New Years Eve, Special Friends and Seven Mile Beach

Harvey's best friends are Angus and Sian Sinclair. They live at Seven Mile Beach ...in Tasmania and Harv has missed them greatly. The good news is that we all had a fun and fabulous day today just "hanging out" and being together.

Boogie boarding...well attempting to ...

Self-portraits...

Gus and Sian have two children - Cameron is turning 6 in a few days and Abbie is 19months old and very adorable. Today, Gus took the children and Harv out fishing in his dinghy "Snowflake 2". It was a first for Prue to not only go fishing, but on a dinghy ! The non-enthusiastic boat lovers ie. ME, stayed on shore. Since there was so many of  us, Gus went out twice, once with Madi, Julian and Cameron - supervised by Gus and Harv, and the second outing with Josh, Michaela and Prue with the supervisors. The children had a fantastic time ! Julian was the fisherman of the day - catching the first fish within SECONDS of putting his line into the water, followed up with two more ! Madi got a Flathead, Prue got one, Michaela got one, Josh got two and Harv got one. A great mornings work ! Well done sailors !

 

All geared up to go!



Snowflake 11



Getting outta the water.



I enjoyed basking in the sun, supervising the swimmers and eating junk food. It was awesome. We saw the funniest sight (photos to come). Some guy drove a tractor onto the beach...and he hauled up his dinghy ! I guess that's how he "rolls" ! :P Was such a funny sight.

Back at Gus and Sian's home,we had a delicious lunch of freshly caught fish and salmon....YUUUMMMM !!! It was SO DELICOUS ! Lots of laughs all around and the children enjoyed jumping around on a bouncy castle that the Sinclairs had hired for Cameron's upcoming party (tomorrow). Cameron had heaps of fun chatting away with "the BIG kids". Abbie was cute as a button hanging out with the girls.



Our catch! All cleaned, cut , crumbed then BBQ-ed...YUM!



It was so nice to have a relaxing day chit-chatting and catching up. I was complemented numerous times on how wonderful our children are. I was a proud mummy today. :) I kinda like my children - like A LOT ! They are so awesome !

In the evening, we sat and grazed on salads and leftovers. We also had snacks and watched two lots of fireworks that the city of Hobart hosted. The early fireworks are for families with young children and started at 9:30pm, the second lot at midnight. Large bonus being up on the side of the mountain overlooking the bay! SO swish ! Ha ha ha !

Happy 2012 world !

Taste of Tasmania

 It was a cloudy but warmish day today. Poppy Fred did two runs to get us to the waterfront in time for the opening of "Taste of Tasmania".

The grounds of Taste of Tasmania.

The children's area had lots of FREE (we like free) activities for the younger children. There were cricket games, face painting, play dough areas, colouring tables, children cooking demonstrations, an area for LARGE Leggo bits, fishing games, food stalls and a small stage for buskers. Very family friendly.



There was a large number of people lined up for entry to the Princess Boatshed and there was a surge of bodies after the countdown for the festival to begin. Two very big marques were outside the shed that was designated places for the wineries to showcase and sell their wares and inside the shed was more stalls that sold alcohol and food stalls. It was a little disappointing for us non-drinkers to see how many stalls had alcohol and how few food stalls that were different was available. Mostly, the stalls sold seafood - which on consideration makes sense since we are on a port - but there was one stall that sold Angus beef, one that sold Turkish food, a few (no more than 5) that sold desserts/cafe like cakes and maybe one or two stalls that sold Asian food. I'm not sure what it was I was expecting, but that wasnt it !



Calamari and chips 2 Taste of Tasmania.

 After a quick stroll to see what was on offer we wandered off to watch a chocolatier chef make a "White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake". It was entertaining and informative and the children enjoyed the "freebie" chocolate. I learnt what "tempering" chocolate meant. I think I'll stick to purchasing the done thing...wayyyyy too much fuss and bother ! The chef used at least a dozen bowls to make one  no-so-big cheesecake. Blah. The finished effect was excellent but I dont think I'll be replicating it in a big hurry.

 We wandered into the city for a quick look around at the post-Christmas sales. Nothing very interesting or worth us getting excess luggage about. Ho-hum.

