#Day 6

Tuesday 6th March
Today we packed up ready for our next destination. Coles
Bay.
First stop Richmond. What a quaint town. Very old, and well
preserved. We stopped at the bakery for coffee and cake, yummy! And then did
some window looking at all the antique shops, from brass keyrings to plush French
dining sets, to Tasmanian wood carvings there was lots to keep us entertained.
From there we headed for Ross. We stopped along the way at Oatlands, were we
bought some flour from the Flour Mill, with its own cute windmill. At Ross we
stopped at another bakery, this one for lunch, which was absolutely delicious. After that we headed on towards Campbell Town
where we got some last minute essentials, stopped at the butchers, toilet break,
and also got a yummy icecream!, then off we went on our last leg towards Coles
Bay. After about 70ks of windy Tassie roads we made it to our destination.
Iluka Caravan Park, Coles Bay. We got a cute cabin, while mum + dad got a
stunning log cabin. We will be spending our next 2 nights here. We had an easy
dinner together. The girls went to bed. The boys went for a beach walk. And Im
told that they discovered how cold the water really is here (at 8.30 at night)
after chris got wet from standing on what he thought would be a safe, waterless
ledge, but no a wave came rolling in, and he ended up with wet shoes.

#Day 5

Monday 5th March
What a day! I sit here at night time trying to remember all
that we did! It was an incredible day that’s for sure.
It started with us getting ready and heading out at 9am, first stop Eastlands
shopping centre, dad needed new walking shoes. After a quick run around we found
some and we were off on our big adventure.
We first stopped off at the Tessellated Pavement. What an
incredible thing to see. The rock had become like pavement with the waves
eroding at them. It was also terribly cold and windy so the boys were the only
ones game enough to actually head down to the beach and they took photos and
video’s for us.
We then hopped back in the car for a 5 min drive to a café for
some coffee/tea’s to warm our insides, and then off again.
This time we stopped at the ‘Devils kitchen’ and Tasman
arch. WOW! A complete stomach flop when looking down, and then pure awe at the
beauty of the cliff and arch formation. A few of us went for the 15 min rtn
walk, to see the cliff edge and also to go to the kitchen. Truly spectacular.
We then drove a further up the road to the blowholes. We
were able to watch as water came in from the sea, under the cliff then crashed
against the cliff. Amazing!
Then off we went to our main attraction for the day! Port
Arthur! When we arrived it started to pour down with rain, and then wind picked
up, great we thought since we would be walking all afternoon. We first had some
lunch and once we packed the esky’s into the car the sun came out (and stayed
out for the rest of the 5 hours that we were there!) Well Port Arthur how does
one capture its magnificence and beauty in words? We walked from old church’s
to old headquarters, to the penitentiary to the governors house. Nearly
everything we were able to walk in , and some of the houses even had ‘setups’
in rooms so you were able to see how it would have been ‘back in the day.’ We
also caught a ferry that departed from port Arthur and did a loop, showing Port
Arthur from a distance and giving a commentary. We also passed the isle of the
dead where convicts were buried. (A ghost tour was available at 8.30pm, which
would have been quiet good, a thing to do next time :P) Once back on dry land,
we continued our walk, stopped for a family photo, and basking in the beauty.
Around 5 we decided to stop in the Port Arthur café for a quick
drink and snack (girls bottles) before heading off to the Remarkable Cave. When
we got there, there was a small path off to the side, so we all bundled up
against the cold and started our walk down, down, down quite a number of
stairs. Before finally ending up at the ‘remarkable’ cave. A cliff which the
waves had eroded over time. We were able to stand on this viewing platform
(which at high tide would be covered) and watch the waves rolling in. Chris +
Alex being the boys that they are decided to climb down and stand on rock about
2 meters from where the waves ended. Then Alex went off to the side, walking on
the rocks, so we all thought would be fun to scare him. So after a little while
Chris started screaming that a HUGE wave was coming and started running towards
us, the rest of us on a viewing platform ducked, Well Alex didn’t know were to
turn, ive never seen anyone try to climb up a cliff wall so fast. But the look
on his face was priceless, and of course we all forgot to video for this
moment. (well done alex for being a good sport about it later though.)
From the remarkable cave, we drove to Sorrell for some
takeaway dinner, then off to Hobart for bedtime (kylie + Sophie) Chris, Dad,
Alex + Lee, Des + Sue, went to view a
cruise ship that was in the harbor and went for a drive about.

