Clem Travels

Platypus in the wild, Geeveston Tasmania

2012-01-30T19:19:00.000-08:00

Bruny Island

2012-01-22T05:47:00.001-08:00

Since Bruny Island is a island, dad decided to park on the boat (like we did on ‘Spirit Of Tasmania’.) After 30 minutes we reached Bruny Island. In Bruny Island dad decided to stay in a marvelous caravan park called ‘James cook.’ If your wondering, we stayed in a cabin named Exedous. On the top of my bunk bed there was a lovely window that blew in fresh air. My sister and I made some videos to put on u tube unforntually the filming was too bumpy. I was disappointed because I had made another video that had worked out ( To view it click this link .)

One night we all decided do go fishing ( P.S. we didn’t catch any.) When we had finished fishing we started to drive back to our cabin. On the way back I saw something as small as a cat running funnily up someones driveway. We knew it wasn’t a cat because it eyes did not glow when our car lights shined on whatever it was’s eyes. Later that night mum saw a wild Wombat. About 5 minutes later I spotted a small cute marsupial munching on grass. Just before we reached our cabin we all saw wild wallabies. It was a very exiting night but we were all tired and decided to go to bed.

The next day we went to a berry farm. I had to be careful because there was electric wire protecting all the fence. When we got inside mum bought me some pepper berry icecream. It was a bit weird because it was sweet then spicy.

At night time we all decided to go on a penguin tour. I decided to walk up to the top off the lookout (on the top of a hill) that was there. While I was walking up the hill I heard lots of rustling. Since it was nighttime and I didn’t have the inferred torch I couldn’t see the animal in the bush, but I did hear penguins calling and I did see a couple up there. It was very exiting looking for penguins. The way you see them ,without climbing up to the lookout, Is by looking for holes in the ground bigger then snake holes and waiting, eventually you will see the penguins. Just before we left I saw all the male fairy penguins all in a group of 50 waddling up the mountain (which I climbed up.)

Bruny Island is a great place and I definitely recommend going there for at the least 1 day!!!

Platypus Spotting In Geeveston

2012-01-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

I find the Platypus fascinating. They have body parts that look like they belong to other animals- webbed feet and a bill like a duck (which can detect electric pulses like a Swordfish), fur similar to a bear, a pouch like a possum and can lay eggs like a reptile. No wonder why the first settlers thought this was a fake animal.
Our family visited Platypus House at Beauty Point and saw platypus. Unfortunately I could not get a clear video. I learnt heaps about them but I was very keen to see one in their natural habitat.

Geeveston is a small town in the Huon Valley. It has its own Platypus Trail which runs along a large creek bed in the middle of the town. There were no signs of any platypus during the day when we walked along the trail so I wasn’t too hopeful of seeing one.

One night mum and dad decided to go for a stroll (while Grandma looked after us) along the ‘Platypus Trail.‘ They came home very excited as they had seen 8 platypus swimming in the river. Well that was enough for me! I couldn’t wait to see them the next night and to capture footage of this strange animal. We quietly ‘tippy toed’ along the bank, as the sun was setting, and looked for signs of them. The three signs were bubbles, ripples and little splashes on the water’s surface.

We must have got just the right time because before we knew it we saw our first playtpus floating on the surface of the water looking for little mosquitoes and taking a breath after diving for crustaceans and tasty morsels under the water. I was really happy and excited to get footage of these amazing creatures. We spotted at least 6 platypus! It almost didn’t feel real. When I got excited and made a noise they quickly dived under the water and swam away. It was important that everyone was very quiet and stayed still.

People who want to see a platypus in the wild should seriously try the Platypus Trail at Geeveston.

What the Edwards family did for Christmas

2011-12-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

In our hotel in Hobart, about 1am, Ruby was whispering Clem wake up it’s Christmas. I whispered back to Ruby to go back to sleep. I was hoping that we were away from home we would still have a good Christmas.
Mum and Dad eventually woke up at 6:30am and Ruby and I went to look at the presents under our small, chocolate tree. We had made this tree the night before by tying ribbon to a little Cadbury chocolates and hanging them. Mum really liked the Cherry Ripes and stole a few. I enjoyed all the different flavours and by Christmas night all of them had been eaten.
Opening up my presents was exciting and I received Angry Birds board game, I Tunes voucher, Mario Kart 7 and some money. Ruby was thrilled with her I-pod touch4, mum liked her Jamie Oliver Cook book and C.D. Dad liked his wallet, fish rod and Lindt chocolates.

