Oceania Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Perth 2015 Day 2 – Fremantle and Watertown

Posted on August 7, 2015September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Alarm went off at 8am but I only managed to get up 15mins later. The previous night sleep was interrupted by baby crying and waking up a few times, maybe due to unfamiliar available space on the huge King size bed. Left my wife and son to continue their sleep while I did some wash up in the kitchenette.

pano at Perth hotel_Fotor — View from our living room.

Sore throat was making me really sleepy and this frustrated me more when baby K woke up and required entertaining. While my wife heated up the pastries we bought for breakfast and prepared cooked pasta with salmon, carrots and vegetables for baby K, I bathed baby K in the tub. Now that he could sit upright, it was slightly easier to bath him. I was concerned he could catch a cold after the bath as it was still winter so I had to dry him double quick after coming out from the bath.

Went down to my car to move it and park at another location as the carpark was 3P 8am-6pm Mon-Fri. I only bought parking time till 10am so I had it extended till 1230pm, not knowing when we could be ready.

The difference between the Europe trip and this was that baby K preferred solids now. So preparation for his meals required more time and effort, rather than purely breast milk diet.

By the time we left, it was already 12noon and the sink was filled with used pots and pans for cooking and plates and cups from our breakfast.

Today our visit was to Fremantle. The GPS directed us to the multistory Queensgate carpark, right next to the Fremantle markets that we wanted to visit. We had to establish our bearings first and headed to the Town Hall where there was a map showing the various tourist attractions. Took a photo of it before walking towards the Fremantle markets.

It was quite a medium sized market with the fresh fruits near the entrance. It was interesting to realise that these stalls were mostly ran by Asians. Moving further in, we saw a mixture of foodstuff and crafts stalls and also souvenirs. It was also here that I met a friend who had also came to Perth for the long weekend.

Huge area selling a variety of stuff, from food to accessories.

Couldn’t decide what we wanted to eat, we left and ate at Fiesta cafe, ran by a Vietnamese family. Had burger and sandwich before going back to the carpark when it times for my wife to express while I kept baby K entertained.

Our lunch. — Tasty sandwiches for our lunch.

As baby K got cranky due to tiredness but refuse to sleep, there was no other choice but to wait till my wife was ready and strapped him onto the Ergobaby where he dozed off.

Next as we walked towards Victoria Harbour, we stopped by a shop Best & Less that had a wide variety of babies and kids clothing at very affordable prices. Continuing on, we arrives at the train station and took a picture of it. Then crossing the tracks, we visited another market, E Shed market, converted from previous warehouse buildings. Nearby there was the B Shed building that sold cruise to the Rottnest island, but we weren’t going though.

The E Shed looked bigger in building size but was in fact having less shops opened. We didn’t take long before leaving, having bought a baby tee for baby K. It had pretty clean toilet though.

View of the Fremantle port. — View of the Fremantle port, characterised by the cranes.

Fremantle prison was one attraction in Fremantle but I thought we wouldn’t be able appreciate fully with baby K around so I decided to give it a miss.

Drove to the last destination in the form of outlet shopping, at Watertown. As it was Friday, there was extended opening hours till 9pm, where the rest of the days had much earlier closing hours. Most of the shops there were sports brands such as Adidas and Fila. There was a Pumpkin Patch store but my wife didn’t like the stuff there. There was cotton on and Forever New. Disappointingly, no higher end luxury products. Quiksilver was at the usual 70% off for the broad shorts which I found the most worth the visit.

We returned to the car for milk expression and baby K dinner before deciding to eat at the Chinese Canton in Watertown. The “Cai Peng” was 3 times the cost in Singapore. I settled for huge bowl of wanton noodle while my wife had Phad Thai, for a touristy price. It was here that I met another friend of mine. Perth seemed like a perfect getaway from Singaporeans.

Chinese Canton selling mixed rice and Thai cuisine.

Shopped a bit more till the shop closed. Paid $10 for parking and took 30mins to return, having missed a few turns.

As I returned to the hotel carpark, it was fully occupied. Made a detour and parked at one of the smaller roads, not too far away from the hotel entrance and returned to our room, bags and all.

A nice surprise awaited us to find that all the dishes was cleaned by the service staff, with the exception of one bowl filled with leftover baby pasta. Then it was all about cleaning baby bottles, pumps and feeding and changing clothes for the baby. Lights off at 1230am, a little later than yesterday.

Perth 2015 Day 1 – Arrival into cold Perth

Posted on August 6, 2015September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Scooting to Perth for a getaway one day ahead of the super long jubilee weekend. We went earlier to the airport in order to get some photo moments with the food exhibits that Singaporeans love. In the public areas was a huge durian one that our family busied ourselves with.

Checked in at Scoot counter was fast as we have booked the Scootbiz. After we were done with makan session of baby K, which was porridge kept in a thermos, we went through immigrations. There were also smaller exhibits after that such as the chicken rice and the roti prata. Baby K snoozed in the Ergobaby till we boarded the plane.

