Up & Running
A few weeks ago there was a glitch with the software I use to create blog posts. They finally fixed it, so I can blog again! I had some posts from Tasmania waiting to publish so I’ve done that, but I think to have any hope of keeping this blog at all current I’m going to have to skip ahead. Hopefully I can go back and blog about some of these places later. At the moment we are in New South Wales, right near the Queensland border. We’ve finally found some sunny weather and are enjoying the beach again! Right now I’m listening to the waves. It’s lovely. 🙂
Bruny Island: The Neck
The north and south ends of Bruny Island come together in a spectacular isthmus. A rather large set of steps awaits any who want to climb up and see the stunning view. 
We counted on the way back down and there were over two hundred steps. 
Look how narrow this strip of land is. Ocean on one side… 
And ocean on the other. It really feels like a unique spot. 
There’s a memorial to Truganini, and a nearby sign that tells her story. She was a Tasmanian Aborigine. Her story is so sad that I can’t bear to think about it. 
The view from the top is stunning. We’re wearing hats because it was so. incredibly. windy. 
Funny faces. TurboBug, you’re really going to have to learn this. We can’t have you smiling so cutely while we all make horrendous faces. 
Absolutely breathtaking views. Wait up, TurboBug! That’s a lot of steps to conquer on your own. 
Look at the difference in the colour of the water on either side. We passed by here during low tide and the stretch of water on the right side was more like a series of sand and puddles. 
The ocean takes on such beautiful colours. I love seeing how different it can look. 
Part way down we realised TurboBug’s hat had flown away. We (meaning Dad) had to jump the fence to retrieve it. 
Breathtaking. Did I say that already? 
We’d heard that this was a great point for spotting penguins, so our first night we came up for a look. We weren’t the only ones! They’ve erected this platform so that you won’t disturb the penguins or other shorebirds in the area, since they nest in the bush. At the bottom there is a gate that you can use to access the beach during the day. We covered our torches with red so as not to hurt their eyes. We only managed to spot a handful of them. It’s a fun thing to do, even if we did get rained on a bit! 
We did see a set of these…young siblings waiting for mum to come back with some food! 
Since there hadn’t been many penguins we didn’t try again the next night. We had seen some in Bicheno, and it probably won’t be our last time during our trip around Australia that we’ll have the opportunity to go penguin watching. Hopefully we’ll fare better next time!
Captain Cook Monuments
All over Australia we are seeing references to Captain Cook. He’s pretty important in Australia’s history in terms of discovery, being an explorer and all. 😉 Growing up I was always told that he is an ancestor of my father’s family, so the name always catches my eye. There were a couple of monuments on Bruny Island with his name, so we stopped for a look. 
This one made us laugh because it just seemed so odd. Just a tall tower of bricks. The bench next to it was very nice, however! 
Another one further down the road attempts to make clear who was there first! 
I’m sure we will be seeing more Captain Cook monuments in our future!
The Walk To Grass Point
We knew we’d only have a couple of nights on Bruny Island, so after we set up camp we drove down to Adventure Bay to do the walk to Grass Point. The kids were not too thrilled to be taking off so soon after we got there, they wanted the chance to explore the campsite. The Grass Point walk is part of the Fluted Cape Walk in South Bruny National Park, which is one of the 60 Great Short Walks in Tasmania. It’s supposed to be about an hour and a half return, but these things always take us longer! 
The trail starts on the beach, so we were again treated to the beautiful views Tasmania has to offer. 
The trail quickly left the beach. We were happy to find another pant-a-log. Jitterbug is laughing because it isn’t clothed. Boys. 
Along the way we came upon not just a fairy house, but a whole fairy city! Someone had worked hard on these. There were piles of rocks all over the place. 
They were fun to look at and the kids enjoyed adding their own piles of rocks to the city. 
So much whaling happened in this area. If they’d only known what they were doing to the whale population. 
Someone from WA must have been missing home. (That’s Western Australia, not Washington!) 
Some beautiful scenery at the end of the trail. 
