Travel in Australia

Stephen and I got to spend our honeymoon traveling around Australia and absolutely loved it.  I would highly recommend going down under.  Below, a few stops and restaurants that were particular standouts....

Hayman Island - Australia Island-Beach Style

We headed up north to the edge of the great barrier reef to decompress for a while, before doing more active exploring.  This all-inclusive resort was fantastic.  A yacht comes to pick you up at the airport and take you on a scenic ride to the private Hayman Island.  There are several excellent restaurants serving a range of asian and australian influenced seafood dishes.  I really enjoyed dozing next to their lovely saltwater pools and roaming around the hilly island trails.

Sydney

I love Sydney.  I would move there if I could.  It's just got such a great ambiance - urban downtown, quaint victorian town homes, warm weather and great food.  We ate like kings!  At Rockpool, we had amazing seafood served in a sleek and modern dining room.  We got to eat one of the largest and longest sushi meals I've ever had at Tetsuya's, perhaps the best restaurant in Australia.  At Universal, we sampled cuisine inspired by the global population of Australia.  Finally, at Icebergs, we ate fantastic Italian food with a jaw-dropping view of Bondi Beach and the Pacific Ocean.  Besides eating, I highly recommend wandering through the Royal Botanical Gardens, heading to Paddington for shopping, taking a tour of the Opera House, and getting out of the city to see some native wildlife at the Featherdale Wildlife Park and the Blue Mountains.

Tasmania

That's right, we visited Tasmania.  Interestingly enough, we were drawn to this remote state because of its wine!  Stephen and I are pretty nutty when it comes to wine and every vacation we've taken recently has had at least one day devoted to wine tasting.  Tasmania intrigued us because of its cooler climate varietals - pinot noirs and sparkling wines (we're not big Barossa Shiraz fans).  Incidentally, I have to say, the wine we had all over Australia was very diverse and downright tasty.  It seems that much of it stays in the country and does not make it to the USA...  such a shame.  In Tasmania, we tasted wine from the Tamar River Valley in the north, around the little town of Launceston.  We really enjoyed Pipers Brook wines as well as Goaty Hill and Velo.  Alas, we can't get them in the states!  We also had a fantastic meal at a restaurant called Fee & Me, which has unfortunately since closed.  Tasmania is kind of the breadbasket of Australia and it is known for its lamb.  I had amazing lamb chops there...  While there we checked out Cataract Gorge, before heading down to Russell Falls and Hobart.  Hobart is a very pretty, older city.  We stayed at the amazing Henry Jones Art Hotel and ate a lovely meal at Marque IV.  I do have to say, that if you don't have a lot of time and want to check out Tasmania, head to Hobart and do wine tasting around the Coal River Valley.