I'm Dreaming of a Hot and Humid Christmas

Well the "summer" holiday season has come and gone. Our Hanukkah celebration was a success due to Lindsay's white trash menorah, which she made from bits and pieces of things in our recycling bin, and Deeeeeelicious latkes complete with applesauce. We opened up our balcony windows for dinner and listened to the sound of Christmas carols being sung by the locals in the Strand Park just down the street. It was very entertaining.

Although I worked all throughout the Christmas holiday, we were able to connect with family via Skype. I can't say enough how great that is. We spent most of Christmas day just talking to family, and we even opened our Christmas presents via Skype with Lindsay's parents, sisters, brother-in-law, and grandmother.

Just as it does in the U.S., the tsunami of Christmas cheer began just before the begining of December. We saw the decorations go up all around town and heard the same old Christmas carol standards in the malls and grocery stores. However, I must say it was a bit surreal to observe the reindeer and snowman decorations hung up in palm and banyan trees while at the same time listening to "Let it Snow" or "White Christmas" in the 95 degree heat with 90% humidity. But, according to our Aussie friends, the summer heat doesn't stop them from keeping with the traditions of the Motherland and cooking up a traditional Christmas feast, an activitiy that raises the temperature of the traditional holiday kitchen from moderately unpleasant to completely unbearable.

Here in Townsville the locals really get in the spirit of Christmas down in the Strand Park. Every Christmas season for about 5-6 nights before the big day the Strand Park is transformed into Old Bethlehem. Imagine, if you will, massive cardboard walls that look like bricks arranged to enclose a city. Inside the city walls are hundreds of local volunteers dressed up as characters from the time when Jesus was just a little baby. There are Roman soldiers complete with spears. There are tradesmen with either real or fake beards in sectioned off stalls doing everything from pottery to weaving or cooking. There is even a real live nativity scene with a real baby playing baby Jesus. The highlight for Lindsay was the stable where she was able to pet a number of baby animals including baby pigs, sheep, goats, and juvenile camels. The highlight for me was "The Promise." The Promise was a 20 minute interpretive theatrical presentation of a smattering of Old Testament stories leading up to the birth and ressurection of Jesus. One of my colleges in the ED played God, so I was kind of obliged to go. It was really bizzare, but overall quite entertaining.

Fraser Island Trip: Day 3, 4, and 5

The next morning at Dundabarra camp we slept in really late, at least by camping standards. It was about 8am when we finally got up. It was roasting hot in the tent already. I made scrambled eggs for brekkie and as we sat enjoying our meal, we watched no fewer than four large goannas amble on by. I spent a good half hour chasing them in an attempt to get some good photos.

Our plan for the morning was to do a short hike from the campsite, but we the trail was closed. We of course discovered this after we had spent the time changing into our hiking gear and lathering up with sunscreen and bug spray. The tide was still relatively high, so our options were limited. Ultimately we decided to drive back to Eli Creek, which was about a 10 minute drive from the campsite, and wait there for the tide to recede.

After a quick dip in the creek we decided to take a drive inland to check out the island's interior. Well, I don't know exactly what I was expecting these inland tracks to look like, but after just a few minutes on the track I knew it would be slow going. When it wasn't deep, thick sand it was menacing holes filled with tree roots. But our little Daihatsu was up to the challenge.

Our first stop was Lake Garawongera, and it took us a good hour or so to get there. The lake was beautiful and not the least bit crowded. In fact, there were only about 10 other people there. We had a nice swim but started to hear thunder and see some dark clouds off in the distance. Needless to say we didn't hang around there too long.

The rest of the track was equally as difficult as the first part. There were a few times Lindsay had to help fill in some holes. Check out this video:

By the time we made it back to the beach it was about 5:00 and the dark clouds were still looming. We chose another beachfront campsite (Gabala) that night. As we pulled into the site we saw a dingo hanging out right where we were planning to camp. Initially he was very reluctant to move, but Lindsay persuaded him to go by revving the engine a few times. The sky was getting darker by the minute so we quickly set up the tent and broke out the tarp to make a shelter from the impending rain.

