A little taste of Tassie...Day 2

 

We started off the next day with some yummy brekkie and BB enjoyed her first babycino...perhaps a little too much!

We had a busy day planned with lots to see. Even the drive was full of beauty.

Our first stop was the Signal Station on Mt Nelson just outside of Hobart. 

They used the signal station to send telegraphs about the port and conditions. It was very interesting to learn about the history...and of course it was pretty!

Next up was Richmond. 

For most of the trip we just used an old fashion (non-moving) map to get around. It was fun going the old fashion route...and I only tried to zoom in on the map once!

The Richmond Goal was an interesting site to visit. 

BB avoided any floggings.

And sat and waited patiently for mummy to get released from solitary.

Off we ventured towards Port Arthur. 

There is history in Port Arthur. 

Eaglehawk Neck lookout offered some pretty good views. Normally I would consider that an amazing view...but here in Tassie it gets even better.

We shot past Port Arthur to visit Tasman national park.

There's a beautiful little lookout at the top of the car park.

A couple min walk down the path puts you right near the water. 

And a 15min walk leads you to Remarkable Cave, which my IPhone camera doesn't do justice.

A quick jaunt back up the highway leads to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park. It's sort of like a zoo...except it's really more like a forest with pathways and a couple barriers between the Tasmanian devils (they do exist!) and the kangaroos/wallabies. There were only maybe two cages which housed Eatern Quolls. 

HB got up close with a frog mouthed toad or a toad mouthed bird of some kind. It was a little hard to hear what the presenter was saying when all BB wanted to do was hold it...

...until she got up close and saw it move. She did pat it's back very hesitantly though. 

The park has a much different feel than we are used to. 

It's a little hard to see, but that little blob of pink under the Eastern Quoll's belly is a tiny little baby quoll, latched onto her nipple and being carried around. There are three other babies attached under there also. And the mumma quoll waddles around going about her business just dragging them along with her. I thought having one baby hanging off me all the time was fun enough...that poor mumma needs a Multi-baby carrier! 

The Tassie devils were sort of cute...but a little viscous when it came to meal time. 

How could you fear that face?! 

Most parks/zoos here in Australia have great areas where the kangaroos and wallabies hop around freely. BB has gotten so used to it she just ran up to them. She wanted to feed them like we do at our zoo, but alas there was no food. 

One of the Roos had a Joey in her pouch! He poked his head out just for us. 

Again, surrounded by beauty. 

Stunning sunset views on the drive back to the hotel. Really everywhere we went I just kept thinking "it looks exactly as beautiful as the pictures". 

A little taste of Tassie...Day 1

And we're off again! We are very lucky to be able to explore Tasmania for a few days. 

The flight in was just beautiful. This was a last minute trip we decided to take because we discovered HB's school break was this week instead of next week when my dad is visiting. We sat outside of the school library planning during study breaks and getting ideas from passers-by. One person asked where we wanted to go, to which I responded in my usual decisive manner "I dunno". She asked what it was we wanted to do or see, what kind of vacation we wanted. I wanted pretty. And that's exactly what we got with this trip, a lot if pretty with a hint of history thrown in. 

Tasman bridge. HB's first time driving a manual car in a right side drive, and he's pretty good at it!

Our hotel is right off the Wharf, and across from a bunch of great fresh seafood restaurants. We marked off a few of our to-do list in the first afternoon.

Of course it started raining when we got there, but we enjoyed a nice bowl of seafood chowder from Mures and then stopped to have a stout and a flight of whiskey/rum. 

A walk along the wharf lead to the discovery of the Aurora Australia ship. It's pretty big...which is apparently a little scary to me. We all have irrational fears right?! 

 Pretty much everywhere we went was just beautiful. The wharf is busy with fishing boats and ferries. 

We strolled through Salamanca square, which was made up of old brick buildings with various alley ways full of modern shops and cafés. On weekends they have the Salamanca market, which I can only imagine is remarkable. 

Battery Point was a beautiful neighborhood with a great park overlooking the ocean. A nice way to end the night. 

Clean, eat, play, repeat.

BB has turned into quite the little helper. She insists on helping with everything from the vacuuming to the sweeping, wiping up messes and carrying in the laundry. I am one lucky mommy to have such a good helper. 

Though sometimes it's not exactly helpful...like when she filled my pant drawer with shoes. But beggars can't be choosers I suppose. 

She has also developed a little obsession with cuddles. She absolutely loves to carry around her stuffed animals, patting them on the bum and giving big cuddles. But she also likes to do it with real babies too. She gives lots of cuddles and gets a bit upset when she can't carry or hold them! Quite the motherly BB we have. 

Much of the week was spent getting the house back in order, but we made time for some fun! We spent a day at the Australia zoo and got there early enough to see the crocodile show. It's crazy just how close those trainers get. Aussie fact: crocs can't be anesthetised because it takes so much anesthesia it puts them into a coma. So the safest way for them to be transported is with a rope holding their jaw shut and about 6 people laying on top of them in the back of a flat bed truck. You're welcome. 

Today we decided to check out a new diner in the city called The Dirty South. They had chicken and pancakes instead of waffles, but it was pretty good. 

