Our last full day on Hamilton Island (and in Autralia!) and we started with a sea kayaking trip. There were 7 people in our group plus the guide and we started by paddling out of the calm protected water of the marina and out into the bay past Titan Island (the smallest inhabited island in the world, it’s owned by a single family who paid $400K for it over 10 years ago and it’s now valued in excess of $12million!).

We then paddled across rougher ocean to Dent Island which is owned by the same person as Hamilton Island and has a newly opened golf course that has taken 8 years to build. We landed the kayaks further around Dent Island on Yahoo Beach and had a chance to try some more snorkelling. I found it much easier today in the calmer water and could have spent hours floating in the water except that the water was a little murky so there was nothing to see (something to do with the tides apparently).

We then  got back in our kayaks and paddled back across the sea to Hamilton Island where we paddled along the coast through the mangroves and back to the marina with aching arms having travelled about 5 kilometres in total.

After lunch we went back to the marina to board a small boat that would take us parasailing (strapped into a harness attached to a parachute that is tethered to the back of a boat). There were three couples on the boat and we were the last so we had chance to watch the others before we had our go. It’s not actually as scary as you might think, and it’s actually quite a smooth flight. The view is rather good too.

Off back to One Tree Hill now for more sunset drinks and a glass of bubbly to mark our last day in Oz before heading to the marina for fish and chips.

It’s an early flight tomorrow as we head to Singapore, arriving there at about 7pm local time.

This morning we were back at the airport, but this time for a helicopter ride over the Whitsunday Islands and out to a pontoon about 30miles off the coast in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. I got to take the front seat and pretend to be co-pilot which meant I got the best views over the islands. It was the first time either of us had been in a helicopter and I was surprised by how smooth it was but also how noisy until you put on your headset.

After about 20 minutes flying over the islands, including the famous Whitehaven beach, we started the 15 minute flight out to “Reef World”.

The helicopter lands on a small pontoon and a boat comes to collect you and take you over to Reef World which is a big floating station with cafe, showers, changing rooms, viewing decks and all the equipment for diving and snorkelling.

We went snorkelling first and then had a ride in a “semi-submersible”. You don’t wear a wetsuit for snorkelling but they do advise you to put on an anti-stinger suit (which is a fancy sounding name for a lycra catsuit) to protect you from jellyfish and other stinging creatures and to make you look like a power ranger (or like you’re about to compete on Hole in the Wall). The ones in my size were a lovely pale yellow! Snorkelling takes a bit of getting used to as I found that when I put my head under the water my natural reaction was to hold my breath rather than to breathe through the snorkel and I was a bit apprehensive about getting water in my mask at first because I was wearing my contact lenses. It was quite a windy day today which didn’t help because you’re really out in the middle of the ocean so the water was quite rough. We only had about 45 minutes in the water because we wanted to fit everything else in and I was just starting to get the hang of it toward the end. There’s a huge number of brightly coloured fish just below the surface though and they swim right up to you.  (Tracey – We did have our picture taken in the water with some fish by a man from Yorkshire, but in true Tom style, he had his eyes shut so we didn’t bother buying it.) The coral reef is quite impressive too but it was quantity and variety of the fish that I was most impressed by. I’d love to go snorkelling again and learn to get the hang of it better – we probably should have done it in calmer water for our first time. I had a waterproof camera bag for our compact camera so wanted to take loads of pictures under the water. It’s a bit fiddly to operate the buttons through the waterproof case though when you’re trying to stay afloat and you’ve got pretty big waves coming towards you. That combined with the fact that I’d used most of the camera battery in the helicopter meant that I only got about 6 shots in the water.

After lunch was the semi-sub ride. It’s like a boat where you sit in the bottom of the hull and the sides and floor are made of glass so as it sails around you can see the fish and reef. On a normal day it would be quite impressive but it wasn’t as good as the snorkelling so I’d recommend skipping the sub and spending longer in the water.

Tomorrow is another action packed day on and above the water…

Our second day travelling along the Great Ocean Road started with the now familiar rain against the windows (and in this case the roof too). Undeterred by the weather we set out for Otway Fly, an elevated walk through the rainforest with a very high and wobbly viewing tower – surely it’s supposed to rain in the  rainforest anyway?

