and checked into Browns Boutique Hotel, a really cute B&B on the edge of town that I had discovered on Trip Advisor. After we got our rental gear squared away, we had a fun night having drinks at the Bunker and pizza at the Cow, a popular eatery in an old stone milking shed from the 1800's. The next day we skied at Coronet Peak, which is only a 20 minute drive on a sealed road from Queenstown. After a full day of skiing, we played mini golf in our Uggs and then headed to battle the crowds at the famous Fergburger. At $12 a pop it was no In n' Out burger, but it was still really good.

The next day we headed up a steep and curvy dirt road to ski at The Remarkables, a small resort with 3 lifts. We couldn't imagine driving that road if there was ANY weather or frost, it was pretty treacherous. We did some skiing and watched freestyle skiers practice for the Winter Games. The highlight I think was our "Snag" sandwiches. For some reason sausage in airy white bread tasted SO good! That evening we had a bottle of wine in front of the roaring fire at Browns that Donald McDonald, one of the inn keepers, kept stoking for us. And yes, I enjoyed saying his name..Donald McDonald.

Since we were in the adventure capitol of the world and had no desire to bungy jump or sky dive, we decided to do the Shotover Jet Boat ride. Shotover Jet has exclusive access to a really cool part of the Shotover River with high cliffs on either side. The ride was so thrilling..it's sort of hard to describe, so we've posted a video below. After our action packed morning we packed up and drove to Wanaka, about 45 minutes north of Queenstown. The incredible scenery continued..there seemed to be a beautiful vista, field with sheep or snow peak around every corner. Amazing! We skiied for about an hour and a half that afternoon at Treble Cone, which was defintely the best ski area out of the 3 we tried. It had a lot of accessable terrain that was all pretty advanced. We really enjoyed skiing there on our last day with powder and blue sky, although  Mike was kicking himself that he didn't go heli-skiing that day.

In Wanaka we stayed at a B&B called Wanaka Homestead. It was built within the last few years and the buildings were a beautiful combination of stonework and dark wood. We got upgraded from a lodge room to a "cottage" so we ended up with lots of space to spread out. As a little birthday treat, we even had a massage therapist come to our cottage. It felt so great after days of skiing. The town of Wanaka was much smaller and quieter than Queenstown and a nice change of pace. We ate at two really good restaurants while there, Missy's (where we saw Shaun White!) and Relishes. We drank some wonderful Pinot Noirs, as that area of New Zealand (the Otago region) is known for that varietal. It tasted so delicious with all the meat we were eating like lamb, venison and steak!

After 5 days in Queenstown and Wanaka we both felt we'd just scratched the surface of New Zealand. I'd love to go back during another time of year and spend time driving in a Campervan around the country.