017 – Hobart, Swansea, and Glenorchy, Tasmania – Eat, Drink, and Be Furry

Our original plan for our six-month journey was to have Britt’s parents join us in New Zealand and Fiji for a month in February. This plan, however, did not take into consideration the “only child/grandchild” factor. Thus, Nana (Madeleine) and G-Dad (Andrew) took us (only slightly) by surprise when they emailed us two days after we left for Paris to let us know they would also be enduring two additional 26-hour travel stints in less than three months to join us for two weeks in Australia…that’s dedication.

So it was, that upon our arrival in Hobart, we were welcomed with open arms by Ciel’s two new (exceptionally zealous) handlers.

 In true Poynter fashion, we have been eating and drinking our way up the East Coast of Tasmania ever since. We exist only for the purpose of planning what (and when) we are going to eat and drink for our next meal. Given that Tassie (as the locals call it) is an island state, we have been consuming well over our recommended daily intake of fish and seafood. We made need some sort of mercury decontamination before we pass through our next airport metal detector.

Our first night we ate at a local fish restaurant in Hobart. G-Dad loved it so much he promptly fell asleep in his fish ‘n’ chips.

 Next we witnessed an intense episode of Iron Chef Australia. Chef Bearss squared off against Chef Poynter,

the secret ingredient… Australian Boarfish.

Chef Poynter drew on his Asian influences, opting for Japanese Panko-Crusted Boarfish accompanied by Caramelized Onion Cremini Mushroom Caps with Lightly-Poached Baby Carrots.

After whipping up some Fresh Oysters and a Guacamole opener (that the competition couldn’t keep his hands off long enough to get a clear picture),

Chef Bearss countered with a Caribbean-inspired Jalapeño Boarfish Ceviche.

We had to declare a draw, as the judge’s linguistic skills were not quite advanced enough to deliver a verdict. 

But, it probably would've been something like (in a bad english voice-over),

"Fuji-saaaan!  The myriad of flavours is both...oh...I think I just pooped my pants.”

Fresh off the success of dueling Boarfish, we doubled-down on four dozen oysters.

 A few with lemon, and the rest in Nana Madeleine’s World Famous Oyster Slapjack.

On Ian and Alexa’s recommendation, we headed out to the Salamanca Market one night for some stellar wood-fired pizzas.

 Clockwise from the front, for those that care about this kind of thing (aka Bud)…

Roast Pumpkin - pumpkin, balsamic onion jam, feta, rosemary and tomato

Huon Valley Mushroom – forest mushrooms, garlic, thyme, porcini paste, mozzarella, crème frâiche

Tandoori Chicken - chicken, mint yogurt, cucumber, onion, tomato, mozzarella, topped with a papadam

Hoi Sin Duck – roasted duck confit, peanuts, mozzarella, hoison sauce, red and green chillis, spring onions, stir fry vegetables.

Our Kia Carnival Hunny-Wagon has endured many tire-squealing moments as a result of G-Dad’s adept ability to spot a roadside winery (of which there has been no shortage) nanoseconds before we sail past.

Springvale, Milton, Freycinet, and Coombend, to name a few…

I’m not sure how, but we did have a little time between meals to hit a few attractions.

Tahune Rainforest Airwalk,

Tasman Arch,

Port Arthur Penal Colony,

And the Spiky Bridge.

Ciel has not been disappointed with the wildlife encounters in Tasmania.

After the wild Bennet’s Wallabies at Wineglass Bay joined us for a picnic,

(Our friend is lingering in the background)

We hit up Natureworld to feed the Agile Wallabies and Kangaroos,

See the Koalas,

Meet Beauford the Wombat and his buddy “Stuffy”,

And finally catch up with the infamous Tasmanian Devils.

We narrowly missed this shy little echidna as he scampered across the road. (If you look closely you can see his eye in the bottom left)

And of course, we were fortunate to have many encounters with the lesser-known, reclusive Tasmanian Brown Bear. Seen here in it’s natural environment…

Aside from spending time with their favourite granddaughter, Nana and G-Dad have gotten a chance to get friendly with some local folk.

Tomorrow is G-Dad’s and my birthday. So, we’re resting up in preparation for the celebrations.

