Well, Hello!!! I haven't written in awhile but have been busy entertaining and enjoying my MOM AND DAD! I am so thrilled that they are here and we have been having the best time! When they got here we gave them a whole two days to get over jet lag before we got them back on an airplane and flew to Tasmania!! Brian and I love tassie and knew they would too! (Well at least my dad!) We did go to a different part of the state so it could be an all new experience for us all!
We flew into Launceston early Thursday morning and since we had a little time to spend in the area we thought we would see the GORGE :)
Although it was beautiful is was really no match for the scenery we saw the rest of the weekend! Even the drive to Cradle Mountain (our next stop) was amazing.....
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| Wow :) |
When we got to Cradle Mountain we left straight away to check out the Mountain! It was beautiful!
It was definitely cloudy (and COLD!) that day but I kind of like the look of the clouds on the mountain!
Next we went on another of the "short walks" (the "long walks" were in the 6 day range-- no, thank you.) The walk was along a river and it was amazing! Everything was covered in a bright green moss! We left rugged mountain terrain and somehow found ourselves in Fern Gully 5 minutes later!
It was really pretty and completely unexpected... I had thought the area would be all rugged mountains! It was beginning to get dark by time we finished our walk so we got all settled into our "chateau" and had a big ole dinner and drank beer, wine and cider by a warm fire! (Did I mention it was cold here? If not Susan (mom) will :) haha)
Later that night Brian, my dad and I went out in the freezing to search for wombats! We had not seen those in the wild yet and really wanted to see some. Unfortunately, all we saw were wallabies :)
The next morning we decided to do a "day walk" which means 3-5 hours of walking! It was a perfect crisp morning so I think we were all happy to be out. The clouds were gone over Cradle Mountain (but I am still partial to the cloudy pics)
The whole walk was beautiful. We went to Lilla Lake, which was the stillest lake ever, so it looked like a giant mirror (Dad kept calling it Mirror Lake, desperately trying to change the name) Then we saw Crater Lake. It was a really high hike up but it was beautiful, all the leaves were turning yellow and the trees surrounded the big crater (which is now a lake!) The hike back down led us through more of the moss covered forest and rivers and waterfalls. I think we could all agree that it was an amazing walk with the most spectacular scenery... Here are lots of pics... we took so many!!!
We took sooo many more pictures butI really needed to narrow it down.... I am still only on day 2 of this Tassie adventure, after all... (sorry this is going to be another lonnnnnnnng one! whoops)
3 or 4 hours later and we were ready to stop for a lunch break!
Buuuut before we got to the end of the trail we spotted some WOMBATS! Hooray! They seemed pretty far away so my dad and Brian went to check them out. They came back with some great pictures of these adorable animals (I never realized they were so cute!) soooo I had to make the trek toward where they were to see! They really were not concerned about us and let us get pretty close!
Are they not the cutest little things!? A mama and her baby :) Awwww.
After a lunch break we went to see another popular native wildlife.... the Tasmanian Devil! I didnt get to see them last time I was in Tassie so we made sure to see these endangered animals this time. We had to go to a conservation to see them because 1. they dont come out much and are afraid of people and 2. there are not very many any more so our chances would be slim to none.
They DON'T look like this.... They DO look like this....
they both do have quite the temper (although no twirling around like a torando for the real Taz- that I saw!?) They often made scary sounding shrieks at each other -- which is what originally gave them the name "devils"
And that was our trip to Cradle Mountain! Next up, Strahan!
It was only about 2 or 3 hours to Strahan (a cute little town in the "Western Wilderness" area of Tasmania). We got there and check into our hotel with enough time for dinner, drinks and bed time! We had already made plans for the next few days. First, was a train ride thru the rainforest (cold Temperate rainforest, not like the warm weather ones)
Dad wanted me to add: The middle part in the track is a rack and pinion drive on the train so it can drive a 12-1 slope rather than the regular 40-1 slope trains are made for these days. It is one of the only ones in the world like that still in operation.
Got that? Good, there will be a pop quiz later.
I will tell you, it is rainy in a rainforest. :) Luckily, on a train it doesn't matter! Of course, there were all the times we got off....
We also tried to pan for gold. No luck. I guess we will continue to have to work for money.
That night we cooked a yummy dinner and hung out in Strahan, once named the best little town in the world by the Chicago Tribune :)
The next morning we had a cruise on the beautiful Gordon River.
Next we went on another of the "short walks" (the "long walks" were in the 6 day range-- no, thank you.) The walk was along a river and it was amazing! Everything was covered in a bright green moss! We left rugged mountain terrain and somehow found ourselves in Fern Gully 5 minutes later!
It was really pretty and completely unexpected... I had thought the area would be all rugged mountains! It was beginning to get dark by time we finished our walk so we got all settled into our "chateau" and had a big ole dinner and drank beer, wine and cider by a warm fire! (Did I mention it was cold here? If not Susan (mom) will :) haha)
Later that night Brian, my dad and I went out in the freezing to search for wombats! We had not seen those in the wild yet and really wanted to see some. Unfortunately, all we saw were wallabies :)
We took sooo many more pictures butI really needed to narrow it down.... I am still only on day 2 of this Tassie adventure, after all... (sorry this is going to be another lonnnnnnnng one! whoops)
3 or 4 hours later and we were ready to stop for a lunch break!
Buuuut before we got to the end of the trail we spotted some WOMBATS! Hooray! They seemed pretty far away so my dad and Brian went to check them out. They came back with some great pictures of these adorable animals (I never realized they were so cute!) soooo I had to make the trek toward where they were to see! They really were not concerned about us and let us get pretty close!
Are they not the cutest little things!? A mama and her baby :) Awwww.
After a lunch break we went to see another popular native wildlife.... the Tasmanian Devil! I didnt get to see them last time I was in Tassie so we made sure to see these endangered animals this time. We had to go to a conservation to see them because 1. they dont come out much and are afraid of people and 2. there are not very many any more so our chances would be slim to none.
They DON'T look like this.... They DO look like this....
they both do have quite the temper (although no twirling around like a torando for the real Taz- that I saw!?) They often made scary sounding shrieks at each other -- which is what originally gave them the name "devils"
And that was our trip to Cradle Mountain! Next up, Strahan!
It was only about 2 or 3 hours to Strahan (a cute little town in the "Western Wilderness" area of Tasmania). We got there and check into our hotel with enough time for dinner, drinks and bed time! We had already made plans for the next few days. First, was a train ride thru the rainforest (cold Temperate rainforest, not like the warm weather ones) 
Got that? Good, there will be a pop quiz later.
I will tell you, it is rainy in a rainforest. :) Luckily, on a train it doesn't matter! Of course, there were all the times we got off....
We also tried to pan for gold. No luck. I guess we will continue to have to work for money.
That night we cooked a yummy dinner and hung out in Strahan, once named the best little town in the world by the Chicago Tribune :)
The next morning we had a cruise on the beautiful Gordon River.
The water on the River is like glass and the rainforest all around reflects into it and it is just amazing! Here are some pictures :)
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| sarah island convict ruins |
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| Salmon Farm, YUM |
After the cruise we drove back to Launceston to catch our evening flight! We got a special treat on the drive-- a huge full moon!
We had such an amazing time in one of the most beautiful places I've seen!
The next weekend Mom, Dad, Brody and I road trip to Sydney :) Ill tell you all about it soon
Absolutely beautiful pictures! Looks like your parents had a great time!
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