We managed to get dinner started before the rain hit, but as the water for the pasta began to boil the sky opened up and dumped. It was only then that I realized that during my assembly of our tarp-shelter I had not considered where the rain would go once it hit the tarp. Well, from the tarp the water poured onto the ground and subsequently headed directly for the tent. So, I did what any chivalrous husband would do - I got out in the rain and dug two irrigation ditches by hand. Ten minutes later I had the rain water flowing down the hill instead, and we were able to enjoy our ravioli with mushroom and onion. It poured all night long.

The next morning the sky was clear and the sun was shining. The day's plan would take us off the beach again to explore more of the island's interior. Two hours on one of the rough inland tracks led us to Lake Wabby, one of the many beautiful lakes on the island. Most of the islands are "perched" lakes, which are formed when organic debris builds up on a sand dune, creating an impenetrable layer. Over time water builds up on the debris and forms a lake. As you can see in the photo below, Lake Wabby is situated right next to (and atop) a large sand dune. According to the guidebooks, the lake gets smaller every year as it fills with sand. We hiked down and took a swim in the warm green water.

From Lake Wabby we continued on the inland "road" through a beautiful rainforest to the most famous lake on the island: Lake McKenzie. This lake, also a perched lake, is a bright blue color and visited by what seems like 400,000 German tourists per day. It really was beautiful, but it was too crowded.

We didn't spend too long at Lake McKenzie. After all, we had one more lake to visit before the end of the day. Lake Birabeen was a short drive away from Lake McKenzie and was practically deserted. The water was a beautiful orange color from the tannins.

At around 4pm we made it back to the beach. We made a quick stop for some more gas at Happy Valley just to make sure we had enough to make it back to Rainbow Beach the next day. Along the way to our campsite we spotted a pack of dingos playing on the beach.

After the dingos disappeared into the forest we drove another 10 minutes to the Govi beach campsites at the south end of the island. That night lacked any of the drama of the other evenings - no dingos, no treacherous rains.

The next morning we were up at 5am so that we could catch the ferry back to the mainland during low tide. All went without a hitch and we were back in Rainbow Beach before long. We had a bus to catch back to Brisbane at 1030, so we used our last couple of hours there down at the beach playing in the waves.

The bus ride back to Brisbane was uneventful, and it was an easy 5 minute walk from the bus terminal to our hotel downtown. This hotel, chosen by Lindsay, was even nice than the other one we had stayed in the other night. (Lindsay has discovered a website, much like Hotwire, where you can get great rates on "anonymous" hotels.)

We got cleaned up - and boy did it feel good to take a shower - and walked down to the river front to have a drink. Just as we got to the bar a massive thunderstorm came through. It was beautiful to watch from the covered patio at the bar. The rest of the evening included a nice sushi dinner and Avatar in 3D. Each movie ticket was $19. Amazingly enough, it was worth it.

The next morning we headed back to Townsville and back to work. (In the below photograph you can see Fraser Island just under the wing.)

It's Fray-zer not Fray-sher (Fraser Island: Day 1 and 2)

Starting on December 18th, after working 9 days in a row, I was rewarded with 6 days off. So, the night of the 17th, Lindsay and I flew down south to Brisbane en route to our final destination: Fraser Island. We took off right after I finished my shift and arrived in Brisbane at 9:30pm.

The city train system shuts down around 8pm, so our only option was to take an expensive taxi ride into the city center. Our non-Aussie cab driver was very rude. Anyway, we checked into an overly nice hotel. I say overly nice not because it was something extravagant or expensive, but rather because of how my lovely wife reacted when she saw it. In all honesty, it was a very nice standard room, nothing special. But compared to what we have been accustomed to it was a palace. Even when we are not camping we tend to chose some "frugal" and reasonable accommodation options (the only notable exception would be the resort in Kauai where we legally tied the knot). Examples of our "frugal" choices include the time we stayed in a cheap motel in Page, Arizona where we were harrased by a very inebriated Native American at 3 am, the brothel-turned-hostel in Airley Beach, Queensland, and the $15/night hostel with the meat locker room and child-sized twin bed in Panama City, Panama.