After we opened our presents we went to the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Our family drove to church shortly after. The service was funny as some of the children got to say what they got for Christmas. I was glad we visited that church.

In the afternoon we found a great park with BBQ’s that overlooked the beach. We cooked 4 big pieces of fresh salmon, a kilo of prawns, 20 scallops and garlic bread. Our family had so much food that we didn’t have enough room for our Creme caramels, juicy cherries or the cheese. The seagulls had a gourmet feast for Christmas also!

The rest of the day was spent walking along the shore looking at sea squirts. Mum thought they were like pimples and couldn’t resist touching them to see the water come out. She thought they were gross. There were lots of oysters on the rocks but they would give you food poisoning as the tide was out and they were baking in the sun.

I was really happy that we had a good Christmas away from home and that was the only thing that mattered.

Arthur River Beach House

2011-12-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Arthur River is like a gateway to the wilderness. It is in western part of Tasmania on the coast. Our family spent 12 relaxing days there after leaving Launceston. From our beach house I could see lots of snapped trees piled on either side of the twinkling river. The water way led into the vast open sea which was pounded by killer waves. The wind, the ‘Roaring 40’s’, picked up the sand and threw it in our eyes. You could never predict the weather accurately- sometimes it was as still as a pond and sometimes it was as windy as a hurricane. I felt like I could fly!

On the still days we explored the beaches, climbed over driftwood and looked for shell fossils! We tried to fish for Australian (Cockey) Salmon but the rain has put too much fresh water in the river so they hung around the rocks near the sea. This made it difficult to cast and we lost lots of lures. But mum caught a ripper and dad caught a few also. Ruby learnt the hard way where fish come from and where they end up. There were some tears. The wilder days were spent inside our beach house where we watched our favourite Foxtel shows, read books on the Kindle and ate lots of toasted sandwiches and snacks. We would have liked to have eaten more fish but at least we got one good feed.

From our house we saw a red tugboat. One day dad walked to the deli and bought the tickets for the boat ride. The boat took us up the river and I saw a very rare bird! It was orange on one side and blue on the other and came from the Kingfisher family. After two hours of interesting cruising we finally reached the little docking harbour. The boat driver gave us a tour of the forest. He also found some regurgitated Tasmanian devil stuff. In the puke were echidna spikes. It sounded like the devil ate an echidna but the man told us that the devils eat anything on the floor including echidna spikes and metal! When we finally reached the hut they owned, we had a nice BBQ which included sausages and hamburgers. On the way back we were lucky enough to see a lady feed the Sea Eagles. I was just sitting down when the boat driver called me up to the cabin to drive the boat. It was really fun and freaky steering it. Some people looked nervous and they should have been! He gave me a report card at the end and I got ten out of ten!

One day we set out in the car and dad said we were going to be driving over some rough
roads. He was right, but it was beautiful. We drove through the Western Wilderness to a place called Corrina. On the way we visited the Donaldson and Savage River. Thankyou to Aunty Nat for the sick bags because otherwise a certain family member would have totally ‘sicked out’ the car. Part of the adventure was to catch a barge over the river.

The highlights of Arthur River were the T.V. at the beach house, the local deli which sold $2 chocolate bars, observing our Tassie Devil food trap (our food was taken by a quoll and small wallabies instead) and the cruise along the river.

Dismal Swamp

2011-12-23T04:11:00.000-08:00

Imagine going down a 100m slide through the forest in 15 seconds. I did just that at Dismal Swamp. Twice! Dismal Swamp is a big sink hole in the middle of a forest. The good tour guide told us the floor of the forest was basically like honey comb. This means the dirt starts to sink when there is lots of rain.