Having had a bit of an educational experience and with the sun now out but accompanied by a fairly strong wind out we set off for some of the main sights of the GOR including the 12 Apostles.

Next stop was Warnambool where we spent the night. The following day was spent travelling back to Melbourne where we would spend the night before heading off to Cairns and hopefully some warmer weather and less rain. On the way we stopped for some lunch at Geelong where we found a nice waterfront and met some interesting people along the way.

Back in Melbourne, we had time for a quick look around the Australia Centre for the Moving Image and a drink (rudely interrupted by a sudden hail storm before we went to the observation deck to admire the views. Arriving just before dusk, we got to see the city in the daylight and in darkness.

Today we left Melbourne behind and headed to the Great Ocean Road. We stopped at Anglesea for lunch and then the lookout at Point Addis. The scenery is quite spectacular, but I think we’ve been rather spolt by the  scenery in recent weeks, so didn’t bother stopping too many more times on the way to Appollo Bay, particularly as it kept chucking it down with rain as soon as we got out the car.

Did have a great idea on the way though – doing Australia without leaving the UK, saving carbon emissions and money at the same time. This would be a self-drive tour involving visiting sites similar to those that we have seen along the way eg instead of visiting the Waitomo Caves, go to the Blue John Cavern in Derbyshire, instead of doing the Napier wine tour, go to the Shawsgate vineyard in Framlingham, instead of driving the Great Ocean Road, do the North Yorkshire Coast, instead of seeing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, visit the Tyne Bridge (it’s practically the same). Well it was just a thought! Apollo bay is nice though, if a little windy, with a sandy beach and nice turquoise sea.

Columba Falls

On Sunday we drove from St Helens to Launceston for our last night in Tasmania. On the way we stopped at Columba Falls – at 90 metres high it’s the highest waterfall in Tasmania. It’s quite a fun [Tracey: - fun if you fancy yourself as the next Lewis Hamilton] detour up a tight winding road that’s been cut into the side of the mountain. There’s a short walk through rainforest before emerging at the base of the waterfall.

Cataract Gorge, Launceston

We were staying in Launceston on Sunday night before flying out of Launceston Airport early on Monday. The drive to Launceston was quite a long one at nearly 4 hours (including an hour out at Columba Falls) but it was quite an interesting drive through the hills – there are no motorways in Tassie, and the only advantage of driving a car with automatic transmission is that you can left-foot brake to pretend you’re a racing driver! [Tracey: - you see!]

When we arrived in Launceston we went to Cataract Gorge which is right in the town centre. We took a ride across the gorge on the longest single span chairlift in the world – it only takes 5 or 6 minutes, but I think Tracey held her breath the whole way across!

I had a fantastic (huge) burger in the cafe for lunch and then didn’t eat anything else for the rest of the day. After checking in to the hotel (quite a nice one, in a big old stone building with wooden beams and waterwheels everywhere) we went for a walk around the town and down by the waterfront area but everywhere seemed to be closed on a Sunday evening so we spent the rest of the evening in front of the TV finishing up the local beer from the night before.

Freycinet National Park & Wineglass Bay

On Saturday we set off from Swansea and drove up the East Coast of Tasmania toward St Helens where we would be spending the night. On the way we stopped at the Freycinet National Park and took a short (but very steep) walk to a lookout over Wineglass Bay. This is one of the big tourist attractions of Tasmania but it was surprisingly quiet (an annual triathlon was taking place in the Freycinet Peninsula over the weekend so maybe everyone was watching that instead). The lookout is very impressive as you’re pretty high up and it was a bright clear day so we had great views.

We could have walked for another 90mins or so down to the bay but decided not to as we had quite a long drive ahead and we were hungry. We saw a couple of Kangaroos with joeys in their pouches wandering around the car park (cute and willing to pose for photos, but were they just planted there for the tourists we wonder?).

We also took a walk around the Cape Tourville lighthouse where we saw some more impressive views (and more local wildlife).

