Tasmania - July 2008

In July 2008, we headed to Tasmania for 8 days. I have always wanted to visit Tasmania having heard that it is scenic. While it is only a small island, 8 days was simply too short to cover the whole island. We concentrated on Launceston, the East Coast and Hobart.
Days 1 & 2: Launceston
We flew into Launceston (Tasmania's second largest city and Australia's third oldest city) via Melbourne. Approaching Launceston, I could see a lot of farmland below, and I wondered if I was flying into another Canterbury-like area.

	The airport in Launceston is fairly small; so small that we actually picked up our luggage straight off a luggage trolley. I was slightly bemused and thought "was it not a CITY that i was flying into?" We didn't do much else on Day 1 apart from roaming the CBD. Plus, the heaters at our accommodation (Launceston Backpackers) didn't come on until the evening.
	On Day 2, we went off to Cataract Gorge. It only took us 10 minutes to walk to Kings Bridge from our accommodation. It was amazing to see "wilderness" so close to a CBD.
	We opted for the easier walk i.e. following the pathway beside the northern cliffs to the First Basin. An alternative would be to follow the Zig Zag Track which goes up to the top of the southern cliffs.
	It took us a further 25 minutes (with plenty of photo stops) to get to the Gorge Restaurant from the Kings Bridge. View of the Gorge from the Gorge Restaurant, where we stopped for morning tea. Despite the tranquil atmosphere, I didn't fully enjoy the morning tea because I was busy trying to avoid a roaming peacock.
	View of the First Basin and the suspension bridge (which was closed at the time I was there). Spent the rest of Day 2 in the CBD.

Day 3: St Helens - Binnalong Bay
On Day 3, we picked up our rental car and began our journey to the East Coast. The original intention was to drive to St Helens via Scottsdale (Route A3), but our GPS unit directed us to St Helens via Route A4 instead. We learnt to be more specific with the unit thereon.

	St Helens is a fishing port and the largest town on the East Coast. What we were unprepared for was that there was no cellphone coverage (through Vodafone Australia) here.
	After checking into our accommodation (Sweetwater Villas), we headed to Binnalong Bay (approximately 10 kms north east of St Helens) to enjoy the white beaches...
	... and red lichen-covered rocks.
	Finally, it was time to leave Mr Sandman and the white beaches and head back to St Helens. There are not too many shops in town that are open for dinner. So, we ordered takeaway from a public phone in town. Even more surprised when we ended up picking the takeways from a rather posh hotel/resort in town.

Day 4: Mt Elephant - Freycinet Peninsula - Swansea
We left St Helens and headed towards Elephant Pass to try the pancakes which I've read so many good reviews of. After a dizzying ride uphill (or perhaps because I was behind the wheel?), we finally arrived there. The pancakes are excellent and the shop is full of character. Doesn't matter so much the ride was dizzying. After filling ourselves up with pancakes, we continued our drive to Freycinet Peninsula. The roads are narrower than what I am used to and had to be on constant alert for dead baby wallabies in the middle of the road.

	When we arrived, there were low clouds about. We were directed to Cape Tourville for a 20 mins circuit walk to enjoy the coastal view and check whether the view of Wineglass Bay would be affected by the low clouds.
	After Cape Tourville, we decided to proceed with the walk to the Wineglass Bay Lookout. We were greeted by these roaming baby wallabies in the carpark, and we saw a couple more during our walk.
	After recording our trip intentions in the logbook (so that searchers can locate us in case we went missing), we started our journey uphill.
	After 45 minutes of uphill walking (and a few rest stops for me to catch my breath), we arrived at the lookout!!! The walk to the bay itself would have taken another hour (return), but we were running out of time, so I had to be satisfied with the view from the lookout.
	A different view from the lookout...
	On our drive out, we managed to stop over at Honeymoon Bay, which I thought is a lovely place and worth a visit.
	Another view of the same bay...
	We also stopped by Richardsons Beach - recommended by the visitor centre for a view of the Hazards. It would have been nice to linger around but the sun was starting to set, and we thought it was best to continue our drive to Swansea before it gets too dark.

Day 5: Port Arthur

	We managed to visit Schouten Beach which is right behind our accommodation (Swansea Holiday Park) before we left. The beach is lovely and I instantly regretted not having an extra day here. There is also a coastal walking track with an interesting name( Look.tite.ter.mair.re.le.hoin.er) nearby which we had to miss.
	Port Arthur Historic Site (convict era site) has over 30 historic buildings and ruins, although the most photographed building is perhaps the Penitentiary (in the pic).
	The inside of the Penitentiary. Given the history of the place, it felt slightly spooky exploring the buildings. I've to admit I went through the pictures taken to ensure there were nothing strange in them (perhaps I've just watched too many of those paranormal activity programmes).
	Our entrance pass included a harbour cruise which took us past this Isle of the Dead cemetery.
	View of Port Arthur site from the Mason Cove... The entry pass was for two consecutive days so we came back for a while the following day to cover some of the other buildings. Overnight at Port Arthur Caravan and Cabin Park.

Day 6: Eaglehawk Neck - Hobart
On the way from Port Arthur to Hobart, we stopped by Eaglehawk Neck, an isthmus flanked by Norfolk Bay and Pirates Bay. In colonial times, the isthmus was guarded by ferocious dogs to ensure no convicts escaped from Port Arthur. There are several geological features around this area.

