Tasmanian Adventure

This is about my Tasmanian Adventure!

MONA

 

Day 1 We arrive in Tasmania and see MONA




TJ's pulse lights the bulb

The lights follow TJ's heartbeat
 

See "youth" spelled in water

Today we just arrived in Tasmania.  We are going out to rent our car.  Now we are in the car.  We are going to a museum.  The museum is called MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art.  We saw a real tomb.  We also saw water in the form of words.  We saw many more things, but no time to tell you all of them.  That day we had a nice dinner.  I got two new games on the iPad and had a hard time falling asleep.

Day 2  Salamanca Markets and Port Arthur

Salamanca Market

TJ  at Port Arthur

Today we are going to Salamanca Markets.  Salamanca Markets are a place where you can buy a lot of things like food and clothes for a good price, for example, like Paddy’s.  We also went to Port Arthur where we went on a short boat ride.  We saw the ruins and found out that children as young as 9 years were sent to Port Arthur.  The normal age was 14-17 years old that you would be sent there.  We had a fun time and slept well.



Port Arthur

In the ruins at Port Arthur

Day 3  Cruising on the Tasman Peninsula and Swansea



Cruising the Tasman Peninsula

Totem Pole in Tasman Peninsula

Today we went on a cruise on the Tasman Peninsula and we saw Devil’s Kitchen, The Blowhole and the Tasman Arch.  When we came back, I had a delicious and flaky meat pie.  On the way to Swansea, we came across a beautiful beach with stripes of water and sand.  An hour or two later, we discovered a berry farm called Kate’s Berry Farm and had some delicious berry pies and a chocolate fish for me.  A while earlier, we found a beach called the 7 mile (8.6 kilometres) beach.  I had fun making a fortress on the sand.  We had a fun time and enjoyed our journey so far.

Day 4 Freycinet Peninsula

Wine Glass Bay

Today we are going to Freycinet Peninsula.  Now we are hiking to the lookout over Wineglass Bay.  A little while into the hike we come across a waterfall.  We had a little bit of a hard time getting up to the lookout.  When we did get to the top, it was worth the walk.  We saw the glasslike water and pearly and soft looking sand.  We saw a crack in the rock and I had a look at the inside and in the crevice there was a drop then the rock came up again later on.  We went back to our car.  The walk back was fun and easy.  We also went to a lighthouse.  We had lots of fun and did a few videos.

View from Lighthouse of Freycinet Peninsula

Tim, TJ & Vickie at Wine Glass Bay

Day 5 TasMAZia and Sheffield and Railton

Today, my Dad has a surprise for me.  I wonder what it is.  We are here and the place is called Tasmazia.  Tasmazia is a mze area.  They have eight different mazes.  They are:  Hampton Court Maze, Irish Maze, Great Maze, Confusion Maze, Balance Maze, Cage Maze and Yellow Brick Road Maze.  There were also things to find like Hobbit’s Hole, Fork In the Road (literally), Treasure Chest, and signs with sayings.  Next, we are heading through a town called Sheffield.  This town has many murals.  Murals are pictures on buildings, but they are not graffiti.  They are like paintings on walls like this one.  Now we are in a town called Railton.  Railton has topiary.  Topiary is a plant in the shape of an object; for example, a train.

Day 6  Button's Cottage and Cradle Mountain

Beautiful Farms, Rolling Hills and Valleys in Tasmania

Today we are at a place called Button’s Cottage.  We saw the eclipse (you couldn’t see it much) and we are heading towards the owner Alison’s house to feed some lambs special warm milk.  We are here and we are feeding them from bottles.  It is fun feeding them, but they get a bit pushy because they want the milk.  We are walking a bit further to see a platypus.  In the end, we did not see a platypus. 

Today we are also going to Cradle Mountain.  They have many hikes there and it is a national park.  You can see a wombat, Tasmanian devil, and other things.  There is a walk called Dove Lake Circuit and it is 6.2 kilometres (about 4 miles).  About half the way, I played a game to try not to touch the ground and I did it.  We also did a shorter walk called The Enchanted Walk.

