Life Trove

29 January 2015

Freycinet

It was wonderful to end our adventures in Tasmania with some rest and relaxation at the coast. Freycinet is a world renowned coastal mecca and with good reason. The scenery is absolutely spectacular.

Here are the highlights of our time in Freycinet ...

Delicious blue cheese, quince and crackers from a roadside cafe on the way to Freycinet followed by orgasmically good cherry ice-cream and succulent black cherries from another cafe further down the road.
Seeing the ocean after all our time in the mountains and an invigorating swim.
Our awesome accommodation in Coles Bay with its water view. Well found, Liz!
Doing the Wine Glass Bay - Hazards Beach circuit (a 5 hour hike) including the iconic view of Wine Glass Bay from the mountain side and some nice group shots.
A nice swim and a lovely sleep on the rocks of Wineglass Bay, listening to the waves. So relaxing.
A bracing and fun group swim on Hazards Beach where we had fun with Srini's GoPro and delayed getting out of the ocean to give Elizabeth time to chat up a sexy Polish diplomat.
Delicious Pagan Cider (a big thanks to JC for the recommendation) and fish and chips from the most disorganised takeaway joint in Tasmania. Still, we were so hungry by the time we got it, it tasted great.
Running the 60+ minute climb to the Wineglass Bay Lookout in under 25 minutes to get my fleece which I'd left up there. Unfortunately it was gone.
Taking lots of close up photos at Sleepy Bay and photos of its mesmerising sculptured orange rocks after being inspired by the photos of Wolfgang Glowacki at the visitor centre.
A scrumptious final meal at a good restaurant "The Edge of the Bay." My meal consisted of seafood chowder, Scollop Linguine and Chocolate Mousse.

Wineglass Bay / Hazard's Beach Circuit

This lovely 5 hour walk took us up to the spectacular Wineglass Bay lookout. Then we continued down to the sandy beach of the Wineglass Bay itself. From there, we hiked to Hazard's Beach and then further along the coast around the base of Mt Mayson back to our car.

A view on the way up to The Wineglass Lookout

The famous view of The Wineglass Bay from a boulder above the Look Out Point.

A great opportunity for a group photo.

Doing the famous Howard ponder!

From the Wineglass Look Out, we hiked down to the sandy beach of The Wineglass Bay itself.

This beach is bordered by gorgeous orange rocks that we made a bee line for.

I loved the bright orange against the green of the sea and blue of the sky.

The sun came out and it was time for a swim.

Of course, Srini had the same idea. Not sure who loves the water more.

Then we sat on the rocks and chilled...

... which led to a group sleep. So relaxing, with the sound of the waves sighing up the beach.

Srini out for the count!

Revived by our sleep, it was time for a leap!

Liz wasn't to be outdone.

From Wineglass Bay, we hiked onto Hazard's Beach....

... where we had a gorgeous group swim while Liz chatted up a sexy Polish diplomat.

Srini took his GoPro into the water and captured these stunning shots of Zante ....

... and Lauren

Here's the awesome video footage of the underwater swimming.

From Hazard's Beach, we hiked on along the coast ....

.... around the base of Mount Mayson

We saw some lovely wildlife on the way ...

... and some gorgeous flowers too.

I absolutely loved the "Grass Tree" (left)

Cape Tourville

After our hike, we drove onto Cape Tourville to enjoy its fantastic views up and down the coast. I don't ever remember seeing ocean so blue.

Cape Tourville is home to a lighthouse. The coastline around here is very treacherous.

Sleepy Bay

On our last full day, it was overcast and threatened to rain so we decided to chill out at Sleepy Bay instead of going for a long drive somewhere. I'm so delighted we did. I had no expectations, but it blew me away with it's amazing sculptured, colourful rocks. Oh how I do love sculptured rocks!!

How beautiful is that!

Absolutely no-one can show off rocks like Srini. He really is my photographic muse.

This huge orange rock especially caught our imagination.

Before we went to Sleepy Bay, we spent some time in the visitor centre where we were entranced by the macro photography of Wolfgang Glowacki. So when we arrived at the bay, we were inspired to try out lots of close ups. Here is a selection of those photos. It blows me away how much beauty there is in the little things.

