We are falling in love with Hobart!

We first visited Hobart on a 2 week stay in 2022 and we loved our trip.  We loved it so much we cruised back there in April this year and we now have a 4 day weekend planned in just a months time.  

This time it will be winter so we are excited to see just how cold it is down that end of the country and how the place changes with the seasons.

I thought I would share what we are planning to get up to while we are there for this short visit (not as short as our last visit - 1 day in Hobart and 1 day in Port Arthur).

Day 1 (Friday)

We arrive at 10am and head to pick up our hire car at 11.

Lunch at Wicked Cheese and then onto Richmond (if time permits).

An afternoon Distillery tasting and tour at Spring Bay Distillery, Cambridge (this is perfect for us because it covers both gin and whiskey) 2pm.

Check in to our accommodation at 4pm (we are staying at Wyndham Seven Mile Beach).

Dinner at Barilla Bay Oysters at 6.30pm.  

Day 2 (Saturday)

8.30am Salamanca Markets, then onto Willie Smiths artisan markets.

Lunch at Willie Smiths Appleshed 1pm.

A drive up Mount Wellington (this will be weather dependent).

Dinner at Rockwall in Hobart.  This will be an off season 4 course set menu of local Tasmanian produce.

Day 3 (Sunday)

Richmond Bakery for breakfast

Ross (we will probably buy a vanilla slice which the town is well known for)

Oatlands - to complete the walking trail around the town and visit the Callington Mill Distillery (again, whiskey and gin).  Lunch at the pub if we are not too full!

Richmond - the pub for dinner (again if we are hungry)

Day 4 (Monday)

We don't have time for much today so we will head to The Margate Train for their delicious breakfast and maybe a stop for a walk around Hobart waterfront.

12pm Drop our car back 

2pm is our flight home.

This trip we are visiting some old favourite places but also trying some new ones.  I'm hoping that my itinerary leaves a little time to stop at unexpected finds along the way but we will see.  I'll let you know all about our trip when we return!

A Weekend at Dicky Beach

We have had a couple of camping trips lately with one of them being a weekend (2 nights) at Dicky Beach on the Sunshine Coast.

I have to say that I loved this caravan park for a break.  The park was lovely and not too big.  The amenities were spotless and the kids enjoyed the pool and the recreation room.

We booked a premium ocean view site which had a concrete slab and power and water and this was the view from the caravan.  You can't really beat it.

A few steps the the right of here and there was a small skate park where Nathan spent most of his free time.

And a few steps forward from the fence and this was what you saw, the inlet and then gorgeous surf beach.

On the surf beach there is a shipwreck, although there is not much left of it these days it is still good to see and very close to the swimming section of the beach.

The beach is patrolled which is excellent and Emma and I spent a lot of time here.

A few paces over the inlet to the right of our van was the surf club.  We went here for dinner on the Saturday night and we were impressed.  The dress code was not fancy which is perfect while camping and the meals were very reasonably priced and huge and delicious.  When you camp at the caravan park you get a sheet of discounts for the club which is great.

If you walk in the opposite direction you will come to a little row of shops including a butcher, convenience store, fish and chip shops and cafes.  We had a huge serving of fish and chips one night which was really good value for money and we also had breakfast at one of the cafe's which was a little bit more expensive but a lovely dining experience.

This park is going on our list of favourite caravan parks and we will be back to stay soon.  I don't think you can get a better spot.   It's a park where you can park the car and not have to get in it again until you leave with everything at your doorstop.

If you are considering a trip to the Sunshine Coast consider Dicky Beach, it's worth it.  You can find the link to the website here.

A Quick Trip to Kirra - What We Got Up To

On Friday when school was out for our 2 week spring holiday I decided to do a bit of internet surfing and came across a great deal with our vacation company, Wyndham, for a few nights at Kirra Beach on the Gold Coast so I jumped right in and booked it.  The kids and I had the week free and it was the perfect short break.  The only thing was that Anthony was at work so it meant a solo trip for me and the kids which I was a bit concerned about but really was nothing to worry about at all. 

(Our resort)

Day 1

When I booked I said that we would be parking the car and spending our time between the  beach and pool.  Unfortunately when we arrived the weather was grey and windy and cold so this idea didn't seem like it was feasible.

  

There is a beautiful shared pathway all along the coastline so we spent the afternoon walking and checking out the area.  We had a good pie from the local bakery and the kids played in the park.  Then we headed to our unit to check in and warm up!

Day 2

Luckily when we woke the next morning the day was glorious and the view from our balcony looked like this.

Of course, as with most holidays we go on, my plans of beach and pool went out the window when the kids decided they really wanted to go to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We have never been there before and our resort had a 50% off deal so we decided that was for us.  It only took us about 5 minutes to drive there from our resort so that was a big bonus.

Can you tell that my kids love to act out their photos?  Here they are being prepared for eating by a big python!

The animals were lovely here, it is a really great place to see Australian animals, they are plentiful.  I personally don't like kangaroos much and I'm never a fan of going to feed and pat them.  I find them a bit scatty and they often scratch and jump up at little ones etc.  BUT, this was an excellent enclosure, they had volunteers wandering around and helping tourists to do the right thing around the animals and in return they had very friendly and relaxed kangaroos.  We spent a lot of time in this enclosure.

Nathan went on the parks new attraction which is a high ropes course.  I paid $10 extra and he got fitted up and off he went.  He completed three different ropes courses all with different difficulties.  He loved it and was gone for 90 minutes or so.  The value for money was excellent and I had one very happy little boy! (if you arrive unprepared like I did you can hire closed in shoes and socks etc there)

During our animal sightings this was one of our favourites and this little echidna was super friendly too.  The kids had a little pat.

At Currumbin they have quite a big hospital unit where they help sick and injured animals.  You could walk right around it and watch them working on animals and they had some interactive stations too.  Here you can see Nathan bandaging up a koala and Emma is preparing to stitch up a snake.

We also measured our wingspan at the hospital.

Another great section of the park was Wild Island where the kids got to dig for fossils, climb and play in a great playground and ride on a flying fox.  They were very happy in here.

Luckily the day was nice and hot and sunny so when we got back to the resort we packed our bags and headed across the road to the beach.

The kids boogie boarded and played in the sand while I sat and read my magazine.  The best bit about Kirra Beach is that it is nice and quiet.  Just around the corner is Coolangatta which is super busy but here you almost have the  beach to yourself and you still are lucky enough to have life guards etc.

Day 3
On our last full day we had a lazy morning watching the skydivers landing on the beach in front of our resort.

We had quite a lot of games of putt putt which was at our resort.

And we hired some bikes from our resort (they cost $5 per hour) and rode along that beautiful coastline on the shared pathway.

We were able to ride to Coolangatta and back in 15 minutes so it shows you how close it is to there.  

We ended our last full day with some swimming in the pool until it got dark and we had to have some dinner.

Day 4

On our last morning before check out we visited the roof top viewing area of our resort to check out the view one last time. 

One really good thing about our Wyndham resorts is that check out is at 12 noon so you always have a bit of time on your last morning to do something.  The kids went to kids club too on our last day and had a great time, for $2 each they made sock puppets, played ten pin bowls and played other grass games.

Sometimes those impromptu short breaks turn out to be the best ones.  If you are thinking about a trip down to the Gold Coast, look up Kirra it is close to everything and yet still quiet and not too touristy.