This is Penguin Island. We might have been able to make it across to it but we didn’t try. We would have been quite wet! We were content to clamber around on the rocks where we were. 
The kids decided to scare me by climbing the nearby cliffs. I stopped taking pictures so I wouldn’t have to look! 
Somebody was sleepy! Thank goodness for our Ergo. 
There is actually some grass at Grass Point! 
The return walk always seems to take longer with kids. I think because they are complaining more. It’s not new scenery since we’d already walked that way, and we’ve already seen what there is to see. They suddenly realise they are tired and bored and hungry. Every time! But there are still pretty things to see…even tree bark can be beautiful! 
I think these shorebirds are pied oystercatchers. They were so cute, happily chatting to each other as they made their way up the beach. They were careful not to come to close to us. 
This picture appears earlier in this post, but I love it in black and white. 
More Bruny Island on the way!
Catching the Ferry to Bruny Island
Our next stop after exploring Hobart was Bruny Island. We were all looking really forward to this. Before staying in Snug we had spent a couple of nights in Triabunna with the intention of visiting Maria Island. (Which is pronounced muh-RYE-uh. Because we are in Australia and they like to do their own thing when it comes to pronunciation.) When we got there we decided it was just not in our budget, it cost too much for a day-trip for our whole family and we wouldn’t be able to camp there. So we promised the kids we’d go to Bruny Island instead. Exciting, because we could take the van across and camp there for a couple of nights. The ferry leaves from Kettering, which I can’t get to show on this map but if you zoom in a little you’ll see it. It was a short drive from Snug. See the Tasman Peninsula off to the east? On the way to the ferry I snapped this roadsign for a black swan. :) It’s blurry but it counts. 
We had a short wait for the ferry. There’s a small cafe and toilets, a place to get in out of the cold. 
There’s two ships that ferry vehicles back and forth. We had the Mirambeena that morning. 
Actually, I think it was midday. We were one of a handful of vehicles towing something. After they loaded the upper deck we were first in line. 
We got to pull right up to the front, right against that gate at the front of the ship. 
A lovely day for a ferry ride! Okay, in reality it was cold. But we still enjoyed it very much. 
Well, most of us enjoyed it. TurboBug was so determined he needed to get over to the other side of that gate. We eventually had to get back in the car because he was not content to observe the view from my arms. 
When we approached the island they lifted the ramp to offload the top deck first. 
See the car driving off, right above us? 
Then it was our turn. Down came the ramp. 
Look! We’re on Bruny Island! 
We headed down the road, south, toward the neck of the island, called…The Neck. There’s a free camp there that’s perfect. 
More to come on Bruny Island!
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, part two
Part one is here. The gardens are right next to the Tasman Bridge. I was hoping for a glimpse of the bridge to get a good picture but the gardens aren’t really set up for that view. We did manage to find a spot with a bit of a view, over the fence and between the trees. 
The gardens are broken into several different main areas, with many paths and a different feel to each area. 
I wish I could remember what section this is. From looking at the names on the map and the plants in the picture, I’m guessing it’s the fern house. 
This is the lily pond. With lots of lilies in it. Go figure. 
The ducks came over to us straightaway, hoping for a handout. No such luck. 
As we neared this tree I thought that it really looked like a redwood, and it actually was! I have relatives in northern California and due to visiting them I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the redwood forests several times. They are enormous and so beautiful. 
The gardens were lovely and well worth a visit if you are ever in Hobart. We didn’t see it all as we had kids who were tired of walking and anxious to get back to the chocolate waiting for them in the car. 🙂 
Another shot of the bridge. As you leave the gardens the road actually takes you right under the end of the bridge. 
One more thing about Hobart. You know those ugly boxes near intersections that hold all the equipment for the traffic lights? In Hobart they have painted many of them all over town. I only snapped a picture of one, they were all different colours and patterns. I thought they looked lovely and it shows such a pride in the city, trying to make it more beautiful. I’ve since seen these in other towns too. 
We commented several times that if we were to move to Tasmania, Hobart looked like an awesome town to live in. It’s definitely worth another visit and goes on our list of must visit again someday!