	Blowhole
	Tasman's Arch
	Tessellated Pavement - natural occurring inter-tidal rock platform
	Dootown - the houses and shacks in this area have names which contain "Doo" e.g. "Doo Little", "Love Me Doo" etc. - it was interesting.

After exploring the Eaglehawk Neck for much of the morning, we drove on to Hobart. Back to civilisation - we got our cellphone reception back!
Days 7 & 8: Hobart
Hobart was a slightly bigger than I anticipated and I was happy to get rid of the rental car here. I found it too stressful trying to navigate around a city and trying to find a park for the car. We initially stayed at the Central City Backpackers (which was an excellent base to explore the CBD) before moving to the Mercure (for some good comfortable sleeps before heading to WYD). Some sights around Hobart:

	View from Constitution Dock.
	View from Constitution Dock.
	Arthur's Circus at Battery Point - a circle of cottages built around a village green.
	Salamanca Market - We managed to fit in a trip to the market, which is only held on Saturdays, before boarding a bus back to Launceston.

Haast & Wanaka - June 2008

We travelled to Haast & Lake Wanaka through the West Coast. This trip is similar to the one I took in December 2007, except we stopped at slightly different places. The scenery is slightly different as well, given the different seasons. West Coast is cloudy (luckily not rainy this time). We spent 10-15 minutes killing sandflies everytime we stop to take pictures - in the end, we were contented just driving past and admiring the scenery from the car.

	Hokitika (approx 255km from Christchurch) - We decided to stop by at Cafe de Paris for brunch (food was very nice there) and drive around Hokitika afterwards. Stumbled upon this concrete boat structure...
	Lake Ianthe (approx 55km from Hokitika) - quiet and amazing reflections...
	View of Fox Glacier from the the lookout - I still think a walk to the terminal of the glacier (one hour return) is more worthwhile, that's if you have plenty of time.
	Bruce Bay (approx 220km from Hokitika)
	View from Knights Point (approx 270kms from Hokitika)
	Haast township - The town is very remote and small. We stopped to grab a bite before trucking on to Hawea and Wanaka. The drive from Wanaka to Haast is scenic, but it was getting a bit dark to take pictures.
	By the time we reached Wanaka, the meter tells us we have driven 707kms! View from Apartment 166 Beacon Point, Wanaka (where we stayed)
	Another view of Lake Wanaka... we saw the lake from at least three different sides during the entire weekend.
	View from Cadrona range (between Wanaka & Queenstown)

Lake Tekapo - April 2008

We had some relatives visiting from overseas in April and what better place to take them than Lake Tekapo! :) Instead of posting more pictures of the lakes, I thought I'll post pictures of some of the other places we managed to fit in on our trip.

	The Tin Shed - a shop selling woolen goods and other souvenirs on the way to Lake Tekapo. From memory, the shed is located after the turn-off from State Highway 1, on the way to Geraldine. There is a farm at the back with alpacas, ponies, kunekune pigs etc.
	The holiday home we rented in Lake Tekapo (the Arosa Lodge) - it was very homely.
	Our trip to Lake Tekapo usually involves a drive to this salmon farm, where we get our salmon and sashimi from.
	Meridian Energy Power Station

Bangkok - December 2007 / January 2008

We spent about 5 days in Bangkok. Overall, I was impressed by the culture, the achitecture and design of certain buildings, the river/canals as well as the Thais' reverence for their royal family. By the way, I found out that Bangkok's actual name in Thai is Krungthepmahanakorn Amornrattanakosin Mahinthrayuthaya Mahadilokpob Noparat Rajataniburirom Udomrajanivej Mahasatharn Amornpimarn Awatarnsatis Sakatadtiya Wisanukamprasit.
Day 1
Checked into Trinity Silom hotel and took a ferry and tuk-tuk to dinner.

	View while waiting for the ferry to take us across the Chao Phraya river...
	The other tuk-tuk...
	View from the restaurant courtyard...

Day 2
We chartered a boat (pic below) near the Saphan Taksin sky train station for approx 2000 bahts to take us on a cruise for 2 hours. It was simply amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. Some sights along the way: We stopped by an orchid farm along the way... ...and a small floating market (Taling Chan Floating Market)- I have always wanted to visit one since I was ten. We had to wait for one of the canals to open up (can't quite remember why) so we decided to tuck into our food. At the end, the boat landed at one of the stalls by the river (had to pay a small landing fee) and we ventured off to the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaeo). Interestingly, I found that that the 24-inch image of Buddha is not really made of emerald but of a single piece of jasper. There are three different sets of gold clothing, which are changed by the King of Thailand in a ceremony at the changing of the seasons - hot season, rainy season, and cool season.
Day 3
Shopping and Thai foot massage - my feet were so relaxed I thought they have gone to sleep.
Day 4
Chartered a "taxi" for approx 200 bahts to take us to the Ancient City (Muang Boran). The park is roughly in the shape of Thailand and reproduces (on a smaller scale) important buildings from around Thailand. The entrance fee is reasonable and I thought the trip was worthwhile.
Day 5
Visited the Dusit Palace complex which houses the Vivanmek Mansion (largest golden teakwood mansion in the world) and the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall (impressive Italian architecture masterpiece). Would definitely like to revisit Bangkok another time.