#Day 4

Sunday 4th March.
We started this beautiful Sunday listening to the Tassie rain
fall on our roof. We then had a scrumptious buffet breakfast together of
pancakes, crumpets, croissants and yoghurt. We then were able to sit down
together and read a sermon from Rev. Veldman. The sermon was about Hope +
Salvation. Based on Romans 8: 17-30.
After our sermon we packed a picnic lunch and headed out to
the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. With a gold coin donation we were able
to see all that this 14 hectare park had to offer. It was amazing. And very
fitting that we were able to see and be part of God’s wonderful creation on
this blessed Sunday.
We were able to walk along viewing the different displays
from the cultural heritage areas, Tasmanian plant displays, the horticultural displays
and the origin planting. We saw sights such as;
the Lily pond, the ferny rainforest house, conservatory, we then stopped
for some yummy lunch then off again viewing Pete’s (Peter Cundall) veggie
patch, a cactus house , then off to the Rose Arbour, the French memorial Garden
and the Japanese Garden. It was truly beautiful all the different display’s,
(showing various countries) beautifully put together for us to enjoy.
Around 3 we quickly headed to our apartments for some warmer
gear and took off up Mt. Wellington. It was really exciting getting higher and
higher up the mountain and seeing the view. It was so COLD up the top though!
Lucky we were all rugged up! Sophie looked like a little marshmallow. So
FLUFFY! :D It was also very windy, at one point we were all leaning at quiet an
angle just to stand up, highly entertaining for us though. After taking a lot
of photos of selves and views, we headed back down the mountain. Then for a
quick drive by the Cascades to show us the beautiful building, we then headed
back home, for a quiet night.

#Day 4

Sunday 4th March.
We started this beautiful Sunday listening to the Tassie rain
fall on our roof. We then had a scrumptious buffet breakfast together of
pancakes, crumpets, croissants and yoghurt. We then were able to sit down
together and read a sermon from Rev. Veldman. The sermon was about Hope +
Salvation. Based on Romans 8: 17-30.
After our sermon we packed a picnic lunch and headed out to
the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. With a gold coin donation we were able
to see all that this 14 hectare park had to offer. It was amazing. And very
fitting that we were able to see and be part of God’s wonderful creation on
this blessed Sunday.
We were able to walk along viewing the different displays
from the cultural heritage areas, Tasmanian plant displays, the horticultural displays
and the origin planting. We saw sights such as;
the Lily pond, the ferny rainforest house, conservatory, we then stopped
for some yummy lunch then off again viewing Pete’s (Peter Cundall) veggie
patch, a cactus house , then off to the Rose Arbour, the French memorial Garden
and the Japanese Garden. It was truly beautiful all the different display’s,
(showing various countries) beautifully put together for us to enjoy.
Around 3 we quickly headed to our apartments for some warmer
gear and took off up Mt. Wellington. It was really exciting getting higher and
higher up the mountain and seeing the view. It was so COLD up the top though!
Lucky we were all rugged up! Sophie looked like a little marshmallow. So
FLUFFY! :D It was also very windy, at one point we were all leaning at quiet an
angle just to stand up, highly entertaining for us though. After taking a lot
of photos of selves and views, we headed back down the mountain. Then for a
quick drive by the Cascades to show us the beautiful building, we then headed
back home, for a quiet night.

# Day 3

Saturday 3rd March. Chris + Dad started the day with a nice morning walk, theywere the only ones daring enough to risk the cold! The rest smartly stayed inthe safety of their warm beds. We then all met to start the day at 10 thenheaded off to Hobart to the Salamanca Markets. What an amazing day! Beautifulhome made goods, from fruit + veg’s, knitted wear, cascade drinks + chillibeer, fresh juices, choc dipped strawberries, poffichers (dutch pancakes, yum!)there was a lot to see and do. Sophie slept the 2 hours while we browsed andshopped. Chris bought a ‘forno a legro’ copper plate sign for his pizza oven.We then met up to have some lunch, and while we were there we had a lovely visit from U.Phil + A.Therese and Daniel, who had come from Launceston to spend the afternoon with us. It was reallynice catching up and spending time together. We hit the Waursthouse togetherfor some afternoon tea goods, then headed back to our apartments for drinks +nibblies. We had a yummy warm dinner together, with more chatting before theDe Ruiter's had to head home around 8pm. The Chris + I along with Mum + Alex wentfor a walk to the marina, where the harbor + bridge was beautifully lit againstthe still water and we took some photos, then headed ‘home’ for relaxation,quiet time + bed.

