Day 3 (Part Two) Hobart, Tasmania

After our spectacular picnic lunch and a little more exploring of Port Arthur, our road trip continued along an incredibly scenic route towards Hobart, Tasmania's capitol city.  With the background of a an incredible ocean view, it was my turn to be interviewed for our road trip section.

As usual, Rob shared a delightful tour of the countryside as we passed by poppy fields. sheep pastures, and many other rural sights all the while learning many Aussie sayings like "She'll be apples" or "tall poppies."

In Hobart, the second oldest city in Australia after Sydney, we checked into our own suites at the Henry Jones Art Hotel , a dedicated five-star art hotel showcasing the work of Tasmania's finest local artists. The one-time jam factory has been transformed into a waterfront, suite hotel. What a fascinating place!

Dinner this evening was a feast for all our senses at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

After our private tour of an Aboriginal Exhibit Area we headed upstairs to the Antarctic Hall where we were greeted with champagne and appetizers served on plates designed based on ice floes while we listened to the director of this exhibit talk on Tasmania's expeditions to the Antarctic. After touring more of the museum we arrived at our private setting with the most exquisite table setting surrounded by tapestries and our own private string quartet playing for us while the chef served a  4-course scrumptious entree accompanied by wines from local vineyards. At one point, six gentlemen from our entourage joined us in a dance to the music of the quartet.  How elegant!  After a private tour of the vaults where the DNA of the extinct Tasmanian Tiger are stored, we were led to another of the art galleries for a three-course dessert.  Here was another exquisite table setting for the six of us with a harpist playing and signing for us while we marveled about our magical day.

Day 3 (Part One) Tasmanian Road Trip Continues

On Thursday, December 9, 2010, we awoke very early to the beautiful sounds of birds signing and a fantastic view of the bay and mountains. The girls came over to join Ev and I on our balcony porch at about 5:00 am.  We didn't want to waste one minute of this amazing resort in the Tasmania's World Heritage wilderness.  I enjoyed a spa bath with an awesome view of this serene bush setting before a lavish buffet breakfast where we were treated, thanks to Leslie,  to Vegimite served "the right way" on toast with lots of butter - and it wasn't that bad! We were very sad to leave our hosts Ken, Rosemary and Jorgie, but the grand southern ocean was beckoning.

So off we drove to Eagleneck dock to board Robert Pennicott's boat (see Robert Pennicott Cruises) to see an abundance of marine wildlife (Albatross, humpback whale, Gannets, dolphins,seals and more) and towering sea cliffs (some 1,000 feet high and the highest in the southern hemisphere)!  This cruise was totally awesome!

We landed at Port Arthur Historic Site http://www.portarthur.org.au/.  Port Arthur was a penal colony in 1804 as the first settlers in Australia were convicts from Great Britain  Jake led us on a guide tour of the refurbished grounds and 30 buildings and ruins to a hillside picnic catered by one of Tasmania's renowned chefs, Rodney Dunn, Agrarian Kitchen were we feasted on lobster rolls, snapper, abalone and fresh salads and of course champagne and wines to accompany our delightful lunch.

More on this second day of our Tasmanian adventure tomorrow.

Day 2 Our Road Trip in Tasmania Begins

On Wednesday, December 8, 2010, after a scrumptious buffet breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sidney, we were off to the airport for our 2 hour flight to Hobart, Tasmania.  We waited in the Qanta's VIP lounge with three of our guides, Rick Cosgrove from Event Architects in Chicago, and Matthew Cameron-Smith and Leslie Neil from Tourism Australia and ID Australia.  As we deplaned, there on the tarmac were two cars awaiting to surprise  us on our own private road trip of Tasmania.  We were also met by Ruth Dowty, the wonderful representative from Tourism Australia who had arranged this incredible tour for us, who had "fought" for us to come there on a road trip after seeing the original show! Wow!

We then split into two cars with our drivers Rosemary for Cathy, Mary and Peggy's car and Rob for Deb, Ev and me. We drove to a remote beach parking lot for our driving lesson as the Aussies drive on the other side of the street.  Here we met up with our Harpo producer, Veronica Votypka and our camera and audio crew. Andrew, Adam, Mike, Paul and Peter. As Cathy was having her driving lesson, she bumped into a log while trying to navigate a sharp turn and missing slightly. After we all checked out the damage and finished up our lessons we were off to Port Arthur along the magnificent, scenic roads of the Tasmania Paradise - only the beginning of our grand exploration of this land of natural beauty and diversity. We drove along the beautiful shores of the Tasman peninsula to Stewart's Bay Lodge Stewart's Bay Lodge, First night in Tasmania . From the web site you can see how truly picturesque this piece of heaven was. In this tranquil bush setting, at Taylor's Restaurant, we had a delicious dinner prepared for us by the countries best regional chef, Steve Cumper after a cocktail party by the fires where a rainbow appeared for us. We were entertained by Cary Lewincamp and his wonderfully reflective compostions.  I cannot put into words the flavors of Rock Oysters, Abalone, two kinds of lamb and the wines and much more! delicious beyond description. What a marvelous gourmet dinner.

Then it was back to our luxurious  2 bedroom deluxe spa cabins with a fully stocked kitchen, living room and balcony overlooking the bay.  What a magnificent day.

A message from Linda via her sister Anne

Hello All,
   Linda and her friends are having the most outstanding time Down Under!  She has contacted me via phone  3 times already and wants me to let you all know she is enjoying every minute of her days in Australia, but does not have one minute free to BLOG.  The 6 gals were selected to go to Tasmania were they have been treated like royalty.  They have an entourage following them around and filming (once again) their road trip.  They have had a picnic on 1000 ft cliffs being feed by the best of chefs, museums closed for their private viewing, serenaded by live music at dinner!  They just finished a helicopter ride to a vineyard in Tasmania with Gayle King.  Last night they had a cocktail party with Oprah as they joined back with the other 300 guests. Today they headed out for a beautiful cruise around Sydney Harbor.
This was a quick update,  Linda apologises for not keeping you all posted, but she will have many stories to tell when she gets back.  She loves the trip and says the Ausie's hospitality is the BEST.
Anne

Day 1, Sydney

G'Day Mates!!  We have arrived in Sydney and it is absolutely amazing!! They rolled out the "Red Carpet"(literally) for us and we are in awe of the hospitality and the beautiful sights and sounds of our 5 star hotel and surroundings.  We had a welcome reception with buffet lunch, divided into smaller groups where we found out where our 4 day excursion would take us.  More on that later as we have to keep it under wraps due to the intensive media coverage...the airport coverage was wild! 

In the afternoon, the groups broke up and some of us went on a walking tour and some of us went to the Sydney Opera House.

At five, we all met in the lobby to take a harbor cruise with appetizers and cocktails over to the Taronga Zoo where we had a private tour of the zoo. We had our pictures taken with a Koala Bear and then a cocktail and buffet dinner during sunset overlooking Sydney Harbor!!

As you can see, we do not have much down time!!  Every moment is filled with an eloquent adventure and to end our first day, we had to pack for our next 4 day personal excursion!!  Details on that later...stay tuned!

watching you

Hi Linda, I saw oprah tonight, getting a reward of some kind with obama.( tues night)

Tomorrow!

All packed, checked-in, boarding pass printed and ready to go!  Now, IF I can figure out how to use my new phone to create blog entries, you'll be hearing more about our trip of a lifetime.  Thank you, Oprah.