Hobart

Our first stop after many hours in the plane and waiting in airports! We missed our flight to Hobart however we were able to pick up the 2nd flight of the day and we arrived just in time for dinner. It's scallop season by the way!

Hobart is the capital of Tasmania with a population of around 120,000 and the 2nd oldest city in Australia. It's a beautiful harbor town right on the Derwent River. And we're staying in the harbor area at the Grand Hotel International.

Now just so you know...we lost a day because we crossed the International Date line. That hits me hard. I really don't want to miss any time here. I think we make it up on our return trip.

Well, we had great plans for this town. Instead we are heading for the mall to shop for some clothes for me. Kip's bag arrived just fine but mine is missing. As soon as we finish the shopping, we are picking up the rental car and heading out to the Western part of the island. It's a five hour trip to Strahan on a long and winding road.

No pictures yet!

Arrived, At Last

We arrived in Sydney and the next leg of our journey is to Melbourne. There we catch another flight to Tasmania. The longest portion of our trip this year was from Pittsburgh to San Francisco. That took us about 30 hours with delays, cancellations and reroutes. It was a very frustrating day with the worst part having to sit on the tarmac for over 2 hours waiting for the okay to leave. That was after sitting on the plane for another two hours as they did some work on the plane! Well, that is all behind us now and the only problem we have is the missing luggage. For the first time, we checked our bags thinking we would have an unexpected day to play in San Francisco. When that flight was cancelled, they moved our bags over to the new flight...or so they say. Right now they can't seem to find the bags. Keep your fingers crossed that they arrive in Melbourne.

Am I Really Going to Australia?

I am wondering if I'm going to make it to Australia! After the delays yesterday and the change to take a flight today we have now learned that that flight has been canceled! We need to be in San Francisco by 9:00pm tonight to catch our flight to Sydney, Australia and then connect to our Melbourne flight and then to connect to our Hobart flight. Ah...Yes...the connections! Kip has United on the line and hopefully they have a plan for us.

And the plan is...we're going to Newark, NJ and then to San Francisco by 4:00. That means we probably won't go into the city. Oh well...

Just Waiting

Kip takes months to plan our trips and all it takes is a storm in Chicago to mess things up! Our flight leaving Pittsburgh was delayed to to weather and mechanical problems. That made us late for all the other flights. I mean really, really late! So we stayed in Pittsburgh last night and arrived at the airport to find that we are delayed again. Today's flight takes us straight to San Fransisco with a 10 hour lay-over so the delay won't mess with our other flights this time! Plans are to head to the city for lunch and a bit of touring. Right now all I want to do is leave Pittsburgh! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Strahan

We're only about 180 miles from Hobart but we're now on the West Coast of Tasmania in the small town of Strahan...pronounced Straw with an n at the end. Mountains and wilderness here. Strahan is the largest town in the area about the size of Terra Alta. It is the starting point for the Gordon River cruises and the hikes into the rainforest. And that is why we are here!

Our 6 hour Gordon River cruise was fantastic. I got to drive the bot nd that was so exciting!

First we headed toward Hell's Gate where the Southern Ocean meets Gordon River. Hell's Gate was named by the Convicts headed to Sarah Island. Two Lighthouses guard the opening and guide boats into the river

We stopped at Sarah Island for a tour of the ruins of the prison that sat on this island for years. Convicts logged the Huron pines and then built tall ships for companies around the world...all in horrendous conditions. Eventually they smartened up and built a tall ship for themselves and escaped the island. It is a beautiful little island to visit with a great story!

Our next stop was the rainforest with time for a guided hike. I've hiked through several rainforests in Australia and this one is different. The trees have small leaves to allow sunlight to shine through to the moss covered floor. There is no canopy and there are very few birds or other wildlife that we cold see. But we did see plenty of moss covered tress and forest floor, lots of ferns and tiny mushrooms.



Our next stop is Cradle Mountain just a few hours away.

This one's for Kendra

Hi Kendra! I am so pleased you will follow me on my travels to Australia so I am putting this picture in especially for you. Isn't he a cute guy! Make sure you check back soon for new pictures. I hope to see seahorses, playapus, Tasmanian Devils, wombats and more wallabies. This picture is NOT a kangaroo. It is a wallaby. I think you and your mom need to find out the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby!

Bags are Packed...Almost!

We have just a few days before we hop in the plane for our 23 hour trip to Tasmania, Australia. We have stops in Denver and LA before crossing the big pond and arriving in Melbourne. Then it's a quick flight to Hobart,Tasmania. Tasmania is an island state of Australia and is situated 150 miles south of the continent. The island of Tasmania is about 26,000 square miles, just a bit larger than west Virginia. It's winter there and I am looking forward to cooling off! Keep checking back for updates. Whenever we have internet, I'll post. Last year in the Outback, it was a bit shaky with internet service but I think we'll be okay this year.