Friends Are the Flowers in the Garden of Life

G'Day!  When Rob and I decided to move to another country, one hope in the jar of hopes we held was to provide a vacation destination for friends and family while we lived afar.  Mike and Jess Apostle were the second couple of friends to make the long trip out to visit us.  Rob met Mike and Jess while studying Emergency Medicine in Florida; a good eleven years of lasting friendship.  This couple are the type of people who define the saying, "the salt of the earth".  Not only are Rob and Jess salt enthusiasts, but their friendship has been of great worth and above all, reliable.  After leaving their 21 month-old boy at home with his great aunt, Mike and Jess flew from Denver to LAX, LAX to Sydney and Sydney to our little Hobart Town.  Their first day in Hobart was meant to be relaxing and hopefully acclimating... Soon after Mike and Jess arrived, we headed home with a stop at the Saturday Salamanca market for a little shopping. Why not get this holiday started?  It was so good to have these folks finally near.

Jess and I along the streets of the Salamanca Market

Rob and Mike, less interested in shopping, found themselves outside a reasonable establishment for refreshments

On our back porch at home with our friends. Cheers! Bubbles along with a big, "Welcome to Hobart!"

Honestly, its surreal to have familiar faces in our new home.  Cute faces too!

Mike and Jess were in Australia for ten days.  We had a lot to see and do with little time.  Our objectives were to enjoy several parts of the country and Australian culture.  While in Hobart for four days, Rob and Mike golfed while Jess and I went for long dog walks, exercise classes or shopped.  We visited two wineries for tasting, our favorite meat pie bakery, the wicked cheese factory, Port Arthur Penitentiary, William McHenry and Sons distillery, the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park and we dined with our great friends, Dave and Annette, Darren and Martina and Greg and Alicia (of course) at their home.  I'll let the pictures do some talking.

It goes without saying that Maggie was very excited to see her Aunt Jess.  Jess and Mike have been in Maggie's life as long as Rob has...

Hobart welcomes our friends after a long journey

Jess took this lovely morning picture.  She had difficultly with jet lag and found herself wide wake around 5am almost every morning she was in AUS.

Maggie sleeps in Rob and I's room at night but heard Jess awake in the morning and knew she needed company while everyone else slept.

The mornings have cooled down here in Tassie but in the sunshine, our back patio is nice for coffee and reading.

Another picture that Jess took in the early mornings; Maggie on her lap and our "I love Tasmania" coffee mug.

We had great weather for a "guys only" bike ride

"Girls only" dog walks (big sunglasses are required)

Jess, Maggie and I enjoying a morning walk

Rob and I think the best meat pies are made at the Richmond Bakery.  All US citizens must go through the bakery and be spoiled.

Everyone gives the "Doyle point" to officially deem something as worthy, mouth watering food.  The before picture...

The after picture :)

Selfie in front of one of the oldest functioning bridges in the world; dated 1825

We made a quick stop into the Wicked Cheese Factory.  Their slogan says, wicked on the lips, wicked on the hips!

This is the cellar door of Pooley Wines in Richmond.  Wine tasting!

Cheers!

While driving through Richmond, we make a stop at the Coal Valley Winery

Coal Valley Winery has a breath taking view from their tasting room

We shared wine, tasting notes and opinions.

Thanks Coal Valley for a great experience!

Rob and I don't notice the wildlife road signs anymore but Jess was getting a kick out of them

Potoroo crossing

These pictures are mostly from the first full day that Mike and Jess were in Hobart.  We spent a good part of the day in Richmond as you have seen.  The next day we all drove out to Port Arthur to check out the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, William McHenry & Son's distillery and the Port Arthur Historic Site (Penitentiary).  Later that night, after dinner, we met up with Darren and Martina to share a beer in honor of St. Patrick's day.  It was a full and fun day.

Action Shot!
Rob and I are excited to see the Tasmanian Devil Conservation

These devils were so curious and sweet.  You could almost reach out and touch them... although I wouldn't recommend it.

There are over twelve devils who live at this conservation

A contagious oral tumor has taken the lives of many T. Devils almost to the point of extinction. The conservation was established to maintain the species through the tumor epidemic and they've done a good job of it.

No mouth tumors here!

Along with T. Devils, this park is home to kangaroos.  We had the opportunity to get up close and personal!

Here we are, just petting a kangaroo!

The Apostles decided to really relax with this guy.  Slowly but surely, Mike & Jess laid down with a kangaroo.

Rob and I decided to just pat them instead :)

Taking a nene (nap) while we walk around them. Crazy!

American Friends, this is a potoroo.

William McHenry and Sons Distillery.
This is where the distilling magic happens.
Rob has been here several times with Bill to learn the art of distilling.  Bill has been wonderful in teaching Rob the craft.

Rob and Mike are dreaming... one day... maybe...

On William McHenry & Sons distillery property, up on the left hand side of this picture is the shack where Bill stays while distilling single malt whisky. To the right of the picture is Bill's natural spring, where he gets his fresh water for distilling.

Bill took us out to his natural spring.  Within the ring you see, the freshest of fresh water bubbles up and is piped down to his distillery!

Within the main shed, production is happening.

It was neat to see what all goes into running a distilling business.

William McHenry (Bill), master distiller and owner, with Mike and Rob. Did I already say that Bill is a great guy?

We are visiting the Port Arthur Penitentiary in this picture.  Most of the buildings have crumbled over time but enough remains to give you an idea of what prison life was like so many years ago.  Port Arthur is known to be where the worst of the worst criminals were sent for imprisonment.

A massive church stands on the Port Arthur grounds, providing an opportunity of redemption for the damned.

Inside the church walls... many "fire and brimstone" sermons were given in this space.

