day five (5) cinq :: fünf :: fem :: pyat' : pump :: quinque :: pénte ::::: 28 Sept

hols coming to an end. *sighs ... anyhow, we had brekky @ Salamanca Market. walked around alittle. bad weather. it was alternating between drizzles, rain and sunny weather. managed to get 1) a jumper 2) second hand book : Robin Boyd-Ugliness of Australia 3)iron ore/haematite bracelet .... wendy got daffodils!

popped by the royal botanical gardens for the Tulip festival. not so much of a flower person, but its an achievement i started my trip with floral explorations, the lavender and now the tulip. anyway ... its was nice seeing the wide array and spectrum of colours.

headed for the airport at bout 1245. left Hobart, unwillingly ... (haahaa) at 110pm.

thats the end of my Tasmania trip. took the East Coast route, if you havent even realised!

day( two) : 2 :: deux :zwei : :två :: dva: dau:: duo:: dúo:: ::: 25 Sept

jan, the lady boss of the winnaleah hotel, prepared a sumptuous breakfast for us. omelettes with tomatoes, onions, cheese, ham and the lots. juice. coffee in a plunger. toasts (that were pretty charred) had my fill and we were off St Helens. We popped by Pioneer, a small mining town to visit the Blue Lakes. It was written in black and white that there are 3 lakes, a blue, a green and a yellow and all we saw was, the blue one. sighs* anyhow, it was pretty impressive. resembles a sulphur pool. Our next stop, South Mount Cameron, i wanted to take a peek at the gemstone fossicking stuffs, but all we managed to chanced upon were puddles of glistening waters, with heaps of pebbles, i did search really hard, but no sights of potential gemstones. bugger*

popped by a cheese factory in Pyengana. the entire group of us walked into the shop. and before u could shout 'out' the group of my frds left the store. leaving me in there. i was breathing thru my mouth, while slurping on my milo ice cream. the cheesy smell was too over whelming for all of them. ( me too, just that i felt odd if the sudden influx of visitors should leave immediately, like within 3 secs.) even as i pen this down, the memory is so clear, i have to laugh hilariously ... haaah ... but i love the cow merchandises in the store!

moved on to St Helens, St Mary's. Popped by an 'i' (information booth-really helpful folks! kudos to the entire fleet) in St Helens. Met a snake loving old man, who was working as an information assistant. I will remember his tresses, really really long medusa like stuffs. anyhow, we posted a postcard back to jing, elly, rong n raymond who were in melbourne. (the city! with cars. trams. and streetlights.) hopefully it reaches em by Sat 28 Sept (thats the day we return! *fingers crossed) the old long haired guy strongly recommended the Nature World near Bicheno.

We decided to venture up Mt Elephant for their infamous 'mt elephant pancake barn' pancakes & crepes. the restaurant sits on a mountain that drops away to the Chain of Lagoons. pretty awesome n breathtaking. but their lattes ... or their coffe on the whole sucks. i willalways remember that thick layer of oit on top of my latte, i seriously doubt and suspect that the latte was the culprit of my bad state of health(tat is gonna surface @ night) .. anyhow .. the crepes are still good, fruits are really fresh ...! just dont order anything that spells ... C-o-f-f-e-e ! ! and the mountain is called mount elephant cos it resembles the elephant ...

We stepped into Nature World at ??? (sometime in the afternoon, i cant remember all the times and exact places, i am still human. with mental blocks and this entire blog/account was written when i got back to melbourne. i didnt pen the places i went anywhere, all i had was a visual diary. the fondest memories and encounters penned were all from my boggled mind.) greeted by the kangeroos. *prays that i do not get kicked by thse australian animals! threw some food on the ground, the dumb roo stared at me and i whizzed off faster than u could say RUN! beats me why i ran. i jus didnt like the idea of being kicked! met some other animals: ducks, chickens but the fondest memories were of the irritating, detesting ... island birds. the entire fleet of island birds were chasing the 6 grown up humans. picture this! they just looked so hungry yet they were pains in the ass! we decided to stop feeding these 'pests' and chased them off instead. but a few of them let off some screech and the 6 humans were terrified, we were so worried they mght be planning a human attack! we were helpless in the nature park! argh*

