Pen's Birthday

Travelling far from home and most of her family, Pen certainly didn't expect to be showered with love and good things the way she was for her 67th birthday in Vietnam! To begin with, Josh and Laura were determined to ensure that the hotel they chose would offer the refinements she likes. They spent hours online during our 14 hour train trip south, researching the best possible options in the upper end of our accomodation budget. Their wish list included the following: view of the Perfume River, bath tub, fridge, electric kettle for making our own plunger coffee, hair drier (!), queen bed; good breakfast. They narrowed the field to 2 choices and after consultation opted for the Vina Hotel. It couldn't have been a better choice!

Having told the receptionist we were coming to spend a few days for their mother's birthday, the staff pulled out all the stops to ensure they provided the best possible experience. Josh and Laura ordered a spectacular and delicious cake which arrived in time for breakfast on the birthday morning. The staff also proudly presented Pen with a lovely flower arrangement and our beautiful hostess, always attired in traditional formal dress, posed with Pen, the flowers and the cake.

Josh and Laura had carefully shopped for a birthday card in Malaysia, uncertain if they would be able to find the right card in Vietnam. In Hanoi they discovered that in fact their choice of beautiful paper-art card was made in Vietnam. I'd brought a card from Salt Spring Island - one of Pen's favourites. We topped off the delicious hotel buffet breakfast with a slice of birthday cake and offered some to the lovely hotel staff who hovered around delighting in their connection to this most important Vietnamese celebration - "Mother's Birthday"!

As everyone who know's Pen can attest, she always goes the extra mile to ensure that special occasions are celebrated appropriately. Her two sons have inherited that gene and apply similar attention to detail when celebrating special occasions. 

We then set about filling the day with sight seeing in this historic city. Rather than join a large river cruise boat, we opted to charter our own boat for a couple of hours to cruise the Perfume River and visit a could of historic pagodas.

Sister-ship to our charter boat for our Perfume River Cruise.

Laura seems to be the designated hitter when it comes to bargaining our way through Vietnam, whether it's a hotel room, bus fare or charter boat. So it was that Pen, Josh and I plunked down on a park bench by the perfume River while Laura brushed past numerous 'fixers' and set off in search of the best deal. In a few minutes she rejoined us, having negotiated a boat for 2 hours that would transport us up the river to one pagoda, wait for us to take a tour, then transport us down the river to another pagoda before delivering us back to our starting point. Whether by accident or design, our boat number was 67, which happened to coincide with the birthday we were celebrating! There was a bit of a hiccup in the middle of the cruise, with some debate about the previously agreed-to conditions, but Laura had been forewarned about this and stood her ground, ultimately settling on the original deal.

When we first passed through South East Asia in the early 70's, the 'travellers telegraph' used to inform us of what to expect on the road ahead. Back then, we'd sit around with our fellow travellers over meals, tea and beer breaks, scribbling in our notebooks about the best and worst deals here and there. Sometimes the advice would be about a good hotel in the next town, while at other times it might be about a job opportunity on the other side of the world. These days social media and web-based travel advisories have largely taken the place of such word-of-mouth advice. All the favourite scams, deals, rip-offs and 'secrets' are available via the web, not to mention that for C$15 we have a month of unlimited data on our Vietnamese cell phone plans - so we're connected pretty much 24-7 whether we have wifi or not.

Pen: After orchestrating a wonderful birthday from dawn to dusk, Josh and Laura handed the torch to Aidan and Heather, who had done their own online research from Vancouver. Using the indispensable Trip Advisor they discovered Les Jardins de la Carambole, the best rated restaurant in Hué, owned and operated by a French chef supported by his delightful Vietnamese wife and staff. The restaurant is housed in an old French Colonial residence and the food is French/Vietnamese fusion. Josh and Laura, who have been in SE Asia since late November, especially enjoyed the starter plate of assorted French cheese served with warm baguette. Peter ordered a multi course meal while Josh and I started with delicious soup and both chose the highly recommended Grilled Duck with lemon grass and chili, which more than lived up to its reputation. Laura enjoyed a pasta dish with seafood. All the food was really delicious and beautifully presented! Then the lights in the restaurant dimmed and the entire staff joined our table with Chocolate cake, candles and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. It was truly a night to remember. 

Rustic beach hideaway!