Britt has decreed that I must save a blog specifically for the day…

Hopefully, you (and we) won’t be disappointed.

016 – Melbourne to Hobart – Cinderella Story

So there we were, seconds away from boarding our plane and scoring another notch in the win column for Team Bearss vs Airline Regulations, when the gate check attendant uttered those fateful words, “Would you mind just checking to see if your carry-ons will fit in this rack?”

As I looked at our overstuffed bags, that we had to drive over with our RV just to get the zippers closed, I was less than optimistic.

I gave it a shot anyway. It was a scene reminiscent of trying on the glass slipper…unfortunately, our bags were evil step sisters…

We tried the innocent doe-eyed “But, we’ve taken them as carry-on before” move, to no avail.

After being told our bags would have to stay behind and wait for the next flight, we quickly switched strategies and began to deliver a coordinated flurry of blows in a blind and confuse approach.

Britt stuck out her bottom lip and started pouting and babbling on about how all Ciel’s baby stuff was in the bags and she was going to die a horrible death without her onesies, twosies, threesies (with matching accessories), while I got on my knees (with Ciel strapped to my chest) and started opening bags and pulling out random “essential” baby gear and tossing it around.  Ciel bobbed back and forth like a buoy in a typhoon, all to the chorus of Britt’s concerned-motherly cries.

“Diapers! Get those!”, “We need wipes, too!”, “My nursing pads!”, “Don’t forget the breast pump!”, “Pumpkin-corn puree!” , etc…

Between Britt’s angst, Ciel’s shaken baby syndrome, and the fact that the plane was waiting to taxi (did I mention we were last in line to board), the crew took pity on us and let us off with a warning.

We gathered up all our belongings in our arms and headed off to the tarmac, leaving a trail of genuine “Oh, thank you so much!”’s, and “We’re really sorry!”’s in our wake, successfully masking the subtle triumphant gleams in our eyes…I guess our Fairy Godmother was looking out for us after all.

015 - Sydney to Melbourne, Australia - Road Rash

This was originally to be posted in increments. However, surprisingly trailer park internet is not so reliable…

Road Warrior Journal - Day 1

Well, we arrived at the RV rental shop to some initial "great news", we'd been "upgraded".

Which basically means that they gave us an extra 5 feet of grand-honkin', corner-on-a-dime, RV goodness to maneouver down the wrong side of the road, on streets we've never heard of...

 Bring it on, BABY!

Four hours and forty-three minutes later, after learning how to lock the cupboards so your belongings don't fly randomly about the cabin en route, sightseeing in Kiama,

Taking three unscheduled detours, one stop to have someone scrawl directions on Britt's hand, 

 Grabbing a few groceries

 And surviving five threatened divorce-filings, we made it to our first-ever Aussie trailer park in Myola (three houses + one RV park) on Jervis Bay. We were greeted by a couple friendly locals.

 By the time we got settled and figured out how to set everything up (including 25 minutes trying to light the stove) it was time to turn in for the night.

Road Warrior Journal - Day 2

The next day Brittany "Annie Lebovic" Bearss took us on an artsy photo shoot through Booderee National Park on Jervis Bay.

 Then, it was a long day of driving "the scenic route", before finally calling it a day in Tathra and pulling in for some well-earned G&T's.

 Tough day

 We took an evening stroll on the beach, which was nice,

 As long as we avoided the hundreds of dead birds that had been washed up on shore after apparently drowning at sea in a recent storm.

Road Warrior Journal - Day 3

On Saturday we made a bee-line for our next stop at Lakes Entrance so that we could arrive in plenty of time for a quick swim and a stroll through town.

 I capped off the day by trying to blow-up the campsite's antique gas stove and losing all my eye-related hair in the process.

 Next time I'll get Ciel to crawl in there and light the thing, she's got small hands…

Road Warrior Journal - Day 4

After a scenic trip further south,

 We made it to Wilson's Promontory National Park for day four, where we finally figured out how to set up our RV awning properly,

 And "Annie" fired off a hundred more photos on the beach "for the archives"...

 Forget Vanity Fair, someone call Sports Illustrated…

 Our T-bone steak dinner with hodge-podge Tabasco/mustard/olive oil seasoning, cooked on the campsite "BBQ" (aka oversize stainless steel frying pan) was a huge (not so much) success.

