Sydney

In late April Ross and I did a long weekend in Sydney. We were surprised to realise that it had been almost four years since we were last in Sydney for my birthday in 2017. How time flies!

The impetus for the trip was to see 'Hamilton' which was playing at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney. We had planned the trip back in October 2020 and had just been hoping that Covid wouldn't get in the way. We had tickets to a Friday evening showing of Hamilton, so Ross and I decided to make a weekend of it and fly up Wednesday night and stay until Sunday. It's only an hour flight between Melbourne and Sydney, so leaving after work isn't too bad.

St Mary's Cathedral from Hyde Park

Normally we tend to do AirBnbs when we travel but we were trying to use up some travel vouchers that we had left over from a failed trip to Singapore (thanks, Covid) and so we ended up doing a flight/hotel package deal. We got a hotel in Potts Point (where we stayed last trip too), which is really convenient for walking and public transit around the city.

View of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from our hotel.

On Thursday we took a train out to ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) so that Ross could meet with some collaborators. While it was a non-stop science day, it was actually super interesting. We met with a bunch of different people and got to tour a ton of different labs (cosmogenic nuclides and radiocarbon labs), plus we got to look at the four different AMS lines. Ross and I were definitely nerding out the whole day. I was also very thankful for my geochemistry background because I was able to understand most of the science and didn't ask too many stupid questions (I don't think...).

We stocked up on nerdy, science gear.

On Friday we went to the Taronga Zoo, which is located across the harbour from the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We took the ferry because it's the fastest option and when in Sydney, water is the way to travel. The entire zoo is built on the side of a hill so you have fabulous views looking across the harbour. Plus there is a gondola that drops you at the top of the hill and then you meander back down the hill to catch the ferry. My pregnancy squished lungs appreciated the limited up hill walking.

View from the zoo

Enjoying the sun

There were wild Eastern Water Dragons all over the place at the zoo.

From the zoo, we met with up some friends for dinner and then headed over to Hamilton. It was a little odd to watch a musical about the American Revolution and Alexander Hamilton surrounded by Australians but the show was incredible. The staging, casting, songs, everything - just phenomenal! If you haven't seen it, I would definitely recommend going if you get the opportunity.

Sunset from the zoo

On Saturday we took the ferry out to Cockatoo Island, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the middle of the Sydney Harbour. We spent a good chunk of the day wandering around the island, learning about the convict and industrial history. Once we were done exploring the island, we took the ferry up the Parramatta River to the end of the line (Olympic Park) and then back to Circular Quay (essentially downtown) just to enjoy the ride.

Our flight on Sunday was in the late morning, so we ended up sleeping in, having a late breakfast and then heading to the airport. All in all, it was a good trip, though I was a lot more tired than I thought I was going to be. Turns out traveling and then walking a lot is significantly harder when you're nearing your third trimester.

Just an Echidna-shaped bush

I hope that this finds you all well and enjoying spring if you are in the northern hemisphere.

Tasmanian Adventures

Sorry for the long hiatus between blog posts. We actually haven't had that many coronavirus cases in Australia in the last couple months so there haven't been as strict of restrictions as there were over the winter (i.e. July through November). The main reason for the lack of posts is due to the fact that I found out in early December that I'm pregnant (due in early August). Unfortunately, the first trimester was extremely rough for me so we didn't do anything. Over Christmas I basically lived on our couch, eating crackers. It was a good day if I could make it around the block when we went for a walk, particularly if I could make it without having to stop at what we took to referring to as the 'stopping bench'. Once I got into the second trimester (late January-early February), life got a lot better for me. We did a couple weekend camping trips in February and have started fly fishing again.

Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain National Park

All of Australia has been suffering financially due to the massive lack of tourists over the past year. The Tasmanian government decided to offer reduced fares on the Spirit of Tasmania (ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania) to try to bring some tourist dollars back into the state. Ross and I took advantage of the reduced fares and took our car over to Tasmania for a week in early March. We took the night ferry to and from Tasmania (it's about a 9 hour ferry trip) to maximise our exploring time. 

We went counter-clockwise (or anti-clockwise, as they say here).

We started off the trip with a couple nights camping at Cradle Mountain National Park. This is the park where we did the Overland Track last year before the world shut down. Last year we just got right on the trail and didn't have any time to explore around Dove Lake, so we decided to take a couple days and do some shorter days hikes this trip. We had fabulous hiking weather, though it was a bit chilly at night. We also went to a Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary (Devils@Cradle) and got some fly fishing in. The devil sanctuary was really interesting. It was so cool to be able to see some Tasmanian Devils and hear some of the crazy vocalisations that they make.