A few hundred meters down the beach from our palm frond home stay is a beach-front restaurant/bar called Soul Kitchen, recommended to us by the same American teacher who told us about Under The Coconut Tree. Last night we enjoyed a couple of hours of fabulous blues here and today we came back for lunch. The only worry I have right now is for all the poor working folk slaving away to cover our pensions! God bless ya! :-)

Quick Update (16 March) & SaPa to Huế Train Trip

Eureka! 

For the next couple of nights we're staying a few miles south of Da Nang at a little lodge called 'Under The Coconut Tree'. Our accommodation is a delightful cottage constructed of bamboo and thatched palm. A place such as this was at the top of my bucket list for Vietnam. It's a home stay run by lovely people off the beaten path among private residences.

The blue dot marks our location 

Under the Coconut Tree Homestay

Sa Pa - Lao Cai - Hanoi

We left SaPa in the North West border region of Vietnam in a Mercedes mini-bus stuffed with fellow backpackers. I heavy mist had hung in the town all day and by our 5.30 pm departure time it seemed to be thickening. All the seat belts had been removed from the van so there was not even the option of the false sense of security from a webbing strap over our lap. There were a few murmurs among our fellow travellers concerning the horrible driving conditions on the steep mountain road but we all just hunkered down and hoped for the best. It was a relief to finally emerge from the heavy fog 40 minutes into the one-hour rush to the Lao Cai Railway Station.

  

Hanoi - Huế

Again we joined a large throng boarding the ancient train and found our rather dilapidated sleeping cabin for the overnight trip to Hanoi. The narrow 3’ gauge track makes for a rock-and-roll ride and we dozed our way through the night, arriving in Hanoi at 6.00 am, just as the station was opening for the day. At the ticket window Laura tried to enquire about train and ticket options and was told “I just sell tickets. If you want information you have to go to the information window.” There was no time for that so Laura put her foot down and managed to learn that there was a train heading south in 10 minutes. The only remaining seats were in 3rd class - hard wooden slat seats with no air conditioning. We dashed to the train with our backpack waist straps flying, boarding with minutes to spare. The trip to the ancient capital Huế would take us 14 hours.

A Vietnamese family had scooped our designated seats but we decided that the language barrier made it easier to find other vacant seats rather than haggle over our own. This was a mistake that we would come to regret several times during the trip, for the various people who had been allocated the seats that we usurped had no qualms about calling the conductor to sort out the mix-up. In the end, Penny and I managed to stay put but Josh and Laura got shunted around a couple of times before finally landing in their designated seats.

Our first seat-mates were a young couple. At first he slept with his head on her lap. After a while she got a little bored and producing a small mirror, proceeded to deal with a few black heads around her nose. When stewards moved through the carriage offering fast food, girlfriend ordered something but the delivery arrived while she was away at the toilet and boyfriend was oblivious to the order. When girlfriend got back to her seat and discovered that boyfriend had allowed the stewards to take away her order she began berating him at the top of her lungs in an exceptionally shrill voice, then stormed off to chase down their food. Boyfriend just shrugged, obviously having seen and heard it all before. The ferocity of her tirade quickly calmed to “you silly old duffer” type language before they settled down to their shared meal, with her spoon-feeding him baby-style. Afterwards boyfriend again lay his head on her lap while girlfriend proceeded to meticulously clean his teeth with a tooth pick. Boyfriend endured this with his eyes closed, humming a tune.

Later in our shared journey, girlfriend produced a bag of fresh baguettes and small containers of sweetened condensed milk. After tucking in for a few minutes she offered some to Penny and me. In our rush to change trains in Hanoi we hadn’t had time to stock up with provisions so we accepted the offer. As with all bread in Vietnam (thanks to the French colonial period) this was fresh and delicious. The sweetened condensed milk dunk was an acquired taste, which I preferred to plain bread. Pen passed on the dunking treat.

About 3 hours down the track we pulled into a crowded station where we bid farewell to our new best friends and immediately knew that conditions in our 3rd class carriage were about to change radically. People swarmed aboard loaded with kids, baskets, bundles and bottles. The family of 5 across the aisle from us were obviously seasoned travellers. As soon as they boarded they settled in for the long day ahead. Two people lay on the short and narrow seats designed to accommodate 4 passengers. Mats were laid our on the floor and two women and a young boy stretched out under the seats where they promptly curled up and went to sleep for several hours.

