So here are a few of those photos I promised to post…

I’ve recently bought a house in Kogarah and mum has been hassling me to put some photos online.

It needs a fair bit of work and as I write this the old floorboards have been ripped up and the new ones should be getting delivered today.

We started the morning with breakfast at Jam Packed and checked out of the Hotel.

We’d decided to head to Mount Field National Park and do some more rain forest walks, so we jumped in the car and headed off.

On the way we saw some signs to The Salmon Ponds so figured we’d go and check it out.

We had a great time walking around the various ponds feeding the fish, but the highlight of our visit was when we saw a platypus in the Rainbow Trout pond. Apparently there are a few of them that are wild and live in the adjacent river and come up to forage around the ponds when they feel like it.

Jen and I were stalking it for a while, taking photos of it working it’s way along the edge of the ponds and were trying to be very quiet and stay behind it and not cast shadows on it. After a while of taking photos, I realised that I was actually very close to it getting some close up shots and it was within reach. I figured I’d never get a chance like this again, so I put my hand out and touched it’s back. Of course as soon as I did that it disappeared back to the other end of the pond but it was pretty amazing to be able to touch it. For those that wonder, it felt like a wet dog.

On our way out of The Salmon Ponds we went back through the store and I told one of the ladies on the counter. She was so amazed and excited about it that she went and found the other staff to tell them about it.

We got back in the car and headed on to Mount Field National Park. It was raining (it did that a lot during our trip), but we figured we’d do one of the shorter walks since we were there anyway.

The walk was a round trip to Russell Falls which weren’t overly big, but spectacular none the less. We figured we’d keep going along the walking track and ended up at Horseshoe Falls within another 10 min.

We were having a great time and the rain had eased up so we figured we’d check out the Tall Trees walk. The trees lived up to their  name with some of them around 75-80 meters tall (the tallest recorded one in Tasmania was 98 meters). Along the way we even saw an Echidna and some kind of wallaby.

There were also lots of trees that had fallen over which gave us another sense of the size of them.

We were going to head on to the next walk along, but the path was closed due to all the rain so we turned around and headed back to the car.

We had to start heading back to the airport, but weren’t in a huge rush and were peckish, so stopped at The Possum Shed café in Westerway for food and coffee.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful as we drove back to the airport, handed in the keys for the car and sat around waiting for our plane.

It had been a wonderful trip, and a great present for my 30th. Definitely a nice way to ease into the next phase of my life. Thanks Jen

We started the day by checking out of St Ives hotel. We’d decided not to book our last night so we could try out somewhere else if we wanted to. My Uncle (sort of) had recommended Henry Jones Jam Factory so we decided to go down and check it out over breakfast.
We ate at the attached cafe (Jam Packed) and were quite impressed with the look and feel of the place.

After the tour we went back to the bar for tasting Jen offered to drive which meant I could sample a few more without worrying too much. We grabbed a few (small) glasses and headed out to the beautiful gardens to sit and enjoy the sun and the scenery.

After the coffee, we took a wander around town. There were lots of antique and junk stores, and a great woodcraft shop. I bought a few little bits and pieces and then we made our way back to the car, and just down the road to the historic bridge.