February 27, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Hayley and I hiked the Nature Track Circuit at Wentworth Falls last weekend. The trail is about an hour’s drive from Sydney.
The trail winds through temperate rainforest packed with ferns, eucalypts and waterfalls. Aside from a few abseilers, we didn’t see anyone until the very end of the trail. About a third of the way along is Edinburgh Castle Rock, a natural lookout that provides sweeping views of the surrounding mountains.
The trail quickly descends into Lillian’s Glen, a nice area with a stream and stone steps to walk across.
After passing a small rest area the trail climbs up past the Empress Falls- worthy of a detour- and over to the Queen Victoria Lookout. The trail ends back where it started at the Conservation Hut.
After our hike, we walked around Leura and Katoomba, two charming mountain towns. We had delicious veggie burgers at a restaurant that sold both food and hats in Katoomba, and walked around the main shopping area. That weekend, Leura was hosting a 1920s festival with Model-T looking cars from Australia’s early automotive days. We ended the day with tea at a tea pot collectors’ shop. I’ve never seen so many tea pots in my life; it was a bit disturbing.
January 9, 2011 at 10:34 am
Located just two hours outside of Sydney, the Hunter Valley region boasts over 120 cellar doors – from small boutique vineyards to giant wine conglomerates. For the Christmas weekend, Hayley and I booked a room well in advance at Splinters Guest House, the #1 ranked B&B in Pokolbin. We drove the scenic route from Sydney over highway 33, a winding country road that meanders through a half dozen small towns with funny Aboriginal names such as Wollombi and Kulnura.
Our gracious host Reggie welcomed us to the guest house and showed us to our garden room. After laying down our bags, we relaxed under the garden gazebo with a bottle of chardonnay and a cheese and fruit platter, compliments of Splinters. A few hours later we went for a walk and found a family of kangaroos grazing along a nearby pond.
On Christmas Eve we attended the Hunter Valley Gardens light exhibition. While I’ve heard that the gardens are immaculate, I was disappointed by the very unchristian $18 admission fee into the gardens. Regardless, it was probably the most festive event in Hunter Valley. (On an unrelated note, I had a “California Churro” for a $4 at the gardens. It just didn’t compare to Costco or TJ-street churros.)
On Christmas day we opened presents in the morning, drank a few glasses of wine, swam in the pool, BBQ’ed and chipped a few balls on Splinters practice green. Christmas lunch was had at the Vintage Golf Course.
On our final full day we visited three wineries for wine tasting: Hungerford Hill, Tulloch and Draytons. We tried many wines, but after a while they all seemed to blend in to one. After buying several bottles of wine, we walked around some nearby vineyards and found more kangaroos. We also visited one of Australia’s oldest vineyards, Tyrrell’s, on our way back to Sydney the following morning. It’s a must-see for anyone visiting the region.
For New Years Eve, we walked across the street to Kurraba Reserve and found a patch of grass on the harbor railing. Just like NYE last year, the fireworks display was spectacular.
These fireworks photos are hosted on flickr. Click them for bigger versions.
We capped off our holiday break by spending three days in Lilli Pilli (near Batemans Bay, NSW) with our friends Ping, Dre and their families. The casual weekend stay turned out to be the highlight of our trip. We surfed every day, relaxed on a local beach, played card games and ate delicious home cooked meals. We even got up close and personal with an Aussie possum!
It was definitely a holiday season to remember.
October 31, 2010 at 11:06 am
Hayley and I spent four days in paradise in early October. We flew out to Hamilton Island which lies in between mainland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. It was featured in the Best Job in the World competition.
Aside from traveling to a fantastic destination, we were lucky in many other ways. While heavy rain was predicted for Friday through Monday, we had nothing but sunshine. We discovered while boarding the aircraft that our package included Virgin Blue premium economy tickets, which gave us a full row to ourselves, priority check-in, free entertainment and free premium snacks and drinks. I mentioned Hayley’s birthday to the Reef View hotel staff and they upgraded our standard garden room to an ocean-view suite overlooking the islands.
We spent our first day hiking around the island. We walked over the hill to the other side of the island and relaxed on a secluded beach in Coral Bay. We waded out into the water which was nice and warm, and marveled at its clarity.
On our second day, we explored the resort side of the island. At low tide, we walked way out on Catseye Beach, avoiding stingrays and large tropical fish. We swam in the resort pool near Sails restaurant and stand-up paddle boarded at dusk.
We spent our final full day snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. We saw human-sized clams, hundreds of tropical fish and beautiful iridescent coral. At low tide, we swam side by side with a sea turtle in three feet of water.
This tops the list as our best tropical vacation. Our Maui honeymoon was fantastic, as was staying in the South African sub-tropics, but this was a step above those in terms of accommodation and relaxation. I unplugged from the busy monotony of daily routine, disconnected from the internet, and just enjoyed the unadulterated tropical feel of paradise.
Here are some pictures from our journey.
The view from our hotel room.
Hayley, enjoying paradise.
The resort beach.
Hardy Reef, home to “heart” reef.
Wine and chips on our patio.
Check out the rest in my Hamilton Island Flickr Set.
September 20, 2010 at 9:11 am
I finally got around to editing the koala video footage from our Sydney to Melbourne Road Trip. I’ve uploaded the koala video on vimeo and embedded it below. If you like the song, “Normal, Illinois,” you can download the .mp3 on the music page of this website.
The Koalas of Raymond Island from Mike Weber on Vimeo.
On a small island in the Gippsland Lakes region of Victoria, Australia, over 200 koalas are spread throughout a small sanctuary that is shared with kangaroo and human inhabitants. Residents do their best to keep the island safe for the marsupials by keeping the eucalypts alive and the koala population under control, but people are still permitted to visit the island by ferry and walk around the well maintained trails.
It was definitely a memorable experience for us and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area.
September 16, 2010 at 9:54 pm
While the last month has been fun, I don’t think it warrants a full blog post. For example, I could go on to describe our walk around Cremorne Reserve, an international rugby match between Australia and New Zealand that we attended, or the fact that I’ve been running a few miles every other day (albeit very slowly), but I’ve decided not to bore you with the details. Instead I will show you some cool photos from the past 31 days.
Walking under the south side of the Sydney harbor bridge.
Cremorne Reserve: Kookaburra in foreground flight over the Opera House and harbor backdrop.
Portrait of Hayley on the train.
Mosman Bay,
On a nice day.
Apartments in the Rocks, effects by Hayley.