Surely my feet don't smell that bad!

Our new seat mates were a young mum, dad and 3 or 4 year old boy -  a bit of a tyrant who constantly pushed the limits with his young mom. The dad left her to deal with him and wandered off to find a different spot. Once in a while mom would get fed up with the bad behavior, speak sharply to the tyrant, then pull out her cell phone and threaten to call the dad to come deal with the problem. Usually the threat was enough to calm him down. Behind us sat a better behaved 4 year old who periodically ran his toy motorcycle through our hair.

At our feet was a 4 gallon plastic tank of hooch with a piece of plastic tied over the hole in place of the cap. At one point the rock and roll of the train tipped it over and the make-do seal allowed some of the clear liquid to leak on the floor before we discovered the problem. It must have been pretty good hooch, because the spill evaporated in no time once I stood the bottle up.

Around 11.00 am I went exploring and found that the next carriage was a virtually empty diner. Several staff welcomed me warmly and bid me sit down and have a meal. The rest of the family was feeling a little off from a tummy upset the day before, but I was just recovering from several days of bad cold and low appetite so I sat down and asked what was available. The stewards spoke zero English so I raised both hands in the international “what have you got” sign. One steward whipped a freshly delivered plate away from another customer and flourished it in front of me. It contained 2 fried eggs, a fresh baguette, tomato and cucumber. “Perfect!” said I. Piping hot Liptons Tea sweetened with lashings of condensed milk was the perfect drink. We’d already learned that “Vietnamese Coffee” wasn’t quite to our taste.

Looking out across an ever-changing landscape of rice paddies, kitchen and market gardens interspersed with river and bushland scenes, I was transported back 40 years to our original train travel in Asia and realized that not much has changed. The rolling stock is original and the scenery quite timeless. Fields scattered with workers in conical hats, bent double as they tend their crops, and buffalo still pressed to the plough. Perhaps the only difference is that the sound, smell and soot of the old steam engines had given way to diesel electric locomotives.

Spectacular view thru the dirty train window

Skate Boarding Capital of SE Asia!

Who knew? The Vietnam Railway Authority is unwitingly sitting on a skate boarding Mecca! I discovered this by accident at  6.00 am, as I stumbled off the night train from Sa Pa in the mountains of NW Vietnam. Uncertain whether I was supposed to keep left or right down the station stair-case, I allowed my Canadian training to override my recent Tasmanian experience and stayed right. 

Only when I reached the bottom did I realize I'd just passed up the ride of a lifetime! Look closely at the first picture and you'll see there's even a ramp half way down to get some air all the way to the bottom. The next staircase over was even better equipped. 

I can only presume the double flight of steps is designed to allow for skaters to re-ascend twice as quickly for their next ride. I was flabbergasted that in such prime time, with train traffic fairly light, I didn't see a single skate boarder.  In Canada, the dudes with baggy pants and plumber's smiles would have been lining up for a taste of this boarder's heaven! I should probably copyright the name for a potential Eco Tourism opportunity - 

                 Hanoi Heaven 

       Urban Skate Park to Die For

What happened to us?!

When we first hit the road in the early seventies, most of the backpacker generation dressed like this:

In fact Pen's first labour of love was to sew matching  psychedelic darts into our jeans. Now my shirts and pants, and those of most of the other old hippies out here look like this: 

I'm thinking it might be time to break free of the pack and do a spot of tie dyeing.

Just not sure how these new fangled "breathable" "wicking" "insect repelling" "quick drying" "secret pocketed" "sun blocking" synthetic outfits will react. 

I'll keep you posted!

Trial of the iPhone Blogger App

I'm sitting in our hotel restaurant after a solo lunch. Pen, Josh and Laura are resting in their room upstairs in preparation for another long overnight train ride back to Hanoi. I decided to try out the iPhone Blogger app. 

This morning while wandering the misty streets and market I was approached by two Hmong women, Zee and Tuu, selling their hand-made bags. We did the customary bartering and I bought one from each. As we walked and talked I learned that one lives 4 k from the town and the other 8k. They make the trek every day twice a day to sell their hand crafts. They are both over 50 years old, Tuu the mother of 2 boys and a girl and Zee the mother of 2 boys. 