Day 7  Our Last Day in Tasmania:  Mount Wellington and Tahune Forest over the Huon River

Today is our last day in Tasmania.  We had lots of fun and we still have some more to do.  We are in Mount Wellington.  It is very cold and windy.  We are going into a building to look at some things about the place.  Then we saw two lookouts and are talking about the view.   

Now we are at Tahune Forest and over the Huon River.  We are having a fun time and we had a great lunch.  Now it is time to go to the airport.  Do not forget to watch my video’s for more information.  Bye! 

Canberra

This post reserved for TJ's trip to Canberra

TJ's 10th Birthday Celebration

This post is reserved for TJ's 10th Birthday Celebration

Cape Tribulation, The Whitsundays and Cairnes

This post is reserved for Cape Tribulation, The Whitsundays and Cairnes.

Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road

This section is coming soon.  Adventures in Melbourne and at The Great Ocean Road

TJ Allison at School

Hi Everyone!  Sorry that I haven't had time to blog.  I have been busy at school.  In my time at school, I wrote a kindergarten book and made a television commercial.  Look at my Homework Helper Advertisement and let me know what you think.

Homework Helper Advertisement

My friend, Kit helped me with the commercial.

Easter Vacation

First on Friday, me and my Dad went to the Easter Show. 

There were rides, games, and a bunch of other fun things.  The Easter Show is like a festival or a carnival or a huge state fair.  There was a ride called the Viper and it was fun.  It was a medium sized roller coaster.  The Easter Show was held at the Olympic Park.  In Australia, gift or goodie bags are called “Show Bags.”  There are a lot of Show Bags for people to buy.  We bought Mom the Oreo and Bertie Beetle Blue Show Bags.  I got an awesome Harry Potter Show Bag and there was a quill (which is a pen) in the old days they were quills, a notebook, some parchment (which are pieces of paper), there were five pencils and an eraser, to hold them all was a leather binder.  I have a wand flashlight, some badges, a hippogriff, and a Voldemort head that is worth $80 and we got it for $10.  At the Easter Show, there was a lumberjack competition where people would start off standing on a log with axes and cut the log beneath their feet.  And then, they would go over to the next one and the log was on a platform then the people would chop away at the next log and if the ax had a problem, the people had an extra ax.  The first person to finish chopping both logs wins the competition. 

The Gold Coast of Australia

We drove to the Gold Coast which is north of Sydney and south of Brisbane.  Our first stop was Coffs Harbour where we saw and hiked on Mutton Bird Island.  Me and my Dad walked all the way on the path while my Mom only climbed to the top and a little bit more.  When we got to the furthest point, we read a bit about how the whales travel through and go past that point at Mutton Bird Island for their journey south to Antarctica.  After that we went to go get ice cream. 

Byron Bay and the Byron Bay Lighthouse

Our next stop was Byron Bay.  We hiked to the Byron Bay Lighthouse and walked to the inland easternmost point of Australia.  While we were in Byron Bay we saw a man stuck half-way down a cliff.  He had climbed over the guard fence and sat down to enjoy the view then he tumbled down.  If he had gone off one more ledge, he would have tumbled into the ocean and gotten severely injured or drowned.  He dropped about 200 metres.  They sent a watch helicopter and some rescuers attached to cables rappelled down and took him up with a stretcher.  Dad checked the internet and found that the man only had a sprained ankle and abrasions (scratches).  The man was lucky that he didn’t tumble any farther or die. 

Currumbin Wildlife Sancturary

The same day, we went to the Currumbin Koala Sanctuary.  We got our picture taken with me holding a crocodile.  I also got my picture taken with a kangaroo, koala, and possum. At the Koala Sanctuary we did the Green Challenge.  The Green Challenge is a series of obstacles where you try and go through.  First you have to climb into the tree tops with a harness on, two carabineers and a pully.  When you climb, you have to always have your carabineers attached so you can’t fall unless you were going on the pole to slide down.  The challenges included:  Flying Fox (zipline), wire walking, hanging swings, hand to hand, bird cage, tunnel crawl etc.  It started raining when we were doing the obstacle courses and it was slippery especially the wires.  Dad and I finished the course wet.  Mom quit halfway because she was so slow and scared of heights.  It was a lot of work but it was fun and worth it.  Next time, I want to try the Black Course which is the hardest course of all. 

