Tranquility

 Farnoush and Iveth in the vineyard 

  Cedar Creek winery …

Of course, tastings were involved

The result of several tastings at the local wineries and cheese shops:

I know that catfish don’t have much to do with vineyards, I just LOVE the expression on its face.

 This huge spider was waiting for us on the hood of the car …

Making friends with the locals … I was handed the tambourine during the band’s rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama” 

A stop in the lovely town of Wollombi. We frequented the local pub, which boasts a local ”Jungle Juice” …  or to out of towners, port wine.

The gals :)

Along our 3 hour northbound car voyage, we stopped at Kate’s Berry Farms in the small coastal town of Swansea overlooking Great Oyster Bay. Kate produces ice cream, jams, sauces and even wine straight from her own berry orchards.

We enjoyed our raspberry milkshakes and mixed berry waffle overlooking Kate’s farm, and just in the distance, the sea.

Strawberry wine!

After our long trek up the coast, we arrived at Coles Bay on the outskirts of Freycinet National Park. We stayed at a large campground facility, where we rented this cabin for the night.

Our campgrounds were nestled up to this peninsula, just on the left side of the photo. There was a large variety of people staying in the park area, including a group of teenagers who had been scuba diving to catch the lobster below .. they were the hugest lobsters I’ve ever seen.

I kept finding these red jelly-like slugs underneath waterside rocks. I’m still not really sure what they were.

While in Freycinet, we took a boat cruise alongside the mountainous Hazards and made our way to Wineglass Bay – one of the world’s top 10 beaches – truly, a paradise. While cruising along we encountered a multitude of wildlife, including humpback whales, seals, dolphins, albatross and several other species of birds.

Shucking fresh oysters off the side of the boat. 

Rufus, the captain’s seafaring dog, was a great wildlife spotter. 

Once our boat docked in Wineglass Bay, a swarm of dolphins surrounded us on all sides! We also spotted some humpback whales on our way back to Coles Bay.

On our journey back to Hobart, we stopped at an oyster farm, where we ordered 3 dozen fresh oysters and mussels. We were definitely a little full on seafood when we left, but it was totally worth it.

We were served the best sparkling wine on our cruise that came from a local vineyard. We decided to make yet another stop on the way back to the big city and visit the famous winery where it is produced.

Tasmania really is a place of natural beauty, a place seemingly untouched. I would have liked to stay longer and see more of the national parks, but work called us back to Sydney. Always an excuse to go back, right?!

I visited the Australian state of Tasmania this past weekend which lies south off of the eastern side of the continent. Below you’ll see photos of its capitol city, Hobart, a place defined by the river and sea. 

View of Hobart foreshore with Mt Wellington in the background. 

Snapshots from the downtown harbor area:

View of the capitol city and surrounding area from the top of Mt Wellington. It was about an hour’s climb each way up this mountain in the car … yes, AND driving on the opposite side of the road I might add! 

After spending my first day touring around the capitol and eating seafood, I decided that I wanted to drive to one of Tasmania’s many national parks and do some bush walking. I rented a car and drove to Mt Field National Park. The park is one of the state’s oldest national parks, with tall forests and waterfalls dominating the lower sections and glaciated mountains and tranquil lakes in the highlands. 

Views of Russell Falls, one of Tasmania’s best known scenic attractions. The trail was lines with ferns, giant eucalyptus and myrtles. Along the way, I saw a wild platypus (which I’m so sad to say I was too slow to get a picture of).

Mt Field’s Lady Barron Falls

While in the mountains, I randomly made some stops while on my road trip . First I made my way to a wildlife sanctuary, where I had a lot of fun playing with this adorable wallaby. She even came up to me and nestled her head into my lap. 

This was the first kangaroo I’ve seen carrying a “joey” in her pouch. You can see the baby peeking its head through. Actually several of the kangaroos at this reserve had just had young, so there were lots of babies!

Emus are the largest bird native to Australia and the second largest bird in the world by height, after the ostrich. 

The manager took me on a personal tour of the reserve because I was the only one there, so I got to ask tons of questions and help feed the animals. I was asking about the nature of koalas … he told me sadly that they’re quite aggressive in the wild and to never approach one outside of a reserve. Apparently they bite and their claws are really sharp for climbing trees. The reason they’re so seemingly docile is due to a lack of energy and nutrients from their limited diet of eucalyptus. It’s typical for them to sleep up to 20 hours a day!

Of course I had to see the infamous Tasmanian Devil. Although they are the largest surviving carnivorous marsupials in Australia, they were recently declared endangered as of May 2008. Tasmania is the only place in the world you will find these little devils.

Another detour from tassie’s Highway 1 was a bumpy gravel path which led me to Salmon Ponds, Australia’s oldest trout hatchery. The ponds continue to supply over a million trout each year for the stocking of Tasmania’s lakes, rivers and dams that make up the state’s renowned recreational trout fishery. 