Technical fault hit the plane and while the engineers worked on it, the electricity was out, leaving the plane slightly stuffy. Afternoon fly time was usually busy and we queued for take off before the showers could come down.

Scootbiz offered a generous amount of leg and butt space, perfect for kids towing parents such as us. The windows shade were even technologically advanced, dimming with just a touch of a button. Fed baby K with whatever was left in the thermos and some mineral water as he seemed thirsty. I had to entertain the baby while my wife went on to express milk, taking advantage of the power point socket provided on the biz seats.

Our meals were served in plastic containers, warm but the quantity was seriously little, for the pasta at least. Meals came with small Toblerone, which I thought was quite excessive. Took turns to eat as expected.

Baby K fell asleep after some time in my wife’s arms and so I took some time to snooze. It was short lived though.

Nearing the end of the flight, I had to bring baby K to walk around as he was getting cranky due to boredom. As the flight descended into Perth, sunset in the horizon darkened to night.

Being in Biz enabled us to disembarked quickly, hitting a short queue at the immigrations. The main line was actually after the luggage claim where there was already 4 levels of people snaking through to get out of the arrival hall. The snaking line built up was due to checks to prevent bringing in of illegal stuff like food or animals and the coincidental arrival of 3 aircrafts. It was a good 20mins of queuing and randomly, we were selected to get sniffed by sniffer dogs (the lucky ones could head straight for the exit).

As we exited the small airport, I called Aries rental for the delivery of my car that was reserved online. We were informed to wait for the car’s arrival where she would call again. Then we met on the road after coming out of the arrival hall and to the left after crossing the road at the traffic light. We took the waiting time to buy some pastries for dinner, ham and cheese croissant and bacon egg muffin.

After picking up the car from the road from the lady, with some small displeasure from the airport staff, I was given the instructions on how to return the car and the fees that was charged to the car. The Nissan Micra was a rather small car but we managed to put in the not so big luggage of ours. It came with a forward facing baby seat which looked more comfy than the ones we had in Europe. I punched in the destination on the rented GPS and head to Fraser Suites Perth, 20mins away.

Driving was rather easy at night, without many cars around. The place looked pretty dead to me, all the shops seemed closed. As we arrived at the driveway, the hotel staff came out to help us with the luggage. Checked in pretty quickly and we were brought to our warm and modernly designed one bedroom apartment on the 13th floor, which was huge and had a not too bad view. Bathroom came with a tub and luxurious Loccitane bathing amenities.

Quickly we ate the delicious pastries and after repacking, we went to the IGA supermarket at Royal street to buy foodstuff for brekkie and for baby. Went back to the hotel and thereafter, I went to search for affordable car park since the hotel charged $30 per day, where the starting time was 1pm and it was really worth for me to park there since from 6pm, parking was free.

The road just opposite the hotel seemed ok till I read the no parking from 730-9am. I double confirmed with the hotel staff and he recommended that I go to the street on the left side of the hotel. There was quite an area of carpark but mostly full. I managed to get one, paid $7.20 using credit card on the machine to park till 10am ($3.60/hr).

Walked back to the hotel and it was back to baby related activities. First it was to clean him up since he was out the whole day, then it was cleaning up the bottles and sterilising them. Then feeding baby K with bananas we bought from IGA and then feeding him milk and entertaining him till my wife comes out from the shower to put him to sleep.

We were taking it easy for this trip so the first day was really for settling in. Lights off at 12midnight.

Escape plan to Perth August 2015

Posted on August 5, 2015June 24, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Perth 2015:

Total duration 5D4N
Singapore is in the same time zone as Perth.
Flight time is 5hrs on Scoot from Singapore to Perth. Return flight on Qantas is 5hrs 20mins from Perth to Singapore

Afternoon flight on 6th August at 12:30pm and arrival in Perth at 5:25pm.
Return flight is on the 10th August at 12pm and arrival in Singapore at 5:20pm.

Day 1 Arrival at Perth
Day 2 Fremantle markets and Watertown
Day 3 Perth City
Day 4 Caversham Wildlife Park and King’s park
Day 5 Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was to make full use of the super long golden jubilee weekend in celebrations of SG50. We chose to go south instead of north because it would be cooler in the south during this period. The available flights that were under 6hrs was to Perth and since we had’t been there before, this was the opportunity.

Budget nature: Highest rate of Sing vs Aussie dollars made trip of value.

Travelling during this period was expected to be expensive in terms of airfares. That was also the reason for us to travel in Scootbiz since there weren’t much difference ($100) between the economy with the add ons and the biz. Also, Qantas return provided a better timing with a slightly higher charge vs Scoot.

Buying stuff in Aussie was much easier on the pockets given the almost 1:1 exchange rate. With the TRS, buying stuff that allowed tax refund almost guarantee a 10% discount compared to Singapore.

Complexity: Perth was easy to get around in a car.

Driving in Perth was pretty straight forward since it was not a big city comparatively and far less people and cars. Parking was quite easy to find and multi-storey ones were available at the malls. Carparks were nonetheless expensive.