    Zee (left) and Tuu, Hmong from Sa Pa

Taking a Sicky

There's a cold bug going around Vietnam which Pen and I both caught while cruising the misty waters of Ha Long Bay. I caught the 'man-cold' version, which came with a fever and much coughing and snorting - enough for me to decide to take a rest day in our comfy hotel in Sapa and try to shake it off.  Fortunately Pen only caught the woman-cold version, which comes with much lighter symptoms, so she's off for the day with Josh and Laura exploring some exotic Hmong villages a few hours away. (Don't worry - although we're deep in the heart of bird flu country, I'm sure this is just a man cold!)

The upside of my sicky is that I finally got a chance to look under the hood of this baby. I discovered setting and customization tools that I was completely unaware of. Top among these is  the comments setting. I had the blog so locked up that it was virtually comment-proof! I'm hoping my reset will allow anyone who'd like to touch bases to post a comment. At least I know what to do if we start getting a bunch of hate mail! Also discovered that I could remove that quaint little border of blue sky and clouds. Haven't seem much blue sky since we arrived in Vietnam so it didn't seem relevant.

About Sa Pa and the Region

Main Street, Sa Pa

SaPa in North West Vietnam draws thousands of visitors who come to see the spectacular scenery and hill tribes of the region. It's a fairly arduous trip  from Hanoi. Trains depart in the late evening with most backpackers opting to sit up. For a few extra dollars we had a four-person cabin with sleeping bunks. Our train pulled into Lao Cai at 6.30 am and was met by swarms of shuttle bus drivers and 'fixers' offering transportation, accommodation and anything else a weary traveller might require. Josh and Laura make excellent use of  TripAdvisor for our travel and accommodation needs and once on the train Laura made a quick Skype call to the highly recommended Elysian Sapa Hotel, which offers rates of C$25 for "superior" rooms with breakfast and the one hour shuttle bus included. Our shuttle driver was waiting at the station with Josh's name professionally printed on an 8x11 sign.

Sa Pa Surroundings

During the one hour drive from the railway station into the mountains we began to see the Hmong and other hill tribe people wearing traditional clothing and regalia. Women with wicker baskets on their backs and a large hoe over their shoulder were already heading out to their terraced fields carved from the steep-sided mountains. As we drew nearer to Sa Pa, most of these women were dressed in their finery and heading uphill to join dozens of their compatriots selling handicrafts to the tourists in the town and on the surrounding treks.

Our room at the Elysian Sapa Hotel

Our third flour room boasts a large window opening onto the main street in the heart of the old town, varnished pine wainscoting and furniture, a spotless marble bathroom, wood grain flooring and very posh drapes. In my experience the same room in North America would go for between C$150 and $250 depending on the city. On the main floor there's a nicely appointed restaurant serving a mixture of local and international dishes. The nicest thing about the hotel is the delightful family who own and run it. They are exceptionally warm, caring and hospitable. It's a mom and pop operation managed by a very dapper son, Tony, who has a good command of English and knows exactly how to cater to the tastes of swarms of travellers young and old. I'll be surprised if we find such a nice room at such an economical price anywhere else on our travels in South East Asia.

Travelling Light

Recently a friend asked how we travel for 6 weeks with backpacks weighing just 10 kilos. I decided to use my response as a blog post. 

After backpacking throughout South America for 15 months with large conventional backpacks, Josh and Laura knew exactly what to look for in the choice of gear for their Asian expedition. They were determined to travel with less bulk and weight. Josh discovered the Mountain Equipment Co-op SUPERCONTINENT 45 L  met all his specs: ideal capacity; expandable if needed (we don't); padded shoulder and waist straps can be tucked away behind a zipped flap when travelling by plane, train etc; well constructed padded handles on the top and side for ease of handling; and unzipped the backpack opens completely down the centre line, thus avoiding digging to the bottom of a pile to try to find the thing you need! 

Our retirement gift from our friends the Cochran’s was two sets of Eagle Creek Pack-It System™. I sure could have used this marvellous system over the past decade of business travel! The set consists of 4 bags of different sizes and configuration to keep all your stuff orderly and easy to find. 

