Moca's Blog

WebDU Day 2

Honestly today my head was a big mash potato container. WebDU had a nice banquet after the sessions and Microsoft sponsored an open bar after that. Enough said...

I missed Ted Patrick's keynote on Flex which is a bummer but attended a few sessions in the afternoon including Greg Rewis which was great. The conference is over but we went to a Bavarian Pub in Sydney that was very good until about 11pm when the management decided not to serve us anymore. We are not sure if it was the number of Schnapps shots we had or the Twitter exchange on the table between Mike D., Chambers and Ted...

WebDU Day 1

After Melbourne I left John alone on the road back home and got on the plane to Sydney for the Aussie Web Conference WebDU. The conference is on its 5th year and this is my second. It looks much more mature this year, the venue is much better and everything is running really smoothly.

Mike Chambers and Mike Downey opened with their keynots on Apollo and some sneak preview on Flash CS3. I watched Ted Patrick's session so far. He showed how to build a simple flex app from scratch good enough to convince me that I need to get my mind around Flex soon enough.

The Road to Tasmania - Last Day

We arrived in Melbourne around 7am and Ken and Chris decided to take the shorter way home and go back on the road. JOhn and I stayed here for a night which gave me a litle more time to check out this city. I LOVE IT. The coast reminds a bit of Rio, Chappel St. reminds me of Miami and the total vibe reminds me of San Francisco. I would not mind living here for a while We could not find any decent accommodation because of the swim competition but we got a pretty nasty apartment in a very nice neighborhood called South Yarra and had dinner at a suburb called Carlton that was very nice :)

This day pretty much ends our Tasmania adventure :( John and I agree it was fun and good roads to ride. Maybe some areas is a bit oversold and we had a bit higher expectations or maybe we just did not get to go to the hidden places. Overall it was an incredible adventure and some great quality time for us.

The Road to Tasmania - Day 12

Last day in Tasmania before we get back on the Ferry but we could not leave before checking out the Tasmania Devils. Next door of the hotel there was a private held place where they have about 8 devils they study and take care of. Those bloody things are kind of cute and kind of ugly but pretty unique.

For AUD 25.00 you get a nice background about these animals, pet them and watch them get fed.

From there we had some time to kill before going back to Devonport so we decided to check out the Chocolate Factory. Yummy...
Back on the ferry we got smart this time and made reservations to the restaurant early enough t avoid eatin the not so nice buffet food.

The Road to Tasmania - Day 11

hhmmm.. the chateu buffet is not all that but we got a feed :)

The main thing to do here is walk and for a good reason. These mountains are pretty unique and some of the formations only found in 3 places in the world. We took the AUD10 bucks shuttle that takes you to the beginning of the National Park where you can chose which walk to do. You have a choice between 20min, 2-5 hours, full day or even a 7 day walk! We chose the 2 hours around Lake Dove. You can see the Cradle Moutains from there and it was pretty amazing. Highly recommended.

The Road to Tasmania - Day 10

We could not wait to get the hell out of New Norfolk. If it wasn't for the guys at Titan it would have been a waste of a day. The plan today was to get to Cradle Mountain for 2 nights but we then realized we wanted to check out a place called Strahan which makes the ride to the mountains longer since it takes the west coast road. Ken and Chris took the shorter run and we split up for the day.

John and I left about 8am and it was bloody freezing and wet. We rode in the rain for a while but if the day was warm, some of those roads would have been fantastic. They are VERY VERY curvy, speacially the last 100km before arriving to a town called Queenstown. Later in the day when the rain stopped, we got to Strahan and there was a bit of road over these orange mountains that was the highlight of the day.

We had lunch in Strahan by the water and the town looks very cute. It would have been nice to stay there for a night. From Strahan it takes about 2 hours to Cradle Mountain. We are staying at a place called Cradle Mountain Chateau. The standard rooms are pretty basic but pricey, AUD 226.00. Again we did not have much choice of accommodation around this area for less.

