Our Last Stop... Tarraleah

Our last stop was probably our nicest stop actually, Tarraleah, like most places on the West Coast has such a calm and peaceful feeling. I wish I had of got a photo of all the houses that line the main street - they are all pretty much exactly the same except for  the painted colours and it looks really cool - and feels a little bit like you are on a movie set! (Well that's how I felt anyway!!) These homes are now part of an elegant wilderness resort, but they were once occupied by hundreds of hydro-electric workers building one of Australia's first hydro-electric schemes.  We didn't stay long enough to spot any of the many Tasmanian wildlife running about but they say that it's quite easy to see platypus, quolls, wallabies, wombats, devils and echidnas here. Some even say the Tasmanian tiger is about! 

This photo is to prove that Leilani is MY daughter!... Yes we both have our eyes closed!

Here we are enjoying Hot Chocolate and the best Chocolate Brownie I have ever had in the cafe at The Lodge at Tarraleah - this place was awesome and looked very high class even though we were in the middle of nowhere! There was obviously no expense spared when renovating this place as it just looks beautiful and the decor felt too nice for a cafe! They also have more than 300 wines for you to try - so we had a blast! (not). If you ever come through this way I recommend you stop in here just to have a look, and if you have a spare few hundred dollars floating around I'm sure the accommodation suites are just superb! They were named one of the best '65 new hotels in the world' and prices start from $445.00 a night - so they must be good! This place reminded me of a dream I use to have to own a boutique B&B. I had sort of forgotten about it - you know how you get carried away in day to day living - but after seeing this place the dream I once had came to life, and I started thinking about it again! Anyway.... just thoughts I guess!

So that brings us to the end of our big weekend (I bet your all glad that's over!) - but not the big week! I still have the shopping trip to blog, so that should be coming up soon! I am really grateful that we had the chance to get away from the house for a night - it's quite a refreshing thing to do and to spend 24hours together as a family was extra special for us. Yes there was lots of driving, but we enjoyed it, the kids were really good and so it was quite relaxing. Leilani had a wonderful time and we hardly even did anything - she will often talk about our little holiday and now says that she 'loves long drives!' Actually I forgot to mention at the start that before we left on the Friday Leilani said our family prayer for us and it was quite a crack up! She said "Thank you for our blessings...Thank you for mummy's primary and lesson (not quite sure where that one came from!) and thank you for our long drive!!!" 

The other funny thing she said was on our way - we were only on the southern Outlet heading into town and she says "Our holiday is really long!" I was thinking - you've got no idea mate, we aren't even nearly there yet!!!! 

Anyway, that was the Challis trip to the West Coast! 

And The Big Week Still Continues...

Like I said before, you just have to see Queenstown at least once in your life. I still remember the first time I saw it like it was yesterday, and this time it felt exactly the same. Going up the mountain and around the corner and  there it is... something you probably have never seen before in Tasmania, something you certainly wouldn't expect to see in Tasmania, and something totally different from what you have just seen - beautiful tall trees, thick bush land, and peaceful rain forests, they all lead you here... to Queenstown! Historically it was a mining town, hence all the nothingness! The rock and mountains are still amazing though, and have this slight pink and grey colour to them with blues and greens coming through as well. It was quite wet when we drove through and Leilani was quite excited about all the waterfalls running down the mountain. Micks highlight was finding the famous 'gravel football ground' and the old theatre (long story to that one!) and Emily loved the swing at the park we stopped at for lunch on the way back! 

The Big Week Continues...

Strahan, a place to remember. This jetty was our first stop for the day and Lani was very excited to go out on it because she was looking at Daddy's computer just the night before and saw a picture of a jetty on it, so it was extra special!

Leilani had a fantastic time taking her very own photos!

Some would say it's a long way to drive to go to a park, but as you can see Leilani thought it was worth it! Strahan Park was our second stop for the day!

Piners Punt is a beautiful little spot to take some photos. The town centre of Strahan and Macquarie Harbour is in the background. It was the Huon Pine, which was ideal for shipbuilding because of it's superb fine grain which brought the first Europeans to Macquarie Harbour. We could have sat here all day it was so beautiful and peaceful and surprisingly not as cold as we would have thought.

No trip to Strahan is complete without a drive to Ocean Beach. Its 6km west of Strahan on gravel road but well worth it. Leilani wasn't too keen on the bumpy road until Daddy started going through the big puddles splashing water all over the car. Then we couldn't keep her quiet, she kept asking "When can we go back on the bumpy road?" Mick loved driving out bush, I think he thought he was a rally driver! Ocean Beach is Tasmania's largest beach, being 40km long and the huge waves crashing in haven't hit land since Patagonia, Argentina. I had a bit of a look, but nope I couldn't see South America!! Last time I was up this way Dad took us for a drive along the beach - I think I even did some donuts, but we were happy leaving the car in the car park this time!

Leilani took this photo of her Mum and Dad... Ok not really, I just photo shopped me in!