Sydney 2014 Day 18 – Home Sweet Home

Posted on August 11, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Woke up at 8am as there weren’t anything planned for this day, only activity was to get on the plane back to Singapore. There was’t breakfast included and thus we had to rely on the Tim Tam that we purchased some days back. Prepared and checked out at 930am where we were given the tickets to the shuttle and paid the full $24aud for 2 persons return shuttle trip. Boarded the Sydney Super Shuttle to the international airport at 940am.

The trip to the airport was real quick about 10 mins max and we went direct to the check in counter of Scoot. the line was pretty long and there were only 3 active counters handling the crowd. It only improved after 1015am where 3 more counters opened up for check in. Concerned with the really long queue that we faced since the last Sydney trip, we went through departures only to find that there wasn’t a queue at the immigration at all, I wondered what happened to see this remarkable improvement. Going through the customs were was a little bit longer but still it was fast.

Did a little shopping at duty free and bought some standard take home gifts of nougats and had lunch at the same Itacho restaurant that we did the previous trip. Was thinking of getting some Aussie stuff like Merino jackets but they were way off budget.

Boarding was quick although this was a huge 777 but the plane was eventually delayed for 1 hour by some passenger who was either very late or didn’t board at all, but I wasn’t aware of what really happened as I have fallen asleep. Long flight home was smooth overall.

This trip was planned as the final long haul before the arrival of our little one. Figured that it would not be easy to travel again, earliest being 2015, this was also planned with more relaxation in mind since it was not as easy for my preggy wife to move about. Overall we enjoyed this trip nonetheless.

Tasmania 2014 Day 17 – Platypus house, Sunday Market, City Park and Launceston town

Posted on August 10, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Our last day in Tassie and we had to make it count. Got up for breakfast just downstairs. There were some cereal and bread and juices. There was also cooked breakfast consisting of 2 sunny-side-up, bacon, tomato and a slice of bread.

Breakfast at Fiona's. — Breakfast at Fiona’s.

We left our luggage with reception and was stored at the garage. Then we drove to the Sunday market 5mins away to have a look. The market was only starting at 9am and some of the stall owners were just starting to open up their stalls. There were many varieties of 2nd hand stuff on sale, like a flea market, from DVDs, clothes, toys, books, porcelain and tools. Only bought a soft toy for 50cts for the dog at home.

Left after a short walk around as it was still chilly in the morning. Drove an hour out to an area near George Town to visit the Platypus house. On the way, we past through the bridge that ran across the valley, and it was called Batman bridge. Snapped some photos of it (from a side road that led to the river) before continuing our journey.

The Platypus house was located at port side in warehouse type of building. Parked (free) just outside its entrance, and paid 23aud per pax, we were first shown a room with some posters filled with info and video and exhibits. Thereafter, we were shown a 15mins video on a mini theater. The guide then provided more info before bringing us to see the platypuses, from side glass that could allow for visitors to see them dive into the water to search for food. Didn’t know they were such small creatures! After the feeding show and more info, we were shown the biggest platypus in Tasmania, and he was just slightly bigger. We were given a chance to feed him with the live insects such as earthworms and maggots but we politely declined and have the guide do the feeding.

The biggest platypus in Tassie? Small fellow still.

She continued the tour with feeding of Echidas, and we were brought to a room where they could roam around. It was just entertaining to see them move around us. It was here that I realized that these creatures were different from porcupines.

We drove back to Launceston and parked slightly outside the main shopping street – Brisbane street. Walked around to find that most shops were actually closed on Sunday. The bigger shops like Target and Myer were opened but we just bought some cheap clothes from Target. Ate lunch at Banjo’s, since we had taken lunch there before and knew that they were alright. Ordered some soup and pastries.

Our last stop was the City Park, 2mins drive away. Parked beside the park as there weren’t any fees on Sunday. Walked around the park that was just normal. Went to the Japanese Marques monkey as they were on display in a specific location in the park. Also visited a conservatory in the center of the park but wasn’t particularly interesting.

Went back to pick up our luggage, repacked and drove to the airport. We were slightly earlier than the stated return time. Pumped gas along the street to the car rental streets. As we arrived at the location, we found that the gates were locked and there weren’t anybody around. I had to call the after hours hotline and was told to drive to the first public carpark (P3) on the left of the road from entrance to Launceston airport, pick up the ticket and parked at one of the lots there. Then leave the car unlocked, place the ticket and the car key into the glove compartment and that would be all. There wasn’t anyone to check the car and the fuel level, receive the car at all. Guessed no one cared about the car that much. Was stupid enough not to dropped off the luggage and had to walk a long uneven road with the heavy luggage, and at least 3 calls to understand what to do as there were no signs or instructions on what to do.

Did the same type of check in at the Jetstar kiosk but was informed that the bag drop had not opened as we were too early (more than 2hrs ahead). Waited until it was time and did the bag drop. Later we ate before going through departure gates (as there were much less choices at the gates). Small domestic airport required that we walked in the open to board the plane, and luckily we could moved quickly to board and not require to queue out in the cold. Plane was smooth although the experience could be better without the kid constantly kicking my seat from behind.

