Australia
tassie here we come
So Christmas is now behind us and New Year is about to come knocking! We will be bringing in 2014 in Hobart this year. It’s the second year in a row that we will not be in Sydney!
Seriously?! Where does the time go? We cannot believe that this time last year, we were on a Caribbean cruise and this year, we are trying to think of what to pack for Tasmania.
We’ve googled the forecast for the next few days and the temperature ranges so much: from the lows of 9 to the highs of 28. A mix of winter and summer clothes are needed here!
This is a family holiday, we have 12 people aged between 1 years old (our niece) through to 64 years old (the patriarch of the family). The last time we did this, there was only 10 of us and we were driving a mini-van around Western Australia… After that experience, we have decided this time to split up into two cars for our sanity!
So our itinerary for this 10-day trip goes a little something like this:
Flying into Hobart for a few days, onwards to Bicheno for a few more, up north to Launceston and Sheffield to finish off. There will be day trips in between no doubt but these will be our “hubs”.
Thinking back to our visit here back in 2008: we are looking forward to eating fresh fruit and visiting the different farms, seeing wildlife and the beauty of nature… and who doesn’t love a good ole road trip!!
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a 2-day safari in australia
Yes, you heard us correctly: we went on a safari in Australia! Seeing as our real African safaris had been put on the back burner, we put an alternative safari on the cards.
A five-hour drive north-west of Sydney brought us to a town called Dubbo.
Dubbo is home to Taronga Western Plain Zoo where the wildlife roam freely on the wide open plains. But not entirely without enclosures. There are moats or fences separating visitors from the animals but not to the point where we felt we were visiting a typical zoo.
We had booked a 2-day zoofari package, staying at the Zoofari Lodge.
What we got with the zoofari?
- 1-night accomodation: in canvas lodges (more glamping than camping)
- 2-day zoo admission
- an African-inspired banquet on the first night and breakfast on the following morning: both unbelievably scrumptious
- 3 exclusive guided tours
- complimentary bicycle hire
The 3 exclusive tours included a sunset tour, night tour and a sunrise tour. We were transported around via a mini bus with tours lasting about 1 hour each with approximately 20 people on board. On all three tours, we got relatively close to the animals and for some, we were able to feed them. It was unreal to see a hippo so active at night, a cheetah stalking and who would’ve thought we would’ve met a bongo from Congo! (And no, it wasn’t a drum…)
The tour guides were very informative and provided reminders as to the importance of conservation. Incredible hearing how many rhinos in the wild were being killed in a day and how habitat destruction and mining are affecting the numbers of animals in the wild!
We highly recommend if anyone is to head out to Dubbo, the zoofari overnight stay is worth it. After checking out of the lodge, we still had admission to the zoo itself. Hiring bikes is complimentary with the package but get there early for the golf buggies. They get snapped up very quickly. The other way to get around is to drive your own car through the zoo. There are parking spots along the way where you can stop and walk to see the animals.
Dubbo Zoo has been on our family’s to-do for so many years and finally this was the year to tick it off our list 🙂
How much did it cost?
It’s calculated based on how many people per cabin. So for us, two monkeys, it cost us $658 for the package, which when we itemised what we were getting, it actually works out quite reasonable for 2 people.
There is more to see than just the zoo at Dubbo but we didn’t have the time as we only had a weekend here. Next time, we will be sure to make it a leisurely drive out and back with a few stops to explore things along the way.
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sunday snaps: sculptures by the sea
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After almost 10 years together, we thought we might have run out of ‘firsts’ together – hang on, this is beginning to sound like the “How I Met Your Mother” episode where Lily and Marshall have a similar conversation while stuck in the bathroom together. Who’s seen that episode? Actually, let’s not get off track…
Back to “our first” yesterday… it was the first time we both went to the Sculptures by the Sea but also the first time ever in our 31 years of life in Australia had we even walked the coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama. We can’t believe that we have never done that walk – its so easy and so beautiful! We are now keen to walk more of that coastal walk especially if we want to do the Camino de Santiago (it could become part of our training).
So Sculptures by the Sea is running from Oct 25 to Nov 10, and has been going since 1997. It is free to see the exhibits & there are donation buckets around to help keep the events free. The sculptures are available for purchase & we assume it could set you back a few dollars, we don’t know as we didn’t check.
The walk takes about an hour depending on how much time you spend photographing and learning about the artwork. We walked through and stopped along the way to take some pictures and that took us an hour and half return. We got up quite early to go to hopefully avoid the crowds. Arriving at 8am, it was already pretty crowded!
If you manage to dodge the morning joggers, dog walkers and other sculpture enthusiasts, it is a really lovely walk especially when the sun is out. Then afterwards, you can enjoy breakfast or coffee at the many eateries along Campbell Pde.
Hope you enjoy our photo essay!
Disclaimer: Our descriptions of the sculptures are OUR opinions and do not reflect what the sculptures are really called!
Just realised this is also our first every post about our home state, New South Wales. Wow, lots of firsts for us with this one 🙂
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rise and shine: a desert sunrise
The desert morning was freezing, it was pitch black except for the moon and the “green” lights lining the path directing us to the viewing platforms. Rugged up, we trudged up the slope to position ourselves for an uninterrupted view of Uluru at sunrise. It was worth every numb finger, it was worth every shiver, it was worth waking up at 4.30am. As the sun crept over the horizon in the east behind us, Uluru began changing colour.
With the sunrise day tour that we booked with AAT Kings, we were spoilt (and fortunate) enough to be the only two who had booked the Cultural Walk around Uluru. With two tour guides in tow, we were given a very personal tour of the base of Uluru. We walked half the base to Mutitjulu waterhole and also did the Mala Walk before finishing up at the Cultural Centre which has some educational and very fascinating exhibits on display. Walking alongside Uluru – we learnt a great deal about Aboriginal history. But all the time, we were looking up, and up at this massive monolith, only to see people as little as ants walking atop it! One of the tour guides, the one on our Kata Tjuta day trip in fact, provided a great “food-for-thought” statement before he sent the group on our self-guided walk. In so many words, he basically put it to us to ponder how we treat sacred sites such as churches and temples, and therefore why should these sacred sites be treated any different?
Although there is so much left for us to still explore in this area, this was an incredible taster to what the Australian wilderness has to offer. To think it has taken us this long to see Uluru, we can only get excited of what’s next on our Australia to-do list. But before long, we will probably fall back to our old habits of travelling further afield before we try and soak up some more of our own backyard!
View more photos of our trips at Photo Gallery.
wise monkeys abroad 