Lindsay's eyes lit up when we walked in the room as she announced, "Now this is what I'm talking about!" She knew the next four days would be spent fighting biting sand flies and warding off wild dingos in the hot and sandy wilderness void of showers, moisturizing cream, and hairdryers; she was going to appreciate this while she had it.

Lindsay spent about a half hour working that evening after we settled in the room. I had discovered on our cab ride that Brisbane has a bunch of Seven Elevens, so while Lindsay worked I walked down the street to the closest one and got a slurpee.

The next day we got up early, packed up, and walked down the street to the bus station. I had to stop in a pharmacy in the bus station to pick up some Sudafed for my cold and as I walked back to the counter I spotted something I had been looking for for 2 months to no avail: deodorant. Yes, Townsville has deodorant, that's not what I'm saying. But the deodorant here only comes in two kinds: spray-on aerosol or liquid roll-on. I never thought I'd be particular about toiletries, but I really missed my Gillette gel deodorant. And there it was, sitting on a shelf in a tiny pharmacy in a bus station in Brisbane.

We were "Greyhound'n it" from Brisbane up to the town of Rainbow Beach. It was actually a very nice and seemingly short trip, and we got to watch an episode of Steve Irwin's Crocodile Hunter show. We made good time and arrived in Rainbow Beach just after noon. Ten minutes later we got picked up by Adan of Brumbys 4x4 Rentals in a little Daihatsu Feroza. From there we headed down to the beach where he would be giving us a little driving training.

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and a 4 X 4 is a must. Even when you are not driving on the beach, the sandy inland roads necessitate a 4x4 with adequate clearance. We drove 15 minutes until the pavement ended, switched the front wheels to 4WD and drove into the thick sand. Adan went over the basic rules of the road and how he wanted his vehicle driven. Rules number one, two, and three were "Do not drive in the salt water!" After a bit of demonstration on his part, Adan switched positions with me and watched me struggle to drive through deep sand with a stick shift on my left side. I was nervous but did okay. We returned to the shop, which was just a trailer in a small parking lot, to load up our camping gear and bags. Adan seemed a bit frazzled getting us situated with our gear, so it took awhile. After a very quick lunch we picked up our National Park permit, stocked up on supplies at the small IGA, and drove back to the beach to catch the afternoon ferry onto the island.

We landed on the southern tip of Fraser at around 4 PM. This was not by accident. All travel to, from, and on the island is dictated by the tides. In order to dive safely on the beach, which functions as the main island thoroughfare, you must travel within 2 hours of either before or after low tide. When the tide comes up, the road goes away. After about 25 minutes of driving we had our first encounter with the island's most famous residents: Canis lupus dingo.

The domesticated-turned-feral dogs are a beautiful burnt orange color. It was a thrill to see them trotting down on the beach. They seemed to be quite used to the human presence. There is a major effort on the island to prevent humans feeding the dingos and to keep children safe. There are many warning signs and posters around. One horrifying poster in particular showed two toddlers playing in the sand with no parents around and two vicious dingos creeping out of the forest clearly full of malcontent.

It was getting later and the tide was coming in so we drove over the dunes to our first campsite at One Tree Rocks.

That night I wasn't feeling very good because of my cold and passed out in the tent while Lindsay made up a mean batch of Mac and Cheese. We both went to bed early. At some point in the night it started to sprinkle so Lindsay had to get out of the tent by herself and put on the rain fly. Supposedly (I have to take Lindsay's word on this) about a half hour after she put the rain fly on, Lindsay was still up reading and heard some rustling in the nearby grass. Then the rustling turned into sniffing right at the edge of the tent. Lindsay peered through the open part of the rain fly to see two dingos exploring our campsite. After a few minutes they apparently took off.

