Tasmania 2

Mt. Wellington, 1 271m, ~4 100', is one of many high peaks in Tasmania. It is essentially in Hobart, and one hike starts in the city.
They warn you of sudden weather changes like we get in the Presidentials at home, incl. snow  at any time of the year.
We did a half a day walk, listed as 4 hrs, along its eastern flank, but didn't go to the top as we had a late start. The views were great all the same. Craig had not yet seen the description of the road to the top, and am afraid he had hoped to ride there. But the road surface is apparently not great, and there's a lot of traffic. Can't say I am that disappointed...

Link to Tasmania 2 pics

Thinking of you

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone at home!!

We just finished our dinner; it's now Thursday night here. Left over veggie lasagna, and a very tasty veggie stir fry with e.g. kale. I'm sure there's someone envious back home..

Craig has said nothing about missing his turkey, but then we are reminded only of Christmas in the stores, and see even Xmas related banners on the street .poles.

Craig is waiting for an opportunity to try a Scallop Pie, which we have seen advertised.
For dessert, I have had almost daily chocolate in Australia, in significant amounts, except for tonight - ran out.

Craig & Ann-Marie

Tasmania 1

Hobart = Hills!
We are staying in Mt. Nelson, which is in the city, only a couple of miles from downtown.
3 straight days of bright sunshine, temp's in the mid 70s (24C), no humidity, and 4 very different outings! We had feared spring here would be cool, but have heard the weather changes on a dime here, just like in New England. So for now we are very happy, and doubt we would like to be here in the summer, when it apparently can be 104F (40C).

Link to Tasmania 1

Hobart house tour - for Engineers

We are house sitting in Hobart Tasmania for a couple of weeks. Tasmanians have largely embraced modern architecture, and you find few pastiche-style houses. I've put together this video focusing on the architecture and construction of the house where we are staying for those who might be interested.

Craig

House tour video

Part 4 in Queensland

Our first house sit was a total success (and our local friend Heather liked the bike ride she joined us on from there, despite earlier comments about how far out in the boonies we were) - but our second house sit was a 'learning experience', and from now on we will always make sure we have plenty of pictures before signing up. We mostly got take outs as I didn't want to cook in the old and messy kitchen, but the sit was only for 4 nights, and now we know.
We lost most of one day to a missing cat at this house,  but if this is the biggest problem of our trip so far, I think we are doing well. The cat finally showed up, and had been hiding indoors all along, when we were afraid he was outside somewhere.
So the next day we left early, and the outdoor time these cats normally enjoy, would have to wait until the owners came home.

Our last week in Queensland

Our 3rd week in Australia, around Helidon

A very low profile Fascinator 

The days are flying by, we still enjoy having a house to ourselves, we try to get some planning done for upcoming places, we are so happy to be able to spend more time with our new friend Heather, we have been on fewer excursions than in prior weeks, but have found beautiful & interesting rides around here, and also walked around a couple of nearby National Parks (smaller than at home, with short, pretty walks), and were surprised by the steep, and rocky trail to the top of Mt. Tabletop near Toowoomba. We thought we headed for a quick walk in the park, with a short climb.

Link to the Helidon area pictures

Around Goodna

We have mostly had gorgeous Queensland spring weather! Bright sunshine, 70-almost 90F, but no humidity, and Craig didn't mind riding yesterday despite the high temperature (there was quite a breeze = headwind.. at times). Approximately 21-30C.
One day we cut the ride short, when we heard hail was on its way, and this turned out to be true. Another day we might have felt 10 rain drops, but this was close to home.
We have ridden west of Brisbane, in beautiful, and hilly horse country. Just like at home, there are large homes, gorgeous gardens and yards, long driveways..
There are few points where you can cross the Brisbane River, some of the bigger roads are not nice to ride on despite there being a bike lane (just lots of traffic and nothing exciting to see), so we could have planned a little better ahead of time. I agree it will be easier to drive to a more remote start now that we have a car.
But we surpassed the 1000-mile mark (1600km) since we left home - not bad considering the fact we only have a couple of days with > 50 miles.

Link to pic's around Goodna

1st week in Australia

Brisbane, Australia - our first week. These notes were written a little at a time.

It's Friday evening, and we arrived in Sydney Sunday night. Craig managed to sleep over 10 hours, which might be a record.
We enjoyed walking around the Botanical Gardens in Sydney for a few hours, before continuing on to Brisbane Monday.

Link to 1st week in Australia

Tofa and Fa'afetai

Tofa All Samoan Islands, and Fa'afetai!!

Our last day here on Tutuila was perfect, and sunny, and Craig never said it was too hot - amazing! I am especially glad, as it rained long and hard last night, and there was a flash flood warning. 

We were lucky to be able to leave the luggage in the cottage for the day, so took the bus, and then walked around Vatia, on the north shore of the island. It's a small, pretty village, on the other side of the central mountain ridge, and the National Park maintains land, and trails here. 

Link to the end of our Samoan experience pic's

Ofu 2

Today we hiked up to the look out, at 1500', a little below the summit of Tumu Mountain. The trail did continue past this point, but we had heard that the view further along, is less exciting than what we had seen from the look out. 

Link to Ofu 2

Our first several days on Ofu

Who would ever have thought we'd            end up here!

Am so glad we ended up coming here last, after having visited several of the other islands in Samoa, and American Samoa.

Ofu, and Olosega are part of American Samoa, and this is paradise, at least for visitors. We wondered how we would manage an entire week on 2 islands, connected by a bridge, with a combined length of maybe 8 miles along the road, and paths east-west. Much narrower north-south. And the central peaks, and the rain forest are impenetrable, except for a couple of trails, one of which hasn't been maintained recently we hear.

Link to Ofu 1 pictures