Bicheno

We stopped again in Bicheno for lunch and then drove down the Esplanade. Not much beach here but a lot of rocks at sea level that have been eroded by the ocean. Some impressive photos of another blowhole and we sat and watched it for quite a while. There were a couple of people edging closer and closer so we sat with the camera poised waiting for them to get wet!

Binalong Bay

We checked in to the motel in St Helens and had a walk through the town looking for somewhere for dinner but didn’t find anything we fancied so decided to drive into Binalong Bay in the evening (which we’d originally intended to do the following day). There are some beautiful little beaches in Binalong with really white sand and it’s very picturesque as the sun sets.

Still didn’t find anywhere for dinner here though so we went back to St Helens and had Fish & Chips from a place near the harbour and a can or two of local beer.

Today we left Port Arthur and drove back through the Tasman Peninsula toward Hobart and then turned North to head up the east coast of Tasmania. We stopped at Eagleshawk Neck where there’s a few formations in the rocks caused by sea erosion. The Blowhole is an area where the  ocean has eroded a cave but the roof of the cave has collapsed so the water comes in through a tunnel and then fires up in the air where the cave roof would have been. There’s also the Tasman Arch, the Devil’s Kitchen and the Tessellated Pavement (which gets bonus points from me for use of the word “tessellated”)

Just before we got to Swansea we stopped at Spiky Beach which is a really nice secluded beach. There was nobody else around but unfortunately it was a bit too cold to sit on the beach or paddle.

We’re now in Swansea and have just gone for a walk around the town and are on the lookout for somewhere for dinner. We’re sat in a nice coffee shop/bar with a glass of wine, expecting to get thrown out at any moment because it was supposed to close 20 minutes ago!

Yesterday we took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour around Sydney, changed buses at Central Station and got another bus to Bondi Beach. The weather was pretty good all day. Bondi is a nice beach, but smaller than we both expected. We has a walk around Bondi and sat on the beach for a while listening to a group of people on a surfing lesson (gonna have to try surfing before we leave!).

In the evening we went to the Cargo Bar for drinks and found that on Mondays and Tuesdays they do steak for $10 so we stayed for dinner and had very nice, huge, steaks. Then went to a bar called Pontoon which was nice, but pretty empty. Finally we went to Watershed where we’d been on our first night when it was raining.

Today we are leaving Sydney having ticked off most of the locations on our list. Typically, the weather is the best it’s been all week in Sydney today and it doesn’t look great for Tasmania. Ah well. Our flight is starting to board now so I don’t have time to add pictures to this post, but they’re already uploaded here.

Thunderstorms were forecast for today but it looked reasonably bright when we drew back the curtains so we headed out to Circular Quay and took the 30min ferry ride to Manly. As it’s the bank holiday weekend there’s a Jazz Festival and lots of different music stages dotted around Manly today. We walked through the main shopping area and sat and watched people learning to surf for a while. After a very light rain shower, we went to 4 Pines which is a microbrewery bar/cafe opposite the ferry port that only opened in August/September last year. They do 6 different beers (we tried 4 of them) – much more like proper English ales than the usual lager that everywhere here tends to serve. All the beers were great (though maybe slightly too chilled for my liking) and the food was awesome (we had fish & chips but it all looked really good). This place is my highlight of Sydney so far!

Manly

The rain held off until the ferry ride back to Circular Quay and we then got another ferry back to Darling Harbour via Luna Park (which was closed by this time, but we had a quick walk around anyway).

It wasn’t a surprise when we woke up and it was raining this morning, however we decided to brave a wander to the Opera House for some pictures and were rewarded by a brief dry spell and a small amount of sunshine.

After throwing the camera lens cap over a ledge (never to be seen again- oops!) it was time for a coffee at the Opera Bar and some lunch at Jacksons on George. After lunch it had stopped raining and we went for a walk through the Botanic Gardens to Mrs Macquaries Chair/Point and took more photos of the Opera House & Bridge.

Tom quickly tired of the gardens and so we headed back to the hotel for a rest before hitting the bars. To make Steve jealous we went to Bungalow 8 (he’s right though, it is a cool bar) and then Helm Bar opposite the aquarium (better views but not quite such a funky interior).