The next day we got up at 5:45am to beat high tide, packed up and headed north. It was a fun ride along the beach. A couple of times we had to head inland to avoid some large boulders and surf on the beach. We made our first stop at Eli Creek, a cold and beautiful spring-fed stream with nice tree canopy. It was getting very very hot and the tides were too high to drive elsewhere, so we tied up the rainfly on the car and some nearby branches to use as as a shelter. After taking a dip in the cold creek we enjoyed a nap in the shade at 9 am.

After our nap the tide had gone down enough so we continued north. We passed a cool shipwreck on the beach, and then made a quick pitstop at a little inland store for some gas and ice for the cooler.

We then ended up at Indian Head, a large rock outcrop from which you can often see sealife in the waters below. We looked down and saw a large ray hanging out in the surf.

From Indian Head we ventured to the farthest point on the island we would visit: Champagne Pools. Being the only safe place on the island for ocean swimming (sharks and riptides prevent ocean swimming elsewhere), it was quite busy. Here we found natural rock pools filled with ocean water. As they were situated right on the pounding surf, when waves hit they shower the swimmers with frothy, bubbly sea foam...champagne!

When we had our fill of lounging in the pools, we drove south to Dundabarra campsite, a nice fenced-in campsite for keeping the dingos out. It even had coin-operated showers, which we happily used. We made burgers on the BBQ and boiled corn, read our books and went to bed.

Townsville Crocs Basketball Game

After our big Tasmania trip Matt and I were very busy working. We did get to have a little fun though. Our fellow American friends here gave us their season tickets for the Townsville Crocodiles (basketball) game against Melbourne on December 12. The seats were great - just a few rows away from the court. The game was what I would call entertaining. Not the best basketball we've seen, but it was still tons of fun to go and check it out. Of course basketball is basketball pretty much anywhere you go, but here they play rap/dance music during the actual play of the game. Very strange!

Tasman Peninsula (Tassie Days 9, 10, 11, and 12)

The next morning we packed up our things again and by 10am we were driving down the coast of the Tasman Peninusla. After a quick stop for gas, groceries, and ice, we pulled into a little bakery for a couple egg and bacon breakfast pies and toast. I'm always a little nervous ordering anything with bacon in it (it's quite different here), but the pies were extremely good. After breakfast, we turned off the main road towards Fortescue Bay, where we'd be camping for the next two nights. The road to the campsite was a long gravel and it took us a good 25 minutes just to get there.

After setting up the tent, we packed up a small lunch and set out on the trail to Cape Huay. I must admit that I was tired that day, and I had expected that the hike would be relatively flat and easy. Indeed, it was not. It was a long series of steep hills, and I couldn't help but whine a bit along the way.

It was so worth it. The trail ended atop a beautiful cliff wall jutting out into the cold Tasman Sea. After taking a few photos up at the top, we found a spot somewhat sheltered from the wind for our picnic. No sooner than a minute after we began to head back to camp, Matt ("Eagle Eyes") spotted a whale breaching in the distance. We began to see other movement in the water. It appeared to be two adult whales with their calf. We sat there watching and photographing the whales for at least 30 minutes before hiking back to camp.

We were famished by the time we got back so we snacked on a few crackers while attempting to get our fire going. The fire was only half successful though because the wood was damp (I was annoyed that the ranger had sold us damp wood in the first place). As the sun began to set we took a break from the fire and walked out onto the beach and explored Fortescue Bay.

Dinner was simple that night: good ol' Kraft Mac n' Cheese. Between the two of us we had no problem scarfing down two entire boxes. Disappointed in our fire, which still hadn't picked up, we got cozy in the tent and read our books for awhile.