We thought we would save Poppy two trips to take us home again...so we walked into the city and caught the bus. I told the bus driver that we needed three adult fares and four student fares. He told me $5.40 so I gave him $10.40 and waited for my change. As he gave me change, I realised he had not charged me for the children and when I queried him he said "Yep! Have a nice day!", winked at me and smiled! When I sat down I realised that he had charged the three adults consession fares! What a blessing! I expected to pay $25 - which is what it cost the last time. I told Harvey that we must look poor or something and the bus driver took pity on us! :)

Our plans were some-what foiled when we got back to Poppy's house and found that he wasnt home! We had a half hour wait til he turned up to let us in.


Waiting for Poppy to turn up with keys to let us in ...



In the afternoon, we were invited by Grannie's sister Myrna Hutchins, for a BBQ dinner at their farm in the Huon Valley. So again in convoy, we made our way down. Was a beautiful drive.

We got to meet Harvey's cousins Scott and Michael and Uncle Don. Michael's family joined us for dinner and so we got to meet Kerry, his wife, Jack 10yrs, Annie 9yrs, Elijah 3yrs and baby Poppy 3mths. Lovely people. Dinner was yummy and we enjoyed everyones company.

I sneezed and sneezed til I finally got some medication into myself. Unfortunately for us, the wind was COLD and it picked up just after we had eaten, so after a quick tour of the farm, we were back on the road again. A fun day.



(L- R) Aunty Mryna, Jack, Uncle Don, Michaela, Kerry (with Poppy in the blanket), Belinda, Josh, Scott
sitting - Michael with Elijah and Annie, Harv with Prue.





Eagle Hawkes Neck and Port Arthur

Cloud free, clear days are hard to come by in Hobart, but today we were blessed. So up and early we go into the cars and drove in convoy to Eagle Hawkes Neck first, then Port Arthur.

The roads were all windy and twisty as per Tasmanian roads and roadkill plentiful. Sadly, we were the contributors to roadkill today. :( The girls and I were "slightly" traumatise with me running over a poor innocent Bluetounge lizard who thought it prudent to cross a super busy highway...in the middle of the day! The crunch under wheels was NOT a pleasant sound ! We prayed that Heavenly Father and the lizard would forgive us for the little oops.

Eagle Hawkes Neck

Eagle Hawkes Neck was full of tourists like us. In fact, we were "stalked" by no less than FOUR buses full of tourists. The "neck" was truly spectacular! The "neck" is a narrow spit of land that in the convict days, a string of dogs were tied - to ravage the prisoners if they chose to escape. We jostled with the tourists to get into a good position for photos and we giggled over some of their silly behaviours.

Silly tourist !



The Blowholes..in action!

 Mother nature is so clever. The blowholes were so cleverly created and although the swell was not huge enough to produce significant "woosh" it was still fun to see.

Around the corner was a place called "The Devil's Kitchen". Wow factor! Around from that was a tiny little "suburb" of sorts (population was less than 100 so do I call it a suburb?) that was called Doo. Every house in the area was given a "Doo" name like : Doo-Little, Doo-I-Give-A-Doo?, XanaDoo, Just Doo It, She'll Doo, Rum Doo, Doo-lishus (cafe)...Cute.


Devil's Kitchen



Port Arthur was bustling. People poured out of the numerous buses and cars rolled in. We estimated at its peak, there would have been close to 1500 people ! Thankfully it was a huge place and so it wasn't really a big issue. It made my heart smile knowing that so many people were interested in our history. :)

Our tour guide was an elderly gentleman called Tom. He had a HUGE BOOMING VOICE and he eloquently gave us some very interesting facts and figures of some of the more prominent buildings as well as an overview of the convicts and their lives. He was a very knowledgeable man.

Once were were "let loose" we walked, and walked and walked around each building reading the interesting placards and noting the more notorious bits of history. One of the children's favourite places to visit is the penitentiary where NO one was able to see or speak to another prisoner. Even at church, the prisoners were in tiny little cubicles where they could not even see the person on their other sides. Talk about deprivation! SO tragic. The prisoners were only allowed out for one hour a day to exercise and the rest of the time, they were locked into their teeny-tiny cell and expected to work. I think I would have just gone loopy with no one allowed to talk to me !

The corrals the prisoners were put in so they could not see or speak to another prisoner.

Included with our tour was a half hour boat cruise around the bay that makes up Port Arthur. In the centre of the port was a little island no bigger than 2 acres. It was called "The Isle of the Dead" and where many convicts were buried in unmarked graves. It is estimated that over 2500 convicts or the people who were their captours were buried. Spooky tours were being run but we had too much other stuff to see and experience to do that.

