Tasmania: Bay of Fires

We woke up to a refreshingly cool morning, preceding a nice brisk fall day.  For some reason I felt compelled to get up an go for a run.  I was a bit under dressed in my shorts and t-shirt, so I never really warmed up, so it turned into a slog.  The highlight was jogging down the beach of the bay for the final 1km.  We had breakfast and tea in the camper and then headed out to see the lighthouse in the park.  We took a little stroll along the cliffs before continuing our drive up the coast. The next planned stop was St. Helens and the Bay of Fires.  This bay was named for the Aboriginal campfires burning along the shore as an explorer sailed past in 1773.  We thought it could have been due to the color the rocks get at sunrise and sunset when the light hits the orange colored lichen growing on many of the rocks there.

As we continued up the coast we hit the turnoff for Binalong Bay, the southern point of the Bay of Fires.  It was mid afternoon when we arrived, so we checked out the town beach, found a spot for dinner and then headed out to find a spot to sleep for the night.  Once we had that figured out we drove to the Gardens for a walk along the beach.  We checked out the tide pools and some of the local wildlife until it was close to sunset and the mozzies came out and chased us inside.

Our dinner that night was at Angasi (named after a local oyster).  Situated across the street from the Bay, the view was spectacular, or would have been if it weren't already dark!  Laura started with a glass of Pinot Gris from the Bay of Fires Winery which was delicious.  Our entrees were rock lobster salad and trout chowder.  Both were unlike anything we had tasted.  For mains, I ordered a seafood pasta and Laura, the catch of the day.  Again we cleaned our plates.  We left the restaurant happy and warm and ready to head back to camp for the night.  We hit the sack early because we had big plans to get up and watch the sunrise in the morning.

Tasmania

This was our first day in the southern Australia island state of Tasmania. After picking up our rental car (we opted for a camper-van for this trip) we headed out from Hobart towards the beaches of the east coast. Our goal was to reach Freycinet National Park. Along the way we went through a few small towns nestled up along the bay. In one we stocked our fridge with food and a 4 pack of Tazzie’s Moo Brew dark ale. At Swansea we stopped at Kate's Berry Farm to taste-test the local jams. We sampled several different jams made from rasberries, strawberries, and a few local berries as well. We left with a jar of strawberry jam and a berry milk shake. Prior to arriving in Coles Bay, the entry to the national park, we stopped for a disappointing lunch at the Freycinet Marine Farm. This was billed as an excellent fresh seafood shack. Needless to say we were disappointed with our cold tasting plate of rock lobster, mussels, oysters, and scallops. The only good about this stop was the discovery of rock lobster, which was delicious.

Once in the NP we headed for the hike to Wineglass Bay. The beach at the bay has been ranked as one of the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world, and it lived up to the hype. It took us about 45 min of hiking up and over a ridge to reach the beach. As you can see in the pictures the bay is an arc of white sand and crystal clear aqua waters. Too bad it was not really warm enough for a swim.

Tazzie is known for its seafood and tonight’s dinner was the start of many wonderful fish dinners. We went to Madge Malloys in Coles Bay. This is a small restaurant run by a local couple. During the day they catch dinner on their boat and at night the husband cooks the day's catch while his wife acts as waitress and hostess. Our meal may go down as the best we have had in Australia. I had a grilled trumpeter fillet and Laura had perch stuffed with crab. One bite of my fish and I was feeling sorry for Laura, I was thinking there is no way her meal can be as good as mine. Then I took a bite of hers, it was as good or better than mine. Wow! we were hooked on the fresh seafood of Tasmania. After dinner we drove our home back to the NP and hunkered down with a few mozzies for the night.

Finding Nemo

We did it, we are now certified divers.  Laura's course was much harder than mine, but we will get to that in a bit.  The seas were much calmer today, although there was still a bit of a swell, so we headed out on an hour boat ride to Egg Rock.  This small island (rock) is in the green zone on the great barrier reef, which means no fishing or collecting of any sort.  It is quite a gem in these parts and we were fortunate to get out there.  Our first anchorage was in a current between a few smaller rocks. We were rocking and rolling pretty good on the boat Laura and I were both feeling the effects when we went into the water.