After arrival at Sydney airport, we went over to the information counter to enquire on the best way to get to our hotel, Mercure Sydney International Airport.

He told us to go out of the building, turn left and walked all the way to the end, turn right and wait for Sydney Super Shuttle. We did as told and arrived at a shuttle bus bay and luckily, the shuttle bus was there about to go. Talked to the driver and showed him our hotel booking and he confirmed that we could take his bus, 6aud per pax one way and to pay through hotel. 15mins later, we checked in at Mercure, our stopover hotel that only had 30mins free wifi and no breakfast. We were heading home already so it didn’t really matter much. It was a long day and we soon fell asleep.

Tasmania 2014 Day 16 – Penguin, Cataract Gorge and Lauceston

Posted on August 9, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

630am and I woke up and prepared. Wore a heat tec, a shirt, a fleece jacket and a down jacket to defend against the cold. Drove out to the parking lot and started walking on the same track. A few minutes and I saw two pademelon grazing. They really were active at dawn. As I fast march towards my objective, I heard footsteps behind me and saw one of the hotel staff jogged past.

As I went along, I started stripping and soon was left only with my tee and my heat tec as it was getting hot. Not long, I arrived at the bridge where two streams of water meet – Watersmeet. On the bridge, met the staff again who was on his return journey, and he was also down to his tee only. He recommended completing the circuit for the different vegetation but I was more interested in finding the platypus.

Another 15mins and I arrived at the bay, after passing some signs with info on platypus. The little beach didn’t indicate that it was platypus bay and I continued to climb until I reached a junction and the signboard pointing the reverse direction. Went back to that beach front and sat there and wait. Wait. Wait. Ate Tim Tam. Wait. Went back. I tried taking the lakeshore route back from the Fregy’s paddock but saw nothing.

Went back to the cabin and slept in for a bit before showering and checking out. Took our breakfast at the lodge restaurant. Regarding the cruise, we found that the entire trip could take more than 3hrs and we didn’t have enough time since it was a long way back north to Launceston.

Nice warm drinks of hot choco and cappucino.

Since there was some time to spare, we decided to go to a town called Penguin, as my wife really loved penguins. It was about an hour away from Launceston. Drove on the highway and passed through the town of Deloraine and bypassed huge Devonport before arriving at the seaside little town of Penguin. There was a tall statue of a penguin in the park which we took a photo of and then we had lunch before leaving.

View of Penguin town. The giant penguin statue to the right.

Before going to our accommodation, we drove to Cataract Gorge nature reserve to visit the park. Paid for an hour and a half parking (1aud) and bought return tickets for 15aud per person for the chairlift. We were informed that the operation of the chairlift would end at 430pm and that in order not to missed it, 415pm would be the last time for embarkation. If we missed it, it was also a simple 15mins walk back to the carpark.

Taking the chairlift was a scary experience, pretty different from the cable cars that we were used to as there weren’t any enclosures. Even the drop bar that was placed over our laps weren’t secured. But it wasn’t particularly windy and therefore was ok.

Short while later, we were at the other end, having seen the overall park and the bridge across the gorge from a birds eye view. There were many peacocks hanging around the park which was easy walking and a few other longer walks to other place like a museum 20mins away but we didn’t want to do that. There was a few lookout points that were easy to do but weren’t particularly spectacular. Going around took some time and we did missed the return trip back on the chairlift. We took the bridge back to the carpark.

Drove 5mins to Fiona’s B&B and as usual, picked up our keys left on the outside of reception. Ours was a loft that was above the reception and the breakfast area. There was a flight of steps that I had struggled to bring up the luggage. The interesting thing about the room was that there was the window on the ceiling for stargazing (but the cloudy skies) and the nice view of the city from this height. There was free wifi too.

Lazed in the room and connected to the internet world for a while before going for dinner. Chose Indian cuisine for dinner as it was close to the accommodation and also recommended in Tripadvisor.

Turning out onto the main George Street, we entered the Pickled Evenings and was given a seat at a sewing machine table. Ordered mixed vegetables and lamb curry. The portion was quite a bit, we had ordered two bowls of rice when one bowl was more than enough for both of us. The meal did come with a cost though, 75aud in all.

As we walked back, a small drizzle was coming on and luckily, it wasn’t far for us. Arrived in the room a little damp but the room cold insulation made it comfy. It was the usual packing and showering and lazing before we all fell asleep.

Tasmania 2014 Day 15 – Strahan and Lake St. Clair

Posted on August 8, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Another road trip was planned for this day. Packed and checked out of the Highlanders via key drop. Drove to and parked at the parking lot near the Enchanted walk and got out for the enchanted walk circuit, some 10mins away. This was an easy walk, circuit type and 20mins max. It went around vegetation and along a stream before exiting near to another lodge and it was a 5mins walk back up to the carpark. Refreshing though nothing really interesting to see.