TJ's School Campout Adventure

I went on a fun campout and there were these things called the low ropes and every time you mess up, you get a point.  If you get through with zero points, you get to do the high ropes.  I got through with zero points and I almost got a point at the last wire.  The first wire had one wire that you stand on and one wire that you hold on to.  The second one had two places to put your feet.  The third one had ropes that you hang on to and if you want to do the high rope, you have to clap your hands twice between each rope.  The fourth one was like a ladder and you had to step on each plank of wood.  And the last one had the wire that you walk on and one big rope that you grab on to the whole way across.  The trick for the last one is when it goes down, you have to pull it up and make sure it is tight and then you walk across. 

We also did two-person kayaking, we had to push the boats into the water and I partnered up with Harpo and we worked very well together.  We were the last people, but we got in front of a lot of people.  When we went to shore, we got to play in the water (with life jackets).  We also got to learn about the Aborigines (how they use rocks as paint/clay).  Then we learned how dangerous razor fish (which are like shells) are.  On the way back we did salooing.  There were six people, one person was steering and five people are supposed to paddle.  Unfortunately, one person didn’t have a paddle so one side was stronger than the other.  So there was one person on the left that was rowing and another person using their hands and there were three people on the other side using paddles and one of them was me.   I also learned how to throw a boomerang the right way.  Look back here for my video, I'll post it soon. 

Sydney FC beats Newcastle!

Hello, we went to a soccer game on Sunday.  It was really fun to watch.  Sydney FC vs. Newcastle.  It was the first time that I went to a professional soccer game.  Sydney FC won the game.  We wanted Sydney FC to win.  The end score was 3 to 2.  Once there was a lot of head-butts and they did it about 10 times in a row.  It was so awesome.  A lot of the times, it looked like Sydney FC was going to score but they didn't.  We sat in the front-row seats then we moved because they were terrible spots.  We ended up sitting in the 6th row at the goal line.  There were over 14,000 people at the soccer game.

Chinese Rock Concert in Sydney

Hi, TJ Allison again.  Last night, I did something really amazing, I went to a Chinese Rock Concert and we got the tickets for free.  The singer was Raymond Lam.  He is a famous actor and singer in Hong Kong.  Some of the music was calming and some of it was rock.  He did some cool dance moves and he kept changing costumes.  We got bags with cool stuff in them at our seats.  There were hitting sticks that light up, coupons (which my Mom loves), a pen, and a poster.  Raymond Lam spoke and sang mostly in Chinese and my Mom, guess-lated (guess-translated!).  The concert was at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Haymarket in downtown Sydney.  There were a lot of people there, over 10,000.  We got the tickets at an ice cream store called Cold Rock (like Cold Stone in the US).  We were talking to the owner and he said, “Hey, do you want to have these free tickets because I want somebody to use them?  The tickets sell for about $100 each.”   See one of Raymond Lam’s songs in this YouTube video.  In the video, you can see the audience with the light up hitting sticks.

Before the concert, we went to eat at a Chinese Restaurant.  We sat at the counter and watched the people make the food.  They made hand-made noodles, dumplings and other stuff.  Then, we went to an art gallery and in the front was a pile of black rocks.  The rocks were really Coca-Cola (the drink) and upstairs there were some paintings made from Coca-Cola.  It showed the artist making the Coca-Cola into paint.  First, the artist boiled down the Coca-Cola into rocks and then he ground them into powder and wet it into ink.  The paintings were similar to traditional Chinese paintings like I saw in China.  It was an awesome evening. 

Here is a YouTube video of a chef making noodles like we saw at dinner.