all things turned out well. the island birds and the humans decided to live in harmony. we didnt chase them and they did the same. i guess i was freed from the winged animals for awhile. till..... wendy decided to take a photo with this massive pelican. the thought and sight of that bird still shudders me. yucks* anyway, we saw the tasmania devil (called Tobey and Timmy ) and some koalas, some snakes and heaps of birds and ducks! think thats enough bout the Nature Park, i am getting bored myself! but i still hate the island birds .. hahaa

approached Freycinet Area. tout there were gonna be heaps of activities but hopes were kind of dashed. there were heaps of activities, but those are across the Great Oyster Bay, on the Freycinet Island. sighs* anyhow, we decided to find lodging in Swansea. the usual hopping in and out of the car continues ... "hi, how are you? looking for lodging for 6. we are on a pretty tight budget. is that ur best price? " finally decided on a place that charged us, 30buckeroos a night. shared a room with dawn! we used a lucky dip approach to choose the room keys cos one of the rooms offered awesome views of the oyster bay. poor me got a room without a view! (read on, cos i would be able to appreciate a room with a view anyhow..) we decided to venture into ViewPort restaurant for dinner. Waited close to an hour ... ( i guess... it was jus gruelling) the first few minutes were fine, but somehow i got sick as time passed. my throat started feelin really dry. stomach got uncomfortable. feverish. SICK! when my steak arrived, all 25 bucks of it, i could only consume like 10 bucks worth. *damn! anyhow, i felt bad. and i arent gonna write how bad i felt cos it will all come back to me when i try to recaptulate the feelings. it was just SICK. got back to motel. showered. had an earl grey tea. slept... 11pm ... had a panadol. 3am.... had some gastric pains. 7am... felt like puking in the bath. nothin's in my stomach, so i guess all i could vomit out was air. thank heavens. praying that the car ride would be alright!

day (three) 3 :: trois:: drei:: tre:: tri:: tri : tres:: treiîs 26 Sept
after breakfast, we were headed for Kates Berry Farm. to get some strawberry wine for dad! wonder why they dont export that to the neighbouring states, especially Victoria, since we are so close by! ( i should have enquired ... which i didnt) anyhow, we did loitered alittle and bought some wine. We were heading for Port Arthur today. yea... the errie eerie area, where heaps of convicts had passed away after being tortured in inhumane ways!

Port Arthur is like this fertile ground enriched with history. within the small grounds, lies the rich history of Tasmania's convict past. i tout this place was gonna to be errie. but it was good! insighful and it allowed me to walk... heaps ..! maybe tats why i felt much better after walking around! (hopefully its not because of the ying and yang stuffs ... .... ) anyhow, we were given a half an hour introduction to the grounds of Port Arthur. You ponder as you listen to the guide, why didnt they just use modern technology and play a recorded commentary. the human touch is so important in these areas. people are much more friendlier and they call you by your first name. city dwellers should pick some stuffs like that, drop the snob and adopt the hospitality!

we actually wanted to go for the ghost tours at night, but profound and deep people like us (its true!) would take informative and insightful tours over the spine tinkling and shallow ghost tours (spelled : timid rats! haahaa) roamed around the area and we went for a cruise after that. passed by the isle of dead. thank god my photos didnt showed any white stuffs or any un identified stuffs. ( cos heaps of other people saw 'other' things in their photos, the place is really a little creepy, at night!) but we left Port Arthur at bout 5pm! yea ... saved!

heading for hobart next! city life finally! Passed Copping, Sorell and finally up Hobart! We travelled along Macquarie Street looking for lodging. the usual bargaining was happening. but prices were still pretty steep! (these people just dont seem to realise that pooor students cant afford much, although the rooms look inducing enough!) anyhow, i could say that i have been to every single motel along the main streets of Hobart, Macquarie+Sandy Bay ... ) and finally we chanced upon Mayfair hotel! All the gals hopped down the car and approached the reception area, suddenly the fire alarm went off. the reception guy (awwwww) was all flustered, but he quoted us 20bucks per person. was pondering if that was the right deal or was our frd jus plain overwhelmed by the drama rama caused by the fire alarm??!!?