Pencil Pine falls that is just minutes away.

Then it was an onward journey to Lake St. Clair, at the southern end of the national park. Drove westward via Zeehan, Strahan and Queenstown before getting to Lake St. Clair. While I mentioned previous day that there weren’t opportunity to drive into “clouds”, we had the opportunity to do so as the road was uphill and downhill, and the fog at the roads nearer to the top of the mountains was thick enough to blind us so much so that the visibility was only about 10meters. Luckily it was only temporary and we were out going downhill towards the town.

On the way to Strahan, took an opportunity to snap a picture of the foggy mountains.

First town of Zeehan was really small (did we miss something?) and therefore we only stopped by the IGA supermarket to get some coffee. Took the opportunity as a break from driving but soon we were on our way to Strahan. Strahan was a town a little bigger than Zeehan and had more lovely old buildings near the jetty where tour cruises to the Gordon river would depart. However, the place wasn’t crowded at all, probably because it was still low season. Went into Gordon River Cruises to ask about the Gordon River cruise that we tried to inquire during our planning few months back but didn’t receive a reply. Informed on the spot that on that day, there was only one trip in the morning at 830am and if we were interested, we had to come back the following day. As we were heading to Lake St. Clair, it was not possible to do that. Continued to move on to the next town.

Strahan visitors' center. — Strahan visitors’ center.

Queenstown was an equally small town like Zeehan and was out of our expectations as compared to the Queenstown in NZ. Planned to have lunch and eventually we did, in a small food store having pies and fish and chips. Didn’t spend much time there as well, continued our drive towards Lake St. Clair.

Fountain dedicated to the mining history of Queenstown.

Our accommodation was Lake St. Clair lodge but wasn’t sure where it was as the GPS pointed a location on the road that was leading to the National park. So we continued to drive on even after the GPS have told us that we have already arrived. It was when we finally reached the visitors center that I realized the lodge was just next to the visitor center. Checked in and was informed that the only places to have dinner was either in the lodge restaurant or the one on the main road, 5km away. We decided on having dinner at the restaurant itself and were told to come back by 6pm, seemed like there weren’t much people around and the restaurant would close earlier if we have finished our dinner.

Drove into to where the cabins were and all the way up to our unit. Control of access and entry was through card key and the cabin had a view of the lake. The cabin was the warmest so far and thus comfortable for us in the cold weather. The bathing accessories provided were from Molton Brown, some good stuff indeed. Only downside was there weren’t any TV.

Fridge underneath sink near the entrance.

Went back to the recept to enquire about the cruise and was told that then only trip of the day was out and if we wanted, we had to pay the full fees of charter, 240aud. There was a cruise that was booked for 11am the next day and if we wanted, we could join that trip for 60aud pp, much cheaper. The ferry service that was used mainly for ferry services were not meant for the cruise trip and therefore they couldn’t allow us to take it like one.

Lake St. Clair visitor's center. — Lake St. Clair visitor’s center.

After leaving the reception, we proceeded to take the track to see what we could do. Trekked to the the viewpoint to the beach which was just 5mins away. After that, we decided to go in the further and about 20mins of slow walk, we arrived at the campsite called Fergy’s paddock, with a little track to the lake as well. The day was still not too dark so we tried to walk in further but stopped before reaching watersmeet as it seemed like it was getting dark and looked too far for my pregnant wife to walk.

We went back to the restaurant after another 30mins and ordered dinner. We weren’t the only people there, there were 2 other couples and a group of four that was also eating there. The staff from Hong Kong was friendly and had a chat with him before we ordered our mains, that arrived in really huge portions, curry chicken and carbonara.

Went back to the cabin and while returning, saw some creatures on the road sides. Snapped a photo and identified these as possums for their pink noses. We retired early for the night as I was intending to walk to Platypus bay to see if I could catch a view of the illusive creature and it had to be done at first light. Furthermore, without tv or wifi, there was really nothing else that could be done then to sleep.

Tasmania 2014 Day 14 – Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

Posted on August 7, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

The day started even earlier today, in anticipation for a really long drive from the east coast of Bicheno to the center of Tasmania, Cradle mountain, some 200km of driving.

We got out of the accommodation and went to Freycinet National Park. We were visiting the Cape Tourville Lighthouse today that featured a 10mins easy short walk that my expectant wife could also do. The drive to the lighthouse was expected curvy and a little difficult but since it was still early, there was no incoming traffic to share the same narrow road in and out to the lighthouse. We parked at the carpark and got onto the walking route that went around the lighthouse, offering views from around the area. The lighthouse was not meant for entry though. The icy cold wind was unbearable after a while and we left.

The GPS brought us onto the highway to a first town called Campbell Town where I got gas and breakfast at Banjo’s Bakery Cafe with pastries and coffee. The town was actually bigger than the other towns that we saw.

Then we continued towards Cradle mountain, the GPS provided directions on the road to different roads that gave us highways or country roads or forestry roads or mountainous narrow roads. Eventually at almost 20km from Cradle Mountain, we stopped and detoured to Deloraine to shop at the supermarket to buy foodstuff for dinner tonight and also to get gas. We also bought take away burgers for lunch.