The picture illustrates my packing system. On the left is the Eagle Creek pack containing shirts, pants and ubiquitous FV vest. On the right lying beside the backpack is the bag containing socks, underwear and swimming trunks. (The see-thru mesh panel lets you see the contents). In the right side of the backpack, clockwise from top left, I use the Eagle Creek shoe bag for stuff like batteries, medication, extension cord (for multiple device charging) spare glasses and even my Logitech Boom Box mini speakers. In the top right is my wash kit. The blue bag contains a small quick-dry towel. Bottom right is a little hi-tech Katmandu daypack that stuffs into its own pocket and a silk sleeping bag liner in a fist-sized stuff sack. Next to that is a rain proof jacket that also stuffs into its own pocket. Finally the last of the blue Eagle Creek packs contains all my chargers and cables for the technical equipment required by a retired geek!

Packing System

The real secret to the overall light weight of the backpack is the limited wardrobe:

- 2 pair lightweight quick dry pants, one with zip-off legs

- 2 lightweight quick dry traveller's shirts with secret pockets, cooling venting etc

- 4 pair lightweight quick dry underwear

- 1 T shirt

- 1 pair swimming trunks

- 4 pair socks

- 1 pair elasticized socks for long-haul flying

That's it! Of course with such a limited wardrobe you're obliged to wash clothes every few days. In warmer climes the laundry usually dries overnight. Making do with a limited amount of stuff is very freeing, and really pays off when hiking or hoisting your bag aboard all manner of planes, boats and vehicles – especially if limited space requires travelling with your backpack on your knees.

Because our S.E. Asia trip is mostly in the tropics,  we left our fleece and toque behind to save on weight and bulk. Who knows - maybe we'll return from Bhutan the proud owners of new Bhutanese sweaters and toques!

PS: If the Eagle Creek Pack-It System appeals to you, drop in on Dan Cochran at Adventure Clothing, 1015 Broad Street Victoria. Tell him I sent ya! :-)

Cruising the 3,000 islands of Ha Long Bay

No tour of Vietnam would be complete without a visit to the iconic limestone karsts dotting Ha Long Bay and surroundings. Over 3,000 limestone islands rise from the waters of the bay, drawing thousands of tourists from around the world. Josh, Laura, Penny and I generally shy away from "tourist traps", preferring to do our own thing off the beaten path whenever possible. Nothing could have prepared us for the swarms of tourists, mostly 20-something backpackers, milling around a huge mustering station prior to boarding their choice of the 500+ junks waiting to take us out into the islands.

We had read critical reviews of some of the tour operators and conditions in the region and were thus extremely cautious in our choice, which really paid off. Thanks to excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, we chose Ethnic Travel for our three day experience. Their boats carry just 12 people plus crew, the meals are fantastic and the guides are young, smart and accomplished English speakers. Rather than learned-by-rote commentaries, the guides offered great insights into the region and its people with plenty of humour thrown in. Penny and I found ourselves surrounded and invigorated by 10 delightful young backpackers representing Ireland, England, Germany, Holland, Australia and Canada.

    

Our Ship

Our Shipmates

Our first afternoon on the water was misty, which added an extra charm to the magical scenery.     

We explored a floating village and a massive sea cave by kayak

Descriptions of the two back-to-back cruises we chose are accessible from these links. For anyone contemplating a visit to this region, we wouldn't hesitate to recommend Ethnic Travel.

                             Day 1 and 2 of our cruise experience       Day 2 and 3

Hanoi Traffic

Old town Hanoi provided one of the most frenetic city experiences I've had anywhere in the world. With 3.5 million motor scooters and survival of the fittest apparently the only rule of the road, the average western tourist has to quickly adapt … or die! The realization that every day Vietnamese parents either carry their young children out into this maelstrom as pillion passengers on their scooters or send them out as pedestrians gave me just enough faith in the system to venture forth. Eye contact with every scooter, car, truck and bus driver is essential for safe passage across the street. Local pedestrians seem to stroll aimlessly through the darting, honking traffic but westerners accustomed to crosswalks, lights and rules are fairly timid at first. 

After a couple days I became more emboldened and strode reasonably confidently across a very wide intersection at dusk. Seeing a bus and a large van bearing and blaring down on me, I decided my safest option was to scoot out of the path of the bus and into that of the van. Bad call! The van driver knew I was a lily livered foreigner and braked and honked to a halt so close that I could touch his bull bar with the hand I waved feebly in his direction as a plea for my life. My new found courage went out the window and for the duration of my Vietnam visit I'll be more discerning about the size and speed of those I share the road with. I swear I'll never again use the term 'if I'm hit by a bus tomorrow'! 