My First Day of School in Australia

Hi, this is my first day of school.  This is a picture of me standing on our balcony with my school uniform on.  I am in 4^th grade (combined with 5^th grade).  My teacher’s name is Ms. Cattana.  She is a nice teacher.  There are 31 people in my class.  There are ten 4^th graders including me.  Today was a fun day.  I did French class, art class, math, and some people did reports.  I played bull-run at recess which is like sharks and minnows or cat and mouse.   In bull-run you have to tag the people who are running across.  I had two recesses.  Lunch recess is over an hour.  Afternoon recess is about 30 minutes long.  School starts at 9:00am and ends at 3:00pm. 

We moved into our new apartment.  And I like it better than our other apartment because we have a nice view of the water and a huge balcony.  We can see Birkenhead Point (the shopping center) from our apartment.  There are lots of fun parks around.  My favorite is St. Peter’s Park it has a zip line. 

My Adventure at Scenic World

There are many fun places in Australia.  Like Luna Park, a small amusement park.  There are also many waterparks in Australia.  They are so fun, even though I haven’t been to any.

We went to the Blue Mountains and in the Blue Mountains at Scenic World: you can go on a cable car, a railway, and a Scenic Airway.  We also walked to Katoomba Falls.  Katoomba Falls is bigger than Niagara Falls in the United States.  Katoomba Falls is 150 meters high.  There are mountains called The Three Sisters.  These mountains got their names from a legend that there were three sisters that were turned into stone by a magician.  The magician was killed in a war and nobody could turn the sisters back except the magician.  The water from Katoomba Falls goes into our drinking water in Sydney in six days. 

In the Scenic Airway, you can see through part of the floor because it is glass and the operator controls the Scenic Airway and he can fog or unfog the glass.  You see the canopy of the forest and Katoomba Falls from the Scenic Airway.  We took the Scenic Airway across the valley.  It was fun.

Next, we took the railway to the valley floor.  The railway was so much fun.  At a 52 degree angle it was really fast.  It was dark and they played Indiana Jones music.  We went in the railway and the protection was like a cage.  You can go up and down on the railway.  There is a thick cable attached to the railway to make it go up and down.  The railway was originally used for coal mining.

We hiked to Katoomba Falls.  Check out the video with me and Dad.  It has more information.  Listen carefully because is not very clear.  The falls are in the background.

We went on the cable car and they asked for a driver and I got to drive (kind of).  I pressed the start button and I got to sit down in front.

That’s it for now, but check out my blog later and I’ll have more information.  Please comment on my blog because that will make me happy!

Hello from Sydney

Hello from Sydney, very far away.  We have been here for almost a week.  We’ve been doing many things. 

We arrived and we had twelve suitcases, two backpacks, and one messenger bag.  There was a lot of luggage but we got it all!  See my pictures with all of our luggage.  We had a long fourteen hour flight.  We left at 10pm San Francisco time and arrived at 8am Sydney time.  When we arrived, it was raining, but on our 3^rd day, it was sunny.

Our Sunny Day Adventure:   We touched the Sydney Opera House and we took a ferry to the Taronga Zoo.  We took the best way possible to the Taronga Zoo and the best way was by the Arial Safari.  The Arial Safari is a gondola that carries passengers in the air.  A gondola is a cube that carries you in the air. We saw so much in the air. We saw so many animals in the Taronga Zoo. It was so much fun seeing all the animals. We went to the Australian Walkabout, Australia Nightlife, etc.  There were platypus, koala, crocodile, alligator, chimpanzee, seal (and show), gorilla, giraffe, elephant, emu, basilisk, python, etc.

Fun Facts:

1.       Did you know that Australia has the 11 most venomous out of 15 snakes in the world?

2.       Did you know Australia is an island, a continent, and a country?

3.       Did you know about half of Australia is desert?

4.       Did you know Australia is about the size of America but only has about the population of L.A.?

5.       Did you know that the box jellyfish is one of the most dangerous sea creatures?

Happy 2012 Everyone!!!