We started with a surface compass navigation, then descended to the reef, where the effects of the waves disappeared.  After practicing a few more skills we were able to look around a bit.  There was a cave in the wall of the rock, and just inside we found a Wobbegong shark.  It was quite docile and we were able to scratch its back. Back on the surface things were not getting any smoother.  Laura was turning green. Fortunately the skipper moved the boat to the other side of the island, where it was a bit calmer.  We spent two hours between dives; the only thing that lifted Laura's head was the sighting of two turtles off the starboard side.  Although she thought about jumping ship and swimming to the island, she decided to go down for the last dive, just to get off the bloody ship.  When we were all ready to go Laura scooted down from the bow, into her wetsuit and scuba gear and off the boat into the water.

This was to be our best dive of the weekend.  The water was much clearer, up to 10 meters visibility, and after finally getting the feel of SCUBA diving we were able to relax and enjoy the dive.  We finished a few skills to complete the course and then spent 20 min cruising around the reef.  The coral was beautiful with vibrant colors and large patches of anemones with clown fish darting about.  We saw a variety of larger fish including coral trout and a large wrasse (without its normal shark accompaniment.)

Once we were all out of the water we quickly stowed the gear and the boat headed back to shore.  We were near slack tide and the water had really smoothed out, so it was a smooth quick ride home.  Needless to say Laura was very happy to be back on the mainland.

Sea Snakes

Finally after months of waiting out the weather we made it out on to the Great Barrier Reef to finish our SCUBA diving course.  We started the book work back in December and dove in the pool in early January, but the combination of a heavy rainy season, a cyclone, and strong winds had made the open water portion of our dive impossible until this weekend.  We woke up early Saturday morning and went down to the dive shop to pick up our equipment and load the ute (pickup) with air cylinders.  Everyone meet at Rosslyn Bay marina and we packed the equipment on the boat.  Today we were headed to Outer Rock, which is part of the Keppel group of islands. 

The ride out was a bit rough, but we anchored on the leeward side of the island, in a calm cove, where the waves were small.  The first dive of the day was to get us used to being under the water again.  Our dive instructor (Robert) along with another instructor and seven of us students jumped into the water and went for a tour.  The area was primarily stag horn coral and there were numerous small fish darting about.  The highlight of the dive was an Olive sea snake which Robert grabbed and held by its mid-section.  We all took a feel of its skin, which felt just like any other snakes.  Once back on the boat we were informed that it is one of the top 5 most venomous snakes in the world.  Lucky for us they are very docile and will not bite unless aggravated.  

The second dive consisted of mostly skills, we practiced clearing our masks, controlling buoyancy, sharing air and ascending.  By the time we returned to the marina, unloaded the boat, washed the equipment, and went through a dive debrief we were exhausted and ready to head home to bed.

Back in the Saddle

Today was the first day of the road cycling season here in Rocky for me.  (Last weekend was actually the first race.)  I entered into the B grade field for the race.  It was 51 km and we had a small of field of 14 guys.  The race started out into a tailwind (or as it always is, a cross tail) for the first 10K. We were riding pretty hard and at one point I was wondering if I was going to make the finish. The wind was wicked this afternoon (20-30km/hr) and it was hard to find a place to hide and draft in the bunch.  Especially as we turned around and battled the headwind.
Nothing too exciting happened until we went past the start/finish line and onto the part of the course that we would only race once.  It was rolling with some fairly short steep hills.  A friend who I train with had been putting in a bunch of attacks and was struggling up one of the hills (not that I was in much better shape), and I figured he would last a lot longer in the flat sections of the race than I would, so I dropped back to help him over the top.  Once over we had to catch back on and I pretty much pegged my heart rate doing this.  Back in the field I tried to recover, but after we turned around and came back over the hills again I was having some trouble.  I just kept telling myself to hang in there a little longer.  Again through the start finish line and I had recovered a bit.  I decided to ignore my HR monitor because it seemed to be too high for too long already anyhow.  We had been over this part of the race once already so I had a clue what to expect.  I tried to stay out of the wind and save some energy.
When we turned around for the last 10 K to the finish we received a brutal cross head wind.  This made it really hard to draft as we could really only echelon 3 riders across the road (it was narrow and we could only use 1/2 the road.)  At about 9K to go my friend put in an attack.  I figured what the hell and bridged up to him.  I asked him if we were too far out and he thought we should give it a go.  We went about 4K before the group caught up to us going up a hill.  One guy jumped across the gap as we crested and we held a slim lead for another K.  At this point I dropped back into the peloton to rest. 
As we came up to the next hill I thought it was the last before the finish, with a long downhill on the other side.  I was wrong, I had sprinted up to the guy dangling in the front and then realized my mistake and fell back.  From here on out I stayed in the group.  As we swept down the final hill into the last 1000m, I was sitting 2 to 3rd wheel, right where I wanted to be.  Coming into the last 500 meters we were slowly pulling in the lone rider at the front.  I had told myself prior to the race not to sprint too early as it was slightly uphill and into a headwind.  I did not follow my own advice.  I didn't think we had time to catch the rider up the road and I went for the win at about 300 meters.  We quickly surged up the road and caught the rider, but by then all the work I had recently done caught up to me and I could not longer stand and sprint.  I ended up in 5th place.  Not bad, but I wish I could do it over again.
I was surprised on how good my legs were at the end.  It has been awhile since I could stand up and really power out a sprint at the end of the race.  Maybe all the track racing paid off.  Halfway through the race I thought I was not going to finish, by the end I was one of the stronger guys out there.  On a finial note I have to figure out what my lactate threshold HR actually is.  I spent 45 min of the race above 168 bpm, which I thought was near my threshold, but obviously it is higher.  (Sorry no pictures, the camera battery died.)

