December 29: Happy Little Vegimiter

21 months into our Australian adventure and Daisy discovers that she likes Vegimite!

December 29: The Barossa

After our marathon driving exploits of the last few days we decided to spend this morning taking things easy.  We drove to the top of the highest point in the Barossa - which didn't seem that high to us, although the locals told us that it was the pinnacle of the tour-down-under.  Lets just say that it doesn't really compare to the Bwlch.  The Barossa is famous for its food & wine so Nick dragged Gem & Daisy around a couple of wineries and then we stopped at Pheasant Farm home of Australia's answer to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Maggie Beer.  After a fantastic lunch in the sun we said goodbye to the countryside and set off on the next leg of our journey to Adelaide.

December 28: Road Trip

After the Christmas celebrations we jumped in our hired SUV and took off across country towards Adelaide.  The first day was tough as we drove for almost 12 hours to Mildura which is at the most Westerly edge of New South Wales.  The scenery was spectacular but there were sections of the journey where we would drive for almost an hour without even turning the steering wheel!  On the second day the outlook gradually changed as we crossed into South Australia and got closer to the Barossa Valley.  The top 2 photos were taken on the banks of the Murray river which acted as our guide for most of the cross country journey (if you follow the swathe of green trees you know you are following the river as the rest of the countryside is pretty scorched at this time of year).  The bottom photo shows the sun-setting over the Barossa with vineyards as far as the eye can see.

December 26: The aftermath....

Its obvious that Daisy had a good Christmas day because she was absolutely wiped out on boxing day. She even fell asleep while she was drinking her babycino!  Thankfully she was back on form later on to try out her new digital camera with some up-close-to-nature shots, and for our now traditional boxing day tea of barbecued snapper & home made tartar sauce. Yum!

December 25: Christmas Party!

Christmas lunch at the Jenkins'!  Notice that Daisy was the first to sit at the table ready for food!  Unfortunately it rained all day (it was the wettest and coldest Christmas Day for 50 years) but that didn't stop Daisy, Dylan and Tudor having great fun all afternoon chasing each other around the house.  It also didn't stop us trying out the pool - probably the last time we'll be going swimming on Christmas day for a while!!

December 25: Christmas Day!

Christmas morning in the Durham-Jones household and Daisy was a blur of activity, so much so that it was almost impossible to get her to stand still for decent photo!
We spent a few hours opening fantastic gifts from Santa and everyone back home.  Thank-you all very much!

December 24: Ready for Santa

Christmas tree - check
Stocking- check
Mince Pie - check
Glass of milk - check
Carrot for Rudolph - check
One very excited three year old - CHECK!

December 24: Camels on the Corso

Daisy looks nervous - she thinks that she may be caught in the middle of the set for Madagascar 4:Escape from Taronga Zoo!  She's wondering where Alex is hiding?

December 22: Round-and-round the Christmas tree.....

December 07: Christmas Concert

The Superstar herself, this year performing as the purple Cat!  The photos aren't great but i think there were actually more paparazzi at the concert than there were at Kim Kardashian's wedding!   Nick had to sit on Gem's shoulders just to get these shots!

November 29: MOMA

After our previous disaster visit to MOMA we tried again today - after checking it was open first!  The museum is sat on an amazing site on the bank of the Derwent river, but although it looks spectacular, inside it was a bit disappointing.  The gallery spaces were really confusing and we managed to get lost a couple of times (maybe it was just us?!).  Still worth a visit though!
The last couple of photos are of the ArtHouse - our home for the week.  Now this we would definitely recommend to anyone visiting Hobart!

November 28: Bruny Island

Bruny island is about an hour drive South from Hobart and is famous for fits fresh produce so of course we had to take the ferry ride to explore for ourselves!  It was a really hot day and the island was very quiet so there was hardly anyone else on the beaches or at the lighthouse (we can now say we've been to the most Southerly point in Australia!).  We had fun bouncing around the dirt tracks in our little Hyundai Getz (mental note - don't rent one of these again) and climbing to the top of the lookout at Adventure Bay.  We waited around to see the penguins but the cheese shop was closing so we had to dash! (second mental note - don't buy smelly cheese and carry on a plane without having a very airtight box!)

November 27: Local Wildlife

We started this morning with breakfast at our local cafe, The Pigeon Hole, before taking a drive out to the Museum of Old and New Art.  For some reason MONA is closed on Tuesdays (?!) so we took a drive out into the country and stopped off at a wildlife park called ZooDoo.  It was only a small park but allowed you to get up close to loads of wildlife.  Daisy & Nick fed some of the camels and emus (counting our fingers afterwards) and then watched one of the keepers feeding the devils which helped explain how they got their name.  Its easy to imagine how the first settlers were terrified when they heard them growling at night - even though they are only as big as a cat!  We won't be bringing one home as a pet.

November 26: Port Arthur

We spent today exploring Port Arthur and began with a powerboat Eco tour around the East Coast.  Apparently the seas were unusually calm today - the swell was only around 5 foot when it is typically 15-20 feet on a good day!  We managed to see whales, seals, a flock of shearwaters and Albatros' which were amazing!
Afterwards we spent a few hours at the historic Port Arthur site wandering around the ruins of what was the strictest penal colony anywhere in Australia.  This was the place that repeat offenders were sent as it was so far away from the rest of the world.  when you are walking around the historic houses its easy to imaging just how tough life must have been for the early settlers.  Not too bad for us, we finished up with coffee & cake in the Visitors Centre!