National Zoo and Aquarium

A red panda, it looks like a fox.










At the zoo we saw a baby zebra
that was 3 days old.










We also saw girrafes that were really tall.








The lions were really big.
Monique wanted to cuddle
one that didn't bite or scratch.














Then we saw tiny monkeys.

Locusts and Bushrangers

We met up with the swarm of Lucusts between Bendigo and Violet Town. We aided the farmers cause by killing quite a few with the front of the car.
In a bid to cool the kids down we decided to stop at Violet Town for a swim and a bite to eat. The local pool was full of the little bliters and Julius, being the lover of bugs that he is, refused to unglue himself from my side deciding that sitting in the car for lunch and a game of rummykin while Monique and Paul swam was a much nicer option.


In Glenrowan we had another history lesson which gave us more of the Kelly story which we had been introduced to in the Melbourne Gaol.

The tallest vertical slide in the Southern Hemisphere

We headed up to Bendigo and visited the Science Centre.

Sovereign Hill

The day started with a bite of sunshine. (Or was that a slurp?)


We thought we might strike it lucky, panning for gold. We did to the value of about $4!!

Julius was very excited to find his name on one of the banners.

The poor soldiers ... it was a very HOT day.

We made Christmas decorations from the 1850s and dipped candles. It was a great day for history lessons.

Kryal Castle

On Thursday we went to a castle.



We got locked up.

Kryal Castle

on the 2/12/2010 we went to Kryal Castle it was giant castle.


At Kyral Castle we saw a knight.




We saw a life-sized horse that you could ride, it really moved.

Unfortunately the castle closes next year.

Launie to Melbourne

On the Spirit of Tasmania to Melbourne.

Monday breakfast at the Pancake Parlour and a game of giant chess.
We caught a tram and went to Eureka Skydeck too.

Niki's blog - leaving Tasmania

this is me before I leave.

I am going to miss my twin Nienna.

Flat Katy came on the Spirit of Tasmania.

The Spirit of Tasmania

I've been telling my friends that I am going on a boat cruise for my birthday. It sounds great doesn't it. Well, it is until you mention that it is an overnight trip in ocean recliners with two kids and storms are expected. LOL. However, it was a really pleasant trip despite the pillows being smaller than my foot and the food astronomically priced. And it was such a relief to finally be on our way. I am excited at the prospect of having time, a road map and the openroad ahead.

The Camper!!

This weekend we tried out our newly acquired camper. A 1982 Toyota Hiace Pop-top.

We were joined by Helen and Paul, and took a short trip up north.
Our first visit to Port Sorrel and the kids had a ball at the beach.
A scamper around Mersey bluff and then we made a hesitant retreat to find a campsite, due to the wind and threatening rain.
Day 2 saw us "grownups" tinkering in our mobile homes while the kids jumped their hearts out on the jumping pillow. Then a lovely trip through Latrobe: the Axeman's Hall of Fame, The Cherry Shed, Anver's chocolate factory and Ashgrove cheese tasting. It was a great little trip to get a bit of an idea of what we may need for our big roadtrip, which seems to be hastily appproaching.



I'm pretty sure everyone was as happy as these little faces show. :)

Snowy Sunday afternoons

Hmmm... what would we do on a snowy afternoon??

Windy Sunday afternoons.

We looked out on a cold and windy afternoon and thought what are we going to do?? Then I saw the bushes being blown about and realised it had been quite sometime since we let the kites out to play. B2 is obsessed with her rollerblades, so they came along too. We met up with some of our loveliest friends and had a wonderful afternoon.

Enchanted and King Billy Walks

Day 3 at Cradle and we did a couple of the short walks.
B1 followed a very fat, very busy wombat. We were surprised to be up so close to such a big fella. B2 was very scared in the King Billy walk. A mist rolled in and it was very creepy, I have to admit. After a fantastic weekend I gave B1 the street directory and said lead us home. He took us home via a 'short cut' muddy dirt roads, but beautiful farm pastures and in great time. I was most impressed with his navigation skills and have no worries about handing the map over on our trip up the Australian east coast. (Ok, I may get a little tense ... afterall the mainland is much bigger than Tassie).

Cradle Mountain, TAS

Finally, we committed to a weekend at Cradle. We'd talked about it, hoped we would make it, but finally decided to 'just do it'. Boy were we glad we did. On arrival to our accommodation we were greeted by a number of little fat pademelon. B1 had a wonderful time photographing and getting acquainted.

We stayed at the Wilderness Village in comfortable cottages and were kept cozy through the cold night. We were super excited to wake up to a blanket of snow (albeit thin, it had snowed!) Statistics show a mean of 5.3 days of sunshine for the month of Ausgust and we were lucky enough to catch one of those days. We headed out on a hike up to Marion's Lookout; two adults and four kids, at about 10am. After, a short shuttle trip we found ourselves in the midst of the world's most accredited world heritage area.(It meets more criteria than any other area in the world.) Our trek began at Ronny Creek carpark. The children were enthralled by the thick layer of ice they were able to pick up from the puddles which lay around.

Not 20 steps into our hike and we find a family of wombats! The girls played fairies by Crater Falls and B2 found it hard work at this leg of the hike. But quickly pepped up when a light snow fell.
We continued on up to Wombat Hill, stoped for lunch and then B1 took off up to Marion's lookout - scaring his mother half to death. You will know why if you ever venture up to the lookout. We were delighted with the view once we made it and the children were delighted to find enough snow to make a 'snow castle?'