She also told us that we should look out for tiny burrowing crayfish after we catch the slide to the forest floor. The tour guide gave us the challenge to also look for hexagonal ferns and eyes in the Blackwood trees put there by a local artist. She kept talking until mum got the courage to go down the slide.

I put on a hair net, a helmet and slipped into a carpet sleeping bag (not that I was tired!)
I laid back and the man pushed me down. It was a tunnel so I couldn’t come flying out when sped around the corners. It surprised me that water did not come through the slide. The way you stop is by hitting into big pillow at the end. At the end of mum’s slide she said ‘ow that hurt my knee’ but she survived. Ruby’s whole face was red and her mouth was wide open as she came down. Dad even caught it on camera.

I saw lots of wildlife including the borrowing crayfish then I remembered a fact the tour guide told me. What they do is borrow into the ground and build a mound around them with a hole at the top. They search for vegetation and meat under the ground. They don’t like to get wet so if water drips inside the crayfish comes and puts some more mud onto the side of the roof to make a taller tower. There were lots of towers at various heights.

The only thing dismal about this swamp was the mosquitoes so next time I’ll wear long pants!

The Nut

2011-12-23T03:36:00.000-08:00

Most people know I like to collect crystals so I was especially excited when dad said he would drive us to a volcano called The Nut. The nut is a huge, solidified lava rock 152m high.

Since mum and dad were tired from ‘Marion’s Lookout’ they decided to pay 30 dollars to go up a chairlift. Mum was scared she was going to fall out of the chairlift so she leaned back. There was lots of refreshing wind blowing at your face. I took my hat off my head so it wouldn’t roll down the hill.

We got off the chairlift and started walking. I thought there would be lava rock but all there the rock was covered in grass and regular pebbles. Dad saw a tiny cave so we decided to walk in it and I saw a goanna. Mum thought it was a snake and walked away slowly. There was also a little pond covered with green moss to make it look like grass. I threw a rock in the water and it splashed and sank. There was also a stunning view and it looked like the end of the world. But it wasn’t.

On the way back we heard rustling in the bushes but luckily it was only a Paddymelon, a small wallaby. I wanted to get some food at the Nut cafe but dad said we would get food somewhere else.

Dad drove us to a famous fish cafe at the harbour. We had takeaway and the fish was delicious and juicy while the chips were nice and soft. There were lots of seagulls which willingly ate the chips we couldn’t eat. A whole swarm of the them swooped out of the sky desperate to eat some chips.

Then we walked around the town and bought our grandma a present. I can’t tell you what it is because she reads this! I wanted to get some lollies but strangely the lolly shop was closed.

That was our excellent day at The Nut.

How hard could it be to climb Cradle Mountain??

2011-12-23T02:56:00.000-08:00

One of my dad’s goals was to climb Marion’s Lookout, the tallest viewing point at Cradle Mountain, while were in Tasmania. It was only 11.5km uphill. The family put on our jumpers, ate a big breakfast and caught the shuttle bus to Ronny Creek to start our hike. Mum had cooked15 chicken drumsticks and bought some chocolate and bananas for energy. Dad was super keen on climbing the hill, Ruby was unsuspecting, mum knew what was coming and I thought I could do it.

Our first goal was to get to the waterfall. I was behind and when they stopped they stopped for a break then kept walking. When I finally reached the waterfall I got a thirty second brake and was still puffed out. to cool down, I was about to drink from the waterfall then a spider jumped on my hand. It was not nice at all.

We reached an old shack, called Marion’s Hut, mum tried to convince dad this was the goal. Dad did not fall for it and didn’t give her any chocolates. There was a lovely view that you could only see if you either were in a plane or you walked. This is because it was basically a lake shaped into a circle by the huge green, graceful mountains.

By then I started to run 200m ahead of everybody so I could go at my own pace. I decided to not concentrate on the frustrating pain of the steep slope by counting how many circular rocks I could see. It was very effective and people who have problems walking should try it! While mum and dad were talking to someone, I ran ahead. Walking to the mountain was hard but beautiful. Climbing up the apex of Marion’s lookout was easy and fun for kids because it had lots of rocks, ladders and chains and felt like a playground. My mum did not enjoy this stage at all.