The next morning we were planning on touring Port Arthur, a historical prison settlement and also the site where a massacre took place in 1996. Well, whenever I go camping, it's inevitable that I look like a ragamuffin/schmata most of the time (as in anytime after the first 12-18 hours). Since were were going to be in a civilized museum-like atmosphere in the morning and surrounded by others who had likely showered in the previous 24 hours, I wanted to clean up a bit and look somewhat respectable. The bathroom facilities at Fortescue campground were pretty limited so I snuck into the bathroom at Port Arthur with my bag full of toiletries and makeup and a clean change of clothes. I felt like a total bogan at the time brushing my teeth in their nice museum bathroom, but I felt great afterwords.

Port Arthur was beautiful and not quite as eerie as I had expected, but I do think part of that had to do with the beautiful weather we had that morning. The guide on the walking tour was fantastic and very informative; the boat tour later in the morning was not as interesting. Afterwords we spent maybe another 30 minutes wandering the ground and called it a day.

Before lunch we stopped to see Remarkable Cave. We picnicked for lunch (ham and brie sandwiches and salt and vinegar chips) at Palmerston Lookout, which had a gorgeous view of the hills and coastline.

After lunch Matt came up with a great idea to try to find some dry wood we could use for kindling our fire later that night. On our way down from Palmerston Lookout we pulled over on the side of a gravel road to search for wood. I was a little worried we'd find a tiger snake, too, as we tramped around in the grass. We didn't, but we did find heaps of big dry sticks, which we tossed into the trunk of the car, hoping that no one would notice.

That afternoon we decided to stop in the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park even though we had been lucky enough to see Tasmanian devils in the wild at Cradle Mountain National Park. This time, though, we'd get to observe a feeding. We had some time to kill at the park before the feeding began, so we wandered around a bit. We caught the second half of a great bird show, which Matt participated in by allowing a falcon to zoom between his legs.

We spent the remainder of the time in the kangaroo park. There were so many roos and wallabies, and tons of joeys. They were adorable. I could have watched them for hours...

The devil feeding was extremely educational. The devils may look sweet at first, but they're incredibly ferocious and a sight to see when they're feeding - particularly when two are fighting over the food. They screamed and howled and fought over every last morsel of the food.

Back at camp we watched one more gorgeous sunset on the beach at Fortescue Bay. Our fire turned out much better that night with the stolen dry wood, and dinner was a messy but delicious meal of sausages and onions.

The next morning was an early one. We were up by 6:15 and on the road to the Eaglehawk Neck Dive Center. As Matt drove I put together a couple PB&J sandwiches for breakfast. We arrived with plenty of time, which gave us plenty of time to get all our cold-water gear together.

This would be our first experience diving in cold temperatures. I think it's safe to estimate that all of our other diving has been in water temperatures around 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 23-27 degrees Celsius. This time it would be 55 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 14 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures like this require either dry suits or hard core 7 mm wetsuits. For us it would be 7 mm wetsuits (you need special training to use a dry suit so that was our only option). We've never worn so much gear - a 7 mm thick onesie, an extra vest, booties, and a 7 mm head cover - and unfortunately we don't have photos of how silly we must have looked. Since it was our first experience with 7 mm wetsuits, the dive shop owner suggested we test them in the pool at the dive center just to get a feel for what they'd be like during the dive. It was there we realized there'd be no dive master there to dive with us. Nope. We were all on our own on this one. Luckily we've had a decent amount of diving experience and have done a few dives sans dive masters. Had we not, these dives would have been pretty daunting.

There were three others on the boat with us - one guy who had logged over 700 dives and was out there to dive with his super duper dive camera, and the others were a couple of Irish dudes who didn't have a lot of diving experience. We worried a little about them.

Along the way to our first dive site - which turned out to be Fortescue Bay - we saw a few humpback whales and a bunch of dolphins. It took me a few minutes to get up the courage to actually jump into the water there but eventually I couldn't wait any longer and in I went. Well, imagine jumping into 14 degree water. The cold was piercing as the water flowed into my wetsuit. Matt seemed to handle it better than I did, but that's no surprise. The wetsuit did do the trick though, and within about 5 minutes I was warm enough to enjoy our surroundings.