That said, despite the ridiculous volume of traffic and lack of rules, we haven't witness a single accident, except on the morning we left town when we came upon some major congestion caused when one hapless scooter driver lost a heavy hessian bag the size of a refrigerator from his pillion seat and needed the help of 3 men to place it back on the scooter!  

Note the pedestrians with the pink umbrella waiting for the right moment to walk into the fray! 

Screen shot from video of Hanoi street scene at night

Unfortunately it's not possible to upload videos to YouTube from Vietnam so the videos of these scenes will have to wait until we leave the country.

Our Aussie-Canuck Son

Breakfast of champions - Vegemite on toast  :-)

                  

Hanoi Rendezvous, March 1, 2014

Pen with our bags on the Bangkok Airport Shuttle

Our street corner rendezvous!

With Josh and Laura at our rendezvous lunch in Hanoi. Pen and I had been on the road from Melbourne for 34 hours!

New-found Cousin

A couple of years ago Aidan noticed that Robbie Burns Day, celebrated on January 25 in Canada, coincided with Australia Day, January 26 Australian time. Inspired by this discovery he decided to google his Scottish grandfather, Hugh Murdoch Brand who emigrated to Australia in 1918. One of the hits of Aidan's search was the picture to the left of my grandfather taken in 1906, part of a treasure trove of Brand family history on Ancestry.com. One of the key sources of the material was Sean Mulroy, a second cousin we'd never met living in Geelong in the state of Victoria, Australia. Sean's grandfather Tom Mulroy and my grandmother Katherine Mulroy were brother and sister. Aidan struck up a correspondence with Sean and I soon joined in. When he heard that Penny and I were planning to visit Australia in the early part of our retirement he suggested we try to meet up. Luckily for us, Sean is a truly inspired genealogist and took extraordinary measures to ensure a get-together. So it was that on our arrival at Melbourne airport, Sean and his wife Sheenagh were there to meet us. They whisked us away to a restaurant where we sat for a couple of hours catching up on generations of Brand and Mulroy family history.

 

                 Hugh Murdoch Brand

Katherine Mulroy

Sean had a file full of original photographs,  copies of historical family documents and news clippings relating to my grand parents. One of the most  interesting pieces in his collection was a slip of paper with my dad's name and address hand written on one side and a short 'family tree' hand written on the other side - in Penny's hand writing! Sean explained that he had acquired the slip from his English grandmother, and together we pieced together the background. As Penny and I headed south from Scotland after working the summer season at the John Ridgway School of Adventure in 1978, my dad asked us to call in to visit his Uncle Tom in Yorkshire. We did so and were warmly welcomed by the Mulroy branch of the family whom we had never met. During that meeting the slip of paper with dad's name and address was produced and Penny wrote out the family tree with my two brothers and I.  Now here we were seeing it again with our new-found relatives 36 years and half a world away!

Bye Bye Tasmania… :-(

After a wonderful 3 month stay in Tasmania, the day finally arrived to bid farewell to our wonderful family, friends and favourite haunts, and swing our backpacks on for the next leg of our journey. The sting of the goodbyes was dulled to some extent by the anticipation of the pending adventure. Never-the-less, the last few days of our three month visit seemed to flash by and Mum and I finally had to maintain our composure as we shared our last hug before setting off for the airport.

For months I'd bragged of my intention to travel with a backpack weighing no more than 10 kilos, with no real idea if that would be possible. When everything was finally packed I was thrilled to be able to pick the bag up with my little finger, but still not certain about its weight. The moment of truth arrived when we set the packs down on the airport scale. Exactly 10 kilos each! :-)

10 kilo bag for 6 weeks travel.

Last exit to …?

Family Reunion Recap

Hannah, Aidan, Heather, Joan, Pete, Pen, Josh, Laura

Family time during the Christmas-New Year period was a whirlwind of feasting, travelling to favourite places and catching up with friends and family. When Josh and Aidan's cousin Hannah heard that they had arrived in Tasmania for a surprise visit, along with Laura and Heather, she immediately booked a flight down from Sydney to spend a week with us, providing a rare opportunity for the cousins to catch up.  As part of Josh and Laura's attention to detail, they had booked a car for a few days to ensure that we could travel together to some of our pre-planned destinations. The cousins all travelled together in the smart mid-sized rental while Mum, Dad and Nanny followed along in the tiny Honda.