When mum and Ruby finally reached the top of the hill, we looked for snow. Sadly, there was no snow because it had melted after a week of warm days. As we sat there admiring the view, I thought I had saw an eagle soaring. But it was only a crow trying to nick our chicken drumsticks! Still, it was soaring and looked really cool when the crow closed its wings together and dived bombed. We gave it a chicken drum and it flew away with it. Funnily, it dropped the bone and it started to roll down the hill.

The view was exquisite on the way down. Everyone, especially mum, was much happier and relaxed. There were lots of wombat poo everywhere. It was really funny because the sign read ‘Wombat Pool’ but the rain had washed away the L so it read ‘Wombat Poo.’ I thought it was very accurate. A little further on I had a refreshing drink from a stream which came out from the lake that flowed from the mountain.

We finally reached our pickup point, four hours later. Around Dove Lake there was lots of wildlife including a friendly echidna and a tame wallaby. I wanted to feed a tame wallaby my banana but a tourist said ‘ no no no you might give the wallaby a disease‘ so I didn’t feed it.

That was our hard and beautiful day!

Ben Lomond

2011-12-23T02:20:00.001-08:00

It was a sunny day so Dad decided to drive to Ben Lomond. Going up the hill was very rocky and also risky (luckily I am still here today to write to you!)

When we got there it was dusty and deserted and there were lots of wallabies which means great masses of POO but who actually cares as long as there is none on your shoe? There were even wallabies jumping around the first aid center well I wasn’t to surprised though because they’re practically everywhere.

Enough about Wallabies, now about the town. When I mean deserted I mean deserted! The town was practically abandoned except for the occasional little lizards, big lizards, spiders in toilets, pooping wallabies, bugs in water and 5 humans somebody dad saw, mum, my sister and I. It even had a food shop for cold people which sold hot chocolate, and other hot food. What really surprised me was that the cafe was unlocked but I guess you wouldn’t come all this way to steal chairs and tables.

Climbing up the hill took time, sweat and bottled water. Walking up the hill I saw wallabies and wallabies' poo. I also saw lots of sub Antarctic plants (they are suited to cold) some were spiky and some were mushy and squirted water when you step on them, the spikes not so much the just made cracking noises. In some of the plants were shiny green and red beetles and little sun baking lizards.

It was really hard reaching the top because of the wind and slippery rocks. When we finally reached the top we looked at the view took a few pictures and started walking down the hill. We were walking down the hill then Ruby and I saw some ski ramps We wanted to slide down them but mum said there were two many loose nails so we decided to run down instead.

It was so fun and I really want to do it again!!!

A Day In Hobart

2011-12-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

It took us a long time to get to Hobart but it was definitely worth it!
We first arrived at Salamanca Markets. It was fun walking around the markets and the first thing that interested me was a lady selling fossils but they were $25 which would blow all my cash. The next fossil store I walked to sold a fish fossil only for $25 just because she sat on it and the fossil cracked. We decided it was a fake because at another stall we saw a fossil that looked just like that but it was $100. We went to one of the best food shops in the whole world which was called 'Little Miss Muffin.' It sold New York lemon cheese cake tart. It had crispy honeycomb on the top lemony cheesy cream in the middle and a soft crumbly bottom. One of the best foods I have eaten in my life only costed $2.50!!!!
Mum and Grandma really wanted to see princess Mary but she never showed up. Mum was very upset.

Dad then drove to Mount Wellington and it was extremely windy. It was so windy even the adults felt like they were going to fall over. When we reached the top of the mini hill I had to hang on to the building to not fall over! My sister and I pretended we were aeroplanes and I slightly flew off the ground when I jumped in the air. The wind really hurt our ears and mum used her headband, she bought from the markets, as a balaclava.

The next stop was for the benefit of the ladies. First Ruby,my sister, had a ride on an old fashioned, steam powered merry-go-round. I didn't want to go on it because it was kiddish!

On the way to the Antarctic plant display I saw a bumble bee. It was big and fluffy. We walked to a place with lots of cacti in it and it was cool!!! Much better than boring roses.

