The last few days

Lets see, the last few days have been fun as I try to make sure I've done all that I want to do before I leave.

I checked out the Powerhouse Museum which was amazing! Its basically a museum of engineering and innovations soooo up my alley...Daddy, you'd spend days there! They even had a special exhibit on the 80s which was a blast from the past...fashion, games, music all very cool! Then we hit up the Paddy's Market for some cheap souvenirs and fruit.

I've also made it up to Manly Beach which was an awesome ferry ride with great views :) The beach was absolutely lovely (as most beaches are). We headed over to a smaller beach that looked at Manly but the water was calmer and very refreshing!

Yesterday I headed to the Sydney Observatory to check out their exhibits on the history of the observatory as well as to check out their telescope. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so we couldn't pick out any planets or look at sun flares but we did look at the people climbing the bridge which was neat. Afterward, I went for a walk across the big bridge. Its a free walk and still a great view :)
Last night I went to see a play that is showing as a part of Mardi Gras and it was great fun. A short play about two gay boys meeting online and all the funny stories that they have. Then we went out for drinks and dancing which was quite fun as well!

Tonight is the big Mardi Gras parade so I can't wait for that!!!

Hugs & Kisses

Mardi Gras Fair Day

Yesterday's highlight was the Mardi Gras Fair Day! It's a big gay party with two stages of music and lots of fun stands to explore. I headed down there with a few friends from the hostel and we started by enjoying some of the music & sun. Once the sun got us warmed up and ready to move we did just that starting with yummo ice cream to cool down. We found our way to the other stange and then through the stands. Below is Kristin and myself at the fair...just check out the view of the city from here :)

Then last night was the Chinese New Year Parade (yes a bit late, but they've been celebrating for a week), so a huge group of us from the hostel made our way there. It was a huge turnout! But aside from the first few groups, not an amazing parade. Finally we made our way to Stonewall bar to celebrate Skeeters birhtday with drinks and the drag show. Again another great night!!!

Lee Safar and the Museum of Sydney

Last night I went to an excellent concert featuring Lee Safar and it was mind-blowing! Lee is a local Sydney girl who works at a nearby coffee shop and this was her last concert in Australia before she heads up to the States to further her career. She is going to be in the LA area so any of you living there or visiting keep an eye out for her :) She's even going to be headlining an after party for a benefit baseball game that the Twilight crew is holding!

Other than that I also visited the Museum of Sydney to check out a really cool exhibit featuring Martin Sharp a Sydney artist who did a lot of awesome posters for Luna Park. unfortunately I couldn't take pictures to share with you, but here's the museum page for a peak into it :) The other featured exhibit featured Kings Cross (the area where I am staying) and its fabulous and scandalous lifestyle from the 70s. There were some great shots and fun music! It was very interesting to see where it all came from :)

Hugs & kisses! and GO USA! (I've been catching my fair share of crap while we've been watching the Olympics here)

Sydney explorations

So I've now been in Sydney for a while and sorry I haven't written about it yet...but its been tough to just sit down and write.

I'm staying at a great hostel called the Pink House and love it because I've met some awesome people here :) But I've also been lucky enough to have people share their friends here as well. My second day in Sydney I met up with a friend of a friend at the Opera Bar (yep right on the water by the opera house) for drinks and then went out to dinner with her and her friends. It was a great night and it showed me parts of Sydney I may not have discovered on my own. The following day we had a great new girl come into our room from Canada and she and I hung out in the rain on Valentines day (we treated ourselves to a hot fudge sunday from Lindt in Darling Harbour). Then that night I went out with some of the fabulous people from the hostel for an entertaining drag show :)

I have also recently taken a tour of the Blue Mountains. That was fabulous!! After three days of rainy weather in Sydney I was starting to wonder if I was in Seattle again...but then as we drove towards the mountains the weather cleared and the sun came out, perfect viewing weather for the Blue Mountains which got their name from the blue haze that hovers in the valleys from the eucalyptus trees that populate the mountains. We went to a great look out that showed us how drastic the cliffs and valleys :) Then we saw falls and the Three Sisters. At the park for the Three Sisters we took a cable car down to the valley floor to explore the growth down there as well as the left over mining equipment. To get back to the top we took the worlds steepest railcar back to the top...it goes up at a 52% grade!!!

