Christmas in Tasmania

Tue December 18- We were on a plane...the entire day!! After yesterday's flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago, we flew to Los Angeles, with a stop in Lima where we were not allowed to get off the plane. In LA we had early-morning coffee and ice-cream! Then we got onto a China Eastern flight (1.5 Yelp stars out of 5 - but we actually thought it was not bad at all) and flew to Shanghai.

Longest bag-tag ever...

Wed December 19- Another day on the plane... After crossing the international date-line we lost most of this Wednesday. We arrived in Shanghai 1.5 hour late. Surprisingly nobody of China Eastern even mentioned that we were late... But we made our connection onto the Melbourne-bound flight just fine. And after having been through quite a few checkpoints, the Chinese X-ray man found the leftover camping lighter in Maurits' pocket.

Adrian's bush retreat in Margate (with Mount Wellington in the background)

Thu December 20- Last day of travel...phew! In the Australian morning we arrived in Melbourne where we met Maurits' parents Harry and Henny. We had a celebratory wake-up coffee and together we flew the last leg to Hobart. The first landing attempt of the JetStar pilot in Hobart was aborted due to high winds... a little scary... but an additional scenic loop later we landed safely. Around 3pm, after 61 hours and flying three-quarters around the world (18,920 miles / 30,449 km) we arrived in Tasmania!

A little background on Tassie. In the 1950's a cousin (Eppie) of Maurits' grandmother (Grietje) emigrated from The Netherlands to Australia and ended up in Tasmania. Despite the distance Eppie and Grietje always kept in touch and visited each other. Maurits did an exchange year at a high school in Hobart (1997-1998) and lived with Mieneke (Eppie's daughter) during that year. Mieneke and her siblings (Fred, Stenerik and Wilma) are our parents' generation and their children are our generation. Maurits loved Tasmania which marked the start of his 'bushwalking' career. All in all a perfect place for a family reunion and outdoor activities!

Mieneke and Wilma were awaiting us at the airport and together we drove to the town of Margate. We stayed at Adrian's (Fred's son) 'bush retreat' - a lovely house in the outback. Adrian himself was not going to be home until January 2nd - he is an officer on a oil-tanker and had to work during the holidays. At Adrian's place we unpacked, had a shower and enjoyed some real (as in 'non-airplane') food made by Mieneke and Wilma. We were exhausted and went to be early to give our swollen ankles some relief! Sitting upright for days seems not so good for your circulation...

Wilma (left) and Mieneke (right)

Fri December 21- We were still pretty tired today. So apart from hanging out with the family not much happened. Our ankles were less swollen though...

LB, Maurits, Henny and Harry on Mount Wellington

Sat December 22- In the morning Wilma took us to Salamanca Market- a touristy arts and crafts market in Hobart. After a nice lunch we drove to the summit of Mount Wellington, just outside of Hobart. It was a very clear day, nice and sunny, and we enjoyed the gorgeous view. For tea (as dinner is known in Australia) we had our first Aussie barbie (bbq) at Mieneke's place in Mt Nelson.

The Tasman Peninsula with Cape Huay in the far distance

Sun December 23- We wanted to do a little internet, so we went to McDonald's. We were able to upload the blog, but other than that the internet was almost as bad as the surprisingly expensive coffee. We did our Christmas-food shopping and went for a walk around Adrian's house. More family-time as Wilma and Mieneke came for dinner.

Fishers Point at Cockle Creek

Mon December 24- We went for a walk in the morning-rain in the Margate bush. In the afternoon we prepared the appetizers for Christmas Eve Dinner and then went to Fred's place in Sandy Bay to celebrate with the entire extended family. A great family reunion!

Christmas eve - clockwise from LB (top left) - Iain, Maurits, Gary, William, Alex, Yuki, Erin, Mieneke, Wendy, Stenerik (Harry, Henny, Wilma, Fred and Liz not pictured)

Tue December 25- We had Christmas breakfast (and presents) at our place together with Mieneke, Wilma and Gary (Wilma's husband). In the afternoon we went to Stenerik's house in Grove for coffee and dessert.

