Camille’s Big Adventure

  Getting around Sydney was as no surprise a huge pain. I ended up picking up dad from the museum so he could check into our airbnb while I circled the block and waiting for a parking space. After the long and arduous journey, I was stoked to finally get to hang out with everyone. The crew is Mom, Dad, my mom’s sisters (Chris and Pat), and my brother Anson. We got a late lunch at a Thai place down the street and hung out in the Airbnb. Everyone was pretty exhausted so we ended up mostly hanging out before an early bedtime for all the overseas travelers.   The next morning we took the train to the ferry terminal and took the boat across to Manly. The ferry ride was gorgeous and we were able to pass the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. In Manly we went to a fabulous bakery, Nonnas, before going for a nice afternoon walk along the coast. We had some yummy gelato before heading back on the ferry towards downtown. We walked back towards our hotel through the botanic gardens bef...

  I landed back on the mainland in the early hours of the morning. I stopped for a coffee and some snacks before beginning my journey towards Sydney. Along by drive I stopped at this beautiful rock structure called Organ Pipes which is a rock structure that looks like a bunch of tubes laying vertical across a canyon. I continued my journey with a few hikes and ended in Kinglake National Park. I spent 2 nights there, most of which I was camped out in an incredible restaurant working and enjoying good food and chatting with locals.   After King Lake I headed south along the coast. I stopped along the journey at Raymond island, taking the ferry over to the koala trail where I walked a path that had 15 wild koalas living along it. I saw lots of other wildlife as well like Tawny Wide Mouth birds which were sleeping in the trees and almost looked like a branch.  I intended on staying in a campground near Raymond island, but unfortunately I couldn’t find a suitable spot and ...

  Next I drove north to Lake St Clair. It’s a beautiful lake in the mountains. It’s the final destination of the overland track which is a 7 day hike people do from cradle mountain to st Clair. The visitor center is full of people returning from their long journey looking g tired and happy and ready to be back in civilization. After a short walk I went to a nearby lodge to work and sit by the fire into the evening which was lovely.   The next morning I got up early and took a boat across the lake. They will drop you off on the far side so you can walk back which was a lovely use of my day.  The clouds were low in the sky and the peaks around the lake were totally hidden by the dense fog. It was cool and quiet as I walked along the mossy trail stopping to enjoy creeks and trees and sitting by the edge of the water. Another lovely day.  The next morning I got up slow and headed towards Ulverstone, stopping at a few hikes along the way. My final stop was this litt...

  My final destination with Quentin was the Gordon dam. We drove an hour from Mt. Field west into the mountainous western region of Tasmania where we stopped along the way to climb a mountain (The needles) and do a few smaller walks. The needles was a steep climb up to some marble (?) stones that jutted out from the tops of the mountains. Looking almost placed on top of the buttonwood fields. One of the walks was called the Creepy Crawly walk. It was a beautiful short walk along a boardwalk in a dense nothofagus forest. The trees were so large and dense that very little light reaches the forest floor. Everything was covered in mosses and mushrooms the diversity of which I have never seen before. I saw orange mushrooms that seemed to burst from the dense moss like flames. Bright red mushrooms that looked like cherries along the path. Mossy green mushrooms hid below logs and small chestnut brown mushrooms lined the trunks of trees. A pale fungus looked like coral reef at the base of ...

 After Maria island I hit the road to Mt Field to meet back up with Quentin for a few days. I arrived well after dark but was delighted to find a roaring fire to take the edge off the 0 degree (32 F) weather and warm dinner of potatoes and sausage. We caught up on our adventures for the past few days over the fire. In the morning we decided to make it an easy day and did a series of short (40 minutes to 3 hour) walks in the lower part of the national park. The forest had lots of magnificent 70m (210ft) eucalyptus trees that towered over the forest with short fern trees underneath. We saw a bunch of beautiful waterfalls and enjoyed a leisurely day. When we returned to our camp in the afternoon we were approached by a man, who asked us about our day and future plans in a very leading way. I hesitantly answered his questions until I discovered he and his wife were looking for a ride up the mountain the next day. They are in a motor home and the road to the alpine area i...