Plevyaks in Bali

Cradle Mountain is a unique ecosystem, highly valued and adored in Tasmania. We found it to be very well managed and protected given it's popularity. The mountain (and I believe most of the island) is made of Dolomite and is quite impressive.  After breakfast, we took the shuttle into the heart of the National Park, Ronny Creek.  We were told that's where the Wombats were, but we saw more at our hotel running wild!  The hiking paths are raised to keep us off the delicate vegetation. An easy hike on the raised paths and dolomite gravel, brought us past Lake Lilla, to Dove Lake.  The views were spectacular and there is a stunning visitors center where we ate our picnic lunch, packed by the hotel.  After lunch, we hiked Glacier Rock where an Overlook platform has been built. John wanted a little more hiking, so he set off to circumnavigate the lake, Rams and I tackled the Rangers Station (movie and accessible waterfall) Mal and Gus had a well deserved rest.  W...

We are 19 hours ahead here and celebrating New Year's at Hellyer's in Cradle Mountain.  The animals are of prime importance so no fireworks, no loud music and an early night so we can see the Tas Devils tomorrow!  From the 5 of us in a Tasmanian paradise: Happy New Year's everyone!

We definitely ordered the 'Taster menu' of Tasmania.  Today we got in our awesome travel vehicle and saw some north/western sites!  First, The Cateract Gorge just a hop from our hotel.  Then a drive down the Tamar Valley (could have spent a week checking out the wineries) to Platypus House.  Special treat: one of the echidna had a puggle (baby) and they have not done a press release yet!  Cute little puff ball, could eat it up!  Then on to Lower Crackpot for mazes and miniature fantastical buildings!  Finally we made it to our cabins in Cradle Mountain and a late dinner at Hellyers.  Wombats just wander around the grounds.  I think we are gonna like it here!

We are only in Launceston for 2 days.  Today, we slept in, visited an awesome auto museum, checked out the Queen Victoria Museum, did a short boat ride to the Cateract and SAW FAIRY PENGUINS!!!! 🐧🐧🐧 They are tiny little things that come in from the ocean after night fall and sleep in burrows under the bushes.  The males 'sing' to attract a girl to the burrow they make.  It was very cold on the North Coast, but so worth it!

Today is the day we head to Tasmania! It's only an hour flight and it is domestic. As opposed to our international travel or flying in the US, the times we were asked for ID was zero.  Security, however, was more rigorous and some of our carry on bags got several runs through the X-ray machine.  In Tasmania, we picked up our wonderful vehicle, (plenty of room for 5 adults in this baby) checked into our hotel, (built out of 4 abandoned grain silos) and walked around the cute city of Launceston. (We can see our hotel from pretty much everywhere in town!). I was excited to find that the City Park had Macaque monkeys.  Then I was sad to learn they were not free roaming, but in an enclosure  (Bali expectations) Dinner at the seaport was delicious and the hotel bar knows how to make a good Martini! I like Tasmania!

On the 27th everything was finally open ..and crowded....the streets were full of shoppers as we headed out to replace Mal's Doc Martens.  The original beloved pair was worn through, and leaky.  The attempted repair was a horrible failure; the resulting Frankenboots too uncomfortable to wear. We visited 2 stores to source the replacements and that led us to an outlet mall in  South Wharf which is a hip part of town that I wish we could explore further. The boots obtained, we went to a spooky escape room at Lost in Melbourne.  It was not terribly difficult, but gave us a chance to work together (and get in a coffin). We celebrated our escape over dinner at Rice, Paper, Scissors.  Rounding out the day was a live performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the park, under the stars.  A full day and a late night!  

Melbourne is mostly closed on boxing day, and the kids were tired.  So, after sleeping in, we headed to another boathouse in another park for yummy food and views and some light rain! We then visited the Old Gaol for some spooky history and finally a terrific dinner at Old Shanghai!  Still feeling Christmay, we watched Die Hard: The Christmas movie that reminds you to treasure your family and kill anyone who threatens them...especially on Christmas!

We all slept in and enjoyed some small gifts under the tree (Gus's mom gave me DIY ugly sweater socks that I LOVE!). Since it was raining, we watched the new Percy Jackson series and Nuts! The documentary about the man who transplanted goat testicles into....you know what, I don't want to ruin it for you. When the rain let up, we went for a walk to the Botanical Garden and had hand pulled noodles.  Then back for more chillaxing.  A very nice day!