Our our waterfront rental cottage near Coles Bay

Wineglass Bay Lookout

Uncle Bill, Nanny& Penny
at the Taste of Tasmania

One of the iconic scenic spots that draws us back each time we visit Tasmania is Wineglass Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula. I first visited for a scout camp in 1961. Penny's first visit occurred a decade later, before we met, and Josh and Aidan first hiked in while we were living and working with Nanny in 1988. "Back in the day", the trail was rugged and subject to numerous wash-outs from winter run-off. A few years ago, National Parks invested in significant improvements to the trail, trail-head car park and rustic rest areas scattered along the route. This has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the erosion that the old track incurred and a huge increase in traffic. I remember walking the entire track without encountering another soul. Now hundreds of tourists arrive daily during the peak summer season. A quick Google search of Wineglass Bay Images demonstrates why this is such a tourist mecca.

The Taste of Tasmania is an annual festival celebrating the fantastic food, wine and spirits of the island state.  Constitution Dock is transformed into a monster indoor/outdoor eatery drawing thousands to sample Tasmanian culinary delights.

Christmas Week Pictures

Surprise reunion on Christmas Eve

Decorating the tree with Nannie

Back to Freycinet

Last weekend we returned to the Freycinet Peninsula for our third visit this summer. It's a magical place that holds many fond memories and seems to draw us back repeatedly.  In 1989 we shared our whale rescue adventure with friends Rod and Marguerite Scott. On our latest visit we spent a wonderful couple of days with them. By day we fished and swam, and in the evenings we regaled each other with hilarious tales of our misspent youth. What a hoot! Marguerite should have her own comedy club!! Rod knows just where to find the best crayfish and flathead and we enjoyed a delicious feast of both, cooked to perfection!

Freycinet Crays

Freycinet Flathead

Favourite Spot

Pen with Paddymelon "Rusty"

We enjoyed exploring favourite old haunts and visited favourite old friends. Andrea Cole has cared for orphaned marsupials for many years and currently has to paddymelons in her care. Having reared them with a bottle, she has now taught them both to lap their formula from a dish.

Too busy to blog!

Sorry about the long lag in the blog. After the arrival in Tasmania of Aidan and Heather on December 22 followed by Josh and Laura on Dec 24 we enjoyed a fabulous week of summer family fun, feasting on seafood and visiting favourite old haunts together. Part way through that period I created a page of pictures on the blog but for some reason the post wouldn't save. I fiddled with it for a couple of hours, even deleting the original and starting from scratch, but the wayward post just wouldn't stick. Over the past dozen years, when I ran into technical road blocks I had to persevere until the problem was resolved. In retirement I have the new-found luxury of walking away and coming back another day - so I did! All I can think of is that one or more of the pics in the troublesome post were corrupted, so I've abandoned them and edited new pics to share.

Christmas Day on Sandy Bay Beach

In 1988 when Josh was 6 and Aidan was 4 we lived with my mum at Coles Bay during her last year as proprietor of The Chateau. Nestled within the boundaries of the Freycinet National Park, the 16 acre property has a beautiful sandy beach at the front door and The Hazards mountain range rising from the back yard. The boys still savour their year of 'home schooling' in such a magical place. A couple of weeks before we returned to Canada we were enjoying a typical morning of snorkelling, collecting fish and sea horses for our aquarium. We'd keep them in the tank for a few days of close examination then release them back to the ocean. On this particular day we were surprised by some sea creatures that were rather too big for 'collection' but certainly provided ample opportunity for close examination. A pod of 80 pilot whales swam right into our corner of the beach and proceeded to strand on the sand. Thus began one of our most fascinating and memorable family adventures. Over the course of 3 days we helped the whales to return to the sea from this and a second stranding, swam with the pod, videotaped the entire sequence of events and subsequently produced a video documentary.

Coles Bay Beach and The Hazards

The spot on the beach where six-year-old Josh helped the whales escape their stranding in 1988 is the place he chose to propose to his sweetheart Laura in 2010. That same magical spot drew us all back for several visits over the past few weeks. Memories of our close encounters with the whales have remained fresh over a quarter-century and as we strolled the beach together each of us was transported back to that life-altering experience. This week's mass pilot whale stranding in New Zealand brought the memories flooding back yet again, and the eventual death of most of that pod reminded us how fortunate we were to save all but 2 of the estimated 80 whales in the Freycinet stranding.