I was pleased to see that largely, everything in Port Arthur was kept in its original form. Apart from some "shoring up" of buildings to make them safe for tourists, the majority of the buildings were as the convicts built them. The bricks were not all uniform  because they were hand made. Some buildings were totally eroded because the convicts unwittingly used salt water to make the bricks and over time, the salt crystals in the bricks expanded and contracted which made the bricks unstable.

Some of the history was unbelievably sad. A lot of the "soldiers" who were to keep the convicts in line were quite cruel. Boys as young as nine were sent to "Van Diemen's Land" to do hard labour. It is their stories that were the saddest. It sure made our children appreciate how lucky they are to be living in this century with their luxurious lives.

After a big day out, we straggled home to a yummy dinner and into bed for an early night. 

Christmas Day and Boxing Day

Christmas was different for me this year. Its the first Christmas I have ever had without my mum and dad. Christmas eve was kinda hectic with last minuet shopping and trying to get everything organised at the last minuet...I had accidentally left Poppy Fred and Grandma Freed's Christmas present at home so we had to move to Plan B....which required a little organisation and at some point in time a small melt down from me when it wasn't coming together...It all ended nicely tho so part of the melt down was attributed to hormones and being slightly homesick.


Posing for photo before heading off to church.

Christmas day was quiet. WAYYYYY TOO QUIET....SO I SANG LOUDLY ! The children were woken to "Angles We Have Heard on High"...(remember what I lack in talent I make up for in enthusiasm!! :P ) We readied ourselves for church and to feel the spirit of Christmas. Poppy gave a wonderful talk about our Saviour and we all felt warm fuzzies. It was a fabulous.

Back at the ranch...we opened pressies and the children were very spoilt with iPods and books, DVD's and trinkets. It was quite a haul. Poppy and Grannie were really chuffed with our Plan B - which was large multi-framed photo frame with six very recent photos of all of us here in Tasmania. Phew ! I fessed up to leaving their "other" present at home and promised to send it ASAP when we get home!

Lunch was the more traditional fare - ham, turkey, and roast pork with crackling and salads and trifle and all sorts of trimmings. Paul, Poppy's neighbour, was invited to join us and it was lovely getting to know him a little. He gifted the children a 1000 piece puzzle...which they promptly put together in just under FOUR hours! Way to go team ! There were most bummed when one piece was MISSING :(

We snacked a had left overs for a small-ish dinner.

Boxing Day was quiet. Josh watched the cricket and the rest of the crew just laid low and played/read/ ate through the day. It was nice to just chillax.

Cradle Mountain and Nook

On Wednesday 21st December, Harv and Poppy Fred went to get us some "wheels"...and came home with a 12 seater BUS ! I kid you not ! The children were some-what horrified that the seven of us were travelling in such a huge vehicle but it meant that we were on the road again ! Woo hoo !



Our BUS !




VERY roomy !

We went up the middle of the state on the Bass Highway. Not to bad a trip with stops to Oatlands, Campbell Town and Conara and Ross. I dont think I have eaten as many pies in my life til I came to Tasmania. The bakery at Ross came highly recommended...although I failed to see why. The pies were expensive and nothing to write home about. There were some pretty finches that invited themselves to lunch tho...so that was pretty unique.

On the whole, the road trip to Nook Farm was about 6.5 hours with a few stops. Not bad. My best friend Heidi's parents, Rhonda and Bruce Scott, were our hosts for the next two days. They had a "woffer" (aka a backpacker who stays and works on their farm in return for board) from South Korea, called Blair. Within minuets of our arrival, Rhonda had me back on the road again to Davenport. It was totally not what I expected. Davenport was a like a tiny town...not a city! Still, all the usual amenities were there and it was only 15mins outside of Nook. The children and Harv stayed on the farm and went exploring. More than once Harv commented that it was "a little piece of heaven". We got up close and personal with a brand new baby calf that was born the day before we arrived. Cute as.Harv  was besotted with the land, the animals and vegetation. It was SO lovely just catching up with the Scott's. Harv managed to help put an oven back together and we had lots of laughs and giggles and enjoyed each others company.