On the 23rd, Rams, John and Cyn flew to Melbourne from Perth while Mallorie and friend Gus flew in from Rochester NY.  The fates aligned and we met up on Christmas Eve morning. We took a lovely hike through Studley Park and had lunch at The Boathouse to help reset our clocks. We successfully kept Mal and Gus up until 6 pm. Leaving them to sleep at the apartment, John, Cindy and Rams saw Wonka at a wonderfully quirky mall nearby.

Perth is situated on the pretty river Swan.  We started our day with a boat trip to the adorable town of Fremantle.  I wish we could spend a week just exploring Fremantle, but lunch and an underground tour of the prison tunnels is all we have time for this trip.  The limestone tunnels were dug by UK prisoners imported to help develop the Western Australian civil infrastructure, and they provided clean water to the town of Fremantle for a long while.  Now tourists can climb down 3 floors of ladders and paddle though them for fun!  Finally we were off for a fancy dinner that we were way underdressed and a tad dirty for.

We only have a couple days in Perth so we tried to make the most of it. It is summer here and the weather was beautiful!  Locals called it hot, but we found it rather mild compared to Bali.  We started the day with a quick Segway tour around Elizabeth Quay. It was a beautiful way to wake up.  After lunch, we were picked up by mini van to go to The Pinnacles for sand surfing and star gazing.  We didn't get home until after midnight but it was a great day!  I'll post a video of the sand surfing separately on Facebook.

Mal and friend Gus arrived in Melbourne this morning.  I'll give Perth details later.  The 3 of us had a wonderful time, but nothing is better than having us all together again!  

Perth is a lovely city. We especially like the Clean Water  and Wide Sidewalks!  Our hotel/little apartment The Nesuto Mounts Bay is simple and comfortable.  Here we can drink the tap water, but what yucky tap water it is, so we are back to bottled. We had a lovely walk to and through Kings Park, followed by pizza and arcade games at The Plaza Arcade,  and finally, grocery shopping at Woolworths.  Rams got the entertainment running on the TV and we enjoyed a couple episodes ofThe Last Bus before bed.

Today marks the end of Term 2.  Ramses is officially 1/2 way through his Green School adventure and today we set off for Winter (Summer in the Southern Hemisphere) Break to Perth, Australia 🦘.  When I made these arrangements in June, I honestly could not imagine getting to this point in our trip.  There were too many unknowns and potential stumbling blocks, yet here we are.  The Villa is locked up, and we are headed for a month down under. We will keep you posted!

After 10 weeks of practice, tonight is the night!  The Sangkep is lit by bicycle power and the actors are warming up backstage!  We love live theater, especially when it's our guy involved!

It's John's birthday today!  Rams had school so the day started like any other.  But Rams also had play rehearsal until 9.  So, John and I brought a first dinner to the school at 3 and then headed to Ubud for some Art and Dinner.  First stop was the Agung Rai Museum of Art.  This was my favorite piece... "Title : Religious Ceremonies in Bali Painter:  Pande N. Wardana (1933 - 2005), Tejakula, Buleleng The distinct imagery in the paintings of Wardana has the complicity of a doubly exposed photograph. One image appears to impose one another. The forms are seen through colored prisms which fragment several moments at a time., the slot them together into one. The planes of theses flattened prisms snatch glimpses of memories, creating a dreams like quality which exposes a different reality from that provided by simple material representation. This fragmentation gives the impression of collage, of the re-ordering and sequencing of events as the spatia...

Rams and I visted the home of a family of Bantuan artists few weeks ago.  They allowed us to learn some mask making skills and then finished the masks for us. The finished masks arrived and  I happily see no evidence of Rams or my handiwork. They are amazing. They have even been given unique names: "Cunggih" for the Male Mask, and "Iluh Manik" for the Female Mask.  I love these masks and they are such a wonderful reminder of our morning with this talented family!

Rams is in the HS play and the rehearsal schedule included the last 2 Sundays.  Today, John and I dropped Rams at school and headed to Ubud.  We visited The Blanco Renaissance museum in Ubud.  Antonio Blanco is considered the Dali of Bali.  The museum is in an amazing Mansion with a garden featuring exotic birds.  We had snacks at the yummy plant based restaurant on site before picking up Rams and heading home.  Very nice afternoon!