Never thought I would spend a lot of my trip at animal parks but yet again here I am at the aquarium and Ocean World. I would have to say that I have seen some of the strangest sea creatures. There are fishes that look like rocks and other ones that look like weeds. What a crazy world it is under the ocean.

Ocean World is located on Manly Beach just a short ferry ride away. Ocean World isn’t worth the trip by itself. We were more going over there for the beach but thought we would pop in there to see what they had. It was a small exhibit but we did see the feeding of the sharks and turtles by the divers. They only feed them 3 days a week at 11:00 and we just happen to be walking through exactly at that time. Pretty lucky timing I guess. The tank was pretty dirty since they were eating so the photos are hard to see but you can get the idea.

Syd Aqua

Well since we didn’t see any kangaroos out in the wild we had to pay money to go see a kangaroo. Since the weather was a bit rainy we decided to go for the pass that includes the wildlife park, aquarium and ocean world. The wildlife park contained butterflies, snakes, bees, koalas, crocodile (one of the world’s largest) and of course kangaroo. The crocodile was still when we first walked up to the exhibit but then it decided to go for a little swim. It seemed so effortless for this very large croc to move. It was pretty fun to watch it swim around in a circle. The kangaroos were probably my highlight of the park. We just missed the time where we could have our photo taken with the kangaroo but that was okay. I just enjoyed being right next to them in the exhibit. They can come right up to you (although they mainly just stay away). There were no females so I didn’t get to see a baby kangaroo in any pouches.

There are a couple of photos of Lego exhibits in there. They had some of the largest Lego exhibits I have ever seen including entire walls. Not sure why I didn’t try to become a Lego designer.

Widelife Park

I wasn’t sure what to think Sydney would be like before arriving. Would it be a large city that just doesn’t have charm or would it be a city that just captures your eye? Sydney is by far one of the greatest large cities I have ever been to. Even though I’m staying in the central business district in a business hotel, I just feel at home in this city. They have great running paths and a huge botanical garden right next to the opera house. Of course everybody knows the famous opera house. Hard to believe that I have been standing right in front of it when usually it is just an icon that is on TV on New Years. I never did know that Sydney has thousands of bats. Yes, that is right bats. They live in the botanical gardens and make a lot of noise as they start to wake up. If you love bats then walk around the gardens around dusk. I on the other hand do not like bats but was also dumb enough to be walking through the park at night. Between the cockatoos and the bats, it was a flying creature nightmare for me.

I think Sydney is a lot like New York. It can offer something for everybody. Kids would love all the animal parks and beaches, adults would love the shopping and nightlife. I love all of it including the animal parks. Sydney seems like a great city to meet people and be out and about. The slideshow contains photos of the city and the botanical gardens (including a photo of the bats in the trees).

Sydney

Our plane didn’t leave Tassie until 5 so we had pretty much all day to explore.  We walked around Hobart around sunrise and then we sat outside and had breakfast.  The city is very cute and charming.  We then drove to the Tasman Peninsula.  The Tasman Peninsula is famous for the penal colony in Port Arthur.  We didn’t have time to actually walk around the colony but we did see some of the sites around the area.  One that really stuck out was the tessellated pavement.  The stones were perfectly created by the ocean and the salt.  How close the stones are to the water determined how the shape was formed.  The closer to the water the stones were more like loafs and further away from the water the shape was like a pan.  If you ever have a chance to visit Tassie then you really need to visit the tessellated pavement.  It is a very rare feature that is worth some time.  The photo slideshow are photos from around the Tasman Peninsula including the tessellated pavement and some of the beautiful cliffs around the area.

Tassie

Since we didn’t have internet to do a little research on what we wanted to do with our full day in Tassie we had to just make a choice. We knew before coming here that Freycinet National Park was supposed to be worth a visit but we didn’t have a lot of information about it. Our GPS said it would be a 3 hour drive which sounded like a lot but why not give it a go. We got up early and headed out of Hobart. It was a nice sunny morning with another nice sunrise. The sun comes up about 20 minutes earlier in Hobart than it did in Melbourne.

The drive was filled with a lot of road kill. There were a lot of dead Wallabies. You have to drive slower between dusk and dawn because of the animals. We did see an echidna walking along the road.

We went to the visitor center and got our map and paid the park fee. We also forgot our bug spray so we had to buy another bottle. We also were shocked to learn that to see the bay that we just drove 3 hours to see was going to be a 3 hour hike. You could hike for an hour and half to see the lookout. So not only did we not have our bug spray but we weren’t prepared at all. We didn’t have a backpack or food. Luckily we did bring a large water from the mini fridge in our apartment and 6 little pieces of Cadbury chocolate. There was no turning back though and we set out on the hike.