Dark

Before we went to Melbourne I was really getting back into the road riding scene here in Rocky.  I think I did every early morning ride for a week and a half, clocking around 400K before most people had finished their morning coffee.  Unfortunately as daylight has begun its yearly recede it has become quite dark at 5AM.  The last ride I was on really was not a barrel of laughs.  The roads generally suck around here anyways and trying to ride them in the dark (bright lights help, but it is not the same as sunlight) sucks.  Nothing like hitting potholes that you can't even see.  So, I am pretty much done with the early morning rides.

This afternoon I went out and climbed Mt Archer.  I went up fairly slow, even though my heart rate was pegged somewhere close to my lactate threshold.   I left our house at around 4:30 and by the time I returned near 6 it was nearly dark.  One thing I have to do is get a better headlight, the other is get out on the bike as soon as I get home from work.  I delayed today because it was so bloody hot.  Or maybe I should get used to riding on the rollers.

Melbourne: Day 5

Today was Easter, so after checking out of our hotel (no we didn't stay in the above beauty) we went to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Church, completed in 1897, is a beautiful work of architecture.  After Mass we walked around the inside of the church to further view the stonework and the amazing pipe organ that was used during the service.  Next it was time for some food.  We headed to a cafe across from parliament (below) and sat at a sidewalk table for a small brunch (of course we had a glass of champagne to accompany the meal.)

Having some time to kill before heading to the airport, we walked around the city a bit and wouldn't you know we ended up in front of the James Squire Brewery.  I had wanted to taste their stout, Craic, so we split a pot (glass).  Had I known it would be so good I would have bought one for each of us.  But it was time to move on, we walked over to Federation Square and watched a few minutes of a street performer's routine before heading to the airport on the skybus.  (A sculpture outside the brewery, above left, and buildings on Collins St, below.)

Melbourne: Day 4

Today most of the city had re-opened, so we started off the morning by doing a little shopping, but the big event of the day was our trip to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG) to watch our first AFL game (Australian Rules Football). The MCG was built in 1853 and even acted as an Olympic venue when Melbourne hosted the 1956 games (the first in the southern hemisphere). Today Melbourne was playing Collingwood and our tickets put us right in the middle of the Collingwood section.

This being our first game, we spent the first half trying to figure out how the game was played. It was fast-moving and high scoring, making it exciting to watch. There are 15 players on the field and two sets of goal posts, inner and outer. Scoring between the inner post is a goal and earns you 6 points and scoring between the outer set is called a behind and earns you 1 point. They play in quarters, somewhere around 30 minutes, but it is like soccer, so they never stop the clock during the quarter and make up time on the end, so you are never quite sure when the period is over.

We ended up watching an awesome game.  Melbourne, which was the underdog, was up 2 scores (12 points) going into the 4th quarter, but Colliingwood came back to take the lead by one with a few minutes left in the game.  Melbourne then proceeded to drive down the field and in the last seconds of desperation kicked the ball to an open man right in front of the posts.  He bobbled the ball and dropped it just as time ran out.  It made for a super exciting finish.

As we had been sitting in the sun for the entire game, we were quite hot.  Off we headed across the river to the South Gate district to enjoy a cold beverage.  After watching the sun set on the city, it was time for dinner.  We choose the swanky Taxi Room restaurant to celebrate our last night in Melbourne.  The taxi room sits in the corner of federation square overlooking the square and city on one side and the river on the other side.  Of course as this being a popular restaurant, and us being without reservations, we had to wait until nine to get a table.  No big deal we wandered around the city enjoying the people watching in the restaurant windows and on the streets.  Our dinner turned out to be a very pleasant evening, not the best food we had tasted, but good none the less.

