Time for a Christmas Sing-Song....

Sydney-
 This is the second time I have visited this lovely city and I still love it. We were lucky to have a hotel in the heart of the city across from HydePark, and were able to walk everywhere. We visited all the major sights like any good tourist, and I cannot complain...Sydney is an excellent place to visit. Its clean, bright and full of activity, but there is less of a rushed feeling like Toronto or NewYork. In brief...we went to the Habour to see the famed opera house, the Taronga Zoo, had dinner on Manly Beach, spent an afternoon on Bondi Beach and walked everyday until our feet ached. I'd say, it was touring at its best....

Koala at Taronga Zoo

Giraff- Mark's favorite animal....(yup, now he will be upset with me as I shared an unknown fact about him)

Sydney Habour Bridge

Being back in a big city has had its adjustments. Mark has been a little put off with all the crowds, but I guess the week before christmas is bound to be busy anywhere. One thing that became very obvious to me once surrounded by thousands of Australians in a more dense population, is that their way of speaking is starting to grate on my nerves. I aplogize in advance for offending any Australians that may be reading, but honestly it's like being surrounded by a bunch of "valley girls". They keep refering to Christmas as "Chrissy", to presents as "prezzies" and when we mention that we are spending the holiday in Tasmania, they respond with "Oh, Tazie is beautiful!" Come on! Enough with the cute words...its no longer endearing. (Ok...that concludes my anti-Aussie slang rant...although I reckon that most blokes here are not so knackered with the slang either :).

Bondi Beach.

Us at Bondi.

Tasmania-

We landed on the 21st in Hobart and immediately picked up our rental car and drove northwest to start our trip with the plan of ending back in Hobart for Christmas and Boxing day. All I can say is that in deed "Tazie is beautiful!" Since it is situated south of the mainland and further from the equator, the weather is more moderate and as a result everything is much more lush and green. We were happy to hear that we had made the right decision to come to Tasmania for Christmas as it is much more laid back, and we missed the bad weather (casued by the end of cyclone Laurence) and the bush fires that are causing problems in the rest of the country.

Vineyard around Lauceston (TamarValley)

We spent our first night in Devonport and had the chance to see minature penguins (also called fairy or blue penguins) come to the shore after dark. Unfortunately, no photos were taken as the flashes confuse the small things and causes them to vomit their food. This results in their babies going hungry...so it wouldn't have been very christmas-like to break the no-picture rule. :)

Following Devonport, we visited the Cradle Mountains National park (which is home to the worlds prettiest walk; the Overland Trek. This walk is 84km and takes 5-6days to complete, so needless to say we didnt get the chance to do it).

Cradle Mountain

Afterwards we went on to visit Bicheno and then Freycinet National Park. The pace of life here is much less hectic and everyday while driving we hear the lamb and sheep report on the local radio....extremely entertaining, who needs mix96! Our small cottage in Bicheno had an honour system for check-in and check-out, and the door was left open for us with a nice letter of welcome taped to it. You definately can't find this kind of lifestyle many places anymore. :)

View from the cottage in Bicheno.

Freycinet National Park.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Today is Christmas day in sunny Hobart and for us this is a very unique christmas...it is the first we will spend together as husband and wife, the first without any other family members, the first in weather over 20 degrees and maybe the only one we will ever spend in Australia. We both feel very lucky to have the chance to experience such a special day in a very special year...and it would not have been possible without all the love and support we get from our families and friends....so we are sending a very big "Merry Christmas" to everyone at home. 

We miss you all and hope that the day will be filled with lots of love, laughter and food (we are especially missing all the good food...too many good chefs in our families, we promise never to take you for granted again!!)

Lots of love,

Sarah and Mark

xooxox

Christmas in Hobart!