#Day 2

Friday 2nd March.

Sophie woke us up just after 9am. After some lovely snuggles
in +cuppa teas, we had showers +breakky and some free time for blogging, tv,
emailing and reading. We then headed out around 11.30 to do some grocery
shopping.
We made it back to our apartments for an easy lunch and some
more relaxing.
Around 3.30 we went out and headed to Sorrell. It was an island
connected by roads formed on top of sandbanks. It was rathe fascinating to see.
When got into Sorrell, Dad’s Tarago pulled up in front of a nursery. We were a
bit apprehensive about what we were doing there. But once we headed inside
sounds of delight were heard all around. It was a HUGE hobby/toy shop. There
was helicopter, cars, motorbikes, boats etc to keep the boys occupied, while us
girls looked through all the dolls old and new, dollhouses and accessories. There
were even memorabilia dolls from betty boop, elvis to ET and chubaka. It was
very impressive! Dad + boys bought a remote helicopter, (which kept them
fascinated that night) We then headed into Hobart. We got to cross the Hobart
bridge! It was SO impressive! We then did a looksee of the harbour, and some blockies
of Hobart town. Some beautiful old houses, lots of parks (+swings) it is all
very picturesque. We then drove back to our apartment’s. Had a delicious dinner
and everyone headed of about 8pm to do their own thing.

Tasmania #Day 1

Thursday 1st March

I woke up rather excited at 6am, and got out of bed at
6.3oam, eager to start the day. Chris + Sophie got up between 7.30/8.00am. We
did some last minute packing, cleaned the house and waited for our transport.
The Bus arrived at 10am, we piled on and headed to the domestic airport. We had
a smooth run and got there around 10.40am. Upon checking in our luggage + prams
we then went upstairs for some coffee and morning tea. Sophie + Alicia had a
blast, running around and tiring themselves out. Since we had a lot of time to
spare we decided to have lunch – red rooster- before our flight.
Our boarding call sounded at 12.40pm and we all hopped on the plane. Seated near the end of the plane was Chris,
myself + Sophie, Alex across the aisle Lee, Mum, Dad and behind us Sue+ Alicia,
Des. It was a rather full flight.
Sophie was ubber tired and while drinking her bottle on
take-off promptly fell asleep. And Alicia followed soon after. The flight was a
smooth run, about 3 hours 15 mins, of which sophie slept for 2! It was great the
rest of us entertained ourselves with reading, puzzles or watching movies. We arrived in Melbourne at 8.30pm. There was a
small amount of turbulence on our landing, but Sophie thought it was hilarious
all the bumping around and giggled right through it!
Once in Melbourne we all headed straight to our boarding
area, then split up doing our own thing for drinks and snacks. The boarding
call for Hobart sounded at 9.30pm.
It was a lovely empty flight to Hobart, we were all able to
get about 2 seats each. We had a smooth run of about 50 mins. Sophie was easily
occupied during the flight, but was not too impressed to be seated for landing,
and got a little upset and had a bit of sore ears, but after wrapping her in a
blanket she was happier.
We got into Hobart at roughly 10.45pm. We walked off the
plane onto the Tarmac, and it was a lovely 12-c a bit of a cold shock for us
all. We then got our suitcases and prams, and went in search of our cars. After
filling out the paper work we became proud of owners of a camry for 3.5 weeks
(2.xcamrys, 1xTarago)We then headed off to our apartments. On the way we were
able to catch sight of the Hobart bridge, lit up so beautifully against the
night sky, with the mountain ranges as their backdrop. It truly was
magnificent. When we got to our apartments, Sophie headed off to bed, and promptly
fell asleep around 12.30pm.After making ourselves a nice cuppa tea to warm the
insides we too climbed under our nice warm doonas and quickly fell into a deep
sleep.