To the lookout is 600 stairs. There were plenty of older hikers on the trail. They usually wanted us to pass as they were taking their time. Impressive that they were doing the hike at all because it was a pretty hot day. Our plan was to hike to the lookout and then decide if we should hike to the beach. The beach was named one of the top 10 beaches in the world so I wasn’t sure how I would be satisfied not going down to the water. Our decision was made for us when we missed the sign for the lookout. An older couple let us pass and onward we went on missing the sign. We started a steep decline down rocks. We were wondering how all of those people were going to do this hike. It took us awhile to realize we must have taken a wrong turn.

The hike to the beach is a must!!! There are no disappointments when you get on the sand. The sand is like little perfect pebbles and there was a wallaby at the bottom to greet us. I would have stayed down there all day if we would have had some food and more water. The hike back up wasn’t as bad as I thought until I saw a huge snake. Luckily it went off into the forest so I didn’t have to scream. No photos of the snake as I was frozen. There were some crazy people doing the hike down. One was an Aussie on crutches with a huge walking cast on. Maybe he didn’t think the difficult hike was that hard. The photos don’t do this hike justice. The sun was so bright it really washed out the colors. Wine Glass Bay is worth another visit for sure some day (and maybe I will be prepared). Click on the photo to view the slideshow.

Freycinet National Park

The flight was easy…maybe too easy. We never had our ID checked or anything. You do go through security but everyone can go through there. People were able to meet people at the gate. They had dogs check our bag in Hobart when we got off the plane to make sure we weren’t bringing in any quarantined items. They do use the cutest dogs. I thought it was pretty impressive watching the dog walk on the baggage as it was going around the carousel.

We got our car and drove into Hobart in search of our apartment. Once we checked in we had to head out and get dinner as we were starving. We walked around in search of dinner. Fish and chips are everywhere. We finally decided to try the Indian restaurant though, and it was fantastic. Honestly, if you are seafood lover, Hobart is the place for you. We could see the fish coming off the fishing boats and ready for sale.

Oh and by the way we didn’t have internet so I’m a little late in posting all of this.

Hobart

We have been packing as much in to our days as possible which means we are usually trying to get out the door by sunrise. We decided to go for a walk as the sun was rising over Apollo Bay. I’m glad that we did because we saw a fairy penguin swimming in the bay. Actually at first I thought it was a injured bird because I have never seen a penguin in the wild but after researching it on the internet we determined it was in fact a fairy penguin (aka little penguin). I think I got a pretty good photo of it swimming.

I decided to walk out on the boat dock. It was pretty hard to stand on the dock because it was bouncing back and forth. I was standing at the end of the dock trying to get a photo of the fish in the water when I saw something huge come out from under the dock. Once it was all the way out from under the dock I realized that it was a huge sea creature. I’m not very good at identifying animals that I don’t see all the time but I think it was a sting ray. I got a little uneasy at staying at the end of the dock since it seemed like it was starting to circle me. After a couple of photos I made my way back.

We drove back to the Melbourne Airport for our flight to Hobart in Tasmania. The drive was pretty easy besides being behind some very slow drivers. I had to fill up the car. We only used half a tank of gas (thank goodness for renting a hybrid). Half a tank of gas costs me $50.

Apollo Bay

Today was our full day to explore the great ocean road and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. My eyes were completely amazed at how beautiful this coast is. The red rock and the green plants next to the red sand and blue water. What more could I ask for? Wait did I hear a helicopter tour of the twelve apostles? Yes, you heard me correct. I even got to wear the fun ear protection and microphone. For a small price more we could pick a low flying helicopter. Why not fly closer to the rocks? Our helicopter could also land in the water if necessary but I’m honestly not sure how it would survive the powerful waves. We had to wear life vests. Not sure if that made me confident or not. We had to leave everything behind except a camera. They weighed us and we were off to the heavens.

This was my first helicopter ride and it was amazing. We flew down the coast as our pilot explained what we were seeing I was taking as many photos as possible. My arm is actually sore from holding my camera so long. He warned us when we would drop. He asked if we liked roller coasters as we would turn sharply. It really was all great. The slideshow might be a little long since it was very hard to pick the best photos. These photos are only from the helicopter ride so there will be more to follow. (Click on the photo to view the slideshow.)

Helicopter