By this time of day we were very hungry. Dad and Grandma bought 'Fish n Chips' from these stalls which floated on the water at the port. The chips were very tasty and the battered Flat Head also tasted divine.

Grandma spied a shark looking boat which offered free tours. The ship was called the 'Bob Barker' which is part of the sea shepherd fleet. The tour guide told us that they are sailing to Antarctica next week to prevent the killing of whales in Australia's protected waters. It was very interesting but sad. The government should fund the sea shepherd because they are doing good things for our sea creatures!!!

It was very exciting and I am looking forward to going back in two weeks time to visit 'Little Miss Muffin' again!

Mole Creek Caves and the Glow Worms

2011-12-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful day and we headed off to visit some caves. We first arrived at the service centre. Mum and dad had a tough decision between the King Solomon caves or the Marakoopa caves. Eventually mum and dad decided to go to Marakoopa caves because my little sister and I wanted to see the glow worms.

We decided to walk through the fern track to get to the Marakoopa caves. I admired the nice view as we walked over the leaf covered bridge. My sister and I discovered a passageway where you could go down to the water. Since the water was moving I drank some. It tasted very nutty and also fresh. While walking along our family also saw a fungus on the tree. I pushed it with my foot and you could see the hole it was coming from. It then turned a blood coloured red. We were almost at the shelter which was 300m away from the caves when a red coloured mosquito landed on my hand. I whacked my hand but I missed and it flew away.

When we were in the shelter I was leaning back on one of those table connected to the seat thingies and fell off. I whacked my shoulder it hurt! The whole family laughed at me it was very funny. Dad wished he had filmed it.

We walked back to the car and I saw a jack jumper ant. These are poisonous ants which can harm you and they work on their own. It was carrying a white worm and looked yuck. In the same place I saw 5 shiny blue miniature beetles.

We finally reached the car and drove back to the shelter. Then we walked to the caves and my sister saw a joey jump right past her. Because we were early for the tour my sister and I did piggy backs. My sister leaned forward and tipped over but luckily she landed on her tummy.

The tour guide finally came and we walked into the caves. He told us that they had spotted a platypus come in the cave. Apparently the platypus came through the caves by swimming through the creek which flows into the caves. This was 6 weeks ago! He also showed us 2 big wild overgrown looking daddy long legs spiders. It was very freaky. Then he explained how Stalagmites and Stalactites are made. Stalactites were originally hollow until water gets stuck and crystals start to form around it this takes a long time. Unlike Stalactites, Stalagmites are made when straws (hollow Stalactites) drip water on the ground and it forms a kind of crystal building. Had enough facts yet?!

My sister was very excited when we saw the roof full of glow worms. The guide turned off the lights and the whole place looked like a natural disco. Glow worms glow when they are hungry. The glow-light attracts mosquitoes and yes you guessed it, the worms eat them! We left the tour and that was our schooling for the day!

Tasmazia, Lower Crackpot and Sheffield

2011-12-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

When we first arrived in Sheffield, the family bought delicious and fresh cherries. We also bought some sweet cherry ice cream from the same lady who also owned two pugs (breed of dog).

Apparently the town was slowly but surely dying, luckily a smart man came up with an idea. His idea was to paint Murals everywhere. He must of been happy when the town (which had a lot of artists to paint the Murals) became a tourist attraction because of his idea.

The shops I went into was a bakery ('Scottish Scone Shop') and a marble shop. My Grandma and my sister bought some scones and claimed they were delicious. Well I guess that's what you'd expect from a famous scone shop! I really liked the marble shop because you got to make your own track and get to test out all the tracks they sell there.

Dad then drove to 'Tasmazia' and Lower Crackpot which were absolutely awesome. We went in the maze and dad, my sister and I, ran away from mum and grandma. We jumped over the balancing maze and raced to the punishment center. Mum and Grandma were so slow that we waited for them. Mum pretended to be hanged and Grandma took a picture of her.

We also had walkies talkies because Grandma said if she got lost she would freak out. There was a spooky house and dad got scared and yelled. I freaked out badly.