Melbourne: Day 3

Today was Good Friday, which turned out to be a pretty big holiday around here, meaning most of the shops were closed. So, we hopped on the tram and made our way down to St. Kilda. It is a beach side town filled with cake shops, and lucky for us, cake shops are open on holidays. Once we arrived we strolled down the beach path toward Luna Park, an old-fashioned amusement park built in 1912. It is known for it's famous entry, walking into the mouth of a clown. One of the wooden roller-coasters was running past us as we walked by and you could see it from above the surrounding fence. The wild thing was, there was a park employee standing between the two cars of the roller-coaster controlling (what I imagine was) the breaking of the cars. How crazy is that?!?

After all that excitement we decided it was time for cake. So we walked down to the main strip and located what we felt were the top 3 cake shops. After numerous trips past the windows of these shops, we settled on one. Matt ordered a vanilla slice (a local concoction that is quite popular) and I had a cannoli (I am a sucker for a cannoli). Since it was sunny and warm and we were now on a sugar rush, we decided to head for a walk further down the street to another shopping district. We discovered this district to be a bit more ethnic, so not much was open. Coming down from the sugar rush, we opted to take the tram back to St. Kilda's main drag.

Our sights were now set on lunch, so we set out to investigate some of the places that had been recommended to us. We settled on the Stokehouse, primarily for its beach front location. Since it was approaching mid-afternoon we didn't have to wait long for a table and were sat not far from the windows. We had a leisurely lunch that was perfectly portioned and felt content when leaving. From here we wandered back toward Melbourne along the beach until we decided to hop back on the tram the rest of the way.

This evening we decided to catch another comedy show and saw Tom Green perform. We settled on Chinese food for dinner after the show. Perhaps it is how close to Asia we are here, but definitely some of the best Chinese food we've had! Afterward, we wandered the streets until we found a good place to sit and have a drink. The bar was in the new Council House 2 building, Melbourne's first attempt at building an energy efficient, green environment for its public employees.

Melbourne: Day 2

Today we checked out one of Melbourne's famous markets. We chose the Queen Victoria since it is the oldest (over 130 years) and most well known. Some of the stalls and buildings in the market have actually been registered by the National Trust. The walk to the market wasn't far and took us through the business center side of the city.  We were able to check out some of the architecture as we walked. Once we arrived we dove right in wandering through the fruits and vegetables over to the breads and cheeses and finally to the butchers and fish mongers. We couldn't resist not buying anything, so we settled on some bread, 2 types of cheeses and fruit for lunch. It just so happened that one of the butcher shops was Polish and as we passed I noticed some homemade breads on their counter. I stopped to inspect and discovered it to be poppy-seed roll; just in time for Easter! Of course, I bought some.

After pursuing the market we wandered over to Carlton Gardens where we sat dining on our purchases while watching a pick-up game of soccer in the park. Carlton Gardens is home to the Royal Exhibition Building. This was built in the 19th century to host the 1880 International Exhibition. In 1901 it was used to hold Australia's first parliament. Now it is a UNESCO World Heritage site (since 2004).

From here we wandered down Gertrude Street which is host to a number of artists and galleries. This is where Matt found his first Aussie souvenir: the Crumpler bag. This is a local Melbourne company that designs and makes bike messenger bags. Very cool. You can see a glimpse of the famous bag in "Melbourne Preview".

We next took a very long walkabout toward the Royal Botanical Gardens which are said to be the best in Australia, if not the world. On our way over we passed by the Rod Laver Arena, where the Australian Open is held every January. It is surrounded by a vast sea of blue practice courts.  Melbourne is interspersed by a variety of parks and gardens and we walked through 4 just making our way to the Botanical Gardens.  They were beautiful gardens and paths, but after another full day of walking our feet were beat.  We headed back to our room to rest and finish the rest of the bread, cheese and prosciutto before going out again to catch a comedy show at the Forum.

Turns out even though the show was in this wonderful old theater, our venue inside was little bigger that a broom closet.  They had 5 rows of 5 chairs crammed into this room (about 10 x 20 feet) and the comedian started out his act by making jokes about the room.  We actually picked this show because we met the comedian on the street the night prior.  He turned out to be pretty funny but the room made the whole thing a bit weird.