Around 8:30pm we decided to go and see the Fairy Penguins. But before that we had to have a quick stop off to the local pharmacist to stop me sneezing so violently !! Ack ! Had to have the works - tablets, spray AND eyedrops! :O

Harv had thought he knew were to go to see the penguins and we invited Blair along for the ride....and hour and a half later - NO penguins but a detour via Ulverstone to McDonalds for 50c ice cream cones. :( Bummer dudes.

In the morning after a hearty breakfast of homemade raspberry jam on toast with Milo, we were off on the road again. This time we headed to Cradle Mountain. It was MAGIC ! Apparently there are only 30 days in a year that you get a clear view of the mountain - today was one of those rare days! Hooray for us !

The shuttle ran every 15mins, so getting to Dove Lake was a cinch. Thank you lovely lady in Russell Falls who sold us a ticket that allowed easy entry into the Parks ! She ran the "numbers" twice when she realised how many of us were in the "party". She was so kind to figure out how to get us into the Parks cheapest. :)



Cradle Moutain in the background. We are on the banks of Dove Lake. (Josh taking photo)




Sharing a "moment" !



I had some misgivings about walking around Dove Lake (x2hr walk) since my knee is still so sore. I had worn good walking shoes and a supportive bandage around the knee....but we forgot about the ruggedness of the walk in some places...steps are the killer !! Sooooooo....we posed for some awesome photos of the mountain and walked to Glacier Rock and took more photos. sorry Harv, I know you were disappointed.

Back on the shuttle bus and this time we stopped at Ronny Creek and did the walk to Weindorfers Forest walk. It was just GORGEOUS ! The walk was SUPPOSED to take 15mins....but I hobbled so the others indulged their mother and we had a half hour walk instead. Thank you team ! We saw a mummy wallaby with a joey still in her pouch. So cute.  It was truly beautiful and wondrous. I commented that all  wombat skatt we saw was on flat rocks...so maybe they were toilet rocks?! I kept breaking into a Primary song: "When ever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky...." When the walk got steep I had to give up the music. Ha ha ha ! We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful world though.

Walking through the forest.

The windy road back into Nook made my stomach churn. It was hard going for poor ole Harvey who had to navigate a bus down hairpin turns!! Steep drops on one side did nothing for my nerves...I was glad to be back on the nice little hills again. It was sad to see the amount of roadkill on the roads tho. Poor wallabies, possums and occasional Tasmanian Devil.

After a delicious dinner at the Scott's (roast and fresh raspberries for dessert), we attempted to see the Fairy Penguins again...this time with success! Yay ! They were SO CUTE !! Unfortunately though, we were not allowed to take photos because the flash of the camera is disturbing to them. The volunteer people told us that there were 18 pairs of chicks. Due to erosion of the beaches, they had to "help" the parent penguins climb up from the beach with little ladders. The mum's and dad's would come out of the water and call their babies and the babies would call back. It was gross watching a feed of regurgitated fish come out!? Thankfully the chicks appreciate their parents work and all they had to do was look adorable! Some of the chicks were in the "in between" stage of losing their downy feathers and growing in their real feathers. Odd looking. The really small babies just looked like pom-pom balls of grey fluff.

Back at the Scott's again, we had a big sleep listening to the bull bellowing and frogs croaking and ducks and roosters making night time noises.

Farmers Josh, Harvey and Bruce ..."hamming" it up!



Back end of bull as he thundered past !

 In the morning we helped Farmer Bruce move a bull from one paddock to another. You don't get to do THAT every day in Perth !?!

We were on the road again by 8:30am. Harv decided that we would explore the east coast this time so off we set for Sheffield, Mole Creek, Deloraine, Avoca, Bicheno and then back to Hobart. A NINE hour road trip this time! LOTS of windy road with steep drops! EEK ! Our stop in Avoca was for lunch and I was determined NOT to eat pies again...so we had chicken instead. The man who served us decided to add up on  the till twice! It was nice of him - but I told him that when you feed seven on the road it can get a little expensive. He was very kind though.  Both times it came to $48.80...which is what I expected to pay...but he decided that it was WAYYYY too much so he said, "Tell ya what lady, you give me $35 and we will call it quits!". I was quite happy to pay the real costs but he waved it away and gave me change....I thanked him profusely and I said to Harv that I dont think he made much profit from us! What a blessing tho.

Napping....poor things!

