Gorges Galore!

I was feeling rather grumpy this morning after a sleepless night from being too cold overnight in our swags yet too hot during the day but the power of music improved my mood as per usual. It’s amazing the power of a good song!
We drove past a few fantastic lookouts along the way out to Bell Gorge. 

   
I loved sitting and relaxing in the cool shade whilst I watched and laughed at everyone else struggling to get in and out of the swimming hole. That was definitely entertainment for the afternoon!

After lunch we made a quick stop at Galvans gorge – the apparent 9 minute walk (which was more like 20 minutes… Paddy’s timing can never be trusted!). A few went swimming in what looked like nothing more than a pond, it didn’t really take my fancy! Although I did manage to lose my sunglasses and with the water being so dark and murky it looks as if they’re gone forever!

Tonight we’re camping at Manning Gorge – fingers crossed it will be a bit warmer!! Then a 3 hour morning hike to see the Manning gorge tomorrow.

A night of luxury

As my time with Hannah has unfortunately come to an end our luxury night has finally arrived! We figured it’s best to end our travels on a high and that high would be a night at Crown Towers Hotel. From the minute we stepped out of the lift I was in love and it was then that I knew I was going to need to work hard to get this kind of future! 

And then we stepped into our room (that might as well have been a suite)… I thought things couldn’t get any better but it just kept surprising me! 

  

  

We decided to spend the day relaxing in the spa and my day was slightly ruined by the 30 squeamish girls waiting for a glimpse of One Direction as they were outside playing tennis and the sauna being out of action for some reason but I don’t let that get me down! How could you with a view like this…! 

  

We then headed back to our room for a relaxing dip in the tub before heading out for dinner on the promenade.    

The views from our room put my poxy house in Carlton to shame! 

     

The fly runner

Australia may not be blessed with the highest mountains like some European countries however it does have some of the oldest (which can probably explain why they’re not the highest due to the erosion over the years). Today we are visiting Cradle Mountain, most definitely the highest mountain in Tasmania – just not quite in the world.

We did a circuit walk around the lake which was approximately 5km (a lot easier without the outback heat and flies!!). We were lucky with the weather and enjoyed stunning views the whole way around the lake.

At the end of the walk we climbed up a small rock to sit and enjoy the view of the whole lake for a little while, on the way back down we seemed to have timed it with an infestation of flies.. Which of course Hannah wasn’t too happy about! I’ve never seen her squeal and squirm so much!!

On the way to Launceston we stopped off in Sheffield (no – I haven’t suddenly flown to England), a town known for it’s cherries and berries and the group had a mini competition to see who could spit the pip the furthest (delightful I know). Barbara did England proud but unfortunately it was the tour guide who won in the end… Maybe there was a reason he suggested that game!

Despite launceston being a slightly bigger town there is still little to do here in the evenings (from what we’ve found anyway) so we enjoyed a quite evening at the cinema watching Unbroken. A film about a US veteran who spent a lot of time in POW camps, it was a spectacular film but very sad (yes I did shed a few tears!) – I would recommend everyone to watch it though. Hannah and I sat opposite each other as we were almost the only people in the whole cinema!
Australian cinemas also have this groundbreaking feature that makes me mad at all English cinemas for not having!… You can lift the arm rests and stretch your legs out on the seats whenever you like!!

Lake Ohau

Some of the group went on a bike ride from Arrowtown to Kawarau Bridge however I had to go back to Queenstown to get the tag removed from my Nevis jumper to stop looking like a delinquent! Luckily Chris, our bus driver was nice enough to take me back to get this done.

We spent most of the day on the road today and ended up at the Lakeside lodge at Lake Ohau. I was lucky enough to finally get the double bed on the last night and a view to kill for!

We had a couple hours to get ready and then headed down for a lasagne dinner and a few drinks in the cosy bar…. Of course a few drinks ended in dancing on the pool table and with an ironing board but that’s just the way we roll! It was an excellent end to an excellent trip and everyone will be missed dearly!

Medellin by night

Medellin is a beautiful, buzzing city however it doesn’t seem to cater to every night if the week. It was a huge shame we were here on a Tuesday night rather than a weekend night as I don’t really feel I truly experienced a night out Medellin style. However there were still a few strange experiences…

Every building that is even slightly high rise has a beautiful view of the very large city! Our hotel did not disappoint!

Into Parque lleras for some more drinks and you can certainly tell Medellin hosts far more tourists than Ibague (not that that’s hard), not only from seeing them around but also seeing a wider variety of bars (Irish bar – always a tourist sign! And even a Hooters).
There was a sky high pool-bar with a beautiful view of the city at night that we were lucky enough to be let in quickly to have a nose around, unfortunately pictures didn’t come out well though so the memory cannot be saved.

The locals are buzzing about the “shot bar” we must visit and I’m expecting an average bar that just specialises in shots however Colombians clearly do this differently! It was more like a fast food take away that instead served shots. You ordered, drank and ordered again or left the serving area. There was a small middle area/patio which turned into a make-shift dance floor as people had progressively more shots and a great atmosphere surrounding us. They served almost any type of shots and in almost any form (Russian roulette was popular but you could even drink them from a plastic boob!!). It was a very strange place but I’m quite surprised we don’t have anything like this in England!

I forgot to mention their VERY odd branding of the two old ladies with Afros!