View of mountain on the way to Cradle mountain

Then it was another hour drive to the end location Cradle Mountain Highlanders, our accommodation for the night in Cradle Mountain National park. We checked in at reception but the room was in the last stages of cleaning up. I finished up what was left of my lunch in the car before proceeding to our villa.

It was an old style wooden walled building with a kitchenette and a fireplace! This gave us an experience of burning wood for heat but we weren’t that used to the burning smell though.

After leaving our luggage in the cabin, we were about to leave when we saw a pademelon near to our car which we parked just in front of the door to our place. Another day of living close to the wild, exciting!

We visited the visitors center and found out that the last bus from Dove Lake out was at 350pm and it was already 3pm. We figured that driving there ourselves would give us more flexibility on time while we were there.

As we were entering the park, we saw a wombat crossing the road, really cute and cuddly. But that also meant that there was a higher density of wildlife all around us. Had to take extra caution in driving into the park, especially when the road was narrow at some places.

Wombat making its way to the side of the road.

The lake was 7km away and it certainly took awhile for us to get there before parking at the parking lot, lots of empty spaces. I registered our names into the log book before we took the walk. There were 2 walks that we were interested, one was to the boat shed and the other was to glacier rock, in 2 opposite directions, for short 20mins return.

Walker's registration. — Walker’s registration.

The initial walk was done in poor weather where drizzling was still ongoing. We arrived at the shed but didn’t see anything interesting. As we returned towards the parking space, the weather started to clear up a little, exposing the snowy peaks. My wife wanted to get some rest so I went alone on the other 10mins route to glacier rock, which was just a huge rock on the side of the lake. The walk here was mostly flat till the last portion where there were some steps. As I arrived, I saw that it was fenced up with a gate. Tried to open the gate following the instructions but to no avail. On the way back saw a couple heading towards the rock and after I was midway back to the carpark, I turned around and saw then standing on the rock! What did I missed, I wondered. Too bad.

Glacier rock on the other side of the lake.

Dove lake with low clouds around the peaks.

Shot a few more photos before heading back as the sun was almost setting. Deregistered and drove out. While on the way, we saw another wombat crossing the road and quickly shot a few photos to captured this cutey as it climbed up the slope into the vegetation. With spring incoming, the greens were also filling up this beautiful national park. While we exit the park, we saw a car parked beside the road and the passengers on the slope. Yup, photographing a wombat. There was one wallaby that was on the side of the road that I didn’t see until I passed it. Talked about close to the wild, that was close!

Back at the accommodation, we lazed on the sofa with a huge blanket watching tv as the fireplace didn’t seemed to provide enough warmth. Tried to put in more firewood and that resulted in a smoky living room. There was internet with 50mb complimentary. Got on Facebook for a while but as I tried to reconnect to google some stuff on the destination the next day, I couldn’t get the signal anymore. Sporadic as informed by reception.

Cooked all the instant dinner we bought from Woolworth and it was very filling. Washed up the dishes and showered. The bathroom had some bulbs that provides some warmth too but it was still pretty cold. Got into bed early, hiding in the blanket with the heating in the room and on the mattress on. Fell asleep minutes later.

Tasmania 2014 Day 13 – Freycinet National Park

Posted on August 6, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Started the day at 7am, washed up and left the accommodation at 8am, having to call the phone number on the reception and was met at the door by the owner. Gave her our feedbacks on the inadequate heating and the spiders, in which the response was that it was probably near spraying time, and that would have gotten rid of the spiders.

Pushed off to our breakfast location where we agreed to have it along the way when we saw one. It was a smooth drive where there weren’t many vehicles around. Soon we got through Eaglehawk neck and arrived at Dunalley, where we saw a Dunalley Bakery opened. Parked outside and dined in, ordering a mushroom and chicken pie and a ham and egg pie, and had one bottled ice coffee to go.

One of the lakes after leaving Mussel boys.

Before long, we were again on our way, getting through Sorell, one of the bigger towns and then to a midway stop at Triabunna and had some coffee at one of the stores (Triabunna Takeaway). Got some gas to full tank before the onward journey to Bicheno, also passing through another big town of Swansea.

Along the way, there were views of natural landscape, some green some brown, some sheep grazing and some cows and a few water bodies. We preferred the road trip in South New Zealand though, as that was filled with more crystal blue lakes, gave us more awe as we drove close to the clouds. But still we enjoyed this solitude of Tasmania.

Arrived at the Bicheno Ocean View Retreat just slightly outside Bicheno town and while at the reception, saw the notice about getting to the unit by ourselves when there was no one around. So we went to our unit 3 indicated on our Agoda hotel voucher. It was a part of a bigger building and it was very nicely decorated, with country style furniture. There was a kitchenette available too and parking was free, just next to the unit. But the best thing about this place was the view of the Maclean Bay. From both the living room and the bedroom we could get the panoramic view of the ocean and the beach, an excellent view!