Not sure what to do here yet. There are many walks and hikes and the area is very "foresty" as expected... too bad they only have dial-up connection here..apparently we are too remote for broadband.

The Road to Tasmania - Day 9

We left Margate to try to find a place to stay in Hobart but still no luck. There was absolutely no accommodation which was a big bummer. We found a place about 40 minutes away in the country side called New Norfolk.. a friend of ours had advised not to go there but we had no choice. Besides the fact that there is nothing really there and the only local food place was pretty nasty, the hotel was quite good and cozy but expensive for the town it is located (AUD 215.00!!).

Because of the mechanical problem yesterday we needed to find a Harley dealer but interestingly enough there are none in Hobart only in Launceston. It turned out to be a great thing. We found a bike shop called Titan in a suburb called Moonah. The guys there are top niche! They fix and build custom bikes and have a nice showroom. Sean and his wife run the place and they took care of us so well. Thanks a lot Sean! You guys rock.

The Road to Tasmania - Day8

Unfortunately we mixed up the plans and got back on the road instead of staying in Freycinet for another day. We really did not have a chance to explore 1/2 of the place. The area offers many activities like cruises around the island, kayaking, biking, wine tasting, etc.. I was heart broken to leave...but I did get to say good bye to the wild life that came right into our varanda in the morning.

We kept going south with plans to stay in Hobart stopping in Port Arthur to check out the famous historic place. The ride was quite boring but once you get to the port you understand why you need to go there. That place is full of history. It was one of the main places the convicts were sent and spent their sentences for the most ridiculous crimes during the 1800's. The area is quite large and they said it can take 2 days to fully explore all the buildings and understand all the history behind it. We thougt we would do that later in life when we are a bit older and get the headlines for now and get the hell out of there. Chris and I agreed there was a bit of a strange vibe in the air. That could also be because this area was the location of a massacrer about 10 years ago.

We have been calling around since breakfast to find accommodations in Hobart with no luck. Zero. At this point we had no place to stay. Finally we agreed to try a B&B further down from Hobart about 20 minutes west at a town called Margate.

We rode for another 1 1/2 when John and I had a mechanical issue in the middle of the highway and John did a great job repairing the bike just enough to get us by for the next day or so until we find a Harley Shop.

The B&B was tricky to find but it was worth it. It is on the top of a mountain and the owners were very nice people. They even had a poney! The rooms for AUD150.00 were so clean and nice with such attention to every detail... we were very surprised to find such a place to spend the night after this long day. I can't wait for their breakfast tomorrow. I heard it is "scrumptious"!

The Road to Tasmania - Day 7

I have one word to describe today: FREYCINET. Just kidding, I have a few more....
We left in the morning and took a kind of boring road for a couple of hours but when we hit the North East coast it was good all the way south. The ocean color has a blue we have never seen before and in contrast with the most beautifull white sand.

Our goal was to stay around an area called Coles Bay. Problem is this area even though it is a paradise is has not been totally comercialized so accommodations are tricky. We found a place called Freycinet Lodge that was crazy expensive so that was out but lucky the only other hotel/resort in the area called The Edge of the Bay had 2 perfect rooms with the most incredible view of the ocean, the national forest and 3 wonderful mountains. We could not have asked for more.

A quick stroll to the beach and you can hop between mini beaches connected by these very cool rocks. This has been totally the highlight of this trip for me.
The hotel also has a top restaurant and the fresh catch was one of the best fish dinners I've ever had.

The Road to Tasmania - Day 6

Today we finally sleep in and well. Honestly I expected more about Launceston...we did check out the Cataract Gorge but we were too lazy to hike around the mountains. We probably missed most of it by only taking the chair lift and walking along the bridge.

After dinner we went to an Irish Pub that had some really great live band and young people hanging out. It is Tuesday after the long weekend so only the real hard core party dudes were out.

In general nothing much to say about today besides the fact it was a nice relaxing day off.