Fortescue Bay was the site of a giant kelp forest which quickly became one of my favorite dive sites. The kelp was incredible and it was worth going through the initial pain of the cold temperatures to see. It was like nothing I could have imagined. We saw a small shark swimming around, but most of what we saw was the kelp.

I lasted about 35 minutes before I found myself too cold to keep diving. During our surface interval we got a hot cup of soup and small chocolate bars (yum!) and the guide took us to see some seals on the nearby rocks.

After our surface interval things went a little downhill for me. I had forgotten to take a dramamine that morning and I was starting to feel a little queasy. I always feel better once I'm in the water, so I didn't waste a lot of time jumping in for the second dive (Waterfall Bay). I did feel better, but what I didn't feel this time was warm. This time my body couldn't warm up the water in my wetsuit quickly enough and after about 10 minutes I had to call it quits. It was a shallow dive (about 10 meters), and we were diving with the two Irish guys so Matt tagged along with them while I headed back on the boat. While Matt was not thrilled about me surfacing without him, he had an amazing dive and managed to see the elusive leafy sea dragon. It was such a lucky find.

After a stop back at the dive shop for hot showers and a cup of coffee we set off toward Hobart, where we'd be spending the day and a half of the trip. We were so hungry after the dive (diving really does work up an appetite, especially cold water diving) so we stopped at Barillia Bay for take away oysters and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. We found a good picnic spot on Seven Mile Beach, ate oysters and drank wine, and watched the airplanes come in for their landings at Hobart airport.

We spent the last two night in Hobart at the Astor Hotel, which was a funky old-style (but very nice) hotel. We had a wonderful hot shower and went back to Fish Frenzy for their famous chowder and fish 'n' chips. The sunset was beautiful. Afterwords we got a few scoops of ice cream and fell asleep watching the movie Chocolat in bed. I was in heaven. (A couple things for our own memories: quirky Tildy at the Astor Hotel, the Batmobile Boat.)

Having reached the end of our Tasmanian adventure, we opted to sleep in that next morning and have a leisurely breakfast in the hotel. I spent several hours working in the morning and afternoon while Matt went to the movie theater to see Where The Wild Things Are, which he gave two thumbs down. After his movie he picked up some Indian take out food which we noshed on in the room. I finished my work by the end of the afternoon so we had time to drive up to the top of nearby Mount Wellington before the sun set. The views of Hobart from the top were super, but it was insanely windy up there!

As you can imagine, two weeks of our adventure trip had turned the car (and our suitcases) into a disaster. Our car was brand new, too, and at least I was convinced Avis would charge us if we returned the car full of sand, mud, and crumbs. We luckly didn't have too much trouble finding a car wash where we were able to give the car a quick vacuum and rinse. It was good enough. Back at the hotel before dinner, we re-packed our bags to get ready for our flight home the next morning. It was a big endeavor. For example, because Fortescue campground didn't have much in the way of facilities, our dishes from the other night (recall onions and sausages) hadn't been properly cleaned. Matt had to pull a big bogan move and clean out our dirty dishes and pot in the sink of the shared bathroom of the hotel. :(

Our last dinner in Tasmania was spent at a modern hip pizza joint at the Salamanca Market area called Cargo. The pizza and caesar salad rocked, and we topped it off with a scoop of gelato. The next day was a long one home. We went to the airport mid-morning and flew to Brisbane. We had a 5 hour layover, so we took the shuttle bus to the outlet stores near the airport and did some much needed shopping. The sales were almost too good to be true, and I thankfully picked up a few new things to add to my wardrobe. Matt didn't, but I think he was okay with that. Our last flight home from Brisbane to Townsville was uneventful, and as you can imagine, we crashed as soon as we got home. It was good to be home.

