ScottandBev's Travel Blog

Surfer Dude - Sydney, Australia

 This place was Amazing visited Feb 10, 2007

We have had a few great days north of Sydney at Port Stephens...pretty little port towns, great beaches, good biking, and for anyone traveling there...a great backpacker's accomodation, Malaleuca. We really enjoyed the owners, Peter and Jeannette. Scott had a great time taking a surfing lesson, and then perfecting (?) his technique. We camped in Malaleuca's wildlife paradise; they also had a koala in a tree (like our previous campsite), an orphaned baby kangaroo Bev got to help with, and a cacaphony of birds that woke us every morning. Some photos to share! We are about to board the Indian Pacific train to Perth, taking three days to cross the Outback. Anyone traveling to Sydney...we highly recommend the YHA at the Central train station; very nice....even had other grey nomads.

posted Feb 9, 2007 | Comments (0)

Koala Kamp - Port Stephens, Australia, Australia

 This place was Amazing visited Feb 6, 2007

We have headed north from Sydney, first on the train, then on a bus, to Port Stephens/Nelson Bay area. A great place for quiet beaches, surfing, and cycling around to "heaps" of small bays and towns. Scott is off learning to be a surfer dude, and I am enjoying a bike ride to a lot of the little port towns, including Salamander Bay, which has this wonderful library with this internet! Last night we camped where there were two koala bears in the trees overhead. They kept waking us up throughout the night. (sound familiar Ben and Nicki?-maybe Leo is nocturnal too?) They have two distinct sounds....one like a very loud cat purr, and the other one like a pig snorting. One woke me rudely when he jumped down just a foot away from the door of our tent. A shock! Good thing they are so cute, comical and harmless.

posted Feb 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

Wallabies, Wombats, and Koala Bears....oh my! - tasmania, Australia

 This place was Great visited Feb 1, 2007

We definitely ain't in Kansas, Toto! We wake up in so many different places, I am always relieved to see Scott there in the morning....at least I know I am in the right place! The wildlife has been a lot of fun to observe. We mainly camped in Tasmania...and after our windy biking adventure, we rented a car to access a World Heritage mountain/lake area to hike for two days. It was beautiful....including our night camped at Lake St. Clair, Sara and Brenda!! We got used to having wallabies bounding through our camp, and kookaburras making their weird sounds in all of the trees. A funny travel story we must share from Tasmania. Good old Qantas....as we were on the shuttle bus going to the domestic terminal across the tarmac, Scott turned to me and said.."There is my backpack on the ground!!" Yesirree...right out there on the tarmac was Scott's orange backpack. Fortunately the driver, Syd, reassured us that they would call for someone to rescue it and we would find it in Tasmania. Actually.....after calling him Syd a few times after glancing at his badge he informed me his name was Frank. They all had SYD at the top of their badge...SYD stood for Sydney Airport! OOPS!! The backpack did show up in Hobart, Tasmania. Good thing we packed our senses of humor; we have needed them!!

posted Feb 5, 2007 | Comments (0)

Blow me away! - tasmania, Australia

 This place was Amazing visited Jan 29, 2007

Wow....the winds sure blow here in Tasmania (Tassie to the locals)! Beautiful beaches, very interesting birds and mammals,and only 500,000 people in the entire state/island. Yesterday was definitely a memorable ride. We had 30-40 mph gale force winds, with gusts up to "heavens knows what". The news warning said...."very high winds with possible damage" Hmmmm..... We had everything from a head wind to a side wind that blew Bev off the road twice, and Scott off once. We had to ride (word used liberally) tilted into the wind, except when trucks came by, which then blocked the wind and sucked you right in. We took refuge for awhile in a barn, and discovered another biker there as well! We ended up having to walk to get up the steeper hills. We tried to set up camp but ended up ripping our tent in two places....it was wild! When I came back from town and saw Scott laying down on top of the tent to keep it from blowing away I knew it was time to get a cabin! All is mended, including us, and it is a wee bit calmer today.

posted Jan 30, 2007 | Comments (0)

New Zealand Best and Worst Awards - New Zealand, New Zealand

 This place was Amazing visited Jan 26, 2007

Presenting Scott and Bev's "Best and Worst" Awards for New Zealand...January 2007! Best Cycling: Bay of Islands, Lake Rotorua Worst Cycling: Scott mountain biking on his back with Chris in the Redwoods Most Roadkill: Hedgehogs! (sorry Peter!) Least Roadkill: Scott and Bev (phew!) Best Food: Auld BBQ, Northland Fish and Chips Worst Food: Can of Pork and Beans in Auckland Best Adventure: Rafting Kaituna waterfalls Worst Adventure: Sailing Bay of Islands (cancelled due to rain and high winds!) Best Hike: Beaches of Northland Worst Hike: Shlupping gear to the bus depot Most Enlightened: Generous Kiwis bringing Scott and Bev lemon popscicles after hot cycling Least Enlightened: Scott and Bev pedaling on the left side of the road with their helmet mirrors on the wrong side

posted Jan 26, 2007 | Comments (0)