I wanted to jump through these holes and while I was doing this I found the secret tunnel. Dad said not to go through it because mum was giving us instructions on how to get to the 'Three Bears' Cottage'. I went through it any way and I saw grandma and mum giving false instructions to us. Dad and my sister followed me through the tunnel and we all reached the Bear Cottage.

Ruby, my sister, opened the door to the Bears' Cottage and mum flew out and scared me so much I jumped in the air and landed on my shoulder. It turned out mum and Grandma cheated and went through a easy way but I'm not going to spoil the secret for you.
I guess it was a fair excuse because Grandma couldn't crawl through the secret tunnel which was cramped.

Cataract Gorge

2011-11-30T22:06:00.000-08:00

The first time we visited Cataract Gorge I was surprised how close it was to our house in Launceston. The first time we visited we climbed up a big hill that mum nicknamed 'butt-cruncher hill'. It wasn't easy climbing up the 'Zig Zag' track but it did help to jump from rock to rock. We checked out the look-out a few times and the view was spectacular.

As we walked along the rocky path I hid from mum behind the bushes and tried to scare her. Unfortunately she saw me and ended up surprising me!

Walking down the hill was very easy and I had to stop myself from hitting into my mum.
Eventually we reached the bottom and I started to walk across the bridge. It was a very good view. (Kings Bridge)

When we started to walk around the other side of the Gorge to get back to the car, we found some caverns. In one there was a painting of what looked like a very strange person. I also saw a tiny Pterodactyl shaped cob web which was really freaky. We also looked at some stunning trees and a house. There was also a tourist boat which honked as it glided past.

Finally we reached the Gorge and sat down to eat our snacks. A peacock came over to eat some food. Mum got scared so she stamped on the floor and it flew away. You could see how beautiful this bird was.

The second time we went was a scorcher so we decided to beat the heat and swim in their glistening pool. While we were in the pool we could see some people floating on logs and jumping off 30m rocks into a murky green bog. Mum said it was not safe at all but I thought it looked like fun. My little sister and I played in the pool and it was really fun. We had beautiful surroundings. Behind us was luscious green grass and in front of us were mountains as far as the eye could see or at least my eye could see.

While approaching the steps my sister yelled because she had spotted an Echidna. There was a very cute brown Echidna sucking up an ants' nest and we were only about 3 steps away from it. The Echidna had seen us but it didn't care at all. It was a very special moment.

The third time we visited was with my Grandma. My dad had to drive her down the ramp because stairs are one of her worst enemies. We drove back up to the carpark and walked down the steps. I noticed there was a rustling and poo everywhere. I saw 3 wallabies in the bushes. That was was very interesting.

We then walked to this absolutely fabulous chair lift. Right near where the entry sign was we spotted 3 wallabies munching on some carrots. Sorry I'm wrong, there was actually 4 wallabies but one was a joey!

Grandma and I went on the chairlift and she was scared but rode on it anyway. I loved the view from above and I also liked going over the shiny green trees. It was really fun looking at people from the top view. After the chairlift had finished we showed Grandma the track and the lookout. Once again Grandma didn't like the stairs so we went down the mountain on a 'Inclinator' but it was very slow.

The chairlift was so good so we decided to do it again but this time Grandma and mum didn't do it. On the way back I saw ducklings and a small raft caught between the rocks.

Cataract Gorge is AMAZING and if you don't visit you will regret it. Mum and Grandma reckon they are going back to the restaurant and leaving us kids with dad!

Liffey Falls and Lilydale Falls

2011-11-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

We drove to the house we are staying in at Launceston and begun exploring.
The first waterfall dad drove to was Liffey falls. After an interesting drive up at the side of the mountain on a rough road, we stopped at a lovely Gazebo to eat out lunch. I ate some cheese and pickle sandwiches and they were very tasty. While we were eating, I also saw a majestic Blue Wren. It was black with bright blue rings around it. Mum dad my sister and I threw some bread crumbs for the wren and it was very happy about it.

We then turned our attention towards the falls. Walking down the hill was lots of fun and there was all different types of fungus. When mum wasn't looking, me and dad felt the fungus. It was very weird and smooth. Then we came to what looked like a magical path. The floor was nice and dry (every where else it was muddy) and you could see a roof of ferns on top of you. To top it all off, none of the plants were dying and there were no leaves on the floor. I would definitely recommend taking the 40 minute path.