Mike and Jess stand on the lower level of the Port Arthur hospital.  Above them, hospital beds are suspended to give an idea of how the building once looked.

That night we took Mike and Jess to one of our favorite Indian restaurants in town. Give the curries and naan the Doyle point!

Maggie had to stay home all day and was very happy to see Jess at the end of the night.

Darren made sure that Maggie had an Irish hat to wear for St. Patrick's Day.  The hat was on her head for 3.2 seconds.

The last full day in Hobart was a local day as the boys did some golfing and the girls did more dog walking and shopping.

Pre-golf breakfast with small lattes and massive coffees

Jess and I took Maggie to the beach for ball throwing however it ended up being a very windy day

Maggie did not mind the wind

Action shot of me chucking the ball for Maggie

This wind is blowing Maggie's ears up and tongue side ways.  We went home early to avoid sand getting in her eyes and ears.

We were treated to dinner that night at Greg and Alicia's house.  While Alicia made a gorgeous three course meal, Greg paired wines with each dish.  It was a wonderful and tasty experience!  We appreciate the time and effort they both put into that dinner and it's one of our favorite meals of the trip.  Alicia's sister and husband (Zoe and Phil) joined us that night as well!

First course: creamed goat cheese with poached pears and crusty bread... and a rose wine

Second course: Grilled salmon with fennel and green salad with this amazing vinaigrette that Alicia made... and red wine.

Dessert course: bread pudding souffle with cream or ice-cream (or both).  I could eat this every hour of every day for the rest of my (short lived) life.  YUM!

Unfortunately Greg is not in this picture but cheers to Greg and Lissie for such a great meal!

Time to leave Hobart and start our adventures on the mainland of Australia.  We all packed up and flew to Queensland, we grabbed our rental car and spent just one quick night in Brisbane.  The next day, we stopped in to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary before driving down to Byron Bay for the afternoon and evening.  After Byron Bay (and a golf game for the guys) we continued down the coast to Coffs Harbor for a quick nibble and on to Port Macquarie for our last night on the road.  We ended up in Sydney for the last few days of our trip together.

One more walk before we leave for the airport.  The black and white dog belongs to our gardener, Michael.  The dog's name is Smokey and he was happy to take a walk with us girls.  Michael always brings Smokey along for a day in the garden.

Jess saying goodbye to Maggie right before we go.  Maggie is going to miss her Aunt Jess.

Now in the heart of Brisbane, we find a place to wet our whistle!

The guys.

A nightly view of Brisbane as we walk through the city.

Espresso martini night cap

While walking back to our hotel, we come across these metal creations.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

We collectively took probably a hundred pictures of koalas while at the sanctuary but I won't over load the blog with all of them...

Surprising enough, the koalas were awake and active during the day here.

This kangaroo exhibit allowed us to feed kangaroos! It was great!

This kangaroo was holding onto Jess's wrist while it nibbled from her hand.

They are sweet animals

The kangaroos varied in size

A few of the kangaroos had joeys in their pouches

American Friends, this is a wombat

A much too brief stop in Byron Bay.  This beach community is a place I'd like to revisit some day...

The guys were (you guessed it!) golfing while we, ladies walked the beach in Byron Bay.

While we walked the beach, a surfing lesson was taking place (I don't have a picture of the class but it was cute to see).

Byron Bay has streets lined with shops and restaurants... all leading back out to the beach

This is Coff's Harbor, our quick stop to stretch our legs.
We were driving about eight hours each day down the coast.

Coff's Harbor

Coff's Harbor

This is Port Macquarie, the view from our hotel!

Port Macquarie

Port Macquarie

Port Macquarie

Four days on the road and we finally drove into Sydney!  We arrived about mid afternoon, relaxed a bit then got dressed up for The New Palm Court Orchestra (featuring Eugene Friesen) at the Sydney Opera House.  We listened to this awesome nine piece orchestra in one of the smaller venues within the opera house.  We were very close to the musicians and their instruments, and were provided an intimate musical experience!  The following day in Sydney, we took the harbor ferry over to Manly (a suburb of Sydney) to watch our first rugby game.  We cheered for the home team, the Manly Seahawks, as they beat the Parramatta Eels.  Sometimes we didn't know what was going on during the game, we took clues from the fans and either cheered or booed for our team.  Our last full day in Sydney had the guys golfing and girls shopping.  It was a rainy day in Sydney so we made an effort to relax before Mike and Jess's long trip home the next day.

While the guys return the rental car, Jess and I walk along the Sydney Harbor... to see the Opera house!

Sydney Opera House without Suz and Jess selfie

The guys are looking good for the orchestra!

Lipstick and high heels night!

Sydney Harbor Bridge

In the opera house and awaiting the orchestra performance

View from inside one of the peaks! Wow!

Our ferry leaving the Sydney Harbor.  Get ready for great pics!

The girls armed and ready with our cameras

The Manly Wharf where our ferry arrived

Go Manly! Just outside the rugby stadium 

Rob collects the tickets from will call 

Go Manly!

Manly's newest and biggest fans...

Our ferry ride back to the Sydney Harbor

Classic Pic

Another Classic Pic

While in Sydney, Rob and I stopped twice into Starbucks for a taste of home.  We miss Starbucks!

Shopping in Sydney while it drizzles on us

The four of us watched this cruise ship set sail before grabbing one last dinner together in Sydney

We waved goodbye to the cruisers while enjoying a glass of wine

Parting is such sweet sorrow, we all went to the airport the next day.  It was time for Mike and Jess to get home to their toddler and us to our Maggie.  I guess we all needed to get back to work as well ;)  Seeing this much of Australia with good friends was a great blessing.  We made some fun memories but my favorite things were just laughing, talking and being near each other.

Back at home, Maggie was ready for belly scratching - to help console her over Jess being gone again.