Where are Brad and Karen?: Trip To Oz Is At An End

Alas, all good things must end. Or in this case, all great things.

Sadly, we bid our farewell to South Bruny Island, our new favorite place for serenity, scenery and wildlife. But not before our ritual bottle of bubbly (which we'd hauled all the way from Freycinet Vineyard ... delicious), which we enjoyed inside our cottage with our home-cooked trumpeter purchased fresh from the Adventure Bay General Store. We also finished off our Tim Tam cookies, the best on the planet.

We were so far south that the sun rose about 4:30 a.m., about the same time we did so we could pack and make the 45-minute return to the car ferry. It's a good thing we didn't dilly dally any longer, as the car ramp was hoisted just after we pulled on board.

We flew from Hobart back to Sydney, where the adventures had all begun three weeks ago. After stashing our luggage at the airport, we put our overnight essentials in our knapsacks and headed to the last touristy thing that we had run out of time for when we first arrived: A climb to the top of the anchor pylons on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Even though we'd climbed the actual bridge three weeks ago, we weren't allowed to take any photos (to prevent cameras from crashing to the roadway below), so this was a great stop for beautiful panorama shots before heading home.

Because our flight wasn't 'til the next morning, we made our way back to our friends Annette and Nick, where we did one last swim in the (very warm) Southern Ocean,barefoot jogged on the smooth sand, and enjoyed a glass of pinot over a meal of kangaroo and salad while recounting our journey.

Yes, we did say a meal of kangaroo. In Australia it's common and it's sustainable. Plus, it's lean on fat and high on protein.

While it's sad to be leaving this paradise, we are invigorated by the experiences, people and scenery that we were blessed with on this trip.

Some things we'll never forget:

The march of the ferrie penguins on Bruny Island with shearwaters circling and squealing overhead.
The howling wind (which broke Brad's sunglasses) and towering cliffs around Tasman Island.
Fresh oysters for $10 a dozen, chased by an oaky Chardonnay.
The porcupine-like echidna we saw on the trail to the Fluted Cape on Bruny Island. (To the uninitiated like us, it looks like a cross between a bunny, a platypus and a porcupine).
The symphony of birds and wildlife at sunrise every single morning.
The many stunning sunsets ... at Annette and Nick's, in the Barossa Valley, at the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, from the beach at Robe, at the Peron Sand Dunes on St. Helens Peninsula, in the shadow of the Hazards at Freycinet National Park, at Port Arthur, and The Neck connecting North and South Bruny Islands.
The feeling of isolation wherever we were in Tasmania. We weren't in the middle of nowhere ... we were on the edge of nowhere.
Sucking coffee through a Tim Tam cookie.
How cookies are "bisquits" ... and bisquits are "scones."
The generous and caring spirit and refreshing politeness of just about everyone we met.
Pot-belly stoves.
How people take time to have meaningful conversations. There's very little sense of "rush" here.
Polite drivers. They actually leave the fast lane for the fast cars.
Dry riesling, Australian style. Citrusy, minerally. And downright delicious.
Christmas carols and decorations when it was balmy warm outside and everyone is wearing shorts and sandals ... the holidays just don't seem the same to us unless it's winter.
Artisan cheeses made on small islands or small towns ... flavorful and wonderful.
Brad figuring out after two and a half weeks how to adjust the shutter speed on our new camera ... just in time for the last few days of our trip. (Manuals? Who needs 'em when you can fidget around and (eventually) figure things out?)
The bracing faceful of frigid air that greeted us at LAX ... it was just a day ago we were romping on a sun-drenched beach.
How paltry three weeks is to see such an enchanting land ... three months might come close to the time needed to see and do the things we enjoy.

Australia isn't a big country. It's a huge one. And we plan to be back to see some things that escaped us on this trip. Like the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru.

A couple more photos to show what we were fortunate to encounter:

The Ady Gil is famous for the making the fastest circumnavigation of the world ... but the day after we saw it, it was heading to Antarctica to protect whales from illegal hunts.