The southern ocean at Cockle Creek

Wed December 26- Our first Australian bush-walk! In the early morning we drove to Mount Field National Park where together with Wilma and Gray we walked along the Tarn Shelf. A lovely alpine walk, picturesque, very open, with excellent views. Harry & Henny did an excellent job and finished the 7 hour circuit walk! They were going to be sore for the coming days... On the way home we stopped at Mieneke's place who had made a lovely dinner for us.

Bushwalkers Wilma, Harry, Henny, Gary and Maurits at Mount Field

Thu December 27- Today we went for a day-trip to Cockle Creek in the South of Tasmania, together with Gary, Alex (Stenerik's son), his wife Yuki and their 11-month-old daughter Erin. We had another nice day with plenty of sun. Since yesterday had been a hard day, we just went for an easy beach walk to Fishers Point. At the end of the day Alex and Gary did try to dig for some cockles (small clams), but only found one each- not enough for dinner... Luckily, back at our home Mieneke and Wilma had come over and made dinner - how convenient!! :-)

LB at Cockle Creek

 

Fri December 28- Another day-walk; we went to Cape Huay on the Tasman Peninsula. Unfortunately LB was sick and could not come along. Alex, Yuki and Erin had caught some potent germ and given it to LB.. With Fred, Iain (Fred's son), Wilma and Gary we walked the 5-hour return trip to Cape Huay. Beautiful coastal scenery on a lovely day! In the distance we could see some yachts from the Sydney to Hobart race. Back in Hobart, Liz (Fred's wife) had prepared a BBQ at their place in Sandy Bay.

Fred, Harry, Henny, Gary and Wilma on top of Cape Huay

Sat December 29- After some morning shopping in Hobart for our camping trip, we picked up Maurits' sister Marieke from the airport. Marieke unfortunately had to work during Christmas and therefore could not come any earlier. Back at our place in Margate we relaxed, did some grocery shopping and in the evening had a 'stampot' welcome-dinner at Mieneke's place.

Harry, Henny and LB at the docks

Sun December 30- With the 5 of us we went to the MONA (museum of old and new art) just north of Hobart. Interesting museum to say the least, nice building and location, but our verdict; too chaotic and lack of theme. After lunch we visited the Hobart docks to have a look at the Taste of Tasmania (food-festival) and the Sydney to Hobart yachts. Maybe the boats were more beautiful and 'artsy' than the stuff in the MONA :-) In the evening at our home Fred, Liz and William (Fred's son) came by to say hi and bye. William was going back to work in Perth (WA) tomorrow.

Sydney-Hobart winner 'Wild Oats' at the Hobart docks

Mon December 31- For New Year's we went to Stenerik's second home in Seymour on the East Coast (aka the Tasmanian Riviera). The house is still under construction, but there is a 'shack' (like a garage), a couple of caravans and plenty of room to camp. We arrived around 3pm, setup camp and went for a walk on the beach. Lovely place and the weather was nice! We were with quite a large group: Stenerik and his wife Wendy; Wendy's sister Jan, husband Adam and son James; Alex, Yuki and Erin; Mieneke, Fred, Wilma and Gary; and the 5 of us. We had a BBQ for dinner and sat around the 'rocket' (an old boiler converted into a campfire) waiting for midnight to arrive.

New Year's eve BBQ - clockwise from LB - Harry, Gary, Fred, Stenerik, Wilma, Mieneke, Maurits, Marieke

Tue January 1 2013 - Happy New Year!! After breakfast we packed up our stuff and went for another beach-walk. The weather was not as nice anymore; the cold wind and light rain prevented us from having a New Years day swim. We got back to the shack for lunch and after saying goodbye we drove the 3 hours back to Margate.

The beach at Seymour

 

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