Here are some people shots taken at Sleepy Bay...

Me in action ...

... then having a rest. Photography is hard work!

Srini taking in the wonder of it all ....

... then having a bit of a contemplation.

Home life

We stayed at an amazing house in Freycinet with a patio and a lovely view. All our accommodation was organised by Liz. She's a genius at finding amazing places that don't cost a lot.

Here I am making a local friend at the supermarket.

Places in Tasmania we visited

Photos by others in the group

28 January 2015

Hiking Cathedral Peak (Mount Wellington)

Srini and I braved the elements to climb Cathedral Rock while the girls explored Hobart and its markets and galleries. Cathedral Rock is a towering dolerite rock formation located in the Mount Wellington Park.

The climb up to Cathedral Peak was extremely steep and slippery so we had to be very careful. We arrived at the top to find we were surrounded in mist with almost no view at all. We waited 10 minutes and then, as if by magic, the mist lifted somewhat on the left side. To our right, thick mist remained and it was eerie and scary to stand near the edge of the cliff and not know how far it was to the valley floor (a long way, that's for sure!)

From Cathedral Rock, Srini and I then climbed along a series of high ridges which required more careful treatment. The ridges culminated in the craggy pinnacle that is Montagu Thumbs. Usually there is a an epic view from here back over Cathedral Peak but not today.

We had the intention of navigating the Mount Wellington circuit, returning to civilisation via Wellington Falls. However, we missed the appallingly marked Wellington Falls Track and ended up on Mount Montagu with limited daylight to get back home. After conferring with the girls via phone, we decided to return the way we had come which required a lightning pace except in the tricky bits where we were very careful. Good thing we're both so fit!

After the navigation challenges in Victoria on my Xmas hike and this mishap, I've decided to invest in a good hiking GPS with detailed maps. It'll be worth every cent to avoid the stress!

The elation of getting back in daylight and the delicious pizza the girls brought us in the car made it all feel worth it in the end. Not to mention the wonderful misty views we had from the high ridges.

Here we are, all pumped up and raring to go on our adventure.

First we did some forest walking up a steep zig zag path. The climbing then began in earnest up a very steep path that required a fair amount of clambering. All fun.

At the top of Cathedral Peak, at first all we could see was mist. Here is Srini sitting on the edge of a very high cliff.

Gradually the mist lifted somewhat on the one side and we got a better lay of the land with some expansive views.

As you can see, the mist remained thick on the right side of the mountain. It created quite an eerie and beautiful effect.

Srini without arms. A weird effect of the panorama function on my i-phone. The pano function came in very handy many times during the hike.

Here we are, setting off from the top of Cathedral Peak along the ridges towards Montagu Thumbs.

Srini clambering down some boulders. It was a good day to get some GoPro footage.

Having a breather on the way.

Still looking pretty happy and fresh.

So beautiful. To your right, you can see the steep pinnacle of Montagu Thumbs which we were heading towards.

Srini at the foot of Montagu Thumbs, about to clamber up it along a very steep path.

Yay, we reach the summit of Montagu Thumbs; the highest point of our walk. Not much of a view today though.

Srini setting up the shot above.

A beautiful spider's web adorned with droplets from the recent rain.

Beautiful bark patterns and colours.

Gorgeous vegetation we found up on the mountain.

Some stunning alpine flowers.

Srini and I having a "bromance" moment amongst the flowers. Despite our navigation challenges and some stressful moments requiring difficult decisions, we bonded greatly up on the mountain.

However, after retracing our steps at a brutal pace to get back in time for daylight, we were absolutely bombed! The delicious pizza that the girls brought us in the car pepped up our spirits though.

While we hiked the misty mountains, the girls were enjoying views of their own. Of valleys, not mountains. The local art gallery they visited in Hobart had a display of over 70 vaginas of all shapes and sizes, all made from plaster moulded from the real thing!! What a novel exhibition. Here are some of their pics!!

No two vaginas are ever the same!!

Next stop

For our next adventure, we moved onto The Tall Trees walk at the Mount Field National Park

Places in Tasmania we visited

Photos by others in the group