Dove Lake

Cradle Mountain and Lake Wilks

Lake Lilla and Dove Lake

First fish I've caught in Australia. I was really excited.

From Cradle Mountain, we headed to the west coast of Tasmania and spent the night in Strahan. We had been planning on doing a bunch of fishing along the drive but it didn't occur to either of us that we were driving into a rainforest. The rivers were so overgrown that it was almost impossible to get down to the water. The drive was quite pretty but we ended up spending significantly more time in the car than we had intended too.

Pieman River

Blotched Bluetongue at our hotel

From Strahan we went to Lake St Clair, which is the southern portion of Cradle Mountain National Park and where the Overland Track ends. We were able to get a bunch of fly fishing in on the drive to Lake St Clair, which was really nice. We had been planning on camping at Lake St Clair but it was about 6 degrees Celsius when we arrived, so we opted for a cabin after spending the day standing in really cold rivers.

Nelson Falls

The Collingwood River

Ross fishing on the Collingwood River

Ross fishing by Lake St Clair

Strawberry Bracket

The next day was another long car day as we drove from Lake St Clair to Freycinet National Park, which is located on the east coast of Tasmania. Freycinet National Park is best known for Wineglass Bay and its gorgeous beaches. We camped at Freycinet for two nights and did a longer day hike down to Wineglass Bay and then around the point. It was pretty crowded going up to the Wineglass Bay overlook but the number of people declined quickly the further along we got. It never ceases to amaze Ross and I that you can easily find yourself with maybe a handful of other people (or by yourself) on a mile-plus long stretch of beach in Australia. It's pretty crazy.

View from the beach by our camp spot

Camp spot at Freycinet

Wineglass Bay overlook

Wineglass Bay

Hazards Bay

White's Skink

Ross walking toward Coles Bay

Afternoon light on the Hazards

After a lovely couple days at Freycinet National Park we headed north up the coast and went to the Bay of Fires. This Tassie landmark is best known for the blue water, white beaches and orange lichen-covered rocks. The Bay of Fires runs for about 50 km (30 miles) north from Binalong Bay. We spent a leisurely day driving along with periodic stops to walk on the beach or marvel at the rocks. We ended the day with some fish and chips in St Helens and treated ourselves to a shower and a bed in a hotel room for our last night in Tasmania.

Empty beach as far as the eye can see.

For our last day we drove from St Helens to Devonport (where the ferry lands) with a stop at Bridestowe Lavender Estate. The lavender had already been harvested for the year but we had a delicious lunch with lavender ice cream and spent way too much money on lavender everything (e.g. tea, honey, syrup, soap, etc.). The farm smelled amazing when we were there, so I can only imagine how nice it is when the lavender is in full bloom. 

Lavender scones with blueberry-lavender jam and lavender chai.

Ross made a friend.

We had an uneventful sailing from Devonport and made it back to Melbourne on a Sunday morning, so we had time to do the boring adult stuff we needed to so that we were ready for the week. Overall, it was a fabulous trip and it was so nice to get out of Victoria for the first time in a year. We have a couple weekend trips planned for the next couple months to Sydney and Hobart but this was probably our last big trip before baby comes.

I hope that this finds you and yours healthy.

Donut Days and Emus

In mid-July when I last wrote a blog, Melbourne had just started what we thought would be a 6-week lockdown to try to bring our COVID-19 cases under control. That 6-weeks turned into 15 weeks where we weren't allowed to travel more than 5 km (3.1 miles) from our homes, could only exercise outdoors for 1 hour a day, had a curfew, masks were mandatory and there were very strict restrictions on acceptable reasons to leave your home. You weren't allowed to work from your office unless the company qualified as an "essential business" and then you had to carry a permit with you when travelling to and from work or face a hefty fine. Dan Andrews, the Victorian Premier (like a governor), had a press conference every day for more than 120 days in a row. It got to the point where we could tell if it was bad news or good new based on what Dan was wearing; we all prayed for the North Face jacket rather than the suit coat.

Mom and Joey Eastern Grey Kangaroos

At this point (Nov 22nd), we've had 23 consecutive days without a new COVID-19 case or a death in Victoria (so many double donut days!). We are down to 1 active case in the entire state of Victoria and there are only 91 active cases in all of Australia. Turns out, strict lockdowns work as long as everyone is willing to follow the rules for the benefit of the entire community. While the lockdown was really hard, it has been phenomenal to watch Victorians, specifically Melburnians, come together to beat this. I'll stop singing Victoria's praises now. Seriously though, Australia is amazing. There, done. 😇

The 'ring of steel' around Melbourne went away on November 9th, meaning that people in the metro Melbourne area could travel out into Regional Victoria for the first time since early July. Ross and I took advantage of the increased freedom by going camping in Grampians National Park last weekend. The Grampians are located about three and a half hours northwest of Melbourne. It was our first time visiting and we're already planning a trip back. 

