Thursday, February 25, 2010

Bicheno, Tasmania

Looks can be deceiving! They weren't being sweet, or peaceful:) But Bicheno was beautiful and peaceful.
We stayed in a self contained cottage. We have learned that when traveling with kids it is so much easier to stay somewhere with a kitchen. Making your own meals saves lots of money, especially here in Australia.
The water was so blue!
Dad was the only one up with the sun:)
Fairy Penguin tracks! We had such an adventure each night after sunset. We would creep down to the beach and patiently wait for the penguins to come out of the water and go to their little nests in the bushes. One time they came about 10 feet in front of us! I think they were saying, "Can you please move so I can get to my home, I've had a long day of fishing!"
At low tide we could walk out to this little island.
Tasmania stays so pristine because it is so removed from the rest of the world.
This field was full of fuzzy sheep.
I think this one was a pet.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Maritime Museum day 2

We headed to the Maritime Museum for a little history lesson. We thought of John's Grandfather who was a Captain in the merchant marines and Uncle Paul who has also docked in the Hobart Harbor several times working on cargo ships.
Back in the day..

Diving must have been a little cumbersome with all that gear.
John's Dad could rival any of these handmade ships.
View of Hobart from our room. Rosie loved seeing all the cars going to work, she is quite the car expert (thanks to her brothers).

Hobart, Tasmania day 1

Hobart, Tasmania is a gorgeous city! This is the view from our hotel.
The Grand Chancellor Hotel.
The Salamanca market is a fun place to walk around and shop. Tasmania is one of the world's finest wool producers. They also have many beautiful wood handcrafted items. Too bad they also come with such hefty price tags!
I loved all the old stone buildings.
This ship belongs to..
this kitty cat:)
and this sailor!
The expressions Grandpa got when he said "smile":)

Mt. Wellington

We drove up to Mt. Wellington, up and up and up..
The views from the top of the mountain are absolutely breathtaking. We were so high, I thought the wind was going to blow us off the mountain!
This is the gorgeous city of Hobart, Tasmania. What more could one want than mountains and sea!
We were above the clouds. And boy was it freezing!
Click here to read more about Mt. Wellington.
Wish you were here too, Ken and Tonya.

On Our Way to Tasmania

We were all excited and a little anxious about sea sickness as we headed out of Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania. The ferry left at 7:30 p.m. and arrived in Devonport, Tasmania at 6:00 a.m.
Dad had concocted some ginger water to drink (it was pretty tasty) and Mom and I took a couple pills. Lucky for us, no one got sick:)

Beautiful view of Melbourne.
Sunset on the boat with my honey.

More Animals

I advise you to skip this post if you are bored of all the animal pictures..
They kind of have the same expression.
Mom and Dad feeding the roos.
You can't help but love these little guys, they are soo cute!
Woo woo!
Being batty.
Nice doggy dingo!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Super Sam

Sam is a real go getter out in the waves. He sometimes gets tumbled around, but keeps on going always with a smile:)
Trying to warm up after lots of body boarding in the chilly water.

Surf Life Saving Club (aka lifeguards)

All the young, tan and buff lifeguards congregated in Lorne on Sunday to compete in the Surf Life Saving Club competitions. They were very impressive and could make one feel very inadequate. Really though, aren't they the ones you would want to save you?
This race went on and on until all but one was eliminated. The goal was to get to the red pole first.
We quickly bored of watching the uber athletic compete and walked down the beach to have some fun too.

Sea Treasures

Nature always has the best inspiration, textures, colors, shapes..
All these tiny shells live on the rocks, a lovely purplish hue.

Sam was enjoying this little sea slug.
Cute little starfish.
A very camouflaged crab.
We worked hard to catch this big crab.
Grandpa LeVos with his catch of the day.