And the view was amazing.

And we got to get Sophia a slide to play on thanks to the toy library! A toy library is one of the best ideas ever. Why pay lots of money for a new toy that they outgrow in a month or two when you could borrow them and always have a new-to-you toy to play with?! It's her new favorite toy!

Rainy Day Fun

It seems to be raining every weekend lately. I love the rain, but it makes outdoor activities tough. BB has come down with a cold so we have been trying to find some fun things to do. Thursday we saw a break in the rain and decided to take advantage. We attempted some painting with edible paint I made. We painted a bit back when BB was around 10 months and it was mostly a lot of eating the paint and a little bit of painting. 

This time we had much more success with painting instead of eating! 

Friday morning was nice and bright so we played outside and practiced kicking and throwing the ball. I can't believe she's running around the backyard already! I feel like it was just yesterday that she was content sitting in the laundry basket while I hung out the laundry. Now she insists on standing and walking an exploring everywhere!

Our next project was an inside one. I've been wanting to make BB a picture book so that she can see all of her family and friends from back home, and hopefully help her not feel so anxious when she sees them. 

It's got pictures of Mommy and Daddy, grandparents and friends. Of course the picture of Daddy is her favorite! Probably because that's one of the only ones she recognizes.

There are pictures of all of our puppy dogs, and even a pretty sea turtle. 

And of course the final picture is of BB herself! She loves looking through the book and even gives the pictures cuddles and kisses. I'd say it's a hit!

We decided to brave the rain and head out to Gold Coast for the afternoon. A nice little walk in the rain was refreshing. 

The beach is beautiful even when it's stormy. 

The countdown to the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast is on! 

And we ended the day with an awesome surf and dinner and BB showed off her amazing skills with cutlery. She's getting very good at using them, she's practically all grown up! 

Southbank fun

Last weekend was a lot of fun. We had to get out of the house on Saturday and spent the day out at Southbank with our friend Krystle. It was a very rainy day so I was a bit sad at first because I wasn't sure how much fun Southbank would be in the rain. Man was I proven wrong! We went to the Queensland Museum and spent a couple hours looking at the dinosaurs and underwater creatures and even live bugs! We were pleasantly surprised at how child friendly the museum is. BB wandered all over and loved playing with some aboriginal music instruments and of course her favorite part was the floor cushions. Not at all what I expected the museum to be like. 

Then we headed over to the Gallery of Moden Arts. BB was napping when we got there so Krystle and I decided to take on the puzzles they had set up in the children's area. These puzzles were impossible! 

The museums and art galleries are way better here, they had a whole floor dedicated to kids. It was decked out in patterns and kaleidoscopes and was very interactive. 

We also got to make some bandanas that of course she loved once she saw how pretty it was in the mirror! 

Birthday fun!

We started off my birthday celebrations a few days early. I've been rather disappointed with the Australian beef since we arrived so I really wanted to go somewhere nice and just have an awesome steak. We ended up going to Black Hide Steakhouse in the city, owned by the same company that owns the restaurant that we had our seafood valentine's dinner and it was perfect! It may have been just slightly better than the seafood place because we didn't have baby bear with us. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE baby bear and would much rather take her with me most places, but a meal out with the BB is a lot of work for this momma. I got some much needed adult talk with the hubby and a delicious adult beverage.

I got to spend Saturday afternoon hanging out with my favorite BB in Brisbane.

A nice long stroll through the city isn't a bad way to spend a cloudy afternoon. BB took a long nap, and mama got some exercise in.

One of the many things I love about Brisbane is that they almost always have some kind of event going on. A lot of those events are free and great for kids. Today we ran into a Disney festival. They had all kinds of stuff set up including bouncy houses, mazes, coloring stations, places to sing along with "Frozen" songs, places to watch the movies, and a bunch of picnic rugs/tables and bean bag chairs to sit and enjoy lunch. 

We very much enjoyed the Frozen area with some snow to play in. 

And BB helped me color in an Olaf mask. I can't believe she's coloring already!

She still hasn't outgrown eating everything though!

I know a birthday means you get another year older and at a certain point that's not a good thing. But for now it's fun because lots of places help you celebrate with free yummy things! Hooray for a completely free afternoon at Southbank with fun activities and free lunch.

And our favorite dessert...Churros for two from San Churro! 

The rest of our afternoon was spent walking up and down stairs (a favorite of BB's lately).

And playing at the awesome playground in QUT Gardens. 

They have lots of musical instruments, and BB loved playing them all. 

She's very talented. 

She has never been the type of baby that likes to crawl. She didn't start crawling until pretty late, and only briefly crawled around before learning to walk. And she very much prefers walking. So she has to think pretty hard about how to go about things, like how to go through this tunnel. She's now too tall to walk through, and tried first to squat and walk through but wasn't coordinated enough. On the third go she worked out that she would just have to crawl. 

But when it comes to stairs, if you aren't standing right there to hold her hand so she can walk up like a big girl she will resort to crawling. Anything to get up those steps!

It was a wonderful afternoon with my babygirl!