So it was an ADVENTURE. Not one I am keen to repeat in a hurry, but I was so proud of my brood. They were all happy campers who pitched in when required and were all good sports about the hours we spent in the bus together. I am loving all this quality time we are spending together and hope that as they grow up and leave home, they will all carry happy memories of our time we are sharing now.

Sunday and Monday

Sunday was church as per norm....but in the morning! It was not fun trying to get the heathens up and about since they are used to an afternoon session. I decided to cause a scandal of sorts....by wearing my new RED hat! I re-read the bishops handbook just before going - just to be sure I was allowed to wear it during the sacrament. It said that I could. So all good right? Well I don't think the Tasmanian RS appreciate my efforts?! Not a single sister came up to chat or to introduce herself. Hmmmm....

Can you see Josh's reflection in the window?!

On the other hand, Harv had a ball introducing his HUGE family to everyone. Steven King was particularly friendly and he spoke about Harv being one of the boys in his Young Men's programme. It made us all smile. He had such lovely things to say and was genuinely happy to see us. The talks were ok. Nothing notable. Someone from Stake spoke about the spirit of Christmas. A Brother Watson.

Sunday afternoon was spent reading almost a years worth of Ensign magazine, the children playing board games from the deep recesses of the shed...cooking a yummy meal and sharing in LOTS of love and laughter. It was a good day.

Monday morning was the designate day for "sleep ins". We didnt see any small person before 10am!! After such a late start, Poppy decided errands need to be run. We convinced Harv to take two cars and drop the children and I off for some Christmas shopping at Northgate (it was close to where Poppy had things to do). It was fun walking around. Baskin and Robbins ice cream people were quite startled to see me with so many in tow. Twice the lady behind the counter asked if they were ALL mine ! Hee hee !  :)

We went to Constitution Bay for a Fish n Chips dinner...and got ripped off. Not quite a happy ending. It has rained pretty much all day and the house looks like its in a the middle of a cloud....but a rainbow just appeared at the bay window so things are looking up !
 



Salamanca Markets

Every time I mentioned that I was going  to Hobart friends would say to me : " You SO have to go to the Salamanca Markets! " So today we did just that !

Anyone who knows me well knows I love to shop. Everyone one who knows me also knows I like the quirky and unusual. Today the two perfects melded as one and we conquered the Salamanca Markets!

Can you see Josh?

Poppy Fred dropped the "girls" off first and went to get the boys, thus eliminating the need for us to source and pay for parking. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to put my mobile phone in my handbag! :( Oops! My bad. Thankfully tho, the boys manged to find us fairly quickly and easily.

We went down the entire length of one side of the street popping in and out of stalls at quite a quick pace. Lots of Christmas wares on sale etc. Nick-knacks were in abundance as was the odd fruit/vegetable/flower stall. We experience our first bratwurst and Julian and Prue sampled honey, dukkah and whatever else they could find. We bought fruit leather - tropical flavoured and then cherry and mango. Yum !I tried tempura mushrooms. Very delicious!



Cherry and Mango Fruit Leather - held by Prue



The girls and I found dresses and blouses and purchased a few. Heidi would be proud of me - I found AND purchased a HAT ! Woot woot !  So many to choose from but I only bought ONE. :) We were quite proud of ourselves. Even scored a bargain or two!

Like my hat?!



Marchi Band - busking.



Eating bratwursts.

Back at the "ranch" we rested our tired feet for a bit while Grannie had a home visit from her hairdresser. Caught up on emails, did some washing and contentedly watch the world go by from Poppy's huge bay windows....ahhhh...I could get used to this !

Day 2 Cadbury Chocolate Factory

We were so trashed the night before that everyone was "lights out" by 9:15pm! An all time record for this family !

At 8:30am Harv decided it was time to rouse the troops into action! A quick breakfast and Harv and Poppy Fred went to pick up a rental "bomb". Luckily for me Harv saw fit that I had Fred's car and not the bomb-y rental....it was scary just following him from behind ! :O

Off to Claremont we went - with pocket money jingling in our pockets! Woo hoo! Sadly for us tho, we were told that they no longer allow visitors on to the floor where they produce the products. We got to go into a room where we viewed a DVD and had a tour guide explain the chocolate making process and then hand out "show bags" of treats. I think the highlight for the children was to go into their "seconds" store to sample and purchase cheap yummies ! ;)

Lots of photo opportunities but I forgot to pack the chord that connects it to my computer! DOH !?