We didn’t hang around too long and drove back to Bicheno town for lunch. Got into a cafe named Gangsters cafe and ordered some Pink Ling (fish) and Risotto. After lunch, went over to the pharmacy ( very helpful pharmacist provided recommend the drug suitable for pregnant woman) to get some anti constipation meds and then to supermarket to get bananas.

Sent my wife back to the accommodation since she wasn’t feeling well with the constipation and I drove 30km to Coles bay. Coles bay was a small little town, mostly residential and had a jetty where yachts could be launched. It had a nice view of the other side of the island but overall nothing much else.

View from Cole's bay. — View from Cole’s bay.

Drove another few minutes to Freycinet National Park and visited the visitors center. Was informed of the park fees (which I didn’t know) and paid 60Aud for the vehicle that include all park passes for a period of 8weeks, slightly cheaper than individually getting the passes everyday since we were intending of visiting Cradle mountain and lake St Clair too.

Drove another 10mins to Wineglass Bay lookout carpark lot. Once I got out, I saw a few wallabies hanging around the carpark, and approached one to get a photo of it. Afterwards, I began trekking the route towards the lookout, a 1.5hrs return journey.

The route was dirt route but was clear. Most of it was upward sloping and I found it quite physically demanding as I had not been working out at all. I was also trying to go faster since it was already 320pm and that the sun could get too low and that the view would be darker due to that. After 10mins or so of fast walk, I got to the Coles bay lookout, puffing. Took some shots and a few sips of water and it was up and up again, steps and dirt path.

Cole's bay lookout. — Cole’s bay lookout.

Another 10mins or more of fast walk, I finally got to the lookout. There were enough signages along the way to guide to the lookout, and I skipped the other longer route which would bring the walkers to the beach itself. Rested a full 5 mins as I admired the view. There were already 2 groups of people taking photos. After I recovered from the furious breathing, I also got into shooting mode to capture as bright a shot as whatever remaining sunlight could offer. The view wasn’t really the best with the dark clouds in the background not helping but it would do. Stayed for 20mins before my descent.

Going down wasn’t physically demanding but required concentration as well. The loose sand on the ground could be slipping hazard if not careful. Probably took about 15mins to get back to the carpark, and somehow I got back on a route that was different from the one that I took going up. Used the toilet facilities available near the carpark. At the carpark, the wallabies were still around and people were trying to interact with them, taking photos and touching them. I was just worried that my car would hit them as I moved out, so was being really slow and careful that I didn’t do that.

Returned the same way I came and the sun was getting lower as I drove back, sometimes disturbing my visual of the road. By the time I reached our accommodation, it was already close to sunset. The view then was extraordinary, the sun rays giving the view in front of us many facets. I spent a lot of time shooting photos and admiring the beauty presented to my eyes.

Extraordinary colours of the sunset at Bicheno.

Left for Bicheno town for dinner at around 6pm and then the place was already quite dark. Visited the Bicheno Beachfront restaurant that was combined with a bar and a gaming facility and was near Best Western. Ordered and was informed that they do accept credit cards but only with approval through PIN numbers. I didn’t have a PIN number credit card and ended up paying cash. We had scallops and chicken for dinner with pumpkin soup. The portions were really big and I liked the scallops, which was quite bouncy. By the time we finished, we were filled to the brim.

After resting from the dinner and utilising the free but slow wifi (password from the staff), we drove through the dark road back to the accommodation. As I was about to turn into our carpark, I noticed something jumped from afar, pademelons! They were a few meters from our accommodation and were jumping away when they saw our vehicle. Felt amused that we were staying really close to wildlife.

Pademelon seen when we came back from dinner.

The rest of the night was spent resting and watching tv. There were heaters that helped to keep the place comfortable. Blogged this and went to bed, tired and also anticipating the longest drive yet, for tomorrow.

Tasmania 2014 Day 12 – Bonorong and Port Arthur

Posted on August 5, 2014September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Woke up 7am today as it was the start of road trips for this holiday. However we had to get breakfast first, which we found a suggestion on tripadvisor, Jackman and McRoss bakery. It was located at Hamden street, at the Battery point where we visited the day before.

Checked out the lovely hotel and proceeded to the bakery. Luckily we have utilized the GPS as we found out that there were many streets that were just single directional and it would be a problem if we drove into the wrong lane.

Parked at the nearby street where parking was free for an hour (figured the parking symbol since last Sydney trip) and dined in, not so packed at 830am. Ordered the tomato pie and the Eggs Benedict and these were just so delicious! I loved the Eggs Benedict particularly. The home made tomato sauce that accompanied the pie tasted great too, and therefore we also purchased a jar of it (at 6.80aud) to bring home.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary was our first stop, which we arrived after about 30mins of driving. It was unlike the one in Sydney, we had to drive through a short dirt road to get to the entrance of the sanctuary that was located on a gentle slope.

