Travel Snap Tuesday: Phillip Island

So, today, in my late edition of Travel Snap Tuesday, I couldn't resist a couple of non-travel snaps mixed in with the real deal.  This is Dora, our friends' gorgeous new puppy, who we met on a recent weekend at Phillip Island.

And these are the travel snaps, taken at Woolamai Beach, Phillip Island. 

It's a surf beach (hence the surfer picture) and is usually fairly empty compared to some of the gentler swimming beaches on the island.  It was a bit chilly for swimming this time around although A and a friend did go for a short dip earlier in the day. The rest of us went for a walk and watched the dogs chase the waves and each other. 

So simple. Good friends, good weather, good weekend! Can't ask for more than that.

Travel Snap Tuesday: The Acropolis, Tasmania

Following on from last Travel Snap Tuesday...

After a chilly night, at the Pine Valley hut we set off for the Acropolis. It came highly recommended for the climb and the views and we were excited to have a white couple-of-days-before-christmas to do the walk in!

On the way we came across this marshy area that was absolutely chock-a-block with Pandani. They were one of my favourite plants that we came across on the trip and to see so many in the one area was a little bit magical! No snow yet...

...but as soon as we started climbing the mountain proper we were crunching through the white stuff! Many of the track markers were covered so for a lot of the climb we were following the footprints a wallaby (or maybe paddymelon) had left in the snow. It was quite incredible. As soon as we went a different way to the footprints we'd invariably come to a dead end or too-difficult-scramble and backtrack to see where the wallaby had gone. He (or she) certainly knew best! The way down was another story again as most of the snow had melted and the footprints had gone. Once again there were a few of "I think we've lost the track" moments, followed by some it's-OK-we've-found-its and some no-we-haven't-it's-right-up-theres!

Despite the backtracking and finger numbing cold, the view from the top was incredible. There were mountain ranges as far as the eye could see and we could pick out in the distance where we'd started walking 7 days earlier as well as see how far we had to go that afternoon (about 8 km)!

This last photo is of me and our Acropolis walking buddy Laura celebrating at the top of the mountain before settling down to a last day hiking lunch of vita wheats and nutella. Mmmmm hiking food, wouldn't eat it any other time!

So, 7 days, 90kms. What an achievement and what a great note to almost end it on!

Travel snap Tuesday comes to you from Little Miss Moi and is about sharing a moment in time through a photo. If you want to join in, just post a pic of anywhere you’ve been in Australia or abroad then pop over to her blog and leave a link so we can find your travel snap!

Travel Snap Tuesday - Pine Valley

A is not one for lying on the beach and relaxing so for our honeymoon we went and walked the Overland Track in Tasmania. It was one of the most challenging things I have ever done as we walked about 90kms over 7 days. It was also one of the most beautiful places I've been lucky enough to visit.

Pine Valley was our second to last stop and this is some of the rainforest we passed through on the way to the hut. We spent the night at the hut with some other walkers, including Laura the amazing German backpacker, who had walked just about everywhere you could imagine in Australia and NZ  managed not to stay in a 'backpackers' for the whole 18 months she'd been away. Anyway, I'm getting off track!

While we were sleeping, the sky dumped us some snow (it was the 22nd of December!) so our walk the Acropolis the next day was white!

Travel snap Tuesday comes to you from Little Miss Moi and is about sharing a moment in time through a photo. If you want to join in, just post a pic of anywhere you’ve been in Australia or abroad then pop over to her blog and leave a link so we can find your travel snap!

Travel Snap Tuesday

Ok, so I've decided to get in on this Travel Snap Tuesday idea, seen here on Snippets Of My Life but originating with Little Miss Moi. Here goes!

I'm going to start in Australia. Western Australia to be exact. Nearly two years ago we flew into Perth to start a 4000km loop up the coast to the Ningaloo Reef and back. It is one of my favourite holidays not least because it is when A proposed!

First stop - the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. An amazing area with thousands of limestone spiers sticking up out of the sand. We spent the afternoon here watching the scenery change as the sun set and the rain clouds rolled in. It was just beautiful.

We kept driving north, searching for a bit more warmth finally arriving at Shark Bay - most famous for the dolphins at Monkey Mia. We did go there and I did get to feed a dolphin but a bigger highlight was the Francois Peron National Park. Putting aside the rules about taking our hire vehicle 'off road' we set off through about 20kms of sandy roads and stunning scenery to Cape Peron and the lookout at the very tip of the peninsula. While we were looking out along the coast I thought I saw something in the shallows and said to A, "I think that's a dolphin down there." "Nah, I think it's a bird" he replied. We decided it was worth investigating. After a bit of scrambling down a track we got to the beach and made our way along the edge of the water as quietly as we could. Sure enough, as we got closer we saw a dolphin and her calf frolicking in the shallows. It was amazing, we stood mesmerized and watched for ages.

We finally made it to the main destination - Coral Bay - where we met an old high school friend who was now living in a mining town not too far away to visit for the weekend. Coral Bay and equally, Exmouth, had the most wonderful sea life and we spent all of our time snorkelling. The corals are not bright and colourful, but the fish most certainly are! This little guy was one of my favourites. This is the area famous for whale shark tours. Unfortunately we were there just after the season had finished so instead we went on a Manta Ray tour. Incredible. Such grace and beauty. We were also rewarded with a swim with a turtle, numerous sightings of sting rays, a couple of small (!) sharks and an amazing display of octopus camouflage and a sighting of a pod of whales passing as we watched the sun set over the water. Wow!

The last stop I thought I could take or leave but A was really keen on heading 400km inland to Mt Augustus which claims to be the worlds largest monocline (slightly different to a monolith, like Uluru). It's big, twice as big as Uluru but with some vegetation and a gentler gradient on one side of the rock. It was a beautiful sunny day and the climb was stunning. It took about 2 - 3 hours if I remember correctly, probably quicker if you don't lose the little painted dots that guide the way at the end! As I sat recovering at the top, A came over with two glasses of champagne, one containing a beautiful, sparkly diamond. He'd snuck the glasses, champagne and diamond all the way from Perth on our first day without letting on a thing! He'd even snuck out of the tent in the early morning to ring and ask my parents permission and chill the champagne in a bucket of cold water. What a sweetie.  

Anyway, that just about wraps up the highlights of the trip. Pop back next week for India or maybe Borneo!