On the way down, there were 3 separate lookouts. At every lookout I tried to throw a stick off the water fall, but it always got stuck in the rocks or sank. I used my brain and wrapped the stick in bark and then threw it into rapids and it went over the water fall. There was also a water fall that had a jet of water speeding out of it up into the air then landed in the stream below. It looked great.

Eventually we found a path to the stream below. I tried skimming stones and I actually skimmed some. It might not sound like a big deal but the last time I skimmed a stone was two years ago. While I was throwing stones I picked up a fossilized shell and I was very excited. I also drank some water out of the stream. It was beautiful but a shame we left the drink bottles in the car. On the way back up the hill, I stepped in 6 centimetre mud and slipped over and my hands barely stopped me from falling in the mud.

The next day we set out for Lilydale Falls. These were just as good as the first ones. We walked across a lovely bridge. As we were walking along, we found that a tree had fallen in front of this skinny path and we had to jump over it. Mum did not like that at all but dad did! We found a path to the stream and I had a crazy idea to climb into a cavern in the waterfall and collect water. It was too slippery for me so dad filled my bottle up with this beautiful water. It had turned a slight shade of green but it was safe because if it wasn't I would not be writing this! Climbing up was not easy but the view was definitely worth it!

Spirit of Tasmania

2011-11-29T13:33:00.000-08:00

....Catch the 'Spirit of Tasmania.' My dad boarded his car onto the ship. It took a long time but we found out we were in the 7th best position to be in. This meant we got off first instead of waiting two hours. Driving up the steep ramp to load the car onto the ship was lot of fun.
It was cool (not abbreviation) on board. The ship had a free cinema and we got to watch ' Diary of a Wimpy Kid Two Roderick Rules.' I did not notice the boat rocking while we were watching it.

My family had a good view from our cabin porthole when the ship turned around. I fell asleep easily because it rocked you to sleep. It was freaky sleeping on the top bunk with no safety rails. In the morning I woke up and had a shower. It was very confusing to operate.
After that we got in the car and we drove off the boat 15 minutes later. It was lots of fun on the ship and I am looking toward going back on the ship from Tasmania!
As soon as we got off the boat we drove straight to McDonalds. I found a one dollar coin on the floor and I was very happy.

Melbourne

2011-11-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

In Melbourne dad parked in a free parking zone (there was only one parking zone that you had to pay to use). We raced to a weird looking tram it looked like a tram and an futuristic train spliced together. It was fine driving along until a lady sat next to me. I got very upset and also the seat she sat on smelt funny and it was wet.

We went to the 'Queen Victoria Markets.' Mum and dad were very interested in the food that marketers were selling. I wanted to buy an Achacha but they did not sell any. Luckily dad bought me a $1 mango. It was very juicy and ripe. Mum bought a bag of cherries that were suspiciously cheap. The cherries were so bad and disgusting that mum threw the bag of cherries in the bin! We went to a number of stores looking for a black angry bird cover. The first store we went to had fake i-pod touch covers. For instance the black birds fuse was missing and on another its belly was red. Luckily the man gave us a refund. At another store there were nice angry bird stickers but one had a very bad word on it. We also found an black angry bird which was a fake because when I examined it the bird had a stick coming out of its rear end!
We went back to the food section and I ate some 'Turkish Delight' and six pieces of greasy salami.

Next we went to Chinatown. We ate at Yum Cha. First dad ordered white-bait. It was absolutely delicious. Then we had squid legs even though squids don't have legs (they have tentacles.) We also had dumplings which is my favourite Asian food.

We walked towards the ocean to...

Ballarat

2011-11-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

We left Bordertown at 5:00am and I started to play with my Angry Bird plush toy. I threw it at my sister and she threw her purple Puffle at me. 'Ow!' It was filled with hard heavy foam beans. I then started to throw my Angry Bird up in the air and it landed on my sisters side of the car. She gave it back after she had thrown it up in the air. After that I played Starfox 3D and it was fun.