Bay of Fires and Freycinet (Tassie Day 6, 7, and 8)

We started the next morning by sleeping in until about 8 or so.  Lindsay had work to do, so she stayed back at the bartel while I set out to pick up some groceries, get ice, and fill up the car.  The store was out of bags of ice, but the lady at the register just hollered over to the guy in the deli section and said something like, "This bloke's got a baby and needs some ice."  I still don't get the logic there, but the deli guy happily filled up a small produce bag with crushed ice and handed it over.

Shortly thereafter we got on the road and headed east, noshing on breakfast pastries along the way.  The berry muffin was great; the fruitcake muffin and fig strudel not so much.

Our plan was to first head to the northeast corner of Tasmania to Mt. William National Park and afterwords make our way down to an area called the Bay of Fires.  The roads were as windy as ever and the scenery beautiful as always.  While driving we were listening to CDs of "The Ricky Gervais Show," which is a British comedy radio talk show.  I was laughing so hard at times I had to slow down to avoid going off the road. I realize you have to hear the show to really appreciate the jokes, but for our own memories I feel the need to jot a few things down: "Do we really need them," "Rubbish," and "The old man and the Twix."

Just outside the national park the road turned from sealed (paved) to dirt and gravel.  We had read about the severe penalties the rental car companies impose on those stupid enough to take their cars off road, and since our rental car was brand new (only 535 km on the odometer), we decided to skip the park and go on to the Bay of Fires.  About an hour later we pulled into Binalong Bay, the southern second of the Bay of Fires.

This area supposedly got its name for the numerous aboriginals' fires that could be seen from the European ships that were exploring the area in the late 1700s.  Now its a picturesque seaside area of beautiful beaches strewn with large boulders covered with orange and yellow lichen.  As you can see from the pictures, the aqua blue water slamming into the yellow-orange rocks makes for a beautiful sight.  We found a nice place to park, and had a little picnic on a large boulder nearby.  After lunch Lindsay returned to the car to do some work while I played around with my camera.  Later we did a bit of exploring along the coast north of Binalong Bay.  I took "heaps" of photographs.

About an hour before sunset we stoped at Angasi, a hip little restaurant overlooking Binalong Bay.  Following an appetizer of oysters, we enjoyed lamb albondigas and trevally with the obiligatory sauvignon blanc wine. It was another fabulous meal.

After dinner we drove about 90 minutes south down the coast to our FREE campsite at a coastal area called Chain of Lagoons. Along the way we spotted an echidna slowly crossing the road in front of us.  Lindsay stopped the car and frantically beeped her horn at the oncoming car in hopes of alerting the driver to the situation.  He spotted it, too, so the echidna made it safely across.  After setting up the tent at Chain of Lagoons, we watched the sunset on the beach, Lindsay did a bit more work, and then we hit the hay.

The next morning we got up and drove to Freycinet National Park for some early morning sea kayaking in Cole's Bay.  We had initially planned on renting a kayak there for an overnight kayak/camping trip.  That got canned when the kayak company explained that we would have to demonstrate righting an overturned kayak in the deep 50F water.  Upon hearing this, it didn't take long for Lindsay to opt for the infinitely warmer 2-3 hour leisurely morning paddle, which didn't require the cold water plunge prior to departure.  It was a good thing, too.  We arrived, got oriented, and set off into near gale-force winds sweeping across the bay.  The strong winds would have made for a tough overnight trip.  We had a nice enough time on the water despite the wind though.

After returning to the kayak launch site and grabbing a fish-n-chips lunch at the nearby tavern, we drove to the main part of Freycinet Park.  There we packed up my backpack with just the essentials for an overnight backpacking/camping trip in the park.  From the trailhead we headed up and over a mountain to Wineglass Bay, our campground for the night. 

It was a pleasant enough hike despite the winds and dark clouds overhead, threatening to dump rain on us at any moment.  We shared the rustic campground with about 8 other groups and a bunch of wallabies hopping around.  The wallabies were quite anxious to sniff out or tent when we arrived.

