Mercure Earlington Launceston

... difficult for Madeline the van once we hit unsealed road...oops. This area is known as the Western Tiers, and Deloraine especially is dominated by the Quamby Bluff. Driving to and around Liffey, we also go to see the Projection Bluff and Drys Bluff. They never failed to capture our attention with their magnetic presence. <br><br> The Liffey falls was in a different kind of forest to our morning walk around the Alum cliffs. This time it was all about tall, towering myrtle beeches ...

... a replacement (the wine for the next course which was far better). The fourth course was just great &#8211; nice lamb wrapped in the minted mousse with possibly the greatest chips I&#8217;ve ever been served! And another glass of the lovely Pinot. The final course was refreshing &#8211; Asia positively sung from the pannacotta with the kaffir lime, the brulée was very citrus, with all this mouth watering the sorbet ...

... Canberra. The luggage came in 2 minutes and the airport was empty. You might ask yourself what were we still doing there. Well it was the car hire company... the car was ready but they forgot about the baby seat, then we found out that the seat was turned forward instead of backward, then they figured out that a hatchback will not do and said that they will give us a sedan. In the end all went well, we got a bigger car and we were on our way. One thing we got to ...

... The original gold mine and buildings have been converted to a museum. This centre sits right next door to the working gold mine, where the two miners were miraculously saved when a mine shaft collapsed on Anzac Day nearly three years ago. One section of this excellent museum is dedicated to the rescue, as well as the death of the third miner; it was very moving re-living the event, as we were just some of the many Australians who were glued to the TV watching the rescue ...

... nice hostel (the nicest I've been to so far in Aussie) and met a few friendly people. I don't want to pull a Barack Obama and bring out the race card (too soon?), but it's slightly embarassing when a Caucasian has to show an Asian how to make rice. Such was the case in that hostel, but in my defense I've always had an electric rice cooker and have never had to make rice in a pot. I also went to the Glebe market on Saturday, which is probably the best outdoor ...

... it was worth it as the view over Wineglass Bay was gorgeous. Not quite like the photos you see as it was overcast, but still spectacular. Well worth the exertion. We also took a wander over to Cape Tourville lookout in the park for more great coastal views. We arrived around tea-time in Launceston and got a cabin cos we were too tired to out the tent up. Next day we took a jaunt down to the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania in Launceston. It was pretty good. Not a ...

... Sadly, a return trip won't be in the cards for quite some time. Adam and I have decided to move back to the US. There's no one large reason, just several small ones. Most have to do with wanting to be closer to family, especially with my brother deploying to Iraq. While this has been an incredible adventure that we wouldn't trade for anything in the world, it's been emotionally exhausting. When you live ...

... snow, I settled back in bed for the long haul, leaving the Italian duo and Dazzler to brave the elements. After the Darjeeling experience in India, my record with mountains shrouded in cloud was worsening by the day. The arrival of a large tour group in the evening caused panic amongst the Italians, with cooking space at an absolute premium. Unperturbed, Sophie waded in fighting for pots and pans to make a combo of pasta, garlic and ...

... and ball, but Thom told me I wouldn't be good enough. Well, there you go. Pretentious git. Also carried on with our table tennis competition - if you all remember, I won the first match 11-8. We played best of 3, and I've got to say I've never played so badly in my life. Thom won 2-1. Never mind. Another thing - Grape Boy 1 is called Ed, and Grape Boy 2 is Mark, apparently... We also have a severe disliking for ...

... Steine am Sandstrand haben obendrauf teilweise ne knallrote Schicht, sieht aus als ob die jemand angemalt haette. Hmm... danach ging's nach Bicheno, wo man abends auch die Pinguine in ihre Nester watscheln sehen kann - wir hatten es uns echt vorgenommen dieses Mal hinzugehen! Leider hat es mit der Daemmerung dann angefangen zu schuetten und da hab ich erstmal n Schlaefchen gehalten, und dann war's zu dunkel und die kleinen Pinguine haben auch schon geschlafen. Wollten ...