Boog's Blog

Newspapers, large format print variety, remember them? Still common and still awkward to read. These are larger than the NYT format ones which had their own art to read on the new York subways. These are not set up with right easy to read columns. Articles sprawl across the full width.

High tea. Tried yesterday at the Tan but fully booked until next week. Looked like a good tea service. Hotel, at prices that make Fortnum's appear as a discount place, also sold out.

Sunday a good shopping day. Merino wool and ultra lite stuff for future travels.

Cold brewed coffee was a bust. Expected it to be but wanted to experiment. The fresh roasted stuff would likely have been good.

Off to the Royal botanical gardens.

http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Botanic_Gardens,_Melbourne

Queenstown has a lot of roses, not so here. Excellent trees and walking paths.

Over to the MCG, Melbourne cricket grounds. Afl game today but able to talk my way in to see the stadium and take a few shots. Actually gave me a guide.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Cricket_Club

Raman Ya for dinner. Tonkatsu with shop made noodles, add Kim chi and beer, then float away.

Fun walking around Melbourne on the evening. Lots of activity, interesting mix of evening cloths and California casual. Bright lights and food everywhere. Heavy on the Asian and traditional Australian meat and fish places. Few European choices other than pasta shops. At least in the CBD.

First to a major attraction.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria_Market

Three parts to the set up. Deli and fish, excellent, where I had a very fine bratwurst that lasted me the whole day. Fruits and veggies. Large market divided into organic and inorganic. Apples in season, many of the same varieties we get at home, a few other varieties purchased for dessert this evening.

Third part is the tourist market. A bust,at least for us. Walmart quality. Salamanca market in Hobart is a totally different experience, mostly artisan goods,successfully designed to extract our funds.

Smoking. After kiwi land and tas. Sad to be back in a heavy smoking city. Oz does not regulate smoking like the nanny state islands. The air here is noticeably worse. Not terrible but noticeably worse.

Dinner
Smokey bay oysters,fresh
Whitebait
Fish soup
Coq au Vin
Moreton bay bug salad

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thenus

First to a major attraction.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria_Market

Three parts to the set up. Deli and fish, excellent, where I had a very fine bratwurst that lasted me the whole day. Fruits and veggies. Large market divided into organic and inorganic. Apples in season, many of the same varieties we get at home, a few other varieties purchased for dessert this evening.

Third part is the tourist market. A bust,at least for us. Walmart quality. Salamanca market in Hobart is a totally different experience, mostly artisan goods,successfully designed to extract our funds.

Smoking. After kiwi land and tas. Sad to be back in a heavy smoking city. Oz does not regulate smoking like the nanny state islands. The air here is noticeably worse. Not terrible but noticeably worse.

Dinner
Smokey bay oysters,fresh
Whitebait
Fish soup
Coq au Vin
Moreton bay bug salad

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thenus

Crossing at average of 27 knots, 250km. Holds 500+ cars. We are on deck right of ten.

Melbourne is a coffee and food town. Many choices. One included a very good dry cider with out multi grain salad,quinoa based. Boulard's dry cider from Normandy.

Federation square, place for architecture, cathedral, tourist office, train station, free Wi-Fi. Starting to catch up with uploads.

After a stroll along the south bank, flaming torches, crowds, many location location restaurants we end up with a very poor choice. Looked good but was not. Booked a better place for tomorrow.

First we had to decide on route to the ferry. Long and scenic or half the distance on a middling interest road.

Long route. Goes through st. Helens, and near the bay of fires. Another of the extremely fine sand beaches with some good rocks. Need a geologist Or research to find out why the sand is so different here.

St. Helens is a charming town most reknowed for game fishing and to us a super IGA market. Short ride out to Bilibong bay where I again got to put my feet into the surf of the Tasman sea. NZ and Tas.

Sand in order of ranking. Nice,st.Tropez,NZ Tasman sea, bilibong bay tas. ,Jones beach, friendly beaches tas. Amazing sand on the latter,looked like water when we first approached the undisturbed portions.

To avoid a particularly windy section we took the road through the central valley. Similar to ours except drier with sheep and other farm animals. Did not see any agriculture.

Overnight ferry, no connection for a while. Pictures to flickr now delayed a few days. Should be better in Melbourne.

See Spirit of Tasmania website for boat details.

Wildlife report after a few days in Oz.
Wallabies, possums,kookaburra, un-named parrots, small bird with funny tail, brown bird that makes a loud noise. many lizards as there are many here. No zoo or wildlife park visits as yet.

After the long walk yesterday today is for a series of shorter ones as a way to explore a number of parts of the area. Robyn, ranger at the visitors center, pointed out her favorites in order of choice. Good basis for a plan.

Sleepy bay and lighthouse first. Good cove with ferrite rocks instead of granite. Lighthouse walk with great views of the bays and mountains. boardwalk for a change. Had enough of boulders and tree roots yesterday to last us for today.

Freycinet is located on a peninsula running north south. Narrower in the north. One side is the eastward facing Tasman sea. West side has the spectacular bays such as Coles, wineglass and great oyster. Sand on friendly beaches, that is their name.Tasman sea side, finer than Jones Beach on Long Island. Surprisingly few birds, almost deserted, runs for miles.

Lunch break for leek and potato soup in Coles Bay. Short walk along a path leading to the bay.