Yesterday I planned out the rest of my time in Australia with great help from our amazing hostel receptionist. He recommended that I stay in Sydney for Mardi Gras, which starts this weekend and goes for two weeks...think Seattle's Gay Pride...but longer and amazing :) So I'm going to be exploring Sydney for a few more weeks before taking a Surf Camp trip up to Byron Bay and then moving up to Brisbane to see one of my sorority sisters and then moving to the Whitsunday islands for a diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef. Then I'll head over to New Zealand...I can't believe that I'm already starting to think about that! So after we got that figured out I decided I didn't need to rush about so much so I took it easy and went to a beautiful park called Rushcutters Bay. I soaked up the sun and read my book for a bit then walked around to Darling Point where you could see the city skyline and harbor bridge.

All in all, things are going great! Check facebook and http://annemariemills.shutterfly.com/ to see my pictures :)

hugs & kisses to all!

Tas End

It should have been easy...a flight out at 730p arrive into Sydney at 915p go to hostel.

But Tassie decided to keep me around for another night. Basically we got on the plane, started the taxi, then found a problem in the communication system so we headed back to the gate for the engineers to have a look. They couldn't fix it so we got off the plane. Next chapter, the plane from Melbourne was delayed but enabled it them to carry our needed part. But then the next problem...Sydney has a curfew for the flights coming in and going out and no one can land after midnight so our delay stuck us past that and we were tucked into local hotels for the night before our rescheduled flight in the morning. The local Tassie news, the Mercury, even wrote an article to cover the situation...yes its that slow of a news place http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/02/12/127335_tasmania-news.html

But I was greeted in Sydney with wonderful heat...I'd guess close to 90 but not for sure...and plenty of humidity. I say this because it kept me inside the hostel for a few hours (posted pictures on facebook and my photo site http://annemariemills.shutterfly.com/) before heading out so that I could avoid the complete midday sun. I headed out on 'Miranda's famous walk', well its our receptionists recommended walking tour of Sydney. I walked by the Navy boats then up to Mrs Macquaries chair which sits on the point just opposite of the Opera House. It provided a spectacular view!! really amazing :) So I hung out there for a bit (in the shade) and then took a meander through the Royal Botanical Gardens before approaching the Opera House itself. Again quite awe inspiring.


The rest of the day has been rather plain and has included late lunch of pumpkin and feta risotto, grocery shopping, watching tv and havin a bit of dinner off the barbie at the hostel.

Hugs & Kisses!

Leaving friends and a touch of home

Well yesterday was the last day of my Tassie roadtrip with two great new friends. It was sad to see them go but I'm glad to have a few more days here.

Nothing much exciting yesterday just shopping around Salamanca then back to the hostel for laundry (whoot whoot). However in the evening some of the other girls put on Grey's Anatomy and there were a few scenes that made me a touch homesick from Seattle. But don't you worry, I'm not headed home.

Today I have explored some of the local art galleries, had fish & chips served fresh from a boat, and tasted some of the local beverages produced at Lark Distillery. Now I'm heading up to Mt Wellington for some hopefully spectacular views of Hobart.

Tommorrows plan includes a trip to Cascade Brewery and then a flight to Sydney.

Hugs & Kisses to all y'all!

Tassie, Beautiful Tassie

Well, sorry its been a while, but the one thing about Tassie is that there haven't been many opportunities to sit down and in a place with internet.

I've been traveling around Tassie for the last week with my two new friends from Isreal. We started in Hobart then continued up the eastern coast. We have seen beautiful beaches, mountains and farm land.

We started with a visit to Something Wild, an animal sanctuary that had three precious tassie devils as well as a viewing point to spot platypus in the wild (we saw one!). Next was Freycinet national park to see Russel Falls. They were amazing, something like 7 teirs of falls through beautiful lush rainforest. Then the trail took us to Horseshoe Falls which were also quite nice, but not quite as impressive. Along the trail we think we spotted an eagles nest too!! Not positive, but it was amazing if it was. Then we continued on and hit the hugest staircase... I counted 236 steps....and we'd already gone up quite a few earlier on the trek. That night we stayed at the Swansea backpackers (I don't recommend it) where we were greated very rudely...but I guess at least the beds were decent.