Road Warrior Journal - Day 5

We started bright and early and after a quick stop at Whiskey Beach to play in the rocks,

 And so Britt could drop the kids off,

 We made the mad dash to Phillip Island, arriving at 1pm, ready and rarin' to see the famed Penguin Parade...which we soon found out wouldn't start until 8:43pm...

Not to worry, we settled into our beachside trailer park,

 Had a quick swim,

 And made our way down to the "Nobbies" to see the fur seal colony.

 See 'em...???

Here, try the $2-for-30-sec view from the tourist view scope...

 Totally worth it.

The venture wasn't a complete bust though; there were some spectacular views.

 We stopped at a roadside farm for some meat and fresh produce, and the general store for a few of the essentials (beer and diapers…for those following along, yes, the Tanqueray shockingly did not survive past Day 4…).  After which, we promptly got lost on one of the four streets in town before serendipitously stumbling upon a local park where we could dock the party wagon and BBQ our newly acquired beef and red chili sausages.

 Eventually, we made it to the Penguin Parade, which it turns out is a super organized affair.  Basically, you arrive at the visitor's centre and get herded along a boardwalk to the beach where you sit with a few hundred other people in large bleachers for an hour-and-a-half, while the small children next to you throw sand at you and try to pet your baby. 

 Then, just when you can't see a damn thing, a thousand little penguins arrive on the beach and cautiously waddle towards/past you to get to their burrows in the dunes. 

After about 45 min the "parade" dies down and you can walk back over the dunes and see all the little penguins being greeted at their burrows by their chicks and/or humping each other 30cm from the edge of the boardwalk.

Unfortunately, there are no cameras allowed. I snapped a couple flashless iPhone photos that won't be winning any awards, but give you an idea of the experience. Pretty cool.

Road Warrior Journal - Day 6

Following directions laid out for us on a napkin by a couple we met at the wood-oven pizza restaurant in Phuket,

We made our way around to the end of Mornington Peninsula to meet Sandra (Kevin was at work) for a cold beer and lunch at the Portsea Hotel,

 Before hopping on the Sorrento Ferry across Port Phillip Bay to Queenscliff.

 Ciel was thrilled by a pod of dolphins en route.

 We made camp for the night in Angelsea at the start of the Great Ocean Road. The pool was closed but Ciel loved the giant (trampoline-like) jumping pillow! 

 And, I’m sure she won’t have to wear the neck brace forever…

For Bud, Honey Soy Beef Stir Fry (meat and produce from roadside farm)…

 Road Warrior Journal – Day 7

We set out today on the Great Ocean Road,

 “Built as a living memorial to the Victorians who served in the First World War.”, Ciel and I chose to show our respects by testing the fecundity of this wheelbarrow...

 After which, we continued on to see some more outstanding coastal and countryside views.

 Ciel got a little antsy with all the driving so we got out at Gibson Steps to stretch our legs,

And do a little free climbing…

 We, along with a busload of Asian tourists, four hard-core hiker/backpackers that just walked out of a MEC magazine, an entire Australian Air Force regiment, six leather-clad bikers, and a handful of Shaolin monks, eventually made it to the much-touted Twelve Apostles. 

 We could only see about seven of them, but we were reassured by the many signs, which indicated that the others were hiding just around the bend.

Despite the light rain, we splurged and got this professionally-done family portrait.

 After that we made our way back towards Melbourne for one last night of “roughing it” at rustic little RV park.

Despite our knowledge of the abundance of venomous and lethal fauna in Australia, we ventured off the grounds for a little tour of the area. Here’s Britt just outside the gate.

 And, if you’ll just look to your right you’ll see some genuine Australian wilderness.

After a week of riding around in our RV scratching ourselves and crushing beer cans on our foreheads, it’s time to turn in our keys. Tomorrow we head off to Hobart, Tasmania to meet up with Britt’s parents and go looking for devils…I’ve been watching a lot of Discovery Channel and Looney-Toons in preparation…

P.S. Keep the comments coming!  We love them... and it's nice to know that someone other than my mom is actually reading this drivel.