Saturday 11^th February, 2012

I wanted to do some bicycling, maybe to discover the city a bit. Thomas supported this idea and had already a plan for a tour. We have here two bicycles to our disposition, but we had first to pump up the tires. We started at about 11 o'clock. First we went to downtown and there onto the ferry to Manly. Manly is at the entrance to Port Jackson, how the fjord of Sydney is called. There is a nice beach and and a pedestrian passage with about one police patrol per hundred meters. We cycled up the hill to the North Head. On the way up we learned where the many police officers come from: there is a police academy. North Head are the cliffs at north side of the entrance of Port Jackson from the Tasmanian Sea. Last Sunday I was walking on the other side, on the South Head. On the way back we got caught by the weather: it started to rain heavily. As it did not get better in the next ten minutes, we cycled on. The rain got even stronger and we waited below a tree. As it did not remain dry very long, we again continued on the bicycles. A few minutes later the hot sun had mercy and started to dry us soaking guys. Over the rather small Spit Bridge (it safes us a few dozens kilometers of detour) we cycled towards North Sydney. There were signs for cyclists and it went up and down, left and right, mainly through better-off neighbourhoods. Finally we reached North Sydney and in the amusement park beside the famous Harbour Bridge we granted us an ice cream. Then we had to climb the bridge. The bicycle path is only accessible over stairs. Above we had a nice view and I realized that the area in the east was higher and more hilly as the western part. As we wanted to continue our “harbour tour” the next day, I said to Thomas: “It will be boring. Everything is flat”. After the bridge we drove home. I did then relax, but Thomas wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and went surfing.

Sunday, 12^th February, 2012

Somehow this all together was too much for Thomas. So we started the second part of our tour at 3pm and not at 1pm as planned. It went through downtown and over the bridge as we knew it already from yesterday. Then it went towards the west. It was not boring at all. Again it went up and down, left and right. Just not as high anymore. Also today the sky did not look very trustworthy. It got darker and lightnings started to flash. When the rain started, we went into the shop of a petrol station to buy something to dring and then just waited until the rain was over. After a while the sun came back again. On the way back home there was the big bridge parade: Over the Fig Tree Bridge it went to Hunters Hill, where we explored the peninsula and discovered a old dry dock. The map says we must then have passed the Tarban Creek Bridge, but I do not remember. But I still remember very well the following Gladesville Bridge: it took some time until we finally found the pedestrian and cyclist entry to the bridge! It is at the bottom in the middle of the base were are stairs leading to the right or to the left side. You have first to get such an idea. Then we passed the Iron Cove Bridge and the modern Anzac Bridge. Back in Sydney we crossed Darling Harbour on the pedestrian passage Pyrmont Bridge. Now crossing downtown and out to the Eastern Suburbs and we just got home as it got slowly dark.

Sunday 12^th February, 2012

Under the blue sky I made a walk to the Dove Lake. Then I bid farewell to the Cradle Mountain National Park and drove northwards. The drive went over the country and a saw some farms. They are about to harvest the potatoes. I Stanley I stopped to go up to the Nut. The Nut is a 143 m high rock where you may walk. With a chairlift it goes steeply up. And while walking at the top I could enjoy the great view. As it was not very late yet, I decided to drive further along the north coast. I stopped a Sister Beach. I enjoyed a bit this beautiful beach, but to take a bath it is too cold for me, even as I changed today the from long trousers to she short ones. My destination today was Burnie. I did not go for sightseeing as it was already late afternoon. I went a bit to the beach to enjoy the sun before the clouds came out again.

Saturday 11^th February 2012

I enjoyed breakfast viewing two grazing wallabies. Then I took the shuttle bus until Dove Lake. There I hiked via Lake Lilla to Crater Lake. As it was not very far from Marions Lookout, I also went up there. The view over the lakes Lake Lilla, Dove Lake and Crater Lake is gorgeous. To enjoy the view I had to pass a very steep section. The steps were nearly to big for me and I had to pull myself on the steel rope. Down the same way for about 30 minutes. Then I walked down to Crater Lake and hiked further to Ronny Creek. The last part was a boardwalk and there I saw a grazing wombat.

Then I took again the shuttle bus to another stop and walked to two waterfalls. The Knyvet Falls can only been seen from the side. On the way there was also a dam constructed by platypuses. I did not see any animals as they only get out shortly before dawn.

In the afternoon it got sunny. I walked for another our on the boardwalk and enjoyed the nature. There were many lizards and I had to make sure I did not step on one. As I wanted to look for wombat in the later afternoon, I went first to the Devils at Cradle Park. There they showed first a film about the Tasmanian devils. The animals are endangered because many of them die due to a infectious face tumour. I could even pet a devil, it has a fine fur. The Tasmanian Devils seemed to be very relaxed and the keeper could go to them. Then it started to rain slightly. It got stronger and I decided to go back to the accommodation. As I arrived it was coming down in buckets.

Friday 10^th February 2012, evening

Short after twilight I was picked up by the tour bus. There were only few people taking part on that night tour. There were big spotlights on the bus. I learned that on Tasmania there are different species of Wallabies, the smallest is called pademelons and is not bigger than a hare. We saw a some Wallabies during the ride. I knew already that there are many wombats here. A few of these bundles of joy we met. There was even a mom with its child in the pouch. The cub nearly touched the floor when she was walking. I learned that wombats may run 100m in 10s. I cannot think how this works. But they must be that fast as they have to be faster than the tasmanian devil. He loves wombats for dinner. We crossed also two possums. You see them rarely and if, them mostly overrun on the road. After 1.5 hours ended the interesting tour.

Friday 10^th February, 2012

Without a big brake I drove from Strahan to the Cradle Mountain National Park. Just before noon I arrived there. First I visited the visitor center. Here I learnt that there are shuttle busses in the park. Cool, like this I can walk from one point to the next. First I took a ride to Dove Lake. Like everywhere in the park, you need to write down your intended way. So I can be sure they will search for me if something happens. Then I started the hike around Dove Lake. Here you can see Mount Cradle from each side of the lake. A beautiful path led along the shore and through the forest. At the beginning I saw an echinda, but it did not let itself disturb while having lunch. Due to the black clouds, I decided to do small walks only. Along one of those tracks I met a Wombat. It was thinking already in the afternoot that it is now evening and was already about to get dinner. After this short encounter it started raining and I returned. I drove to my accommodation and found a hut with everything I need. The rain stopped again I went for a walk into the park. I saw a few birds, some of them of an to me so far unknown species, and a small wallaby. While I was preparing the dinner, there was also a Wallaby grazing outside.