Still Alive

Sorry we've not updated for a while but we've been travelling the wilds of Tasmania, where all internet connections took a dislike to me and refused to work, and then spending a week of relaxation at the exclusive Balaka Wingi Country Retreat (Uncle Terry and Aunty Shirley's small holding in Nicholson).

I'll give you a quick run down of what we did while in Tassie. While staying at Hobart we went to Port Arthur penal colony which was interesting, among other things it was the site of the first prison site in the British Empire exclusively for children. On the way back from there we visited a Tasmanian Devil Reserve which was excellent. They seem to spend all their time running around bickering with each other. At feeding time half a Wallaby got thrown which was finished, bones and all, in under ten minutes in a continuous game of tug a war.
We also visited the Cascade Brewery which was quite interesting although the guide didn't have a clue what he was talking about. As usual it involved a couple of free beers at the end, by dint of drinking quickly and being served by different staff we managed to get 4 each, I do love beating the sytem... especially when it involves beer!
We went up Wellington Mountain (formally Table Mountain) where the snow was about six foot deep in places. I spent most of the time practicing my aim by throwing snowballs at Rachael and scored a couple of good shots to her fleeing posterior!
After that we moved up to Launceston, which is the second biggest city in Tasmania, and in many ways nicer than Hobart. We went on the Boag Brewery Tour, which depending on who you talk to is Tasmania's (and Australia's!) Premier brewer. It was the best Brewery trip I've been on to date (we've done four in Australia so far) and converted me to the charms of Boags Draft - lovely stuff.
A couple of days in Launceston and then it was time to catch the ferry back to the mainland. From Melbourne we made our way to Moe where we spent a night with my Cousin Craig and Jodi where we were treated to a lovely Lamb Roast. After months of pasta, baked beans etc it was the highlight of my week!
We left there on Tuesday lunchtime and travelled down to Bairnsdale again to stay with my Aunty and Uncle on their small holding in Nicholson. We didn't really get upto much while we were there, just pottered around and relaxed. We travelled around the Lakes a bit (the second biggest lake system in the world), walked on the Ninety Mile beach, went to Paynesville and across to Raymond Island on the ferry. We spent alot of time sitting out on the veranda, reading books and dozing periodically, the most relaxing place I've been to since falling asleep in the Library at work!

Anyway, that brings us upto date pretty much. We're now in Melbourne where we'll be staying for 10 days or so and I'll try and get back to updating regularly. I'll also stick a load more photos on when I get the chance.... I'm off for some breakfast :-)