we returned a few times and finally we decided to stay at Mayfair for the last 2 nights of our trip. dinner time! we roamed down Victoria Dock for dinner at Mures. Had thai prawns and rice. pretty okay food. popped by Wrest Point Casino. didnt enter though cos i didnt like the idea of having my money drained into a machine that make noises and emits lights. plus the sights of elderly folks spending their time in the casino just stirs me! headed back to the hotel. showered with some lukewarm water ( apologies to baolong, wendy and ivan .. for having cold showers and missing showers respectively ... read on ...... ..... retribution on the next day?) watched some telly and i was off to bed. by the way, we were all housed in this huge room .... ..... single beds .... .... a telly, mini bars, heaters, huge bathroom .... 20 buckeroos a head! unbelievable bargain!

goodnight!

day ( one ) : un: eins : ett: odin: unis : satu : yi : 1 :::::: 24 Sept

arrived in a Virgin jet. heaps of turbulance on the flight. i got out of the airplane with my ears stirring. *argh..
Lauceston airport looks very disimilar to the usual airconditioned, widespan airport. here, you alight via a movable stairs
(refer to some CNN clips where George Bush alights from his jet, minus the red carpet, and thats how i was recieved in Tasmania)
my pals and i got so excited seeing the unconventional airport, we snapped heaps of photos without realising that we were actually attracting pretty much attention, we resembled some country bumpkins, fresh out of the village, and taking a plane into town. *chuckles

got into the airport. i passed the infamous sniffing dogs, pals got stopped cos the clever pooch identified em carrying fruits. darn* disposes the fruits into bins. and off we went. my eyes roamed for the conveyor belt. no conveyor belt. i could see the sliding entrance of the airport from the arrival area ( i choose not to utilise the word 'hall' as it would be too misleading), which sort of gives you the area of the airport. its pretty much similar to the airports in thailand, indonesia and india.

collected my luggage (thanks elly for her bag!) hopped into the car (toyota tarango-automatic-white) and off we zoomed. time's around half past 2, we were headed for the Lavender Farm (Nabowla -- in the middle of Scottsdale and Bridport). Arrived in the eco centre in scottsdale. peering at the time, we realised we ought to get moving to the Lavender Farms before they close. Weezed off in the tarango towards the farm, arrived at bout 0400pm. a disappointing sight awaited us. we were expecting to see vast purple fields and the sweet smells of lavender but all i saw was the un-bloomed lavender. darn! a long drive up, and our reward is this? anyhow, we got into the store in Bridestowe lavender farm, encircled it a few rounds. frugal (or miser me) didnt get any stuffs, cos i arent a big fan of flowers. but we were making preparations for the drive down to St Helens. ginger tea was brewed. seats were changed. and off we went!

we reckon we havent had lunch and decided to stop over at Derby at bout 5pm ... (oh my gosh ! lunch, dinner?or both?) anyhow, we had a sumptous first meal in tassie, i had a beer battered trevella, the serloin my other frds ordered was heavenly! darn! anyhow, i did enjoy my food very much. after filling our stomachs, the friendly old owner of the restaurant recommended us to get to Winnaleah, to spend the night before continuing on our journey. satisfied gang of 4 gals 2 guys decided to venture up Winnaleah. we were told there were more hotels in winnaleah, i saw one. the rest did see ONE too! (hmm... many has different connotations eh ?) anyhow, the cost of accomodation was fantastic on our purse strings, 20 aussie dollars per person. heated water. heated blankets.palmolive shampoo.palmolive conditioner. towels. dryer. mini bar. couch. plus a 'homely warm reception'. for the first time i felt like sleeping at 10pm, i bet i was syncing into the lifestyle fast. (oops, i forgot to mention that i was keeping the cows and lambs company thru out the drives.) anyhow, i watched alittle telly in wendy's bigger room and we headed for dinner/supper. had a pizza plus hot chocolate. perfect! (pizza was delivered in a canadian style.) guess what i did after eating? brushed my teeth of cos and into dreamland i went. today hasnt been all that fulfilling. too much time on the roads. hopefully tomorrow's better. but i did had an awesome visual treat today!

