Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

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Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

In what would become a bit a trend in 2015, I signed up to all of the spam mailing lists for low-cost airline carriers in Australia in hopes of finding some good bargains. With fairly flexible working arrangements, it is often possible to take leave with short notice. Moreover, sometimes the travel deities throw you a bone; in this case Jetstar proposed travel to Hobart for $39 during a time Mia was in Hobart for a conference. This meant that I could just pop over Bass Strait, pick up a car and get out and do some hiking!

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Southwest Victoria

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Southwest Victoria

It was our first summer back in Australia, and with our first lot of holidays, we went to one of our favourite areas: the Great Otway National Park and the south-western coast of Victoria. As it was the Christmas holidays, the area was utterly packed with people, so finding a spot to camp was miserable. We ended up making a base at Beauchamp falls, allowing us to explore the Otways without too much driving. The forest, wildlife and landscape make the area something memorable. We moved onto the Port Campbell National Park which is always spectacular before hiding away in the Cobboboonee National Park for new year's eve. We thought we would be isolated from the festivities, but it was not to be, with a group of campers taking the opportunity to party on. From here we made some day trips to Cape Bridgewater, Mount Richmond National Park and the Lower Glenelg National Park; however our trip was cut short when the weather turned extreme and the fire danger skyrocketed. This meant missing out on the Grampians, but with fires all around, it is not the best place to be!

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The Australian Capital Territory

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The Australian Capital Territory

I was fresh off the plane from Europe and once again found myself in Melbourne. When I had moved to Paris, I had endured the winter in Melbourne and arrived just as the autumn in Paris was getting going. The flip side of this is when I left, I had enjoyed the European summer - although it was unreasonably cold during my time in Germany - and the Australian summer was really starting to get going. A fixture of the Australian physics world is the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) congress, which was to be help in Canberra. There was a large contingent of students and postdocs heading up, so rather than flying, it was more economical (and fun) to hire a van and drive up; it would also allow us to do some adventuring.

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Hamburg

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Hamburg

Almost as quickly as it began, my time in Europe was coming to an end. My time in France was done and I had only a few days left in Germany. I did however have one weekend left and I had booked in a to visit a good friend whom I had met in Paris who now lived in Hamburg. Other than a recent trip to Berlin, I had not spent much time in the North of Germany. Moreover, there is not much (German) cultural overlap between Berlin and Hamburg, but I had heard many good things about the city. It often appears on list of "liveable" cities, basically meaning that they are excellent destinations for highly-paid expats usually at the cost of the local population, but that would not stop me from going and visiting my friend the expat and having a great time.

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Swabia: Augsburg and Neuschwanstein

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Swabia: Augsburg and Neuschwanstein

One of the most visited attractions in Germany and by extension, Europe, is the fairy tale-esque castle of Neuschwanstein. It is nestled in the Bavarian Alps in the south of Germany and sees scores of tourists flocking to the area to visit the thoroughly modern castle. The castle was built in the mid-19th century when castles had essentially lost their military value but were symbols of wealth and power. Ludwig II, the then king of Bavaria, commissioned the construction of the castle as his personal residence and was inspired (in part) by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's restoration of le Château de Pierrefonds. In any case, with my time in Germany coming to an end, this was one big-ticket item that I was keen to see. It would turn out to be quite a mission for just a weekend trip, but ultimately a worthwhile mission.

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