On the way back to Poppy Fred's house we stopped to buy FRESH raspberries! WOW ! It tastes SO AMAZING ! Frozen raspberries are not going to "cut it" any more after this !

Further down the road was a place called Mona. Huge grounds of a vineyard. Apparently a fairly new-ish art museum there too....but they were going to charge us way too much to get in so we gave it a miss. The grounds were very beautiful though, and we enjoyed walking around and taking in the sights. Scenery was just gorgeous no matter which direction we looked in.

On the way back to the Poppy Fred's, Harvey decided to take us along a "zig-zag" road that twisted its way up the side of the mountain to home. WOW! Talk about beautiful ! As we climbed onward and upward, the views of the city just spectacular! Very expensive real estate I'm sure.

Back at the house we all "de-briefed" the grandparents and had a yummy dinner before watching "Kung Fu Panda 2" and then collapsing into bed early again. What a great first day !

Julian's 12th birthday...and the Adventure Begins (long blog)

With all the last minuet, frantic last few days of school finishing, it was hard to get too excited with our travel plans. I think I sighed with relief at FINALLY being able to sit on the plane on the 13th December....but lets go back a little....

Sunday was my "baby's" 12th birthday. Turning 12 is a significant event in our church because it is when the young man receives the priesthood. Julian had been hinting for months to the lead up about getting a suit and tie and shoes etc. SO we had him all "decked out" for the special day. He looked SO handsome! As a mother, I was allowed to shed a tear or two for my grown up boy who I was SO proud of ! Our friends Wanita and Lee joined us, along with the Oates from Warwick and it was a very, special day.

Harvey ordained Julian, along with my dad, Mitch Peate, Uncle Marcus and Lee McDade and Paul Mortley. Julian was promised some pretty awesome blessings along with the priesthood.

After church, my parents generously offered their home to us for a BBQ dinner an celebration. We had fun with family and friends to share in Julian's special day.

Monday Madness was coming home (late) to drop the doggie off to the groomers and then waxing for the girls and I ...gotta look good for the many photos I am no doubt going to be taking! Then back to the doggie groomers to my sweet smelling and very handsome pooch. On the way we got a frantic phone call from Harv asking where we were because we had VIP visitors ! Eek ! I forgot about that !

We race home to find our very awesome friends Lee and Wanita McDade with Christmas presents! WOW ! Very talented Weats made HAND KNITTED beanies and scares for everyone in their favourite colours!! Talk about AMAZING! She must have been "going hard at it" for weeks to accomplish that little feat ! (photos to follow when I get home)...Then our very awesome house sitters came past to collect keys and go through puppy/kitty cat and rabbit routines with us...then at some point in time, I remembered eating some heated left overs for dinner before falling into a heap in bed.

Tuesday was just as frantic as Monday. I helped to "pack down" the classroom as best as I could considering that the other gals had a few more days at work. Then it was on again with frantic last minuet packing - OOOOPS I FORGOT THE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FOR THE IN-LAWS!! :( Then we forgot that we had to move our bed and mattress into the games room for the house sitters...:( OH bad ! SO that was a super human effort by the team! Luckily we have so many "helpers". The "elves" had been in and cleaned the house from top to toe....THANK YOU CHILDREN !

My very fantastic dad came to pick us up in his "taxi" so that my equally fantastic mother could feed us dinner before we got on the plane....yummy chicken rice. Dad dropped us early - thankfully because the lines were HUGE ! Bit of shuffling and removing of belts and handbags and metal detectors and we were finally through to the departure lounge....only to be told that the gate we were supposed to leave from was different to the one they announced! EEEEEKKKK! It was a HUGE relief to finally sit on the plane and sigh with relief that we MADE IT ! The children's faces were priceless...I'm so grateful that we have this opportunity to share a magical time together.

I was the unlucky person that scored a lady who had long legs and knees that poked me in the back for pretty much the whole journey. Sigh. Not a whole lot of sleep  happened for me. Melbourne transfer was kinda scary....the lines were HUGE there too. :( We traipsed from one end of the airport to the other..but the highlight was Krispy Kreams for breakfast! Woo hoo!

We arrived in Hobart, collected our bags and hey presto! Poppy Fred was pulling into the airport ! Excellent timing. We pretty much "laid low" for the day because were were all so "trashed" from the lack of sleep.