The next morning we headed to Wineglass Bay. Which is a very picturesque bay literally shapped like a wine glass. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a grey day so it wasnt exactly the post card, but we did enjoy it :) In the carpark there were two quite friendly wallabies that were very cute! Then we headed to the quaint town of Bichenot for the night. We had a great walk along the waterfront that allowed amazing views of the waves and rocks. We didnt spy any penguins, but it is one of their spots. We had an amazing dinner at the restaurant above our hostel. Highly highly recommend Seaside in Bichenot and the restaurant is Granite. The food is fabulous (at least one item has been reviewd and given a star by Michelin) and the staff are amazing! We even hung out with them for drinks afterwards.

Sadly leaving Bichenot, we headed to Bay of Fires which is a region with amazing beaches...and its too true! We enjoyed some sun and water (frigid) and had ourselves a nice exfoliating trip (sunscreen + white sand = soft skin). Then we followed that up with quite a bit of driving to get to Laucheston. That evening we enjoyed a walk up Cateract Gorge and a dip in the lake there (no worries, its free of crocs).

From here (still in Laucheston) we went to Cradle Mountain yesterday which was quite beautiful especially from Dove Lake where we were walking. But it was also another day with a lot of driving.

Since we are staying above an Irish Pub we have had the opportunity to enjoy a number of live bands there as well :)

And thats about it for now....hopefully I'll get another chance to update soon!

Hugs & Kisses!

a better update

so lets start with yesterday since I havent written much lately...

It started in honest when I headed out for my tour to Phillip Island. We started our tour with a stop at an animal conservatory where we were able to feed wallabies and kangaroos :) We also saw tassie devils, kookaburras, and an emu. From there we went to Churchill Island where they have an old homestead with sheep shearing, working horses, and beautiful flowers. There were even cows, like big steers...I'd be happy to have their life...ok maybe not the end. From there we went out to the koala park. We saw probably half a dozen koalas hanging out in the trees, but not as close as the ones I saw along the great ocean road.

Our next stop was for a dip in the ocean...ok just the toes because the current at Anzacs beach is quite incredible. Throughout this adventure I hung out with (and trading pictures with) a girl from Holland which was delightful. I hope that maybe one day I will be able to go visit all my new friends in their home countries, that would make for quite another adventure.

Finally, after dinner, as the sun was starting to set we headed out to the Nobbies where the penguins come up in the evenings to find their home hole for the night. Since no one is allowed to take photos at the penguin parade (you can blind them with your flash) we found a few hiding under the boardwalks to take careful photos of. Oh and the sun setting over the Nobbies was absolutely amazing. Then it was finally finally time to go see the 'Little Penguins' (formally known as Fairy Penguins) in their nightly parade to land. It seemed a bit touristy, but we stay out of their way and simply watch them...its quite amazing. They'll huddle together as they come ashore then take their well worn paths home. They have to take pause quite often so that they don't overheat on the way and they'll also preen each other and clean up for their homecoming.

Then it was just a long bus ride home.

Other things, I've done lately...on Monday I took a trip down the Great Ocean road...a day of beautiful vistas and great beaches ending with sunset at the 12 apostles (actually 11 since one fell a few years back). It was great to dip my toes in the ocean and to lay out and enjoy the sunshine when there was time. Along the way we stopped to see koalas in the wild (and soooo close, but don't touch or they could get very angry!) and we also made a stop in the rain forest. Its amazing how diverse the terrain can be here :) below is me and the koala followed by the sunset view :)


Now I am on my way to Tasmania where I am going to tour the island with two of the women from Israel that I met on my tours in Melbourne :)

Wallabies, kangaroos and penguins oh my!

Well I only have a few minutes, but its been an exciting few days since I last posted.

Yesterday I went on a tour along the Great Ocean Road and saw sooooo many beautiful vistas it was amazing (I promise I'll put up pictures when I get a chance). We saw koalas in the wild and watched sunset at the 12 apostles.

Today I went on a tour of the peninsula which went by way of an animal sanctuary. And we ended the day at the Penguin Parade...the little penguins come in from their fishing and waddle their way home.... SOOOOO CUTE!!!

hugs & kisses!