The kayaking and hike had worn us out, so we had an early dinner in anticipation of an early bedtime. This dinner was not as fancy as the two we'd had the prior two nights, but it was perfect for camping and required no cooking: our appetizer was Ritz crackers and wine, and our entrees were a ham and cheese croissant and a chicken and camembert cheese pie. It hit the spot.  Shortly after sunset we fell asleep to the sounds of a light rain shower.

In the middle of the night I awoke from a very deep sleep to someone shaking me and saying in an extremely panicked whisper, "Matt! There's something out there and its hissing! I think there are possums getting into our food!" Before going to bed we had tied up all of our food - just two muffins, an orange, and an energy bar - in one of Lindsay's beloved Envirosax (www.envirosax.com if you're curious) and hung it from a branch in the tree.  This is standard protocol for camping.  Tying up your food and hanging it from a tree, in theory, keeps the food inaccessible to pesky critters...such as possums.

Well, the possums weren't so sure our food was inaccessible.  It took me a minute or two to wake up, and when I did I peered out the tent with my headlamp.  Sure enough, there were two large possums (about the size of large raccoons) in the tree vying for dominance over our muffins.  With my chivalry gland pumping as fast as it could, I got up and with a hiking boot in hand, attempted to ward off the intruders.  At first they were not impressed and just hissed at me.  But I got closer and took a few more swings, lightly striking the animals with the boot, and they did finally race down the tree and retreat into the forest.  But alas, the damage was done.  The Envirosac, muffins, orange, and energy bar had all been gnawed on by the possums. Fearing the return of the possums, I walked down to the beach to dispose of our would-have-been breakfast in the ocean and hung the possum saliva-covered Envirosac on a branch nearby.

Now, it turns out that at the time of the possum attack Lindsay wasn't the least bit concerned about the fate of our food and the possibility of facing a three hour hike back sans breakfast.  No, her fear was that the possums would rip and chew through her Envirosac.  Well, lucky for her, it was the one thing that survived.

The next moring I woke up especially hungry with the prospect of a three hour hike back to civilization.  It was a great hike despite the lack of brekkie.  I did have a mild hypoglycemic event though, which caused me to be slightly grumpy at Lindsay when she wouldn't be quiet despite the presence of an echidna on the trail.  There we were in a beautiful Tasmanian forest, and I happened to see the elusive echidna just hanging out on the trail, and Lindsay was blabbing away behind me....well, turns out the echidna was just a big brown rock.  I quickly apologized, we finished the hike, and we finally got some much needed breakfast.

Back in the car we again headed south toward the Tasman Peninsula.  Halfway there we stopped in Swansea at a beautiful sushi restaurant overlooking the water.  The view was spectacular; the sushi was not as spectacular as the view but good enough.

An hour or so later we stopped in Sorrell and had dessert at a "pick your own fruit" farm where we picked 5 varieties of stawberries (I didn't even know they came in varieties), cherries, raspberries, and gooseberries. 

Later that afternoon we arrived in Eaglehawk Neck (part of the Tasman Peninsula) and checked into a hotel.  The hotel was pretty crappy, but it had hot showers and that was all we cared about.  We got cleaned up and then took a drive around the peninsula to stop by a few famous sites, namely the Tasman Arch, the Blowhole, and the Devil's Kitchen.

Afterwords, we once again we found ourselves looking for a dinner spot around 7:30, thirty to sixty minutes before most restaurant close their kitchens.  We had to settle for a place called Fox and Hound, which looked destined to be a bit of a disappointment.  But we were tired, hungry, and running out of time. Well, the dinner was surprisingly good, at least the garlic and cheese bread appetizer and fresh strawberry dessert.  FYI: here, chicken parmesan comes on top of chips (fries), not pasta.

We got back to the hotel relatively early and decided to be lazy and relax in front of the TV.  Anchorman, one of my favorite movies, was on.  This made both of us very happy.  We made it though the first half but then drifted off to sleep.