Lastly, before arriving back to Hobart, I stopped at one of the many hops farms that exists in this region of Tasmania producing for Australian breweries as well as overseas customers. One of the farmers informed me that the hops farms in Tasmania make up the largest cluster cultivated in the southern hemisphere, but most of them are actually Japanese owned.

View of the hops farms from a roadside lookout. 

I welcomed my arrival in sunny Cairns, a weekend paradise away from the big city. The town is a backpacker haven for those coming to explore the Great Barrier Reef, or the surrounding wet tropics rainforests and tablelands. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest system of coral reefs in the world and is listed as a protected site by the World Heritage Trust.

We booked a tour through Ocean Freedom, one of the many companies in the area offering snorkeling and diving expeditions to various reef sites. We started off our day at Upolu Reef, where we were dropped off on a barely visible sunken sand cay for our first go at snorkeling.

Oh hey Nemo! Clownfish have so much personality, if you can imagine fish having any distinctive character  in the first place. Seriously though, these little guys were so fun to play with :)

The second reef site we visited is referred to as the “Wonder Wall,” or the outer edge of the Opolu reef. We were given the opportunity to take the plunge to a depth of 7 meters with an oxygen tank (there are restrictions for those without diving certification). 

I borrowed an encased digital camera and I was able to capture some of what I can’t really put into words. I apologize for the shaky camera skills … I’m not sure if it was more my nerves or wanting to pan around to catch everything in all directions.

At the beginning of this clip you will see a giant clam … and then, several coral species.

The feeling was a weightlessness I’ve never experienced. Suspended by nothing but water on all sides and gliding alongside marine life was incredibly surreal. Am definitely hoping to dive again before leaving! 

American friends who are temporarily in Sydney for work too.

Iveth and I in Darling Harbor treating ourselves to lobster. 

Enjoying a day at Palm Beach, Sydney’s northernmost beach suburb. 

My friend Matt and I after cruising around taking nighttime pictures of the city. He’s a freelance photographer who has done some work for Australian Geographic.

Had to get a picture of this! Ok so, I didn’t actually drive it.

Guatemalan party. I think I was the only non-Spanish speaker!  

Meg and I before the Sydney Harbor Bridge Run (10k). 

Malaysian lunch outing with co-workers.

A Friday night out with Nat Geo girls.

Juan and I on his motorbike before heading to Manley Beach for the day. 

Change in vehicles … in the back of Philipe’s wrangler.

A night out after work. If you look hard enough, you can see the opera house in the background.

Out with Nat Geo co-workers after the ProMax awards. NGC won 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze for outstanding promo materials. Jamie (on the right) won a gold medal for “Perfect Weapon” which got best documentary promo!

Friends from Perth (western Australia) 

Meroo is along the South Coast of Australia about 3 hours south of Sydney. The drive there was beautiful, passing through country towns and spotting dairy farms along the way.

Playing cricket on the beach. We must have played for at least 3 hours. 

What’s a camping trip without marshmallows? Although I was really sad that Aussies don’t have a clue what s’mores are.

The park’s secluded beaches were beautiful. Such a contrast to the city’s over-packed beaches, where it’s hard to find a spot for your towel. Too bad the weather didn’t cooperate … I was hoping to surf but the water was too cold for me. Everyone else didn’t seem to mind with their wet suits, so at least I got to watch!

I thought the seagrass washed up on shore was so odd looking. It was all different colors and textures.

On the way home, we drove through the Royal National Forest and stopped at a lookout. Apparently this cliff is a favorite launching pad for hang gliding schools in the area, but since it was a holiday, we didn’t see any. 

 The reality series was originally broadcast on Australia’s Channel Ten but Nat Geo Adventure Australia and New Zealand has picked it up. They have now filmed 3 seasons … it has a lot of local appeal here, since Bondi Beach is Sydney’s most popular surf spot. 

A videographer and sound tech were hired to help get the footage. They both work as freelancers in Sydney and Nat Geo here uses them a lot for their shoots. 

Anthony is one of the most well-known Bondi lifeguards (http://ten.com.au/bondi-rescue-anthony-carrol.html). All of the lifeguards’ lives have changed since the beginning of Bondi Rescue … they’ve gone from being regular lifeguards to local celebrities. 

Rich is another of the Channel’s promo producers who also came along to supervise the shoot. 

Another lifeguard nicknamed Hoppo (far right) has been involved in mass rescues, body retrievals and more resuscitations than any other lifeguards, earning the Australian Lifeguard of the year award in 2006.

Jamie (standing) was the lead producer for this shoot. He and Jerry (who is the head of the promo department) are looking at a monitor to make sure the shots look ok. 

Jamie jumps in for a quick picture with his cast.

Nancee-Marie and I pose for a pic. She’s the promo coordinator but she kind of coordinates everything in the office here. She’s is always busy, running between the edit suite and recording house but also trying to manage things in the office.

Pete was supposed to paddle out into the water and act like he was getting attacked by a shark. Unfortunately, it was a bit rough out that morning and he was having a tough time … so we had to recruit a random surfer from the beach to fill in.