We finally arrived at 7:30am and mum then bought the tickets to Sovereign Hill. It was great! First we looked around and I saw a black and white fat cat laying on an old looking building. Some tourists took pictures of it and so did I. We then panned for gold and I found heaps of tiny nuggets with the help of mum. On the way to lunch we watched a man fire a gun with real gunpowder and the noise was defending. We then ate delicious mangoes, juicy chicken and apricots (I didn't eat the apricots). Then I saw something shake in the reeds. It was a mother duck and her ducklings and they were very cute!

We then did old-fashion bowling and it was fun. The pins and bowling ball were made entirely out of wood. The bowling alley had a steep ramp which you rolled the bowling ball down and it rolls back down to the bowling area.

We then we went to a fun mining tour were you walk down a path. It sounds like there's a Tsunami coming. Water drips from the ceiling. You climb a 3 metre ladder and escape from the mine. After that we went to a lolly making demonstration and you get free sample of raspberry drops. It made my mum's lips red.

Smokey Bay, Adelaide, Handhorff and Ballarat

2011-11-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

We drove to Smoky Bay after we had driven through Eucla.
My mum got eaten by a shark in a 'fish n chips' shop, well sort of. There was a stuffed shark at this petrol/fish'n chips' store with other dead marine life. We also had some 'fish'n chips' at the jetty. We wanted to go for a swim but the water was way to cold and the shark protection cage was getting cleaned.

We then drove to Adelaide where we visited the Rundle Street Mall. Originally we had come to buy my sister a hat and go on the roller-coaster that was there. Sadly they had got rid of the roller-coaster 6 years ago. However we got my sister a lovely hat and we all saw George and Gary from Masterchef! To top it all of we got piggy banks and mum got a food-safe poster.

After Adelaide Dad drove to Handhorff a small German town where you can eat lovely gooey chocolate, German Karanksys and other delicious food. First of all we looked at a mosaic statue and my sister poked her tongue out and made rude noises at the kids having lunch at school. After that I found a $4 shocking gum at a toy shop, I thought it just made a noise or something but it turned out it was made of metal and it was linked to a battery. When you pull the gum you (yes you do) get an electric shock. My thumb was numb for the whole day! Finally after 60 minutes my dad let us have some food which was good considering we had only had breakfast!
My sister and I shared a bowl of delicious melted French chocolate mixed with fresh strawberries. Then we all had a box of takeaway Kransky sausage with Sauerkraut.

We then drove to Bordertown where we stayed in a average hotel with Tv that had good reception. Near my bed was these old fashioned switches which turned the book reading light on and the radio.

Nullabor

2011-11-22T12:32:00.000-08:00

I felt excited sitting in the car as we drove away from our house. Eventually after 13 hours we stopped at a very dry and run down hotel. Luckily our horrible hotel wasn't run down by mice because there was a mice plague at the time. To top it off, it only had two channels on a tiny T.V. the size of a small laptop screen. The air conditioning blew cold air on one person and hot air on everyone else 20m away from it. My kind sister switched places with me!

There were some good things about this hotel. It had addictive U.H.T milk which was delicious. It also had yummy burgers which fell apart but they were as fresh as a flower. I also had fun on a rusty slide on the playground. This which was hard for my sister to climb because there were no platforms. The motel room had lovely hot showers.

In the car I read the 2 letters I received from the Gribble girls and had some of the lollies they gave me even though we had a long way to go. I most enjoyed the packages which they gave me. Thanks for the K-zone magazine and the Aero bar which were lovely. I also enjoyed the Starfox 3D. It was great thanks Millers and family!

It was fun having a packet of Coco-Pops at the 'Great Australian Bight'. The view was great, the food was great, everything was great! Although it was cold, a jumper helped.

The next place we drove to was Gladstone and we slept in a caravan. It was lovely and there were heaps of friendly millipedes in the showers and toilets as well. Sadly it had no free food! In the morning we woke up and ate breakfast in a kitchen that they had, and afterwards we enjoyed playing on their fun playground, swinging on the swings, sliding down the awesome slide and just having fun.

west coast eagles....suck

2009-12-27T21:01:00.001-08:00