The entrance fee was 25aud per person and we were each given a bag of feed for feeding kangaroos. Entered the sanctuary and headed to the wombat enclosure where we were advised that they had been fed and might be active. Once there, we saw the backside of a wombat still eating away inside a dugout. So we continued on.

There were many enclosures and a couple of them were for birds that were injured and now under rehabilitation. These birds were not shy and would fly close to the cage to have a closer look at me and my camera.

I don't know the bird's name but they looked different. — I don’t know the bird’s name but they looked different.

We walked on to the Kango county where kangaroos were free to roam and we could stay go feed them. We were told that these animals loved to be scratched in between their chests and it was true! Scratching them and seeing them enjoy the scratch was really entertaining. With the feed, we saw kangaroos would approached us voluntarily. Some were even shameless enough to follow you even after being fed. A goose actually came to us too to have some of the feed.

Washed our hands after the feeding and on the way, saw a group that had a staff introduce the koala to them. The koala was brought out of the enclosure and many had the opportunity to touch its butt, we didn’t – done that in Sydney.

Koala taken out of his enclosure for visitors to get close to.

Went looking at Tasmanian devils. There were many enclosures with them, some for older ones and one that had a transparent panel that we saw one lying next to it. Fun to see them walk around and try to take a photo of them yawning.

As we walked back to the entrance after seeing some Emus and spending 1.5 hrs already, we saw a staff conducting a tour and was introducing a small wombat in his arms. We just joined in and heard interesting details about this marsupial and got to touch its butt to feel its cartilage. He went on to the Tasmanian Devil enclosure for the next introduction and we followed as well, and got to see him feed the devil which also drew some of the other devils towards it, and it’s where we saw the devil making some interesting sounds, as defense mechanism. Left after this as we had other plans in mind already.

Port Arthur was our next destination, just under 70km away. Had to pump gas midway and took the chance to get some KFC burgers that was at the service station too.

Arrived at the historic site around 2pm and bought the tickets for 35Aud, valid for 2 days. We were also given a poker card to take on as a convict character. Visited the museum at the same building and followed through to see which convict we were and what the convict did. Interesting exhibit engagement.

This is my criminal's info. — This is my criminal’s info.

Proceeded to the jetty where there was a free cruise around the waters at Port Arthur. On board, there was some introduction of the various buildings such as the dockyard and the islands such as the ones for the juveniles and the ones where the dead were buried. The ride was about 20mins.

Isle of death, where dead prisoners were buried.

We then explored the rest of the area on foot, going to the various ruins and some of the buildings were converted into a museum, like the asylum and the separate prison. By the time we finished walking around, it was close to 5pm already, closing time. We decided to skip the introduction tour as the staff on board the cruise recommended the walkabout and read off the brochure that was given to us, in order to see more within the short span of time.

Court, what's left of it. — Court, what’s left of it.

One of the original buildings for residence. Now an exhibit.

Gardens in front of the government cottage.

We weren’t taking the ghost tour and so we checked with the info counter to see where was a good option for dinner; we found out on the way to Port Arthur that there wasn’t much dining options along the way. Not a big town in sight. She recommended some places close by and we drove towards our accommodation, 10km away from Port Arthur.

Arrived at the Mussel Boys at sunset. There wasn’t anyone at the reception when arrived but saw a post it note for me about our villas being ready. We drove to the back and sure enough, the place was already warmed up.

The modernly designed villa had a jacuzzi beside the bed, how cool is that? There was a kitchenette and also washing machine and dryer. There was a air-conditioner, used as a heater and the toilet has a heater too. There was a balcony but no view to match though.

Mussel boys room. Check out that jacuzzi.

We decided to go to a suggested place on the information menu provided by the accommodation. It was called Havnabite and located at Caribbean court, off Blowhole road at Eaglehawk neck. The twilight drew a nice hue onto the lake nearby our accommodation as we drove in partial darkness to this location. Our GPS does not have the road name and thus we got ourselves to Blowhole road first before squinting to find the shop. When we did see a store that looked like a convenience store, we stopped in front of it, and found that that was the store that we were looking for.

Can’t decide what to cook so we ended up buying a wood fired baked pizza, Pirates flavour and a can of soup. Bought other stuff from the convenience section and took away the pizza (there was a choice to dine in as well). We drove in darkness, guided only by road reflectors, back to the accommodation.

Havnabite, place to buy pizza and foodstuff.

Used the kitchenette to cook the can of soup and eat the pizza, which was pretty tasty. The aircon didn’t seem to warm up the place fast enough and I decided to use the jacuzzi.

On filling up the jacuzzi, I saw a spider coming out from one of the air jet holes, it was kinda big and I had to kill it and flush it away and refill the tub again. While already enjoying it, I noticed another dead spider carcass in water and getting stuck at the water suction inlet. What a turn off.

After my bath separately in the toilet, my wife called to me, informing that was another spider on the bed. I guessed all the spiders were hiding from the cold and going into my villa.

There weren’t much stuff on tv and so we jumped into bed with heated mattress early. Although it was a short day, we had to rest early as the road trip the next day was going to be two times longer.