day four (4) quatre :: vier: fyra :: chetyre: pedwar:: quattor: téssares :: 27 Sept

brand new morning! mackies breakfast! (mac's) we wanted to get down to the Calbury's factory tour, alas, the tours were all fully booked till monday! anyway.. we ventured South to Huonville. Popped by the Tahune Air Walk in the Tahune Forest. we walked along treetops and off my head, i remember some tree names... the Huon Pine of cos... blackwood, celery top pine ... etc. The air walk was fantastic, we were cantilevered approximately 8 metres or more from the ground, 120 steps leading us up to the airwalk! i hope i could still do this when i am 50 ...! anyway, the only nerve wreaking part was the swaying of the path whenever the wind blows, not forgetting the occasional irritating bloke that sways his arms, legs and ass deliberately to shake the path, they ought to be gunned! the experience was fantastic. a must see!

headed up to Geeveston for lunch. grilled chicken burger and a flat white! the town boasted of 15 shops! eye opener eh .... ! we then headed for Huonville, the main town for the Huon Jet ride. the Huon River is so tranquil with soooo gentle rapids that you could imagine that the ride was goin to be pretty easy on the heart. it was. but the chatty jet operator (john/joe??!!?) tried to inject as much thrills into our rides ... Hawthorn go!!! ( he's a Hawthorn fan!) the Huon river looks dark and resembled petrol but its actually 100% mountain spring water, the decolourisation is caused by tannin. left Huon River ... a little drenched..

headed towards the Apple museum. but we popped by the apple gift store, accidentally. once in the store, it seems all our fingers were smeared with apple jam .. all slippery and butter fingers, xinyi dropped an item, followed by dawny .... thank god i was interested in a tee, otherwise it would be hard getting out of the store (plus we stepped in @ 440 ....... 20 mins to closing time!) eventually, baolong bought some stuffs too ... i managed to pick up a chat with the lady and fostered better ties (chuckles*) enquired about the Apple Museum... she rang them and off we went ....

reached the museum bout 500pm... closing time. we were deciding whether we wanted to get in. cos there were entrance fees. but we did after all ... after a push from the previous owner. that was a good push .... we had a good time! had a lightning fast-parred apple ... we were given insights into the types of apples .. the sorting methods ... the labelling ... all things apple actually! simply insightful! left the apple museum at bout 6pm ... dinner time soon!

we reached Hobart city @ bout 645pm, shops are supposed to open till 8or 9 today but the shopping precinct still resembled ghost town (more ghostly than Port Arthur ) *pardon my inaptness ... but its the truth! shopped around Target and Myers ,,,, (yea .. the two we have in Victoria .. again!) Went to Drunken Admiral's on Victoria Dock for dinner! Sizzling plate of squids ... fish .. prawns ... scallops .... very satisfying ... !!!!!!!

Went back to hotel after dinner .... telly's pretty good! oh .. and it was retribution time! i had an awakening cold shower! though we were upgraded to a huge room ( me and dawny had a HUGE queen sized bed each to ourselves! beat tat!) but the hot h20 system still sucks and i had to brave the cold! *shivers::: refreshing though ;(

since today is the last night we are gonna spend in Tasland ... i betta pen down the idiosyncrasy of wendy.. she would yank and rave and get all excited bout playing dai di (Big Two) in the afternoons, but when we get back to the hotel, she would be the first to pounce on the bed and pig out! hah* the last night was usual fare.. but this satisfied my satire need for the day ... *hah

this marks the beginning of my journey into never never land (as my mates like to label)
the first signs of us entering into never never land are:
one-your mobile phone fails to register into the network, though you are technically still in australia
two-your closest living creatures either emit single syllable MoooS or BaaaaS,
three-you sleep by 11pm everynight, soundly!

on the 24 September, i set off with 5 mates and their other half-s into tasmania-the natural state of australia.
to save my saliva and breath, read on, so i wouldnt have to repeat myself umpteen times to different audiences.

::disclaimer: you can choose not to take what i say as the truth, people's persepectives differ, choose what you like and partake it.
only fools believe all they read. but i attempt to tell the truth, at least what i feel.

*enjoy!