Kangaroos and Emus in one picture?!? It's like we're in the Land of Oz.

We took off from work a bit early on Friday and headed west. Unfortunately we did not factor in the increased traffic and it ended up taking us an hour to get out of Melbourne. Besides that, we had an uneventful drive and stopped for fish and chips in a country town along the way. Driving into Hall's Gap (touristy town in central Grampians), we were surprised to see hundreds of kangaroos in and around the town. They were everywhere. We also saw a handful of emus. I just love Australian wildlife.

Milkmaids

We eventually made it to our campground only to find that someone had taken our camp spot. We ended up setting our tent up on the grass and speaking with the guys who were set up in our spot when they rolled back into camp around 9:30 p.m. The guys were super nice and apologetic; turns out a family had taken their spot. Given that the guys were leaving in the morning and it was late, we just slept on the grass.

Manuka

On Saturday morning we drove back into Hall's Gap and swung by the visitor's centre. After checking out the trail options, we decided to hike up Mount Rosea. It was about 9 km roundtrip. While that is a bit shorter than our normal day hiking distance, we hadn't been hiking since March, so it was quite nice. The Grampians are a pretty dry mountain range so most of the hike was through low brush and quite exposed to the sun. We had coolish weather so it was quite pleasant but it would be a beast during the summer. We had lunch at the top of Mount Rosea and then had a nice hike back to the car.

Following an ice cream break in Halls Gap we drove back out into the range and did a couple super short walks/overlooks to Mackenzies Falls and Boroka Lookout. We also kept up our streak of always seeing a snake while out hiking - this trip it was a Common Brown (2nd most venomous snake in the world). We did our favourite car-camping dinner (burritos!) and fell asleep to kookaburras and cicadas. 

MacKenzie Falls

Boroka Lookout

Mountain Dragon

Blue Tinsel-Lily

Sunday morning we woke up to rolling thunder and some light rain. We had been planning on having a short day anyway as we needed to get back to Melbourne for groceries, laundry, etc. and it was supposed to be in the low 90s, so we did a quick breakfast and pulled down our tent. From our campground, we took the Grampians Tourist Road south toward Dunkeld. It is a beautiful drive down the valley between the Serra Range to the west and the William Range to the east. When we got to the southern end of the park, we did a quick walk up the Piccaninny and enjoyed good views of Mount Abrupt and out over the surrounding farms.

Mount Abrupt

After hiking the Piccaninny, we got back on the road to Melbourne and I turned my phone on for the first time since Friday (no mobile reception where we were). We had asked a couple friends to check in on our cats over the weekend and I had received a number of text messages from them that culminated in one saying that they had taken our cats to the emergency vet for potential lily poisoning. 

Murphy shouldn't be yellow.

Rewind a week. One of the restrictions we had under the COVID rules was that only one person per household was allowed to go shopping on a given day. Ross and I had been trading off who did the grocery shopping each week because it was a treat to leave the house. The week before we went camping, it was my turn and I picked up a bouquet of day lilies to add some colour to our apartment. They hadn't really started to bloom until Wednesday or Thursday so we just left them on a side table when we went camping. Also, neither Ross nor I knew that they are toxic to cats.

It turns out that Murphy got into them on Saturday. When our friends stopped by he had pollen on his legs and face. They were a little confused and didn't notice the flowers. After doing some internet searches, they went back on Sunday to check on the cats and noticed the lilies. At that point, they called the vet and were told to bring the cats in asap.

Ross and I got to talk to the vet while driving back to Melbourne and give them permission to treat the cats. Murphy and Cooper ended up being on IV fluids for a bit over 24-hours and had blood work done multiple times. It turns out that lilies can cause acute kidney failure in cats so it's good that our cat sitters are very contentious people. We were able to pick the cats up from the emergency vet on Monday night and then took them to our vet on Thursday for follow-up blood work. Murphy's blood work showed that he had gotten some of the pollen (i.e. kidney function was slightly affected) but that he'd made it to the vet in time to stop any long term damage. At this point both cats are fine and we're never buying lilies again.

Double trouble

Cooper

Murphy helping me work.

Ross and I both took half of Thursday and all day Friday off this week for Thanksgiving. We had been planning on going backpacking but after the adventure with the cats last weekend, we'll probably stay a bit closer to home. 

To all of our friends and family in the US, please be careful, wear a mask and consider having a Zoom Thanksgiving. Sending much love.